8:00 am Service May 22nd: Sixth Sunday in Easter
You will find our live stream on our homepage, on Facebook (where you can interact with others watching with comments), and on Youtube.
Our Mission 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.
Things are different right now. The pandemic means we are keeping things simple, short, and safe. We also now require vaccination, for those who are eligible. You must be free of COVID-related symptoms, close contact, and not have positive tests to attend. There are a few other ground rules. Read our full guidelines here.
Distancing: As much as we wish we could greet one another, out of love for our neighbor we have to stay distanced. Please maintain 6 or more feet from other households at all times. Consider sending a text, a message on Facebook, or even writing a letter or email to someone who could use some peace. A wave, a peace sign, or a “smize” (a smile with your eyes) will do.
Masks: If test positivity rates stay below 3%, masks will be optional for the vaccinated at services with singing. If transmission increases, we will re-institute the mask requirement. Please check with clergy or ushers, or listen for verbal announcements for more details. We thank you for respecting our guidelines and your neighbors in this transitional time.
Communion: All are welcome to receive. When it comes time, please maintain a distance of greater than 6 feet in a single file line up to the front. Please come to the communion minister on the side of the church where you are sitting. Make your way down the side aisle to return to your seat. Wine is not available at this time. If you would prefer not to receive, simply cross your arms across your chest and the minister will give you a blessing. Gluten free wafers are available, on request from the minister.
Donations: We welcome donations to support the work of Holy Communion, whether a payment on a pledge or simply an offering. You can also text GIVE to (833) 864-5384 or give any time on our website holycommunion.net/give
Wheelchair accessibility: 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. Just ask an usher.
Get Involved: If you begin by filling out a “Connect Card” at the Welcome Table or online, we’d be glad to keep you up to date with all that goes on here. You can also use the Connect Cards to update your information, request prayers, or to ask a question. Turn them in to the wooden offering box in the entryway. The Rector’s Pilgrimage class will start meeting soon, for new members.
The congregation is invited to say the words together in bold. If you are worshiping with us from home, to prepare for worship, you may want to place a candle or two in the place where you worship, to light during the opening prayer.
Welcome
A priest welcomes the congregation. If you are new to us, consider filling out our “get connected” form, let us get to know you better.
Opening Acclamation Please rise in body or spirit
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Collect of the Day
The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray.
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lessons
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 shared by Christians around the globe.
A Reading from the Revelation to John Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
He took me in a Spirit-inspired trance to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. I didn’t see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is vile and deceitful, but only those who are registered in the Lamb’s scroll of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 67 read responsively, by verse
O God, be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of your countenance and come to us.
Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
*let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has brought forth its increase;
may you, O God our God, bless us.
May you bless us, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of you.
The Gospel John 14:23-29
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Jesus answered, “Whoever loves me will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word that you hear isn’t mine. It is the word of the Father who sent me.
“I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid. You have heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away and returning to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than me. I have told you before it happens so that when it happens you will believe.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.
The Sermon:
Please be seated, at the invitation of the preacher.
The Rev. Julie Graham
The Prayers of the People
The Leader and People pray responsively. Please rise, or kneel, in body or in spirit.
With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying, “Hear our prayer.”
For the peace of the world, for the welfare of the holy Church of God, and for the unity of all peoples. For the people resisting the threat of Empire,
Hear our prayer.
For Michael, our Presiding Bishop; for Deon, our Bishop and for all clergy. We pray for those in formation for holy orders in our parish: Meg, David, Loretta, Josephine and Janice; for all who serve God in the church, for our partners in mission in El Salvador; for the people and ministry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson (1886), and Erika, their Priest in Charge. In our companion Diocese of Puerto Rico, we pray for the people and ministry of Parroquia Ayudada La Ascensión in Morovis, and Francísco, their Rector
Hear our prayer.
For all who are in authority, and all who govern in the nations of the world; for President Zelensky and the other leaders in Ukraine who have given up their privilege to protect their people,
Hear our prayer.
For this city of St. Louis, for every city and community and those who live in them; for those celebrating a birthday this week; especially Amanda Diemer, William Dula, Grace Gorski, Babs Kiehl-Fairchild, and Angela Meyer; and for those celebrating an anniversary this week, especially Mike Angell and Ellis Anderson, Michael Salsich and Nancy Donahou, and Heidi and Kenneth Oliff,
Hear our prayer.
For our rector, Mike Angell, and his family, especially Ellis and Silas, and for our congregation in our time apart from one another.
Hear our prayer.
For the everyday people faced with the decision to take up arms to protect their homes and loved ones,
Hear our prayer.
For the people fleeing bombs and gun fire, some on foot, carrying their children and pets,
Hear our prayer.
For the people who cannot flee, hiding in subway stations, hospital basements, and bomb shelters,
Hear our prayer.
For the toxin of white supremacy and racism that has deemed some God-image bearers more worthy of safety than others,
Hear our prayer.
For the dead and dying, for the injured and those who will not live to see this conflict end,
Hear our prayer.
For the leaders of nations to act justly in the name of the least of these,
Hear our prayer.
For the apathetic and jaded, stir us to compassionate action,
Hear our prayer.
For all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, and for all the departed, especially Homer Nash, Jr.
Hear our prayer.
That we may end our lives in faith and hope, without suffering and without reproach.
Hear our prayer.
You are invited to add your own prayers, silently or aloud.
The Peace
Alleluia! Christ has been raised from the dead. The peace of Christ be always with you.
And also with you.
Please do not approach people outside your household. A wave, a peace sign, or a “smize” (a smile with your eyes) will do.
Welcome & Announcements:
Announcements are shared. You may be seated.
Offering We welcome donations to support the work of Holy Communion, whether a payment on a pledge or simply an offering. Plates will be passed. You can also give on our website or by texting GiveHoCO to (833) 864-5384
Eucharistic Prayer
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 for millennia. Please rise, in body or in spirit.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
The presider offers our thanks to God for the grace and mercy made available to us in Christ. In response we say:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The presider gives thanks to God for the reconciling work of Christ’s passion and resurrection and remembers Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.
The presider concludes with prayer for the coming of God’s reign.
Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to you be honor, glory, and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray in the way Christ taught us, and in the language of our hearts.
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
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.
The Breaking of the Bread
Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.
Administration of the Sacrament
All are welcome to receive. When it comes time, please maintain a distance of greater than 6 feet in a single file line up to the front. Please come to the priest on the side of the church where you are sitting. Make your way down the side aisle to return to your seat. Under the bishop’s order, wine is not available at this time. If you would rather receive a blessing, please come forward to the altar rail during communion and cross your arms across your chest. Gluten free wafers are available, on request, from the minister.
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
This prayer of Spiritual Communion is offered in the online bulletin for those who cannot join us in person. It was written by parishioner Bob Lewis.
Gracious and Loving God, on this day we are not able to gather around your table to celebrate your presence in the sacrament of bread and wine. We are not able to share your peace with one another.
Nevertheless, we lift up our hearts, we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven as we proclaim you holy and receive you into our hearts by faith.
Strengthen our love for you. Help us offer our sacrifice with all your faithful people, that we may restore health and wholeness to one another and to all your creation. Give us patience and hope as we long for the day when we can gather and break bread together again. Through Christ our Savior. Amen.
The Blessing
Alleluia, Alleluia! Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia, Alleluia!
Service Leaders
Preacher: The Rev. Julie Graham
Presider: The Rev. Julie Graham
Deacon: The Rev. Chester Hines
Reader: Michael Salsich
Usher: Rudy Nickens
