Order Of Worship, Click HERE

Worship Resources, Click HERE

Apartment/House Blessing, Click HERE

SAVE THE DATES:

Next Worship Team Meeting ~ 

New Worship Initiatives Team ~ Next Meeting: TBD

Next Special Worship Service ~ EVERY Second Sunday starting January 2010

Upcoming Special Worship Offerings:

Second Sunday Circle Celebrations Begins Sunday, January 10!

Following two years of offering worship services in a more contemporary and casual format, and with overwhelming positive response to hosting these on Sunday mornings at the regular worship time, the church’s Worship Team has given the “go ahead” to the New Worship Initiatives Team to plan and lead a monthly worship service on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m.

This service, which will be on the second Sunday of each month, will use some of the methods the New Worship Initiative Team has explored and offered over the past few years, including more contemporary and upbeat music, extensive lay leadership, digitally-projected images and words to music, testimonials and prayers offered from the congregation, drama, communion with a shared loaf and cup, and a bit more relaxed and casual atmosphere. It may be offered in the Chapel or in the Sanctuary, depending upon circumstance, need, or worship theme.

As part of making this service regular and consistent it was decided to offer it every second Sunday. Thus the new name, “Second Sunday Circle Celebrations” was chosen, or, “Circle Celebrations” for short. Evangelism and publicity efforts for this service will begin in the new year.

Colleen Munley is chair of the New Worship Initiative Team, which will plan these Second Sunday Circle Celebrations, and Carrie Culleen is chair of the Worship Team, which oversees all worship at Franklin Circle Christian Church. Your feedback and participation are always welcome!


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Gospel Choir Planning Discussion

A meeting is set for THIS SUNDAY, January 10, 2010 directly after church service (12:30), to assist us in the selection of a leader for our choir and start up process. All who would be interested in seeking candidates for our Gospel Choir Director, or in singing in the choir, or who have other musical talents, are encouraged to attend this meeting on January 10th at 12:30 p.m.
 

Two teams, each existing for only one year, are being formed to help continue the transformation God has already begun at Franklin Circle Christian Church. Building on Pastor Allen's Five-Point Plan for the next year, these two groups will seek to draw out the creative strengths and graces from our congregation in order to address two critical needs of our church: 1.) to create another opportunity for persons to worship in new and more interactive ways AND 2.) to get word out about our church in bold and broader ways. Both have the blessings of the Board and the Mission Council.

The New Worship Initiatives Team will explore over the next year how other churches similar to ours, in location, size, and theology, have expanded their worship opportunities to include another service in a different style. In addition to much prayer and Bible study, we will visit "second services" at other churches, read up on the latest literature about creative and transformational worship, and we will experiment with some worship possibilities ourselves. By next June the New Worship Initiatives Team will present a proposal to the church's Board for another worship service, including a budget, space requests, and staffing. If the Board accepts, it is hoped that the new worship service will be in place by fall 2007. Ten to twelve people are needed to make this team most effective.

To join this team, CLICK HERE!

New Worship Initiatives Team ~ Next Meeting: Thursday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. to evaluate this past year and to plan for next year!

Next Special Worship Service ~ Sunday, January 18th at 10:30 a.m.!  A special chance for the regular Sunday Morning folks to see what we do at our Special Fourth Thursday Worship Services!

Order Of Worship

Typical Order for Traditional Worship Service:

Franklin Circle Christian Church

Welcome! Bienvenidos!

10:30 a.m.

Large print hymnals are available. Please ask an Usher.

*Please stand as you are able.

INVOCATION, CONFESSION, AND LORD'S PRAYER (using "debts" & "debtors") Unison

TODAY'S LESSON  [Pastor Allen typically uses the Revised Common Lectionary to choose his scripture lesson.  This is a three year cycle of major scripture readings created by the ecumenical church.  For a listing of upcoming lectionary texts, please go to http://www.disciples.org/Resources/Lectionary/tabid/231/Default.aspx ]

    This benediction was inspired by Bishop John Shelby Spong's discussion of non-anthropomorphic images of God, as discussed in his book:  Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks To Believers In Exile, Harper Collins, 1999.  The phrase "Ground of our very being" is directly from theologian Paul Tillich.

Worship Resources:

Center For Transforming Worship

(click the logo for more info.)

Cokesbury Bookstore's Worship Connection Site

(click the logo for more info.)

This website and book were recommended to us:

http://www.experientialworship.com/home.html

GREAT Liturgies At Seekers Church

http://www.seekerschurch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=147&Itemid=70

Especially powerful for contemporary/relevant worship.  Pastor Allen visited this church as part of his Study & Renewal Leave in May of 2008.

Cathedral Of Hope Worship Services Online

This is a listing of the worship services online for this amazing congregation in Dallas, Texas which is part of the United Church of Christ.  Click on any of the Mid-Week Worship Services to see services in a contemporary format. 

Click on any of the Sunday Worship Services to see services in a more traditional format.

http://www.cathedralofhope.com/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=666&srcid=203

Apartment/House Blessing
Rev. Allen V. Harris
(Written on the occasion of the blessing of Jay Cheiky's apartment, November 2, 2008)

We gather here today to recognize God’s presence and invoke God’s blessings upon this dwelling place, so that all who live here and all who visit here might be reassured of God’s eternal love and ever present grace.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

We recognize that not all God’s children are fortunate to have homes, and some do not even have certainty of a shelter over their heads. For this, we are humbled, and commit ourselves to finding safe homes, such as this one, for everyone.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

We acknowledge all the activities that go on in a home; the daily acts of a life well lived, and the special events that mark the passages of our life’s journey. May God’s name be praised in both simple moments and major celebrations alike.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

We trust that visitors will come to bring this home their blessings and the gifts of their time, attention, and presence. The God of Abraham and Sara, the God of Mary and Martha, the God of Jesus of Nazareth is a God of hospitality, and makes holy all acts of welcome, kindness, and warmth.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

We are aware that there are many people in our world who make housing a possibility, from banks and mortgage companies, to landlords and building supervisors, from repair people to maintenance crews. May each one who makes this place a reality, and maintains it, do so with wisdom, honesty, skill, and grace.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

We know too well that there is evil in the world, sometimes challenging us from within, and sometimes from without. We call upon God to calm the demons within us, drive them from this place, and ward off all malevolence so that it may never enter this space.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

Finally, O God, we ask that you continue to bless the one who will live in this apartment, __________, that she/he might always know that housing is both a gift and a responsibility. Keep her/him ever-mindful of the beauty of this gift and ever vigilant in taking care of this place, that she/he might thrive and flourish now and forevermore.

Bless, O God, this place and fill it with your love.

Amen!