HELPFUL CHURCH INFORMATION
A NURSERY AND TODDLER ROOM are available downstairs for babies and toddlers during the church service. Grace Kneil will be there to greet you and your children. A multiage SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS meets in the lower level following “A Time for all Children”. Anna Duxler and Megan Lovely teach the class.
BABY MONITORS are available for those of you who leave your children in the nursery or toddler room during the church service. To check one out, please see Grace in the nursery.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUR WEB SITE ww.ucchurch.org each week for updates and new pictures! A preview of the Order of Service, Sunday announcements and Sermons are posted each week! An archive of sermons (select the speaker), newsletters, and up-to-date calendar are all readily available on the website too. Also check out our Facebook page by clicking on “Facebook” on any page of our church website, www.ucchurch.org
HEARING ASSISTED RECEIVERS are available for your use during the church service. Please see an usher if you need one.
WANT A CD of a worship service? Please sign up on the CD Form on the information board in Fellowship Hall. You may pick-up your CD in the library. $2 per CD may be put in “Deposit Box” in the office.
WOMENS’ GUILD BOOK EXCHANGE New books come in every week for this Women’s Guild outreach project. Please bring books you have read and think others would enjoy to add to our bookshelves. We like to keep our inventory interesting and inviting!
CHECK OUT THE BULLETIN BOARDS IN FELLOWSHIP HALL. The minutes of all the UCC Boards are posted on the bulletin boards as are the roster for the Church Council and all other boards.
Good Morning! Welcome to University
Congregational Church!
THIS SUNDAY
HAPPY EASTER
WE WELCOME LAURIE MERCER as our new member this morning. Her profile is in the bulletin today. Please be sure to say hello to Laurie in Fellowship Hall after the church service.
THE EASTER EGG HUNT is right after the church service. Parents and grandparents please take the children to Fellowship Hall before the hunt. The eggs will be hidden in the courtyard for all ages. Note: some candy does contain peanuts or peanut butter.
THIS WEEK
YOGA CLASSES meet on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ($5.00) and Friday at 10:00 a.m.in Fellowship Hall.
IT’S TIME TO SEW on Thursday, April 24 and Thursday, May 1, at 10:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Please come and help make jackets and blankets for Honduras babies. Bring your sewing machine and a sack lunch if you can stay a while. There are plenty of jobs if you do not sew so please come and help.
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT is Friday, April 25, at 6:00 in the downstairs Movie Room. The movie will be the new “Sound of Music”. Pizza, popcorn and pop will be served. Everyone welcome!
NEXT SUNDAY
THE OUTREACH BOARD will meet in the office meeting room at 11:45.
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES will meet in the conference room at 11:45.
THE CHURCH COUNCIL will NOT meet on April 28 as previously scheduled. Council will next meet on Tuesday, May 27.
WE INVITE OUR VISITORS TODAY to join us in Fellowship Hall after the service for coffee, refreshments and conversation. Just follow the crowd down the hallway (west).
PLEASE SIGN THE FELLOWSHIP PAD when it comes down the pew. Members please sign and update any changes in your contact information. If you are a guest, please sign the pad so that we may thank you for worshipping with us.
BOB SCOTT IS INVITING anyone in the congregation who cares to join the UCC Chancel Choir (especially the ladies) to please contact him if you are interested. His email is infoprpi@aol.com or see him after the service.
A SERIES OF CLASSES ON “ZEALOT: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” Please join Rev. Dr. Keith Williamson to explore this best-selling book on Monday nights, 6:30-8:00 p.m. starting May 5 and each Monday through May (except no class on May 26, Memorial Day)and also each Monday in June in the downstairs conference room. This book by acclaimed author Reza Aslan “yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and mission. The result is a thought provoking, elegantly written biography with the pulse of a fast-paced novel: a singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a time, and the birth of a religion.” A few copies of the best-selling book are available in the UCC Library to check out and will be available for $22.00 in the church office. (the book is not out in paperback). Not required reading but preferred.
