Hymn Festival: Celebrating the Holy Mystery (Worship Bulletin)

+ Please stand as you are able.

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRELUDE

+CALL TO WORSHIP:

Here We Come
by James E. Magaw

Leader:
Here we come to the table again,
the holy table set for us unholy saints.

All:
Here we come, the broken-hearted,
the unemployed, the fearful ones,
the guilty ones, the lonely, the anxious,
the despairing, the grief-stricken.

Here we come, men and women,
children and parents, poor and rich,
rolling and walking, left and right, short and tall,
every color and class imaginable.

Here we come, because we're hungry,
used up, worn down, tired out,
hung up, cast off, stressed out,
turned off, put down, lost!

+ HYMN: "I Come with Joy," The United Methodist Hymnal, 617

I

SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:22-25

READING: "A Meal by Any Other Name" by Dean McIntyre

HYMN: "Become to Us the Living Bread," The United Methodist Hymnal, 630

II

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 10:12-18

READING: "Aaron Hatfield" by Edgar Lee Masters

HYMN: "One Bread, One Body," The United Methodist Hymnal, 620

or

HYMN "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart," The United Methodist Hymnal, 629

Stanza 1: All
Stanza 2: Women
Stanza 3: All
Stanza 4: Men
Stanza 5: All

III

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:33

READING: "Yeast Thoughts" by Mike Hodge + HYMN: "Let Us Be Bread," The Faith We Sing, 2260

(Stanzas sung by choir and those with editions that contain them. All sing the refrain.)

IV

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 10:14-17

READING: "Grandma's Bread" by Sandy Bryan

HYMN:"Let Us Break Bread Together," The United Methodist Hymnal, 618
(stanzas 1, 2, 4)

V

READING: "Letter from Hannah, of the Church at Corinth, to Paul" by Colin Morris

SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

HYMN: "In Remembrance of Me," The Faith We Sing, 2254

A PRAYER OF CONFESSION BEFORE COMMUNION: David Roberts

O Holy Bread of Sacrament: how commonly we treat you! Before you we confess sins of which we are not repentant. We make promises we will not keep. Have we forgotten him whose body we behold in you? Why cannot we perceive that between I and Thou there is God?

VI

READING: Bishop William Willimon

SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 11:27-32

+ HYMN: "Come, Share the Lord," The Faith We Sing, 2269

Stanza 1: All
Stanza 2: Men
Stanza 3: All
Stanza 4: Women
Stanza 5: All

+ CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION:

Here We Come
by James E. Magaw

Here we are, eating again,
without credentials, without money,
without vouchers or coupons,
just because you say we belong. Thanks!

Here we go, full, from the table again,
still unholy saints, but saints again alive,
renewed in compassion and hope,
taking bread with us for those not yet at the table.

+ A DEPARTING WORD FROM JOHN WESLEY: "Concerning the Sacrament, As It Is a Means of Grace"

+ HYMNS: The United Methodist Hymnal, 621 & 95

Be present at our table, Lord;
be here and everywhere adored;
thy creatures bless, and grant that we
may feast in paradise with thee.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures here below.
Praise God above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

POSTLUDE
(Please be seated.)

DOWNLOAD the full Hymn Festival: Celebrating the Holy Mystery

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Call to Worship ("Here We Come" by James E. Magaw; page 19), the reading at Roman numeral VI by Bishop William Willimon (p.15), and the Congregational Prayer after Communion ("Here We Come" by James E. Magaw; page 19) are from Alive Now!, May-June 1997, copyright © 1997 by The Upper Room. Used by permission.

The reading at Roman numeral I ("A Meal By Any Other Name" by Dean McIntyre) Copyright© 2006, Discipleship Ministries. Used by permission.

The reading at Roman numeral II ("Aaron Hatfield") is from Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), public domain.

These readings are from Alive Now!, September-October 1976, copyright © 1976 by The Upper Room. At the time of publication these writers were students at Scarritt-Bennett College in Nashville, Tennessee.

* The reading at Roman numeral III ("Yeast Thoughts" by Mike Hodge; pp.4-5). It is used with permission of the author.
* The reading at Roman numeral IV ("Grandma's Bread" by Sandy Bryan; p.9 It is used with permission of the author.)
* The reading at Roman numeral V ("Letter from Hannah, of the Church at Corinth, to Paul" by Colin Morris; pp.50-51. Attempts have been unsuccessful in contacting this author and we solicit any information on his whereabouts. At the time of publication he was a student at Scarritt-Bennett College in Nashville, Tennessee.)

The Prayer of Confession before Communion ("O Holy Bread of Sacrament" by David Roberts) is from Alive Now!, September-October 1976 (page 58), copyright © 1976 by The Upper Room. Used by permission.

The Departing Word from John Wesley ("Concerning the Sacrament, As It Is a Means of Grace") is adapted from Wesley's 1745 hymnal, Hymns on the Lord's Supper, pages 12-16.