The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct 6, Season of Creation
Season of Creation
ORDER OF SERVICE BULLETIN
8:00 & 10:30 AM, Holy Eucharist
Welcome to The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, a welcoming and diverse community seeking to walk in the Way of Jesus and to reveal Christ’s reconciling love in our city, nation, and world.
Get Involved: If you fill out a “Let’s Get Connected Card” found in your pew, or at the Welcome Table by the door where you came into the church, we’d be glad to keep you up to date with all that’s happening at Holy Communion. Or, simply scan the QR code below to visit holycommunion.net where you can share your contact information, find a worship bulletin, read the latest news, and more.
Communion: “These are the gifts of God for the people of God.”
At The Church of the Holy Communion, we believe that it is Christ himself who invites us to meet him in the bread and the cup. Though it is known by many names - Communion, Mass, Holy Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper, the Sacrament of the Altar - it is the means by which Christ’s real presence abides with us by faith. Therefore, all are welcome to receive. When it comes time for Communion, please follow the directions of the Greeters. The bread is offered to all, with gluten free wafers available, upon request, from the minister. If you would like to receive the wine, you may either drink from the cup, or intinct (dip) the wafer in the wine. Likewise, it is acceptable to receive only the bread, if for personal or health reasons you prefer to not consume wine. Those not receiving Communion, may also come forward. Indicate to the minister that you do not wish to receive Communion by simply crossing your arms across your chest, and the minister will offer a prayer for God’s blessing in your life.
Kids are expected! Kids are welcome to "act their age" and encouraged to fully participate in worship. Kids may use the "Pray Ground” (carpeted area near the chapel), take a Worship Wonder bag from the back of the Nave, or join their adults with kids' worship bulletins and crayons provided by greeters. Starting September 8th, Godly Play is offered downstairs beginning at 10 am. Kids return to their caregivers at 11am in time for the Peace. Mitchell Hall is our designated infant feeding area during the service. If you need assistance finding any of these options, just ask a Greeter.
Accessibility: “Priority Seating” is provided for caretakers of those with mobility needs. Our entrances have auto-open buttons, and our elevator is ADA compliant. Both the downstairs restrooms and one of the upstairs restrooms are accessible.
Hearing Assistance: Hearing assistance devices are available from the welcome table. If you have any questions, just ask a Greeter.
Donations: We welcome donations to support the mission and ministry Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion. Monetary donations can be placed in the offering plate that will be passed during the service, put in the wooden offering box found at the Welcome Table, by scanning the QR code below, or by electronic donations set up through your bank or on the church website, holycommunion.net
The 2024 Discernment Team Needs Holy Communion’s help!
What is Discernment? It is the ability to choose or judge well, often using spiritual guidance to help make a decision. The Discernment Team is working hard to gather as much information as possible in order to choose a new Rector, and it is extremely important to hear your opinions!
The Discernment Team is hosting Congregational Discussion Sessions with the Holy Communion Community to assist in answering the questions “who are we?” and “what are we looking for in our next Rector?”
Please attend a session to voice your opinion! To view Discussion Session times and sign-up online, visit holycommunion.net, or add your name to the sign-up sheet located in the Narthex.
Our 2024 Discernment Team
Shirley Mensah and Jean Parker, Co-chairs;
Denise Carpenter, Nancy Donohoo, Anita Donahou, Peter Fairchild,
Scott Lunte, Karen Payne, Tyler Schwartz, Michael Stokes,
Andrew Wasson, and Alisa Williams.
Preparing to Worship Please pray silently.
A Prayer in a Season of Discernment
God our Creator,
You have a plan for each of us,
You hold out to us a future full of hope.
Give us the wisdom of your Spirit
So that we can see the shape of your plan
In the gifts you have given us,
And in the circumstances of our daily lives.
Give us the freedom of your Spirit,
To seek you with all our hearts,
And to choose Your will above all else.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who with you and the Holy Spirit
Lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.
✠
Prelude (10:30 Service)
Welcome
Processional Hymn (10:30 Service) SEE INSERT
Please rise in body or spirit.
Opening Acclamation
Celebrant This is the day the Creator has made!
People Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Amen.
Celebrant Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ
our Lord. Amen
Canticle of Praise (spoken in unison)
A Song of Creation Benedicite, omnia opera Domini
All you works of God, bless your creator;
praise her and glorify her for ever.
Let the wide Earth bless the creator;
let the arching heavens bless the creator;
let the whole body of God bless the creator;
praise her and glorify her for ever.
You returning daylight, bless your creator;
twilight and shadows, bless your creator;
embracing darkness, bless your creator;
praise her and glorify her for ever.