ARE YOU ARTSY OR CRAFTSY? Do you have a hobby that you’ve wanted to teach to others? The UCC Arts Camp is 6:00-8:00 p.m. Monday June 9, Wednesday June 11, and Friday June13 and is a perfect way to share your hobby or talent. Sign up on the PIC board so we can incorporate your class into our curriculum. See Paul for more details.
WG ROAD TRIP TO NELL HILL’S!!!!
DATE AND TIME HAS CHANGED
The trip has changed to Friday, May 2, and is leaving at 7:45 a.m. We will meet at the church, hop in the van, and head north to Nell Hill’s in Atchinson, KS to shop till you drop. Nell Hill (www.nellhills.com) is a house décor store with great prices. Muffins will be provided on the van. Plan to have lunch in Atchinson and be back in Wichita late afternoon. Hopefully the van is big enough for all the purchases. Two slots open @ $25.00 p.p (to pay for the gas/van.). Sign up in Fellowship Hall
invites you to a
Mother’s and Other’s Brunch
Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Hall
Dr. Erin McGonigle will be the speaker
Please sign up in Fellowship Hall
Traditional Word : John 20: 1-29
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Contemporary Word:
The raising up of Jesus implies a story – the death of the martyr, God’s vindication of the martyr, the ultimate vindication of God’s justice. **[But it is not so much Jesus physical body raised as it is the community, the body of Christ, who thought itself crushed and dead that has been raised]
The final coordinate indicates that the raising up is ultimately about God [not Jesus]. God’s justice is at stake, God’s creation is at risk, God’s action is celebrated.
Thus… the trouble with resurrection is that we have literalized, narrowed, and constricted it, turned it into a creedal belief, and in the process forfeited its great claim to hope.
**[Resurrection always happens in community … i.e. in a room of frightened disciples, walking down a road, gathered around a table breaking bread, on a beach sharing fish, etc.] Bernard Brandon Scott’s “The Trouble with Resurrection, From Paul to the Fourth Gospel”
OUR APPRECIATION TO ALL WHO DONATED TO OUR BEAUTIFUL EASTER LILY DISPLAY THIS MORNING
Mike and Leigh Aaron Leary in memory of our children David and Tiffany
Sue and Larry Anderson
Mert and Connie Buckley in honor of our parents
Linda Burnside
Jay and Phyllis Decker
Jan Deering in loving memory of Bert Deering
Brian and Brooke Finan in loving memory of our grandparents
Chuck and Jenny Fry in honor of Jack and Gail Stark
Kathryn Langrehr
Dean Mason in honor of Corlie Mason
Trudy Matthews in memory of my sister Shirley Thornhill
Lillian Mayer in memory of Hugo Mayer, Jr.
Anna Mills in appreciation for my family
Kelly and Will Momsen in memory of our parents Bill and Helen Momsen and Chet and Laurel Anderson
George and Maxine Morrison in memory of Bert Deering
Gary and Karen Nye in memory of Margene Nye
Ginger Phillips in memory of Devan Krausch
Jim and Beverly Rhatigan
Charlie and Gloria Russell in loving memory of our parents
Fred and Virginia Soper
Sabrina Standifer in memory of my grandmother, Louise Landers, and aunt, Judy Andrews
Waugh, Sheila and Dennis
Mary Williams and Carl Bruce Williams
Laurie Mercer
Laurie was born in Wichita, has always lived here, and loves it here! There is nowhere else she would rather live. Her undergraduate degree is from WSU in elementary education. She has a Master’s degree from Emporia State in Instructional Design and Technology. She has been teaching for 19 years all in the Wichita Public Schools: elementary for 13 years, middle school technology for 4.5 and now works downtown as a technology instructional facilitator. Basically she teaches teachers how to use their technology and how to integrate it in their classrooms. She loves what she does but really misses working with kids.
