Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship

June 5, 2011

Pastors:  Dan Schrock and Lois Stoltzfus Mast

Phone:  (574) 534-2398           e-mail: 

Creation Waits in Pain

GATHERING

Prelude

Welcome and Invocation

Introduction to Series

PRAISING

Songs

            All creatures of our God and King (blue book, 48)

            Creation is a song (green book, 24)

Children’s Time                                               Susan Garboden

            Song:  Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Reflective Moments:

* Think about a natural setting where you have encountered   

   God the Creator.

* Think about a natural setting you love and would grieve

   for if it were destroyed.

                        (silence during this time)

      Musical interlude and moving to new seats:  (Please move to the section of the sanctuary representing the place you thought about.)

Song:  Come and give thanks to the Giver (blue book, 57)

Litany 

Water people:  Giver of Life, we have met you by the     

      waters

            Grassland people:  We have met you in grasslands

            Forest people:  We have met you in shaded woodlands

      Mountain people:  We have met you on mountainsides and

      hills

Garden people:  We have met you on farms, in gardens, at  

       our dinner tables.

            Others:  We have met you in places that have no names.

All:  Teach us to join your creation in praise.

              Teach us to embrace Earth’s holy gifts.

GRIEVING

      Scripture:  Hosea 4:1-3                                                  Jay Mast

      Sermon:  “A Grieving Creation”                              Dan Schrock

      Litany of Response

            Water people:  We grieve for our oceans, our lakes, our

                   rivers and beaches

            Forest people:  We grieve with our fragmented forests

      Grassland people:  We grieve for the flowers that no   

            longer bloom, the grasses that no longer wave in the  

            wind.

Mountain people:  We grieve with our shattered   

      mountains.

      Garden people:  We grieve for our soil, lost to erosion and  

            urban sprawl.

People of places unnamed:  We grieve for the losses we   

      don’t yet understand.

            Leader:   Who will cry out for our battered planet?

            Water people:  We will speak for the waters.

            Forest people :  We will speak for the forests.

      Grassland people:  We will speak for our prairies and

            plains.

            Mountain people:  We will speak for the mountains.

      Garden people:  We will speak for the soil and plowed   

            ground.

            People of places unnamed:  We will speak for the                

                  voiceless.

      All:  Maker of the Universe, hear our cries. 

Song of Response

      We are people of God’s peace (blue book, 407)

CONNECTING

      Offertory and Offering

      Sharing

      Pastoral Prayer                                                         Peter Shetler

      Affirming New Leaders:  Leadership Selection Vote

      Welcoming Visitors         

Please pass the friendship registers.

      Announcements

Closing Song 

 The peace of the earth be with you (green book, 77)

Worship Participants:

      Worship Leader:  Jennifer Schrock

      Song Leader:  Deb Brubaker

      Accompanist:  Paul Leichty

      Prelude/Offertory:  Lane Miller

      Sound/Projection:  Evan Grimes

      Ushers:  Lisa and Darin Short

      Visuals:  Anne Berry

Childcare is available for infants and toddlers
in the nursery during worship.

Nurture Hour begins ten minutes after the end of worship.

      Today is the first Sunday for our adult nurture hour summer series. All adult classes will be combined during the summer. We will be viewing and discussing the NOOMA DVD series. NOOMA is a series of short films that explore our world from a perspective of Jesus. Join the discussion, search, question, and engage on what matters most. NOOMA films don't claim to hold all the answers, but they do claim to start the conversation. The films feature Rob Bell, pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan (near Grand Rapids). Clare Krabill will be leading our session today on the film titled Kickball which focuses on the subject/question, “Do we really trust God?”

Children from preschool through fifth grade go directly to their classrooms after worship for a snack.

¨      Infants and Toddlers meet in “Cherub Corner.”

¨      Preschool (2 and 3 year-olds) meet in “Joyful.”

¨      Primary (4 and 5 year-olds) meet in “Peace.”

¨      Middler (grades 1-5) meets in “Forgiveness.”

Youth:

The JYF (grades 6-8) and MYF (grades 9-12) meet in their classrooms off of Jubilee Hall.

If you are visiting, please pick up a newsletter

on the literature rack in the fellowship hall.