Season of Epiphany

FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE Congregational 1633-1636 United Church of Christ Garden and Mason Streets Cambridge, Massachusetts

FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE, CONGREGATIONAL, UCC January 19, 2014

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY VOLUNTARY *HYMN 439

Every Time I Feel the Spirit

*GREETING Kate Layzer L: Come, seekers and searchers, Come, whoever is looking and longing for signs of hope! C: Come and see people singing songs of friendship and peace. L: Come, all you who are hungering for a sign of kindness and mercy! C: Come and see children making sandwiches to feed neighbors in need. L: Come, you who are watching and waiting for good news! C: Come and listen to the story of God’s care for all people. Taste and see for yourself that God’s love is good! L: Let us lift our hearts in praise! *PRAYER OF PRAISE All: Praise to you, O God, giver of life, for forming us in your own image, for giving us hearts to love and dream and yearn for justice; for calling us to be planters of peace and builders of a world where everyone belongs, and no one is forgotten; for breathing more courage into us than we could have imagined, and for giving us friends to walk beside us; for putting a song of freedom in our hearts and joy on the journey every day. Blessing and glory and thanksgiving and praise to you, O God. Amen. WORDS OF WELCOME CALL TO CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

Dan Smith Phil Lafollette

*You are invited to stand. Hymns proceeded by a “C” may be found in the beginning section of the hymnal. The C (Cambridge) - section contains hymns written and composed by current and past members of First Church.

I See the Moon

ANTHEM

I see the moon, It’s shining from far away, Beckoning from every beam. And though all the stars above cast down their light, Still the moon is all that I see. And it’s calling out “Come, run away!” And we’ll sail with the clouds for our sea. And we’ll travel through the black of night, ‘til we float back home on a dream.” The moon approaches my windowpane, Stretching itself to the ground. The moon sings softly and laughs and smiles, And yet never makes a sound!

INVITATION TO CONFESSION SILENCE PRAYER OF CONFESSION L: Let us pray for healing, pardon, and peace. All: By what we have done and what we have left undone, we confess that we have failed to love you, O God, and our neighbor as ourselves. Forgive our deliberate sins, strengthen our weaknesses, and mend our broken hearts. Fill us again with the spirit of Jesus, so that with new courage and lasting joy we may serve you well by serving the ones you love. In his name we pray. Amen. DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS *GREETING OF PEACE

Douglas Beam

*HYMN

This Little Light of Mine

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. My God gave it to me. I’m gonna let it shine! ...(two more times)... Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Jesus by my side. I’m gonna let it shine! ...(two more times)... Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Walkin’ with my Lord. I’m gonna let it shine! ...(two more times)... Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Put it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine! ...(two more times)... Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

A TIME WITH CHILDREN

Sarah Higginbotham

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING READING

John 1: 29-42

SERMON *RESPONSE OF FAITH L: Let us declare our faith together: C: We believe in God, at work in the world, transforming death into life. We believe that God is able to change desolate valleys into paths of joy; to give tired feet strength for striding toward the city of freedom; to create courage in us for facing the uncertainties of the future, and to give us power to endure that which cannot be changed. When our days become dreary, and our nights darker than a thousand midnights, we believe that God is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.

This is our hope for becoming a better people. This is our hope for making a better world. Amen! Thanks be to God! (Adapted from a sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr., “Our God Is Able,” in Strength to Love) Precious Lord, Take My Hand

*HYMN 470

PRAYERS FOR CHURCH AND WORLD Sheehan Scarborough L: God be with you. C: And with your spirit. L: Let us pray . . .(intercessions, silence, and the Lord's Prayer) THE LORD’S PRAYER (Please pray this prayer and address God in words most meaningful to your heart.) All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. INVITATION TO OFFERING OFFERTORY

Give Us Hope Listen to the sound of my voice Can you feel the beat of my heart? Listen to the questions I have Listen to me It's all very simple ... To see what we need Give us hope ... My voice is calling Can you see ... Look in my eyes Can you feel... My hand is reaching Give us hope, and we'll show you the way The whispers of my heart speak so softly (pounding) Are they really there if no one hears them (calling) My voice is so small (listen) Can you hear me? We are the future, help us believe