Laurie has won a Distinguished Classroom Teacher award from USD 259 and the award for Region 4 of the state which led to place on the 2006 Kansas Teacher of the Year Team. This allowed her the great experience to travel the state and see other schools and meet with other educators.
Because Laurie is adventurous and enjoys trying new things she has a wide range of interests and activities. She likes to take road trips finding interesting places off the beaten path. Since she loves the state of Kansas and its beauty and quirkiness, she often takes her dogs (an Australian Shepherd named Google and a sheltie named Daisy) for hikes in the Flint Hills or at one of the lakes. She loves science, technology, the skies, and all things in nature—which means if at all possible, you will find her outside, no matter what the weather.
Laurie competes in agility (obstacle courses) with her dogs and is a 4 time agility champion with her sheltie Cosmo, who she lost last fall. She loves to herd sheep, cattle and ducks with Google, which is what Google, being a shepherd is bred to do.
Sports are big part of Laurie’s life both watching and playing, especially tennis. She was high school state champion while at Collegiate and now competes on a few adult teams. After taking Ted Blankenship’s class her latest hobby is photography which she does on her Kansas ventures and lately on the UCC Holy Land trip. She also has learned about sound from Tim Duncan and you will see Laurie at the sound board or on the video camera on Sunday mornings.
Long time member, Don Luellen, is Laurie’s uncle. We welcome you Laurie, to our UCC church family!!!!
Gloria
Words to the music and the readings
I. The Proclamation
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men of good will.
Reading from the Hindu Bhagavadgita
(The Song of the Divine)
I am the Self, O Arjuna, dwelling in the hearts of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.
I am the glory of Brahman, the immortal and immutable, of Eternal Dharma, and of Absolute Bliss.
II. The Prayer
We praise you.
We bless you.
We adore you.
We glorify you.
We give thanks to you for your great glory.
Reading from the Buddhist Diamond Sutra
Like a tiny drop of dew, or a bubble floating in
a stream;
Like a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
Or a flickering lamp, and illusion, a phantom,
or a dream.
So is all conditioned existence to be seen.
III. The Psalm
O praise God in his holiness.
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his noble acts.
Praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him in the sound of the trumpet.
Praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance.
Praise him upon the strings and pipe.
Praise him upon the well-tuned cymbals.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the
Lord.
Reading from the Taoist Tao Te Ching
(The Classic of the Way and Virtue)
The Way that words can tell is not the eternal Way.
The name that words can name is not the
eternal name.
The nameless is the source of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of myriad forms.
Free from desire: behold the unknowable.
Filled with desire: behold the visible.
Being and non-being springing from the source,
and differing only in their name:
this is the deepest mystery,
the darkness of the dark,
this is the gateway opening to the All.
IV. The Song: I’ll Make Music, soloist Emily Moore
Lord and Master, I’ll sing a song to you,
On the ten-string lyre I’ll make music.
Lord and Master, let your thoughts fall like
rain,
and just like showers on new grass.
We’ll play for you with harps and trumpets,
we’ll sing some psalms in praise of you,
we’ll play for you with flutes and cymbals,
we’ll sing some psalms in praise of you.
Lord and Master, I’ll sing a song to you,
On the ten-string lyre, I’ll sing praises to you.
Lord and Master, let your words descend like
dew,
and just like droplets on tender leaves.
We’ll play for you with harps and trumpets,
we’ll sing some psalms in praise of you,
we’ll play for you with flutes and cymbals,
we’ll sing some psalms in praise of you.
I’ll make music, I shall make new music,
I shall make music for you.
Reading from the Qur’an:
(The Opening)
In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Master of the Day of Judgment
Thee we worship, and Thy help we seek.
V. The Exaltation
Lord God, heavenly King,
God, the almighty Father.
Lord only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord God, Lamb of God, son of the Father.
You who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
You who takes away the sins of the world,
hear our prayer.
You who sits at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are holy, you alone are the
Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus
Christ, with the Holy spirit in the glory of
God the Father, Amen.