South Stormont Pastoral Charge

# Gathering Hymn For the Fruit of All Creation (#227 VU) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: From soil and seed, from rain and sun, life rises around us.   All: We gather to worship the God who gives life to all creation. One: Around the world, hands plant and harvest, prepare and share, yet many still wait for enough to eat.   All: God calls us to notice, to care, and to seek a world where all may flourish. One: So let us bring our gratitude, our hunger for justice, and our hope for the world.   All: Together, we worship God and open ourselves to the work of love. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn Come, Let Us Sing (#222 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) God of life and love, you have entrusted us with a world where the earth brings forth food and every living being depends on the gifts of creation. Yet we confess that we have not always cared for these gifts wisely. We have grown comfortable with ha...

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. It is a time to look back on our lives. What are you thankful for? Who has brought you joy or helped you through a difficult time? Perhaps you remember your family, a friendship, work you enjoyed, or a place that still makes you smile. Today’s first scripture reading invites us to think about the meaning of gratitude. Jesus was travelling toward Jerusalem and passed through the region between Samaria and Galilee. Jews and Samaritans had a long history of religious and political conflict, yet Jesus travelled through this region, crossing a boundary that had divided people for generations. There Jesus met ten people with a skin disease. According to the Law, they had to keep their distance from others and live apart from their families and communities. As a result, they suffered not only physically but also socially. Their condition had become another boundary. Then they saw a sign of hope. It was Jesus who was passing by. The ten could not come close to him...

  # Gathering Hymn For the Fruit of All Creation (#227 VU) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Welcome, family of God!   All: God has visited the earth and watered it. One: God has provided the people with grain and crowned the year with overflowing bounty.   All: The earth has yielded its increase, God; our God has blessed us! One: Let us give thanks and praise to God! *Anne Mathewson. Gathering Pentecost 2 2026. Page 42. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn As Those of Old Their First-fruits Brought (#518 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Forgive us, Gracious God, for our reluctance to share and our easy acceptance of the way things are. Forgive us for the irreverent ways we treat your gifts and the way we take what we have for granted. We trust in your mercy as we seek to be merciful to others. We trust in your forgiveness as we seek to forgive others. We trust in your love as we seek to love others. In s...

In today’s first reading, Paul does not say that he has already arrived at the goal. He says, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal.” Paul did not deny his past or what he had accomplished. But he no longer saw these things as proof that his life was complete. He was still on the way, and he was not afraid of that. Paul reminds us that Christian faith is not about proving that we are perfect. It is about humility. It is about being willing to admit that we still have more to learn and more room to grow. Our worth does not depend on being perfect. Humility gives us the courage to keep learning and growing. Paul also shows that Christian faith is not about speed. It is about direction. Christians are people who move toward Christ. But it is important to remember that we move toward Christ with Christ. Paul says, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” This is not a journey we make alone. Christ is already with us. Christ...

  # Gathering Hymn For the Beauty of the Earth (#226 VU) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: From many places and many stories, we gather as one people in Christ.   All: We come to share in God’s welcome and grace. One: Around the world, people of faith gather at Christ’s table today.   All: One table, many communities, held together in love. One: Here there is room for every voice, every story, and every hope. All: Here we receive the bread of life and the cup of blessing. One: Come, let us worship God, who draws us together in peace. All: With the church around the world, we worship with joy and thanksgiving. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn Come, O fount of Every Blessing (#559 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Gracious God, you gather people from many places, cultures, identities, and ways of life, and welcome us to one table. Yet we confess that we do not always live with the openness, care, and compa...

Our first Scripture reading today begins with a water crisis. The crisis was real. It was a serious problem that had to be addressed. The lack of water threatened not only the people, but also their children and their animals. Without water, there would be no life and no hope. But the real problem was not only the crisis itself. It was how they responded to the crisis. The crisis made them afraid, and their fear led them to act in the wrong way. They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Moses was blamed for the crisis. Their anger put him in danger of being stoned to death. The French anthropologist René Girard developed the concept of the “scapegoat mechanism.” When fear and hostility grow during a crisis in a community, anger can become focused on one person or one group. Instead of facing the real cause of the crisis, people redirect their fear and anger toward a single victim. By excluding or removing that vic...