What a magnificent day today has been! The first "official" worship of South Durham Connections happened in an ecumenical, online extravaganza that included South Durham Connections, Parkwood UMC, and Christus Victor Lutheran Church. Plus anybody who wanted to tune in from anywhere else.
In ELCA communities (like Christus Victor and South Durham Connections), today was "God's Work Our Hands" Sunday when congregations go out into the community for days of service. Since all the other churches were leaving their buildings for service, South Durham Connections came inside and Pastor Sharon led a service that compared the work of the Parktown Food Hub with a traditional mainline worship service.
The technology was not particularly cooperative but you can see the live stream here. I think you can get the gist of it though. Below is the script with video clips inserted, so you might want to consider using this to follow along with the video? It was fun putting this together and I am so grateful for all the people and circumstances who brought it together!
The focus text is Matthew 18:21-35
Worship in Four Parts:
A liturgy for life outside the box
Why do this?
Compassionate response to a difficult time for Pastor Anita
Pastor Ben asked what I was doing for God’s Work Our Hands Sunday
I said we are doing GWOH Sunday every day…
BUT THEN!
It seemed like an excellent opportunity to show how South Durham Connections is doing church – even if it looks really different than traditional church.
The four parts are Gathering (Greeting), Word, Meal, and Sending. Although some of the details are different, Methodists and Lutherans share a basic understanding of worship, and what I’m talking about today is consistent among Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians… the denominations known as mainline.
Some announcements: Today at about 1 pm we will have a garden workday for those of you who want to put your faith into action. We will have tasks spread out across the property so people can work in small groups at physical distance.
And now! Welcome to church! Welcome to an opportunity to see how God is working and leading and caring for us both inside a building and outside, online and in person.
GATHERING/GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
This greeting opens worship. For Lutherans it often comes after a confession or remembrance of baptism. We come knowing that we are in need and that times are tough. We come seeking relief from that brokenness.
At the Parktown Food Hub, people also come knowing they are in need. Maybe it’s because they lost a job due to COVID, or because a spouse has left, or because medical bills are too much. There is surprisingly little relief available to a surprisingly large group of people, but the food they get from the Hub can make a difference. Like people going to traditional worship, people at the Parktown Food Hub come, knowing of their need and seeking relief from a broken world. And in greeting, we say
Watch greeting video
Now we join in singing, a way that groups of people are bound into one as our different voices are joined. This song gives a glimpse of how we feel about the people who come to the Hub – and I hope the way that people are welcomed into traditional worship services.
SONG: All Are Welcome (this is not exactly how we sang/played it, but it's a lovely version of a beautiful hymn that is uber-important to Pastor Sharon and to South Durham Connections.)
In a traditional service, the next part of the greeting is a prayer – an expression of how we hope to be transformed. Like this –
Will you pray with me?
O Lord God, merciful judge, you are the inexhaustible fountain of forgiveness. Replace our hearts of stone with hearts that love and adore you, that we may delight in doing your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Today’s prayer is asking that we delight in doing God’s will with light and loving hearts.
At the Parktown Food Hub, we put that delight into practice – the relationships among volunteers, between volunteers and people who come for food… it is fun to give away from a position of abundance. And abundance is in fact the life we lead. Come visit us sometimes and ask to see the corn shelf and you will understand anew what abundance can be! EVEN DURING A PANDEMIC.
WORD
In this second part of worship, God’s word is proclaimed. This can be by reading one passage or two passages or even three passages plus a responsive reading of a Psalm. Christians believe that these passages from the Bible – the sacred text of Christianity – are themselves sacred language. But they are more than sacred words, like some kind of spell book or beautiful literature (although it is, in fact, some pretty wonderful literature!)
The point of the sacred text – the Word – is to help us be transformed so that our lives are less like the broken world and more like the way Jesus lived.
Gospel – Matthew 18:21-35
The gospel of the Lord.
In our church outside the box at the Parktown Food Hub, the words inform our behaviors even when they aren’t being read out loud. God has promised that the words will be written on our hearts forever. The Vision Board of the Parktown Food Hub unanimously agreed that our guiding principle and guide in solving problems is to follow the example of Jesus. So the Parktown Food Hub is run in a way that is our best and most earnest attempt at following Jesus.
