ROCKY HILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

Established 1727

September 29, 2013 - 10:00 a.m. Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Heritage Sunday

The Friendly Church at the Center An Open and Affirming Community

~ORDER OF WORSHIP~

We welcome all and extend a special greeting to our guests; our service is enriched by your presence! Please join us in Chapin Hall for fellowship time after worship.

The Welcome Table in Chapin Hall offers information about the church and members who can answer your questions. Hearing devices and large-print bulletins are available for worship—ask an usher. Nursery care is always available downstairs in Room 4.

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WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Meghan D. Young

Please include your full address and phone number as you sign our friendship registration pads, and please wear your nametags. All announcements should be written down and given to the ushers or pastors prior to worship.

If you have a prayer request you would like read aloud for today’s prayers, please fill out one of the prayer cards found in the pew racks (your name is optional) and be prepared to pass it to the center aisle at the time of the offering, when the cards will be collected.

PRELUDE Excerpt from "Fantasy in C Major" by J.S. Bach

CALL TO WORSHIP The Rev. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza We gather to worship our God,

who is aware of the gifts of sacrifice and love that are in this place. We recall the hosts of persons,

who have sung the gospel and lifted prayers in harmony. God, we thank you for our heritage of faith;

give us the will and strength to pass it on to others. Come, for nothing can separate us from the love of God!

Let us worship God, and to God let us pray. Praise be to God!

*HYMN “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” Pilgrim Hymnal 1 * P l e a s e r i s e i n b o d y o r i n s p i r i t . * B o l d t y p e d e n o t e s c o l l e c t i v e r e s p o n s e .

*GATHERING PRAYER AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we come as a people who cherish the memories that are ours, and who claim a common history as a sacred gift. Renew your grace in us, that we might recognize your presence in our midst and hear the call of the gospel in the human needs that surround us. Through the power of your compelling Spirit may we grow in courage, that our actions might reflect the love we profess. This we ask in name of your child, Jesus, as we also say together:

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 debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

*SUNG RESPONSE::::

RECOGNITION OF 50 YEAR MEMBERS (names printed in bulletin) Diaconate Members

MESSAGE FOR ALL AGES

CHILDREN’S RECESSIONAL (Children are invited to depart for S.P.I.R.I.T. Church School)

“We Will Keep a Place For You” by John Corrado

ANTHEM "It Is Well with My Soul" Setting by John Ness Beck The Choir

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin - O the joy of this glorious thought - My sin, not in part, but in whole Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll: The trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend, "Even so" it is well with my soul!

READING FROM THE SCRIPTURES Jeremiah 31:1-3, 6-15

SERMON "The Ghosts of Radicals Past" Meghan D. Young

*HYMN “What Gift Can We Bring?” New Century 370

OFFERING OF GIFTS Following the receiving of offerings by the ushers, the pastor(s) will come to the center aisle to receive prayer request cards.

Invitation to the Offering For those who have already given their offering, Giving Cards are available in your pew so that all may participate in the act of the offering.

Offertory Anthem "How Firm a Foundation" Setting by Hal Hopson

The Choir How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in God's excellent Word! What more can be said than to you God has said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

"When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie. My grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply, The flame shall not hurt you; I only design Your dross to consume, and your gold to refine."

"When through the deep waters I call you to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not over flow, For I will be near you, your troubles to bless, And sanctify to you your deepest distress."

"Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed, For I am your God and will still give you aid. I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake."

*Doxology

*Prayer of Dedication

Praise God from whom al l blessings f low; Praise God, al l creatures here below;

Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Joys and Concerns Pastoral and Silent Prayer Prayer Response

*HYMN “God, We Thank You for Our People” New Century 376

*BENEDICTION

* POSTLUDE "Psalm XIX" by Benedetto Marcello

GREETERS Sujalha Pullagura and Daniel Guijarlapudi HOSPITALITY Charlotte Bacon and Joan Tennyson USHERS Gael and Gregson Curtin, Janet Hansen, Cindy Hunt, John Speers

The flowers are given in celebration of our fifty plus year membership at RHCC by Mark and Pat Hughes Walworth

RHCCUCC INTERIM PROCESS CONGREGATIONAL CONVERSATION #2, October 6, 11:30 – 12:15

Child care provided.

