Order of Service / Union Sunday / June 7, 2026

 # Gathering Hymn Come In come In and Sit Down (#395 VU | vs. 1,2,4)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: We believe that our relationships with the Creator, the land, the people, the plants, and the animals are sacred. Let us honour these sacred relationships as we gather together to worship God.

  All: This service is one we share with churches across our denomination this day. We are one in the Spirit.

One: From deep soil comes bold and daring growth. From the seeds of our past will come fresh new growth.

All: We come today to marvel at what has been harvested and prepare for what will come. We come to celebrate where we are and where we have been.

One: We come rejoicing with our ancestors and partners in faith across generations: The Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians, The Evangelical United Brethren, and Local Union Churches, The Indigenous Church, The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, The United Church of Christ, The United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

  All: We give thanks to God for the blessings of past, present, and future, and dare to plant these seeds of faith anew!

*from The United Church of Canada Centennial Service 2024.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn In the bulb there is a flower (#703 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

Loving God, you plant seeds of hope, compassion, and new life among us. Yet we confess that the ground of our hearts is not always ready to receive them. At times, worry, resentment, and fear take root within us. At times, our words and actions make it harder for love to grow. Help us to notice the rocky places in our lives. Clear away what keeps us from caring for one another. Soften our hearts, renew our spirits, and prepare us to receive the new life you offer. We now bring our silent prayers before you. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: God receives our prayers with grace.

  All: God makes room for new life among us.

One: The Great Gardener who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

All: Thanks be to God. Amen.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (Little by Little, TLUS 134)

Growing in cracks and crevices (3x), we are everywhere

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Genesis 12:1–9 Call of Abraham.

Psalm 33:1-12 (VU p. 760) Sing a new song to God.

Matthew 9:9-13 Call of Matthew.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Precious Lord, Take My Hand (#670 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn Though I May Speak (#372 VU|vs.2&3)

2 Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess,

but not be given by love within, the profit soon turns strangely thin.

3 Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control, our spirits long to be made whole.

Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship, and are freed.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)
 Gracious God, we believe that you are calling us forward into a new day. We believe that you have a future for The United Church of Canada, that is rooted in your abundant life, and we trust you with this future, even though it’s beyond the horizon of our dreams. So, we offer you the blessings you have already given us—our time, our talents, our finances, and our hopes—so that you might use them and transform them for the good of your whole world. May these gifts be a blessing to the people of The United Church of Canada and beyond! All this, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

*from The United Church of Canada Centennial Service 2024.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn Abide with Me (#436 VU | vs. 1-4)

*Commissioning

One: As we go into the world this day and in the days ahead, let us receive this blessing as both gift and call.

All: We will live deeply within the Spirit’s call. We will root ourselves in the heart of Christ and love God’s world with all our hearts.

One: Let us go as bold disciples, planting seeds of love, faith, hope, and joy.

All: We will trust God to nurture these seeds and bring forth goodness beyond what we can imagine.

One: Let us go with courage, seeking justice for all Creation.

All: May our hearts open like seeds in the earth as we work for the flourishing of all people and all places.

One: Blessed are we as we live this life and share this life. We are not alone in our living, dying, and rising again.

All: God is with us! And we are blessed to be a blessing, now and always.

*from The United Church of Canada Centennial Service 2024.

*Commissioning Song I Am Sending You Light (#99 TLUS)

I am sending you light to heal you, to hold you.

I am sending you light to hold you in love. x2

No matter where you go, no matter where you’ve been;

You’ll never walk alone. I feel you deep within.

I am sending you light to heal you, to hold you.

I am sending you light to hold you in love. x2

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