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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.

Pandemic Precautions Continue: The pandemic means we are keeping things simple, short, and safe. Vaccination is required for everyone eligible. You must be free of COVID-related symptoms, close contact, and not have positive tests to attend. Windows are open. There are a few other ground rules:

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 households outside your bubble.

Masks: Masks will continue to be required until local transmission rates drop substantially. 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. Make your way down the side aisle to return to your seat. We are weighing options for re-introducing the chalice. Please listen for verbal announcements. 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” in your pew, or at the Welcome Table, 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 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.

Prelude

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.

Entrance Hymn: Earth and All Stars H412

Opening Dialogue Please rise in body or spirit

Blessed be God: most holy, glorious, and undivided Trinity.
And blessed be God’s reign, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray.

God our teacher, who helps us to understand the world around us, Thank you for the privilege of education. You have blessed our communities with teachers who take new skills and concepts and pass them along to each new class of young people. God who came as a child to show us how to be fully human, to show us how to be children of God, You have given our children minds that grow and develop in unique ways, at unique speeds, and we are astounded by that miracle. You speak to us through the words, actions, play, and feelings of children. You call us to listen to the Spirit speaking through our young siblings in Christ. We celebrate the beginning of this school year and ask for your blessings upon the children, the educators, and the families who support them all. But in this celebration of education and learning, we do not forget there are children and families and teachers who do not have the resources they need. When systems are unjust, the outcomes are unacceptable. Today we remember those who are beginning school this year: those who have what they need to learn and grow in safety, and those who lack supplies, teachers, safe buildings, and accommodations for all needs and abilities. We come to worship together, to lift up our young people and all those who care for them and teach them. Open our hearts to what you are saying to us today. 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 Prophet Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:4-10

“Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.”

“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak because I’m only a child.”
The Lord responded, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’ Where I send you, you must go; what I tell you, you must say. Don’t be afraid of them, because I’m with you to rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Then the Lord stretched out his hand, touched my mouth, and said to me, “I’m putting my words in your mouth. This very day I appoint you over nations and empires, to dig up and pull down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.”

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Psalm 71:1-6a read antiphonally, by verse

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; *
let me never be ashamed.
In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; *
incline your ear to me and save me.
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; *
you are my crag and my stronghold.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, *
from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
For you are my hope, O Lord God, *
my confidence since I was young.
I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother’s womb you have been my strength;

Sequence Hymn Please rise, in body or in spirit. Heleluyan

The Gospel Luke 13:10-17

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight. When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.” He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God.

The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, “There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.”

The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink? Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing.

The Gospel of our Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Children’s Chapel in the Round

Please be seated, at the invitation of the leaders.

Rudy Walz, Grace Gorski, Eliana Haig

Song: All of Us

All of us
Every one of us
Belongs in our circle of community
All of Life
All that grows and breathes
Is a part of our beautiful home

Ay-Ay-Oh-Oh
All of us
Ay-Ay-Oh-Oh
Community
Ay-Ay-Oh-Oh
All of life
is part of our beautiful home

All of us
The young and very old
All around the world in community
All of Life
On the land and on the seas
Is a part of our beautiful home

Questions for the Congregation (during the Children’s Chapel/Sermon)

What does God tell Jeremiah to do?
Jeremiah doesn’t think he can speak for God because of his age. When was a time you felt you couldn’t do something because of your age?
When Jeremiah feels unable to speak, God reminds him that he’s not alone and that God’s given him all the tools he needs. Who in your life reminds you that you’re not alone and you have what you need to speak up?

Prayers of the People

The Leader and People pray responsively. Please rise, or kneel, in body or in spirit.
With you, every transition and new start is a reminder of your goodness, for you are always creating fresh, amazing things in us and through us. Though we are sad about the summer ending, we are grateful for this school year. We appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow, knowing it is one of the biggest privileges we have. With thanks and love, we now offer everything we are to you, asking for your blessing.

We pray as and for students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. We pray for our hearts and all they hold—excitement and nervousness, disappointment and hope. We give you all our loves and fears. We pray for steady self-esteem and deepening resilience.

Loving God, hold us and our prayers.

We pray for our minds, that they will expand in wonder and celebration, learning not just from the books studied but the people beside us. Open our minds with a willingness to be changed in unexpected ways, and settle our thought loops in peaceful places.