Let all who live and grow and breathe bless our creator,
praise her and glorify her for ever.
Liturgy of the Word
The first part of the service is the Liturgy of the Word, in which we read and respond to appointed lessons from Scripture. We hear the stories of the experience of God from our spiritual ancestors. Following an ancient pattern originally from Jewish synagogue worship, readings follow a calendar, or “lectionary,” shared by Christians around the world.
Collect of the Day SEE INSERT
Celebrant God be with you.
People And also with you.
Celebrant Let us pray.
The Celebrant leads the congregation in the Collect.
The Lessons
Please be seated.
First Lesson
Reader Hear what the Spirit is saying to all God’s creation.
People Thanks be to God.
The Psalm
(spoke in unison) SEE INSERT
Second Lesson: Quote on Creation SEE INSERT
Reader Hear what the Spirit is saying to all God’s creation.
People Thanks be to God.
Gospel Processional Hymn
(10:30 Service) SEE INSERT
Please rise in body or spirit.
The Holy Gospel SEE INSERT
Please remain standing.
Before the Gospel Reading, sung at the 10:30 service. Be Still and Know
Deacon The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to ______.
People Glory to you, Lord Christ.
After the Gospel Reading
Deacon The Gospel of the Lord.
People Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Repeat sung “Be Still and Know” at the 10:30 service.
Sermon
A moment of silence is observed, following the sermon.
Affirmation of Faith (spoken in unison) Colossians 1:15-20
This “poem” or hymn of Christ, was written by the Apostle Paul around 60 CE, approximately 250 years prior to the more familiar Nicene Creed.
Please rise, or kneel, in body or in spirit. Spoken in unison.
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—
all things have been created through him and for him.
He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place in everything.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him God was pleased
to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.
The Prayers of the People: Intercessory Prayers for Creation
Leader Loving God, even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she places her young near Your altar. You are attentive to all you have made.
God, who listens to every living thing,
People Help us listen as you do.
Leader Loving God, help us provide refuge to every animal and plant with whom we live. Help us be attentive to all you have made.
God, in whom all creation subsists,
People Help us listen as you do.
Leader Loving God, when Jesus cried out and gave up his Spirit, the earth shook and the rocks split. You are known by the whole of Creation that listens to you. Be with our parish during this season of discernment. Grant us patient wisdom to listen to your guidance.
God, to whom all creation responds,
People Help us respond to you.
Leader Loving God, help us hear and know you just as the earth and rocks do. Help us to learn from the way in which we see Creation recognize your glorious beauty.
God, to whom all creation responds,
People Help us respond to you.
Leader Loving God, you are present in your Creation and seek to heal her wounds. You can be
found walking in the garden. Open our eyes to see you, the gardener, tending to the
needs of all living things. Remembering especially __________. (The people may add their
petitions, silently or aloud.)
God, who is present with your Creation,
People Help us be present, too.
Leader Loving God, we often abandon your creation and cause its wounds. Help us to follow in
your footsteps and learn to walk in the garden like you. Remembering all your faithful
ministers, including Michael, our Presiding Bishop, Sean, our Presiding Bishop-elect, and
Deon, our Bishop.
God, who is present with your creation,
People Help us be present, too.
Leader Loving God, who hears every voice, knows each cry of injustice, and is attentive to the
suffering of the earth: teach us to listen. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect
the world and not prey on it, that we may listen to the world you have created and not
close ourselves off from it. Reveal to us the ways in which we have failed to hear your
voice in how we treat the earth.
God, who listens to every living thing,
People Help us listen as you do. Amen.
Deacon Let us confess our sins against God and God’s creation.
A moment of silence is observed.
Deacon and people in unison.
Merciful and sustaining God, we have sinned against you.
We confess our lack of gratitude for the beauty and bounty of your creation: teach us to see that your earth sustains us and all that lives.
We confess that we have misused your Earth: grant us amendment of life.
We confess that we have not cared for your creatures, including our neighbors: forgive our willful offenses.
We confess that we have been intemperate in our appetites: strengthen us in self-control.
We confess that we have taken the abundance of your world for granted: make us urgent now for its protection.
Forgive and renew us now through our Savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Celebrant concludes with an absolution or a suitable Collect.
Almighty God, have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
The Peace Please rise in body or in spirit.
Celebrant The peace of Christ be always with you.
People And also with you.
We greet one another with a sign of God’s peace.
Welcome and Announcements
Please be seated for a few brief announcements. On the first Sunday of the month, we remember birthdays for the month, and invite those celebrating birthdays to come forward, as one of the clergy offers prayers and blessings.
