Welcome to this service for this Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and the second of two observations of Earth Day.  

The main part of the service is included below in a video of our live zoom worship on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM on April 25th. 

The video includes an exploration of the 23rd Psalm by one of the most famous of 20th Century rabbis as well as a performance of Bobby McFerrin’s anthem of the 23rd Psalm, dedicated to his mother.  You will also hear some of the good shepherding passages from the New Testament.  Pianist Annemieke McLane will play a piece by Claude Debussy and members of the choir directed by Annemieke sing Jean Ritchie’s “Now Is the Cool of the Day,” arranged by Peter Amidon.  You will get the chance to sing the beautiful hymn, “In Heavenly Love Abiding.”

You can see the Order of Worship below. You will also find some portions of our worship that were not included in the live zoom service, including the haiku of the day, a few announcements and the offering. 

Thank you for being part of our church community! If you would like to join us on our Sunday morning zooms click here, or on our Thursday Heartfulness Contemplative Training Circle zooms click here. 

If you would like to be added to our weekly newsletter list please let us know at unitedchurchofstrafford@gmail.com

You can respond with thoughts about the service or with anything you would like to say by using the comment feature at the end of the post or by emailing us.  You can also bring others into this experience by sharing the link to this webpage by email or social media.

Whoever you are, wherever you are on your journey, you are welcome here and in our church community. 

Pastor Tom Kinder         Call to Worship  “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46  

Here is this week’s haiku by Mel Goertz:                  

     A chickadee sits

on an elderberry branch.

     Now his perch has leaves.

Readings: 

The scripture readings for this Sunday are Luke 15:4-6; John 10:11-16; 1 John 3:16-17, 24.  You can hear them read on the video below or read the text or download it here: 4-25-21 Service Readings

   The Live Zoom Service Recording Order of Worship (the video is below):

1. Call to Worship by Pastor Tom Kinder
2. Two Videos on the 23rd Psalm, featuring Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Bobby McFerrin
3. Gospel Reading read by Joey Hawkins
4. Anthem, “Now Is the Cool of the Day” by Jean Ritchie, sung by Becky Bailey accompanied by Annemieke McLane
5. Sermon “Good Shepherding” by the Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder, Pastor
6. Hymn “In Heavenly Love Abiding” 
7. Closing Unison Prayer
8. Postlude, “Reverie” by Claude Debussy, Annemieke McLane, piano

Here is the video:   

Sermon  

You can read the text and find a pdf of the Call to Worship and Sermon by clicking here.            

Offering

This congregation is a small but meaningful part of the movement to establish God’s realm of peace, justice and care for God’s creation on earth, actively engaged in serving our community and supporting the wider worldwide movement.

One of the ways we work together and increase our strength beyond our individual abilities is by pooling our resources.  This is hard to do when we are forced apart by the pandemic, so we hope you will take just a minute to use our online donation service.

To make your offering on line, please click here.  (This is a service we are providing through an extremely well established on-line donation company specializing in churches that is recommended by the national United Church of Christ and used by thousands of churches like ours.  To read more about our decision to allow on line donations, click here.)                  

Announcements

To read additional announcements please see our weekly churchwide emails by clicking here. 

You can be added to our email list by requesting so at unitedchurchofstrafford@gmail.com.

It is extremely important that we stay connected now.  Please reach out by phone or email to neighbors and other members of the congregation, especially those who live by themselves or are struggling or vulnerable. 

Our Deacons, Becky Bailey, Kim Welsh and Maggie Hooker, are coordinating our Deacons Fund and our outreach to people in need of support, and Danette Harris, Chair of our Mission Committee, is leading our work with the Food Shelf.  If you would like to donate or help please email us or use the comment feature on this page.