Topic: Core Purpose

What are churches for? What does this church exist for? In what ways are we serving/not serving our core purpose?

What kind of new pastoral leadership do we imagine, in light of our core purpose?

Upcoming Conversations: Part 3: Oct. 13 Part 4: Nov.3 A summary from Conversation #1 (Sept. 22) is on the bulletin board in Chapin Hall, and is also available through the church office.

50+ Members Thelma Backe Anne King Russell Stickels Charlotte Bacon Gladys Kitchens Jean Sudell Ruby Bennett *Joseph Kunzelman Betty Swain Larry Carlson Janet Kunzelman Phil Swain Grace Cole Priscilla Lexa John Sword Mary D’Addario Thomas Matthias Midge Sword Gail Fu Judith McMannon Joan Tennyson Bob Furman Betty Mooney Audrey Titcomb Leland Gilbert David Parry Gordon Titcomb Anne Louise Griswold Nancy Powell Joyce Toft Jim Griswold *Orlo Powell James Ussery Leona Griswold Doug Robbins Mark Walworth Lois Griswold Nancy Robbins Anita Watson Alfred Harlow *Martin Rowe *Lynn Webster Viola Harlow Janet Rowley Alice Weil Midge Harvey Joan-Marie Schaefer **Arthur Weil Bobbie Hawkins Doris Schreier Dot Wenzel Dave Hawkins Tom Schreier Babs Wheeler Doris Hick Bob Simmons Paul Wilson Jean Holmes Richard Somes Alan Wind Pat Hughes-Walworth Thelma Somes John Hummel Stewart Sprague Dot Hunter Sylvia Steucek

*New 50-year member **Entered Eternal Life this past year

N E X T W E E K Sunday, October 6,

World Communion Sunday Neighbors-In-Need Offering

The Rev. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza is preaching.

BLESSING OF THE 2013 RHCC FAIR QUILT The Quilt 'Decisions' is being presented by the RHCC Quilters to receive a blessing prior to being donated to the church for the fair. The 2013 quilt is a joint effort of Kim Batterson-Biglow, Barbara Burgess, Jean Hamilton, Midge Harvey, Betty Mooney, Doris Schreier, Gail Tine, Dot Wenzel, and Babs Wheeler.

S.P.I.R.I.T. Corner Serve, Pray, Invite, Receive, Ignite, Tell

S.P.I.R.I.T. Faith Nurture Ideas These faith nurture ideas coordinate with the weekly session plans for church school. We hope you

will join us in learning, teaching, and growing together!

Here’s what we’re learning about this week… COME JOIN THE CIRCLE: Unit 1 – Rainbow of Promise (Genesis 6-8; 9:1-17)

What’s Noah’s Story? The Bible is filled with stories of God’s love. Genesis 1 begins at the beginning with the creation that God calls “good” and moves quickly to Genesis 6 with a brand new creation. But is God’s love what you think of when you recall Noah and the ark? Or do you think of cute pairs of animals and boat trip in the rain? You might remember the rainbow, but what about the altar Noah built on dry land? And most importantly, what about the covenant – God’s rainbow promise?

Float-along Faith. Imagine being Noah, planning and building for the unimaginable. The Bible does not say that God chose him because of his talent as an ark builder. Rather, it was his righteousness that landed him the job. His obedience played a part, too, since he agreed to do what God said and he followed God’s instructions – to the letter. His faith must have been strong to believe that only he, his family, and his boatload of animals would be saved from such a massive disaster. How did he make it through those 40 days and nights floating out in the middle of nowhere? When have you struggled to have faith? Wat kept you afloat when trusting was almost impossible? Who are you models of faith? Who, besides Noah, is a Bible hero for you? What part has faith played in your family’s stories? Be deliberate about naming these rich examples of faith to the children in your life. And remember that you can be a model of faithful trust in God’s love to those in your neighborhood and workplace as well as to your family.

A Prayer For The Unit. God of all, thank you for the covenant you made with Noah and the rainbow promises you made to us. May we see the colors of your love all around us. Amen.

NURSERY VOLUNTEERS: Nursery Volunteers are needed for the fall. If you are interested in volunteering in the Nursery during Sunday morning worship, please contact a member of the Childcare Committee or email them at RHCCchildcare@gmail.com for more information. You can also sign-up outside the Nursery.

PARENTS: Church school ends at 11:15 AM.