Offertory Sentence
Celebrant “The first law of our being is that we are set in a delicate network of interdependence with our fellow human beings and with the rest of God’s creation.”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, God Has A Dream
Therefore, walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. - Ephesians 5:2
Offertory Anthem
At the 10:30 service, a musical offering is presented by the choir or soloist.
Offertory Hymn
At the 10:30 service, please rise in body or in spirit and sing as the ushers bring forward our offerings.
The Liturgy of the Table
The second part of the liturgy moves to the Table. As we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, we gather in a way Christians have done since earliest times. At The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, all are welcome at the Communion Table.
Please rise in body or in spirit.
The Eucharistic Prayer
Celebrant God be with you.
People And also with you.
Celebrant Lift up your hearts
People We lift them to the Lord.
Celebrant Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Praise and thanks are yours, our Creating God. From the dust of the Earth you shaped human beings in your own image, and you filled the earth and seas and skies with a myriad of wonders. Yet we consistently turn your generosity into our scarcity, your elegance into our meanness, and your simplicity into our corruption.
Though we poison and destroy your good Creation, you continue to offer us your abundance. In your mercy, you have redeemed us through your Son, Jesus, transforming death into life.
Through the Spirit you continue to call us into covenant with you—for the restoration of Creation and the reconciliation of all people.
And so we give you thanks, rejoicing with all of Creation, as we join the saints and angels in their unending hymn:
The people join together in the Sanctus (Sung at the 10:30 service), and then the presider continues.
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread, gave it to his friends and said: “Take and eat, for this is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
He took the wine, and gave thanks to God, Creator. He gave it to his friends saying: “This is my blood of the new covenant, shed for you and for all creation for the forgiveness of sins. Every time you drink the wine, do this in remembrance of me.”
So we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Merciful God, we come to this table seeking reconciliation: with you, with one another, and with all creation. Through these mysteries reconcile us to our world and empower us to restore your Creation and fulfill your will. Send your life-giving Spirit upon us, and upon this bread and wine. Stir in us the creative and redeem the destructive. Heal your stricken world, that the soil, the skies, and the seas may be filled with your life anew.
Fill every heart with the sure and certain hope that we shall enter into the fullness of your joy, when your whole Creation is justified by faith and sanctified by love, and you are all in all. Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, everlasting God, now and forever.
AMEN.
Sung at the 10:30 service. L233
The Lord’s Prayer
Celebrant And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, and in the language of our heart, we pray:
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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu Nombre, venga tu reino, hágase tu voluntad, en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal. Porque tuyo es el reino, tuyo es el poder, y tuya es la gloria, ahora y por siempre. Amén.
The Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant This is Living Bread, given for all Creation.
People All who eat this bread share in Christ’s Body.
The congregation may be seated.
Communion Hymns SEE INSERT
The congregation is invited to join in the singing of communion hymns
Post Communion Prayer Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Please rise in body or in spirit.
Celebrant Let us pray
People Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Sending of Lay Eucharistic Visitors
At various times, Lay Eucharistic Visitors take the consecrated bread and wine to those who cannot physically be present for worship. When we do so, the following prayer may be offered:
Deacon We send you forth, bearing these holy gifts, that those to whom you go may share with us in the Body and Blood of Christ our Savior.
People We who are many are one body, because we all share one bread, one cup.
The Blessing
Recessional Hymn SEE INSERT
Dismissal
Deacon Tend the earth,
Care for God’s good Creation;
As you have received freely, so give freely.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!
People Thanks be to God!
Postlude (10:30 Service)
✠
Parish Staff
The Rev. C. Earl Mahan, Interim Rector
call 314-721-7401 x303 text 314-996-9814
The Rev. Julie Graham, Associate Rector
call 314-721-7401 x302 text 314-886-7594
The Rev. Chester Hines, Deacon
call 314-367-7332
Darcy Brainard, Parish Administrator
call 314-721-7401
Mary Chapman, Director of Music
Earl Naylor, Organist
organist@holycommunion.net
Jim Kern, Financial Administrator
Parish Vestry
Fran Caradonna, Senior Warden
Rudy Walz, Junior Warden
Kellie McCoy, Treasurer
Pat Redington, Secretary
Rebecca Comas
Bob Lowes
Heidi Volkl
Andrew Wasson
Tim Anderson
Music used and reprinted with permission under OneLicense #A-704988,
WorshipCast License #13476, and St. James Music Press License #14747
Cover Image
A Bird Preaches to St. Francis
Kelly Latimore Icons Used with Permission
INSERT:
The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi - October 6
Music sung at 10:30 service
Prelude: Prelude on Hyfrydol by Paul Manz
Processional Hymn: All Creatures of our God and King H400
Sequence Hymn: Be Still and Know that I am God
Offertory Anthem: God is Love and Where True Love Is H577
Offertory Hymn: The Light of the World
Communion Anthem: My Maker's World by Sheldon Curry
The Collect
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may, for love of you, delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Lesson: Job 39:1–18
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?
