Here is the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome:Terri: As we come together this morning, let’s take a moment to breathe deeply and to smile into each other’s radiant and expectant face. We are gathering today as a group of believers in one place, via zoom. As we celebrate Pentecost, may we open our hearts and minds to the breath of the Holy One – receiving its encompassing embrace and flame of wisdom.
Theme: Lindy” We will begin today with celebrating our own history. Oh, we have grown! Some of us may not know how it all began...this congregation of people who choose to be inclusive, just, and loving!
Then we will listen with our ears, our minds, and our hearts...as the Spirit makes Her presence known. We will bring our concerns to the table, share bread and wine, and open ourselves to the Flame of Love the Holy One has placed burning with us.
History of The Upper Room: Mary Today is Pentecost and we also celebrate the Birthday of the Upper Room. The Upper Room, not yet named, began in Mary Theresa Streck’s living room in 2013. Mary Theresa continued her and her beloved Jay’s tradition of home church. Mary Theresa’s house was overflowing. By the time Mary Theresa was ordained on September 15, 2013 we were celebrating at the Unitarian Church once a month on Sundays at 2pm.
The Spirit was strong and was calling our community to create our own space. In the spring of 2014 we moved to River St. in Troy. We replaced monthly Sunday afternoon liturgy with monthly Sunday morning liturgy. It was not long before we began celebrating every Sunday morning. Diarmuid O’Murchu, author and social psychologist, was in Albany for a conference. He came to the Upper Room and celebrated Pentecost with us that year. Diarmuid offered the phrase “I bring to the table” and it has been part of our Eucharistic celebration ever since. Our Theology of Blessing was evolving as our community was growing.
We still needed to name ourselves. Honoring our value of inclusivity, we had several community discussions and many names were suggested. The Spirit led us to choose the name “The Upper Room”.
In the fall of 2016 our lease was unexpectedly not renewed and we had to find another place to gather. After an extensive search and discussion, we found The New Covenant Fellowship Hall. As they say, “and the rest is history”! But not quite, Covid-19 forced another transition and here today we are telecommuting the celebration of Pentecost and our 8th birthday. Everything is upside down and there are still so many unknowns. What we do know no matter where we gather, we are community, we are The Upper Room.
Pause
Opening Song “Prepare ye the Way of the Lord.”
https://youtu.be/21FhZIZELr0
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Dottie – A reading from Mark Hart
“Pentecost is a celebration of God’s desire to empower us and dwell with us.”
These are the inspired words of Mark Hart. The Community affirms these words by saying AMEN.
Second Reading: Ed or Margaret – A reading from an author who remains anonymous
“The mystery of God hugs us in its all-encompassing arms.”
These are the inspired words of one who remains anonymous. The community affirms these words by saying AMEN.
Third Reading: Ellen – A reading from the writings of Hildegard of Bingen
“I am the fiery life of the essence of God. I am the flame afire. The beauty of the fields.
I shine in the waters. I burn in the sun, the moon and the stars.
With the airy wind I quicken all things vitality by an unseen, all sustainable life.”
These are the words of the Holy One as heard by Hildegarde of Bingen. The community affirms these words by saying AMEN!
Dennis: Alleluia
Gospel Bernie
A Reading from the Gospel of John.
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed
them his hands and his side.
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.”
And when he had said this, he breathes on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call John and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter - Lindy
I awoke a couple of weeks ago on a grey, cloudy day...I was crabby….full of worry about everything...really...everything! I made blessed coffee, hoping it would wash away some of the stress I felt. It didn’t. It crossed my mind that it was spring and if I looked out the window I might see something that would cheer me up. The minute I lifted my eyes something inside me whispered “Every is always changing.” I am still thinking about that!
So much has changed in the last year and a half or so ... deeply disturbing us all, even the whole world. Just like the women and men the writer called John tells us about today, we are struggling. We aren’t sure how to...where to... when to … work, socialize, help the poor, promote safe law enforcement, stop our government from neglecting and abusing immigrating children…. Do what is right…...do enough...even live the Way Jesus suggested...and much, much more. We just aren't sure how to...
We rarely notice, or even understand that we, like all nature, change every single moment. We hunger for help to become who we want to be... to know what to do...…We rarely notice that help is here, right now!
The Great Mystery we call God holds us in Her all-encompassing arms….wanting to inspire us! If we look in the beauty of nature ,... sparkling water... the brightness in the moon, the sun, and the stars...take in the wonderful scent of water bubbling out of a spring, a loaf of bread lifted out of a warm oven, or the aroma of a rose in the morning... listen to the birds and the softest breeze... if we hold our minds and our hearts open with curiosity and hope...we will notice Her reminding us that every little kindness changes the world…
She will quicken us with the flame afire in Her love …. teaching us things filled with possibility and hope... about ourselves and our world...things we never expected.
Closure: Terri
Susan D. Let us pray our Statement of Faith together
All: We believe in one God, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of God's Word,
bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,
bright star in the firmament of God's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of God's love,
a source of God's wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of God's peace in the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
The life of God that is our innermost life,
the breath of God moving in our being.
The depth of God living in each of us.
We believe that God's kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Dennis: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions…. Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Lindy: Father/Mother of Light, from whom every gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind by the flam of your wisdom. Open the horizons of our minds.
Terri: We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
O Nurturing, Mothering one, You are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and You pick us up. You send strangers, friends, and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence, we long to sing our hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
Lindy: Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation.
Terri: Please extend your hands in blessing.
This bread and wine is a sign of Your nourishment and a sign of Your great love. Your Spirit is upon us and we belong to You and one another.
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.
Lindy: On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the Seder supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again, he showed us how to love one another.
All lift the plate and pray:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread, and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(Pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Terri: Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
By Your Spirit we are transformed. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.
Through him, we have learned how to live.
Through him, we have learned how to love.
Through him, we have learned how to serve. AMEN.
Lindy: Please receive communion saying: “The Holy One embraces me.”
Communion song: You Are the Face of God by Karen Drucker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPT7687_yko
Lindy: Loving Source of our being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence.
Phyllis: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come. Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits, and we let go. You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen.
Miriam Therese Winter
Lindy: Closing Prayer
Nurturing one
We thank you for the earth’s vegetation enfolded in your warmth.
We thank you for earth’s creatures encircled in your loving arms.
We thank you for all those women and men who mothered us.
May we always remain in your everlasting community of love. Amen
BLESSING
Terri: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May we continue to be the Face of God to each other. May the certainty of our connectedness to one another and all creation ignite us to love more fully. May those who nurtured us be remembered with love today and always. May we, like Jesus, persist in love and be a blessing for all. All: Amen.
Closing Song “Day by Day”
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