Jim Papoulis

*DOXOLOGY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION To God, all glorious heav’nly light, To Christ revealed in earthly night, To God, the Spirit, now we raise Our joyful songs of thankful praise! Amen. *HYMN 467

I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me

*LEAVE-TAKING BLESSING *BENEDICTION *CHORAL RESPONSE Benediction Layzer/Taylor The Word is flesh and dwells among us! Glory to God in the highest! VOLUNTARY

WELCOME TO FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE... Whoever you are, wherever you are on life's journey, we are thankful that you are with us today, and we hope that you will stay for a bit after worship for refreshments and conversation. First Church is an open and affirming, just peace congregation of the United Church of Christ. If you'd like to know more about us, please introduce yourself to one of the ministers after church and explore our website at www.firstchurchcambridge.org. Large print bulletins and assistive listening devices are available. Please ask a greeter for assistance. Children of all ages are welcome in our worship. Picture books, children's Bibles and activity packets can be found in the Children's Book Corner located by the door to the parish building (to the right of the chancel). Children may visit the Book Corner at any point during worship. Nursery care for infants and toddlers is located through that door and down the hallway (up four stairs to the door on the right). Fussy babies and their caregivers are invited to the Hastings Room, just across the hall from that same door, where the service is broadcast through speakers. PREACHING TODAY IS Dan Smith, Senior Minister. Assisting with worship are Sheehan Scarborough, Ministerial Intern, and Sarah Higginbotham, Director of Creative Worship & Arts. Our liturgist is Kate Layzer, First Church member and Community Minister. Peter Sykes, Director of Music, is playing the organ and piano. Irene Idicheria is conducting the Boston Children’s Chorus Central Training Choir. The YOUR PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED section of the bulletin is omitted in the online version to protect the privacy of those mentioned. To find out who we are praying for this week, please contact the church office at [email protected] or call 617-547-2724.

TODAY’S HAPPENINGS BOSTON CHILDREN’S CHORUS SINGING AT FIRST CHURCH Today, January 19, in Morning Worship The Boston Children’s Chorus (BCC) Central Training Choir will join us again for our Martin Luther King Sunday celebration during today’s Morning Worship. The BCC’s mission is to harness the power and joy of music to unite Boston’s diverse communities and inspire social change. Singers transcend social barriers in a celebration of shared humanity and love of music. Through intensive choral training and high-profile public performance experience (locally, throughout the U.S., and around the world), they learn discipline, develop leadership skills, and proudly represent the city of Boston as ambassadors of harmony. Come and join with the kids, as we sing spirituals and songs of freedom in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. There will be no church school today, so we can make it an all ages celebration! WHAT LIES “HIDDEN” IN THE BIBLICAL APOCRYPHA? Today, January 19, at 10 a.m., Hastings Room If you pick up one of the new Bibles in the pews, you’ll find a section between the Old and New Testaments titled “Apocrypha”. The Apocrypha includes wisdom literature, historical and legendary works, apocalyptic literature, philosophical treatises, and additions to familiar Old Testament books. What are these apocryphal books? Where did they come from, and what are we supposed to do with them? Sheehan Scarborough will lead the second of two Ten O’Clock Hours on the Apocrypha. We’ll discuss canonicity and authority, empire, and the sociopolitical strife in Palestine in the centuries before the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Come ready to read specific texts as we uncover the Apocrypha. NEWCOMER GATHERING AND NEXT JOINING SUNDAY Today, January 19, at 12:30 p.m., Hastings Room Interested in learning more about First Church? About our history? Or our community? Or our denomination? Or our ministries? Interested in meeting other folks who are new to First Church? Dan Smith, Sheehan Scarborough, Kate Layzer, and other church leaders will be hosting a newcomer exploration gathering following Morning Worship on January 19. Also if you are feeling ready to join First Church, mark your calendars: our next Joining Sunday will be January 26 during Morning Worship. SPIRITUALITY & MENTAL HEALTH GROUP Today at 2 p.m., Tower Room We meet as persons with questions about our inner lives, pursuing wellness. Yet we don't seek a fix for our problems. Instead, we bring our difficulties alongside our experience of that healing Spirit to consider how our faith and our soundness inform each other. We continue to meet every Sunday afternoon from 2:00 to 3:30 in the Tower Room. Participation in the group is open to any and all who identify with our purpose. For a warm welcome and to learn more, see Carter West or e-mail him at [email protected].