Can you number the months that they fulfil,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
when they crouch to give birth to their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open;
they go forth, and do not return to them.
"Who has let the wild ass go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
to which I have given the steppe for its home,
the salt land for its dwelling-place?
It scorns the tumult of the city;
it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
and it searches after every green thing.
"Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your crib?
Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
and will you hand over your labour to it?
Do you have faith in it that it will return,
and bring your grain to your threshing-floor?
"The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.
For it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
forgetting that a foot may crush them,
and that a wild animal may trample them.
It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
though its labour should be in vain, yet it has no fear;
because God has made it forget wisdom,
and given it no share in understanding.
When it spreads its plumes aloft,
it laughs at the horse and its rider."
Psalm 121 Spoken in unison
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;
5 The Lord himself watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.
8 The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Second Lesson: Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
"God has called me to walk in humility, and showed me the way of simplicity... The Lord has shown me that he wants me to be a new kind of fool in the world, and God does not want to lead us by any other knowledge than that."
The Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Announcements
More information on upcoming events can be found at
St. Francis Sunday - Blessing of the Animals and More! TODAY, bring your leashed/contained pets to be blessed after the 10:30 service. Activities for children and ALL ages will begin at 9! Join a presentation on Blessing of the Animals for Adult Forum. Follow St. Francis outside where we will be gardening vegetables, planting flowers, & learning about raising chickens! Make a stain glass window to pray for creation at home!
Autumn Prayer Morning: Holy Communion Church is hosting a special Autumn Morning of Prayer on Saturday, October 26th from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Enjoy two silent prayer periods and an opportunity to explore the Labyrinth guided by Rev. Julie. Optional gentle yoga is included and a light breakfast & lunch will be served. All are welcome/no experience needed! Sign up at holycommunion.net/contemplative-prayer.
Dia de los Muertos & All Saints Sunday: On October 27, please bring photos of deceased loved ones to contribute to our Ofrenda (altar shrine) in time for Dia de los Muertos. Or visit the holycommunion.net main page to register your loved ones for the Necrology list/submit photos online to be printed. On November 3, Holy Communion will have a special blessing to honor loved ones who have passed within the last year.
Stewardship Campaign 2025: The 2025 Stewardship Campaign for Holy Communion’s Annual Giving has begun! Thank you to our past and future contributors! Fill out a pledge card, or go to Giving on our website. If you enjoy celebrating our parish and would like to join the Stewardship Committee, please contact Michael Salsich (314-971-9782).
Godly Play 2024/25: Grandparents, godparents, aunties and uncles, Godly Play needs the household of God's adults to volunteer with Godly Play from 10-11am on Sundays. Once a month would help so much! Please email Rev. Julie at jgraham@holycommunion.net to sign-up.
2024 Food Drive: Our Community Care Cupboard is BARE! Food insecurity continues for UCity School district’s families. Every food item donated is immediately used. Please continue to contribute to the bins located in the Narthex. Questions? Please email Maryanne at coley7365@sbcglobal.net.
Holy Communion’s Little Library: Did you know that Holy Communion has a library? Located next to the main level elevator and table next to the Godly Play room, you can find a variety of children’s books that communicate God’s love to all, our community, and promote multiculturalism in various ways. Need more time with a book? Feel free to take it home, but please remember to return it!
October Birthdays: October birthdays will be announced next Sunday, October 13.
Servers
Preacher: The Reverend Earl Mahan
Celebrant: The Reverend Julie Graham
Deacon: The Reverend Chester Hines
Organist: Earl Naylor
Music Director: Mary Chapman
Readers: Alison Nash (8 am), Michael Salsich, Barbara Robinson (10:30 am)
Intercessor: Lisa Hummel (8 am), Jordan Houry (10:30 am)
Announcements: Rebecca Comas (8 am), Bob Lowes (10:30 am)
Greeters: Mark Willingham (8 am), Scott Ferguson, Jean Parker (10:30 am)
Chalice Bearer: Karen Payne (8 am), Marlene O’Brien (10:30 am)
Crucifer: William Kelly
Producer: Tyler Schwartz