Please pick-up your children at the following locations. (So that the children may focus through the end of their class, we ask that you do not look through the classroom

windows, and that you wait for the teacher to end class by opening the classroom door.)

CLASS PICK-UP LOCATION

Pre-K HANDS ON RM. 23

Christian Education Hallway

K - 1st Grade

FOOD & PEOPLE Youth Room

Ground Floor of Church

2nd & 3rd Grade

COMMUNITY LIFE RM. 22

Christian Education Hallway

4th & 5th Grade

FUN & GAMES RM. 24

Christian Education Hallway

6th-8th Grade

SHOW & TELL RM. 25 & RM. 27

Christian Education Hallway

GROW YOUR FAITH & GET INVOLVED WITH S.P.I.R.I.T. The RHCC S.P.I.R.I.T. Church School is a place that values intergenerational relationships, growing in faith, and learning throughout our lives to be the disciples Christ calls us to be. You are invited to come join the circle and get involved. We are currently in need of a Show & Tell Learning Center Guide for unit 1. There are also other opportunities throughout the year for learning center guides in all our classrooms. Learning Center guides prepare engaging activities to teach the bible story through community service, drama, games, crafts, and food. Training and lesson plans are always provided. If you are interested in being a learning center guide, or participating in a one-time class, please contact Meghan Young at meghan@rhccucc.org.

Calling all Bowlers

The new bowling season will start on 10/7 and we are looking for anyone interested to

join us. The bowling league meets on Monday nights at 7:00 at Bowl-o-Rama in

Newington. Interested persons should add their name to the sign-up sheet in Chapin

Hall or contact Michele Jokl at mjokl@joklfamily.com. No experience necessary.

COUNTRY FAIR

Rocky Hill Congregational Church

805 Old Main St., Rocky Hill

Sat, October 19th - 9:00 a.m.-2 p.m.

• Buy-it-Now Silent Auction

• Chapin Hall of Foods -Bake Shop -Candy Shop -Snack Bar -Farmer's Market

• Toy Shop

• Holiday House

• Sew Country

• Jewelry Boutique

• Kitchen Shop

• Kitchen Outlet

• Missions Booth

• Quilt Raffle

• Tea Room (opens @ 11:00)

• Roast Beef Dinner

• Saturday, October 19th @ 5:30 p.m. • Gluten-free items available

• Tickets $12/adults $5/children

• Children under 4 yrs old free

• Reservations Required

• Call Church Office at (860) 529-4167

SCRIP-SURE What is it? Scrip-sure is a fundraising program for our church, which allows the regular shopping we do at a variety of retailers to generate income for the church. How? Participating retailers sell gift certificates or gift cards to our church at a discount. Church members buy the certificates for full face value and redeem them for full face value, and our church keeps the difference as revenue. Everybody wins! The retailers get our business, and our church gets a regular source of revenue that involves nothing other than what we would all be doing anyway – shopping/spending at grocery stores, drugstores, restaurants, gas stations, and many other businesses, including online retailers.

We have a variety of cards in inventory available for immediate purchase this morning, including (but not limited to) Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chico's, Home Depot, Kohl's, Panera, Staples, TGI Fridays, Sunoco, Target, and Walmart. In addition, we always carry cards for Big Y, CVS, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe's, West Side Marketplace, and Whole Foods. See Gail Hall at the scrip table for a full listing of available cards, or to have all of your questions answered.

If you want any cards that we don't carry in inventory, our next order will be placed at the end of September. Order forms and listings of all available retailers are available at the scrip table. Orders can be submitted anytime through next Sunday (Sept. 29), or emailed to treasurer@rhccucc.org.

Calling all bakers and non-bakers to help with pies for the Church Fair and Roast Beef Dinner, Wednesday, October 16, 2012 from 4-7:30 pm and Thursday, October 17, 2011 from 9:00am to 2:00pm. Bring your peelers, rolling pins, energy and appetites (you will get to sample pie.) The more volunteers the easier the project. Wednesday night we will work with preparing dough as needed and Thursday will peel apples, put together and bake pies and anything else we can do with apples. If you are interested or have any questions please call Marsha Hoffman at 860 563-1367.