NIGHT SONG: SOLEMN MYSTICAL COMPLINE Sundays at 7:00 p.m., Sanctuary Night Song is based on Compline, the last daily service of Christian worship, dating back to monastic life in the Middle Ages. Offered in the quietness of the evening, Night Song invokes a sense of protection and peace for the night that is to come. Join us for Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony. FUTURE HAPPENINGS TOMORROW! PLEASE JOIN FOLKS FROM FIRST CHURCH IN A DAY OF SERVICE TO CELEBRATE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING'S BIRTHDAY. Carpools leave at 10:15 AM in front of First Church to go to Brandeis University. The Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries has organized a service project for over 150 volunteers to package nutritious meals for food banks, and to join in interfaith worship. Program is at the Usdan Center on campus. For questions, contact David Kidder at (617) 276-6227 or [email protected]. Thank you! FAMILY NIGHT Tuesday, January 21 Families with young children are invited to Tuesday Family Night, held every other Tuesday, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., in Sage Hall, our basement play space. We share a simple supper ― usually pasta and sauce, along with whatever you bring to the table ― before the kids find their way to the toys and play structures, while the grown-ups catch a few minutes to check-in and share a few joys and challenges of their family's life together. All are welcome to join us (RSVPs to Sarah Higginbotham by Tuesday noon are helpful for planning the pasta-making). If you find yourself in the building for a meeting on a Tuesday evening, come early and share a meal with this lively group of First Church folks. 2014 ANNUAL MEETING AND LUNCHEON Sunday, January 26, 12:30 p.m., Margaret Jewett Hall Hear ye, hear ye! Come one and all to the 378th Annual Meeting of First Church in Cambridge on Sunday, January 26, following Morning Worship! A delicious luncheon will lead into our meeting. We will celebrate another very full year of ministry, honor and thank one another for gifts discerned and shared, make decisions on fiduciary matters, and share plans and visions. We will also pray and sing! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to put our Congregational polity into action. A MULTIGENERATIONAL STUDY OF WONDER Sundays, January 26 and February 2, 10:00 a.m., Hastings Room The Middle Schoolers have been considering the question, “What makes a true friend?” In their Church School class they’ve studied three examples of friendship in the Bible, and they’ve pondered some of Jesus’ teachings from the Gospel of Matthew. Out of their discussions they’ve developed a list of important qualities of good and true friendship. And now they are making connections between Bible study and contemporary issues of difference, tolerance, compassion, and hospitality as they read and discuss the popular young adult novel Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. Join the “Middlers” as they lead a two-part 10 O’Clock Hour discussion on these themes. They ask that you read Wonder, and come ready to take part in the conversation. Think of it as a book group, a Bible study, and a window into the world of tweens and early teens,

all wrapped into two exciting 10 O’Clock Hours on January 26 and February 2. Copies of Wonder will be available for a donation of $8.00 in Margaret Jewett Hall on Sunday mornings in January. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. HAITIAN POETRY NIGHT Wednesday, January 29, 6:30 pm at the Cambridge Public Library Poet Populist and First Church member Jean Dany Joachim will read from his newly published collection of poetry Crossroads/Chimenkwaze. Poet, critic and essayist Tontongi (Eddy Toussaint) will read from his new release, In the Beast’s Alley, a collection of his “poems of conscience.” FIRST CHURCH BOOK CELEBRATION The Spiritual Practice of Remembering, by Peggy Bendroth Thursday, January 30, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Hastings Room Join us for a wine, cider, and cheese reception to celebrate the recent publication of Peggy Bendroth’s latest book The Spiritual Practice of Remembering. This accessible, beautifully written book presents a new argument for honoring the past. The Christian tradition gives us the powerful image of a vast communion of saints, all of God's people, both living and dead, in vital conversation with one another. This kind of connection with our ancestors in the faith, Peggy maintains, will not happen by wishing or by accident. She argues that remembering must become a regular spiritual practice, part of the rhythm of our daily lives. As we recognize our world to be, remembering is in many ways a gift from others who have gone before. The book also has a lovely acknowledgement of the saints at First Church in Cambridge! Join us as we congratulate Peggy and take some time for this spiritual practice! Copies of her book will be available for purchase. BREAD & PUPPET THEATER: THE SHATTERER OF WORLDS AT THE BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS The award-winning Bread & Puppet Theater from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom presents a walkabout political puppet performance, enveloping audience and performers alike within the BCA Cyclorama. Now in its 50th year, the Bread & Puppet Theater is one of the oldest and most unique self-sustaining nonprofit theatrical companies in the United States. The theater champions a visually rich slapstick style of street-theater that is filled with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard, combined with masked characters, improvisational dance movement, political commentary, and a lively brass band for accompaniment. Performances run from January 23 through February 2. For tickets and showtimes, visit the www.bcaonline.org. Note: Since First Church opened its sanctuary to an outdoor Bread and Puppet performance on a very rainy day last summer, all First Church members will received $5 off the $15 tickets. Just ask Dan Smith for details on how to receive the discount.

