Image: Icon of St Aidan on Lindisfarne. Original content: Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber ©2022.

Public Health Safety Note: Effective 5/29/2022, Sunday morning worship services will be outside in the Courtyard until increased COVID spread declines.

We Gather

“Everlasting God, You sent the gentle bishop Aidan to proclaim the gospel in this land; grant us to live as he taught in simplicity, humility and love for the poor; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.” – English Book of Common Prayer, Feast Day of Bishop Aiden (August 31)

Prelude (musician)

Welcome and Acknowledgements (Pastor Kathryn) Welcome! No matter who you are… No matter where you are on life’s journey… You’re welcome here! Welcome guests. Through Jesus Christ, we are called together as the Beloved Community. We honor this holy ground, unceded territory of the Lisjan-Ohlone people, standing in peace toward all beings.

Flowers For the Glory of God

Worship Team Musician Ian Pong, Liturgist Darlene Hamady, Pastor Rev. Kathryn Schreiber.

Call to Worship (liturgist)

Please greet the person — or other beings — on your LEFT, saying: “Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!” (everyone greets those on their LEFT)

Please greet the person — or other beings — on your RIGHT, saying: “Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!” (everyone greets those on their RIGHT)

Please greet the earth and creatures BELOW us, saying: “Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!” (everyone greets those BELOW)

Please greet the heavens and all the beings ABOVE us, saying: Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!” (everyone greets those ABOVE)

Welcome, everyone! We are HERE in the presence of the Eternal Christ! Amen.

As Pastor Kathryn lights the Christ Candle and Altar Votives, let us remember those who are not physically present, but with us in spirit or thought. Amen.

Light The Christ Candle and Altar Votives (Pastor Kathryn)

Votive Lighting Music (musician)

Opening Hymn: “Morning Has Broken” Chalice #53 (musician)

Passing the Peace (all share gestures and words of peace) (Pastor Kathryn)

Time for Children “Making Friends” St Aidan models the beauty of making new friends (Pastor Kathryn)

We Rest in God’s Grace

Prayer and Silence (Pastor Kathryn)

Let us shift into silence in God’s presence with this simple prayer based on Psalm 46:10.

Be still and know that I am God. (Breathe slowly)

Be still and know that I am. (Breathe slowly)

Be still and know. (Breathe slowly)

Be still. (Breathe slowly)

Be. (Breathe slowly)

(Breathe in silence) Amen.

Assurance of Grace (Pastor Kathryn) Modern prophet, Valarie Kaur, invites us to “see no stranger.” She suggests we say inwardly, “You are a part of me I do not yet know” instead of being led by fear and prejudice. (vk)

This was the natural orientation of St Aidan. When bringing the Gospel to people he had been warned to distrust, he first opened his heart to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ opened his heart to the people. Instead of strangers, he met potential friends.

God can do wondrous things when we ask to love as Christ loves – a way that changes and empowers us, and sometimes others, too. May St Aidan’s example inspire us to love one another. Amen.

Special Music (musician)

We Listen

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-3 (liturgist; version: NRSV) This is the passage Jesus read when visiting his hometown synagogue. From the Hebrew prophet Isaiah:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
   because the Lord has anointed me;
God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
   to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
   and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
   to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   the planting of the Lord, to display God’s glory.

May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.

Sermon: “St Aidan’s Mission of Befriending” Deeply inspired by the Way of Christ, Aidan embodied the Gospel in his actions. What might St Aidan’s example suggest to us about how to grow our ministry?

Sermon Hymn: “The Gift of Love” Chalice #526 (musician)

We Pray

Pastoral Prayer (Pastor Kathryn)

Source of All Life, Parent of All Peoples, touch our hearts and minds with the example of St Aidan. May he inspire us to love as Jesus Christ loves seeing in each person a potential friend, sibling, or kindred soul. Healing Physician, we also ask You to attend the wounds we have inflicted, as well as the wounds we have received, when our human encounters have not been loving. Radiate Your reviving presence among us, through all of us. Heal us. Amen.

Prayers of the People, Private Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer (Pastor Kathryn)

Offering of Praise “Doxology” (musician; all)

We Transition

Announcements (pastor)

• Next Sunday: Holy Communion
• Gather Water from places of rest, reunion, and recreation. 9/11 Blessing of the Waters.

Sung Benediction: “Circle Me” by Simon de Voil (Pastor Kathryn; acapella chant)

Postlude (musician)

The service is concluded.

Worship Resources:

(kms) All content prepared and written by Rev. Kathryn M Schreiber, unless attributed to another source.

(NRSV) New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

(vk) See No Stranger, Valarie Kaur. © 2020 by Valarie Kaur.

St Aidan Resources:

Wisdom of the Celtic Saints, Edward C Sellner.

Praying with the Celtic Saints, Mary C Earle and Sylvia Maddox.

“History of St Aidan the Saint” post http://www.staidanschurch.org/history-of-st-aidan

“St Aidan” video (5 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiWQNe9ih3s

Residency Acknowledgement: This content was written in Huichin Village, unceded territory of the Lisjan- Ohlone people, where I dwell and serve as a local church pastor. Please support indigenous rematriation efforts, the #LandBack movement, and give to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Soghttps://sogoreate-landtrust.org/ and other non-profits that reform, balance, and heal relationships with our indigenous hosts. Thank you!

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Online Publishing Date: August 23, 2022.

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Donation: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is offered free. If you’d like to support the congregation I serve as pastor – Berkeley Chinese Community Church – we’d be most grateful for your support. Please send checks to: BCCC UCC, 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702, Attn: Diane Huie, Treasurer. Thank you!

For Online Content: Please see Facebook pages: “Berkeley Chinese Community Church” and “Living Liturgies”; as well as my website: www.inthebiglove.com and YouTube channel: “Kathryn Schreiber”