Image: panel from “The Dancing Saints” Icons at St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, SF. Iconographer Mark Dukes ©2009. Original written content: Rev. Kathryn M Schreiber ©2022.
Public Health Safety Note: This is our last Sunday morning worship service outside. We return to the Sanctuary for COVID/flu-safe worship on Sunday, November 6, 2022.
Before the service begins: Please place your photos and items honoring loved ones on the Table of Memory. Thank you!
We Gather
“We all suffer three deaths. The first death is the day that we give our last breath, the day that we die. Our second death is the day that we are buried never to be seen on the face of the earth again. And our third death, the most dreaded death of all, is to be forgotten.” – Ofelia Esparza, Dia de Los Muertos altradista
Prelude (musician)
Welcome and Acknowledgements (pastor) Welcome! No matter who you are… No matter where you are on life’s journey… You are welcome here! Welcome guests.
Through Jesus Christ, we are called together as the Beloved Community. We are blessed by this sacred worship space located on unceded territory of the Lisjan-Ohlone people. We honor the past and face the future in peace with hope.
Flowers given by Norman Chong & Jane Mah
Worship Team Musician Everett Louie, Soloist Jonathan Louie, Liturgist David Louie, Pastor Rev. Kathryn Schreiber
Call to Worship (liturgist please teach “Welcome!” response and encourage gestures of welcome)
Liturgist: We invite the ancient souls of Jesus’ beloved disciples to gather with us this morning.
People: Welcome!
Liturgist: We call upon the departed faithful who have served Christ’s Church throughout history.
People: Welcome!
Liturgist: We invite our ancestors, regardless of religion or creed, to assemble in this sacred place.
People: Welcome!
Liturgist: Surrounded by saints and loved ones we open ourselves to God’s Holy Spirit. Amen. (kms)
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)
Votive Lighting Music (musician)
Opening Hymn: “When Morning Gilds the Skies” Chalice #100 (musician)
Passing the Peace (all share gestures and words of peace; pastor)
Time for Children “Still with Us” We are blessed by the presence of dear souls. (pastor; prop: a Menaion or Menologia icon featuring rows of saints arranged chronologically)
We Rest in God’s Grace
Prayer and Silence (pastor) 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) Dear Ones, we are beings with bodies and souls. Due to the pandemic, death has been very much with us in recent years. And, we are all getting older. Everyone’s days on earth are numbered.
Jesus Christ and his original disciples knew their faith could lead to an early death. (Jesus’s earthly life was only thirty to thirty-three years long.) In the beginning of Christianity, when our religion was illegal, many followers of Jesus Christ were martyred. They were killed because of their commitment to Christ. Deep belief in life after death took root among early Christians and remains important to us.
Jesus, when assuring his young followers that death was not to be feared, spoke of going before them preparing for their reunion. Christ continues to prepare Heaven for all who open their hearts to God’s Big Love. May we dwell, together, in peace eternally. Amen.
Special Music (musician)
We Listen
Scripture: Psalm 90:1-4 and John 14:1-3 (version: NRSV) Two beloved passages that help us reflect upon life and death.
Psalm 90:1-4
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.” For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
John 14:1-3
Jesus, speaking to the disciples, said:
“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.
Reflection: “Remembering Our Dearly Beloved” (pastor) Grief, gratitude, and faith combine as we honor those who precede us in death.
Practice: Building a Table of Memory (all) Sharing our memories and stories. Speaking their names in tribute.
Hymn: “For All the Saints” Chalice #637 (musician)
We Pray
Prayer Requests (pastor; all)
Pastoral Prayer (pastor) All-Compassionate Comforter, we are weary from escaping pandemic death and the unfinished grieving isolation created. This long season of loss has also been rocked by acts of fatal violence, as well as normal concerns about our natural aging. We know the cost of being embodied, we will die, and yet we are consoled by the perpetuity of souls.
Everlasting to Everlasting, Infinite God, speak deeply to our souls of that which never dies. Grant us spiritual sap that we might remain faithful, hopeful, and joyful as our earthly journeys continue and we travel, one day at a time, down this long path of collective grief. Amen.
Prayers of the People, Private Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer (pastor)
Offering of Praise “Doxology” (musician; all) Doxology
We Transition
Announcements (pastor)
- Next Saturday: Project Berkeley HERE!
- Council Meeting (zoom) Wednesday night
- Next Sunday: Stewardship launch
Benediction (pastor; John 14:27) “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
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.
(oe) Ofelia Esparza, altradista (altar artist) featured in Craft in America, Season 9 Episode 1: Boarders.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa Dancing Saints icos: https://www.saintgregorys.org/the-dancing-saints.html
View an Orthodox Menaion for August: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/b7/e2/e1b7e25a7e2a80ef18fb0c29920183ff.jpg
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: October 25, 2022.
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Donation: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is 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”
in the big love 