The Epiphany bulletin cover was created by Milly Clark, as part of a church school creative arts project.

Looking Ahead Sunday, January 19 9:00 a.m. Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 9:00 a.m. Earth Stewardship Team, Choir Room 9:45 a.m. Community Gathering Time, Margaret Jewett Hall (MJH) 10:00 a.m. Christian Formation 11:00 a.m. Multi-generational Morning Worship, MLK Celebration, Boston Children’s Chorus, Dan Smith, preaching 12:30 p.m. Newcomer Exploration Lunch, Hastings Room 12:30 p.m. GBIO Core Team, Dan Smith’s office 2:00 p.m. Mental Health and Spirituality Group, Tower Room 7:00 p.m. Night Song, Sanctuary Monday, January 20 First Church Building and Office Closed in Observance of Martin Luther King Day Tuesday, January 21 5:30 p.m. Family Night, Sage Hall Wednesday, January 22 9:30 a.m. Staff Meeting, Dan Smith’s office Thursday, January 23 7:45 p.m. Choir Rehearsal, Hastings Room Sunday, January 26 9:00 a.m. Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 9:45 a.m. Community Gathering Time, MJH 10:00 a.m. Christian Formation 11:00 a.m. Morning Worship 11:20 a.m. Church School: Creative Arts (presch.- Grade 8) 12:30 p.m. Annual Meeting and Luncheon, MJH 2:00 p.m. Mental Health and Spirituality Group, Tower Room 7:00 p.m. Night Song, Sanctuary

First Church Covenant Testimony We believe that our covenant with God and each other calls us: To love God with all that we are, and our close and distant neighbors as ourselves; To seek peace with justice and equity for all people; To engage in non-violent resistance to evil; To respect and preserve God’s earth; To foster community across every barrier and division; To attend to God’s unfolding and reconciling word; To support each other in our frailties and strengths, that we may embody that love which overcomes fear and death. This we testify, confessing always our reliance on God’s grace in Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Adopted 1990

The Staff of First Church in Cambridge Senior Minister

Rev. Dan Smith, 617-547-2724, ext. 23 [email protected]

Minister of Mental Health & Healing

Rev. Terry McKinney [email protected]

Affiliate Minister of Stewardship and Finance

Rev. Karen McArthur, 617-547-2724, ext. 22 [email protected]

Ministerial Interns

Jennifer Wenz, [email protected] Sheehan Scarborough, [email protected]

Havruta Scholar-in-Residence

Rev. Brent Coffin

Director of Music

Peter Sykes, 617-645-0833 [email protected]

Director of Creative Worship & Arts

Sarah Higginbotham, 617-547-2724, ext. 42 [email protected]

Staff Composer

Patricia Van Ness

Shelter Director

Jim Stewart, 617-661-1873 [email protected]

Parish Administrator

Kirsten Manville, 617-547-2724, ext. 21 [email protected]

Pastoral Associate

Julie Rogers, 617-547-2724, ext. 41 [email protected]

Facilities Manager

Dan dos Santos [email protected]

Sextons

Ronaldo dos Santos, Tina Quimby, George Williams, Kimel Williams, 617-642-3980

FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE, CONGREGATIONAL United Church of Christ 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 617-547-2724