Calling All Bakers

And Non-Bakers

ADULT FAITH FORMATION OPPORTUNITIES

Weekly Bible Study: Wednesdays, 12 noon – 1 p.m. (Fiorilli Room)

Led by the preaching pastor for the week, the study is based on the Scripture text(s) coming up for the following Sunday in worship. All are welcome. No experience necessary. Bring your favorite translation or pick one up from the shelf. Brown bag lunch is optional.

Fall Book Study: Two Thursday evenings, Nov. 14 and 21, 7 p.m. Led by Rev. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza

Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, by Richard Rohr

In this small and readable book, Franciscan and well-known spiritual author/teacher Richard Rohr explores the sequence of spiritual tasks through life and how they shift. It is not a book on aging. It is about spiritual journey, as it unfolds in human life. Rohr writes: There are at least two major tasks to human life. The first is to build a strong ‘container’ or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container

was meant to hold… It is when we begin to pay attention and seek integrity precisely in the ‘the task within the task (what we’re really doing when we’re doing what we’re doing) that we begin to move from the first half to the second half of our own lives….It is hard work. Most often we don’t pay attention to that inner task until we’ve had some kind of fall or failure in our outer tasks. Please use the sign-up and book order request in Chapin Hall. Books will be $12 each. Sign-up deadline is Sun., Sept. 29.

LOOKING FOR ITEMS FROM OTHER CULTURES: DO YOU HAVE SOME TO SHARE?

On Sunday, Oct. 6, we'll be joining other Christian denominations in celebrating WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY. Our service will feature a variety of languages, a variety of breads, and various visual reminders that we are connected as one, throughout the world.

We'd like to include a special display in Chapin Hall that day, of items from our members, representing cultures other than our own. If you have something you can share, please bring it to the church office by Friday, Oct. 4. The display will be assembled on that Sunday morning, and you may take your items home with you after worship that day.

This Week at RHCC

S e p t e m b e r 2 9 S u n d a y 11:30am Vocal Worshop Second Hour S e p t e m b e r 3 0 M o n d a y 9:00am Yoga with Lynn Chapin Hall 5:30pm Yoga with Lynn Chapin Hall 7:00pm Women’s AA Chapin Hall 7:30pm Bell Choir Loft O c t o b e r 1 T u e s d a y 1:00pm Yoga with Lynn Chapin Hall 7:00pm Boards/Committees O c t o b e r 2 W e d n e s d a y 9:00am Quilters Room 6 12:00pm Bible Study Fiorilli Room 6:00pm Kaplan Room 24 7:30pm Adult Choir Choir Room O c t o b e r 3 T h u r s d a y 5:30 pm Tops Chapin Hall 8:00pm Men’s AA Chapin Hall O c t o b e r 4 F r i d a y 5:30 pm Wedding rehearsal Sanctuary O c t o b e r 1 S a t u r d a y 8:30am Yoga with Lynn Chapin Hall 3:30pm Wedding Sanctuary

Sept 29 George Moore III Justin Knight Eric Jokl

30 Evelyn Danforth Oct 2 Sophia Cardello

4 Stacy Vely Sandra Mason 5 Edward Day

Rocky Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ 805 Old Main Street Rocky Hill, CT 06067

Church Office: office@rhccucc.org / 860 529-4167

Church Website: rhccucc.org Visit us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/rhccucc

O f f i c e H o u r s Monday – Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Friday 8:30 to 12:00

Open and Affirming Statement Because we believe that all people are created in God’s image and thus are blessed and loved equally by God, and because love is a unifying and strengthening force within our Christian Faith,

We, the members of the Rocky Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, hereby declare ourselves an Open and Affirming Christian community, actively expressing Jesus’ inclusive embrace of all people.

We welcome all who seek to follow Jesus, including persons of every age, gender, race, national origin, faith background, marital status and family structure, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, mental and physical ability, economic and social status, and educational background, to share in the life, leadership, ministry, fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities, blessings and joys of our church family.

Jesus teaches us to welcome all God’s children into God’s covenantal community. As we grow together in faith and love, we will strive to celebrate the diversity in which God has created us. Approved by congregational vote June 2009

Ministry Team Ministers: All the members of the church

Interim Senior Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza brenda@rhccucc.org Acting Associate Pastor for Faith Formation: Meghan D. Young meghan@rhccucc.org

Minister of Music: Mary DeLibero mary@rhccucc.org Webmaster: Dave Hall webmaster@rhccucc.org