Sermon –
I wish that you could all spend time with us at the Parktown Food Hub and in other places where church is happening outside of buildings and traditional worship services. Today I’ve invited some people who have extensive experience in that exact thing. I asked them to look at the gospel lesson and think of some experience they had that seemed related to the text – much like a pastor does in writing a sermon. We pray and listen and seek to find words to bring the living word of God into the lives of people today.
Today you will hear from David Krebs. David attends Christus Victor Lutheran and started the corn shelf, complete with the tag “bringing cornfort to all” - a play on the CVLC mission statement.
Then you will hear from Ellie Klein. Ellie also attends Christus Victor and took over the corn work from David. Ellie and her sons are often at the hub and their enthusiasm is a delight.
Next you will hear from Jennie Vaughn.. Jennie lives in Parkwood and came to us when COVID started, as she was working from home, and she rapidly grew into one of our super volunteers.
Finally you will hear from Autumn Boyer, who attends Parkwood UMC. Autumn has a knack for showing up at just the right moment, whether it is to organize our disorder or bring a tent when ours has been destroyed by a thunderstorm.
Listen now for today’s gospel lesson from Matthew as it appears in the lives of these four faithful friends of South Durham Connections and the Parktown Food Hub:
If you happen to see or otherwise interact with David, Ellie, Jennie, or Autumn, please thank them for being brave and stepping up to share.
Over the next week I invite you to think about this text - this story of abundance and how experiencing grace and generosity help form you in wanting to share grace and generosity with others. Better yet, go find a way to be generous in proportion to the generosity you have received, and see what happens next!
As Jennie mentioned, today is God’s Work Our Hands Sunday for the Lutherans. The next hymn was written especially for this day and embodies the messages you just heard. Please feel free to sing along even, maybe ESPECIALLY if you don’t normally sing. Today is your day!
SONG: God’s Work Our Hands hymn
Words and music here (I'm sorry I can't figure out how to upload the beautiful organ track shared by Simon Zaleski at Christus Victor Lutheran, but the link will take you to another very nice recording. We sang verses 1 and 4.)
South Durham Connections, the Parktown Food Hub, Parkwood UMC, and (in a different location than this) Christus Victor Lutheran church have all decided that growing food is an important part of their ministries. Parkwood UMC and the hub garden in this space that you see here. Christus Victor congregation has a beautiful garden on Highway 54 in front of their building. As we move toward the discussion of the role that food plays in worship, it seemed right to move out into the garden. And here we are!
After the sermon and before the meal, many traditional church services include a creed and prayers. The creed is another way of saying “this is what we believe”, just like the examples in our sermon are ways that the people involved were revealing what they believe.
In addition, traditional services have Prayers of Intercession – prayers in which the community gathers to lift up the joys and needs of their community. At Parkwood UMC, there is the “Glory Sighting” time when people talk about ways God has shown up in their lives.
At the Parktown Food Hub we gather up the prayers of our people, too. Much of it comes in general conversation: “I’m still looking for a job and worried about being evicted, will you please pray for me?” or “My father is in the hospital dying of COVID… it hurts so much” or “my heart is so blessed by the work you do… I give thanks for it every day.” They are truly prayers of our people.
Sometimes we also collect those prayers on strips of plastic and put them out for the community to see in the form of a tapestry. The prayers are made public.
At this moment in our service today, we will now pause. Please take a moment now to lift up the prayers of your heart: your joys, your concerns, your hopes for healing and need for grace.
<PAUSE FOR PRAYERS>
Closing: Whether we live or whether we die, we are yours. We thank you for those who have showed us faithfulness, for the knees that taught us how to bow to you and the tongues that taught us to praise you. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
MEAL
Offering and Blessings:
As we move into Part Three of our worship in Four Parts, traditional services have a time of offering (or, in current online services, suggestions for how offerings can be shared.) Offerings are a way of giving thanks, of sharing our concern, of participating in the life of the congregation. Offerings can be cash, ushering, participating in music, helping with communion, greeting, setting up the altar – there are many ways of giving thanks.
The same is true for church outside of the box. We call them donations rather than offerings, but there are many ways that people make offerings: cash, gardening, shelving food, bringing canned goods, packing boxes or bags, picking up food from stores, participating in handing out food, greeting, even making sure that we get our folders back for next time!
We welcome and urge each of you to provide financial support for your ministry of choice. If you wish to support South Durham Connections, go here. If you are interested in working with and supporting Christus Victor Lutheran, go here. If you are interested in working with and supporting Parkwood UMC, go here.
Today we also want to give thanks for some special gifts that are beyond money.
<School kits made for Lutheran World Relief (LWR) by the CVLC congregation; this year LWR is not collecting the kits because of COVID so they will be going to children at Parkwood Elementary who have many special needs this year as they engage in online learning>
<Gourd painted by Lisa’s nephew’s girlfriend April Baughman. Her business is called Hand Painted Gourds. The gourd has the Parktown Food Hub logo on one side and the Thrivent Live Generously logo on the other, because Live Generously is what we strive to do at the Parktown Food Hub.
Blessing Prayer: We thank you Lord for the open hearts and creative talents of so many people. Take these school kits that have been made with such loving care and soak them with your blessings of love and grace. Let the children who receive the kits know that their community cares for them and is standing with them in these difficult times.
Thank you also for the gifts of April in taking the beauty of nature in the form of this gourd and decorating it in such a meaningful way. Let the beauty shine forth and touch every person who enters this place, and continue to pour out your grace and mercy on April as she continues her creative work.
We seek these blessings in the name of and in gratitude for the gifts of Jesus. Amen.
In a Sunday service, once offerings have been given the service often moves into communion (especially in those congregations that have communion ever Sunday – or at least did pre-COVID.)
It’s all about the food.
During these hard times, the communion meal happens much less often because of safety concerns around the COVID pandemic.
In our food distributions, COVID has had the opposite effect. People come hungry in all kinds of ways, and are grateful for the meals that they can make out of the food that comes from us.
And who is fed?
In church services, the ones who are fed are the ones who are present and come forward seeking to be fed.
At the Parktown Food Hub, the ones who are fed are the ones who are present and come forward seeking to be fed.
In both cases there are rituals: for communion in a church there are words of institution, spoken and sung responses, prayers. People receive bread that has been baked and wine that has been purchased and measured out based on the number of people expected. There are often gluten-free and alcohol-free options. They are fed in lovely dishes like these, called a chalice and a paten. (In the video Pastor Sharon holds up a cup and plate - aka chalice and paten - that was a gift to her from some really special people.)
At food hub distributions we share information about the process, sometimes with menus, sometimes with reminders, sometimes with special information. But the format is pretty much the same each week. We greet those who come, we secure the food and plan for the number of people expected. We allow people to choose the food they receive based on their special dietary needs and preferences. They are given food in boxes, much like this: (in the video Pastor Sharon holds up a box of food to be given away the next day)
Pastors offer the communion meal to people in time of need that prevents them from coming to our regular distributions – hospitalization, pre-surgery, in counseling situations
We offer food to people in times of difficulty, when the need is so great that it can’t wait until our next distribution. Sometimes that is due to COVID quarantine, or job loss, hospitalization or a wide variety of situations in which the brokenness of the world goes hard on unfortunate families.
And in both cases we feed those who come. Without question – their assertion that they want to be fed is enough. Just like those who approach the communion tables in our congregations.
AND THEN! The people have been fed. They have experienced the transforming word of God. It is time to go.
This is how that looks at a Parktown Food Hub distribution when the food has been shared:
watch sending video
“Ok, you’re ready to go!”
Words of reassurance and blessing.
Not a question or a suggestion. People have received what we have to offer and it is time to go figure out what to do with it and be strengthened in the process.
The people go with our blessing and the fervent hope that lives will be better, kinder, healthier, more hopeful, and filled with joy and devoid of all the hungers because of our interactions.
Exactly what pastors offer to people who have been in traditional Sunday morning worship services. You have been nourished by the Word, eaten together, formed and prepared for transformation… and now it’s time to go.
So today I offer you this blessing:
The God of grace bless you now and forevermore.
You’re all ready to go!
AMEN!!
Now GO! Go to the places where Jesus is saying yes… because in the words of Beyonce and her cousins:
Thanks for posting this -- a great idea for a service and community-building offering to south Durham.
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