Sunday, April 29th, 2001 “Camp Sunday”
If you would like to stay seated for any or all of the “standing” parts of the service, please feel free to do so.
Prelude
A time of silent preparation—Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship Responsive (Based on Psalm 24:1-2 & Psalm 104:3)
One: The earth is the Lord’s;
All: Look for God’s footprints among the hills,
One: and the fullness thereof;
All: Listen for God’s voice amid the rustling leaves,
One: the world;
All: See God’s fingerprints upon the flowers,
One: and those who dwell therein;
All: Behold God’s image on the faces around you,
One: for God has founded it upon the waters;
All: Sense God’s vastness through the crashing waves,
One: and established it upon the rivers.
All: Know God’s presence by the refreshing waters.
One: God stretches out the heavens like a tent;
All: Graze upon God’s paint-strokes in the skies.
One: Come, let us worship God, the Creator,
All: Let us praise God, our Maker.
Prayer of Approach (Responsive)
One: (Facing East) From the East, the direction of the rising sun, we receive peace and light and wisdom and knowledge.
All: We are grateful for these gifts, O God.
One: (Facing South) From the South comes warmth, guidance, and the beginning and end of life.
All: We are grateful for these gifts, O God.
One: (Facing West) From the West comes the rain, purifying waters, to sustain all living things.
All: We are grateful for these gifts, O God.
One: (Facing North) From the North comes the cold and mighty wind, the white snows, giving us strength and endurance.
All: We are grateful for these gifts, O God.
One: (Facing upward) From the heavens we receive darkness and light, the air of your breath, and messages from your winged creatures.
All: We are grateful for these gifts, O God.
One: (Facing downward) From the earth we come and to the earth we will return.
All: We are grateful for your creation, Mother Earth, O God.
Hymn “Kum Ba Ya”
1. Kum Ba Ya my Lord, Kum Ba Ya, Kum Ba Ya my Lord,
Kum Ba Ya, Kum Ba Ya my Lord, Kum Ba Ya. O Lord,
Kum Ba Ya.
2. Someone’s crying Lord, Kum Ba Ya …
3. Someone’s praying Lord, Kum Ba Ya …
4. Someone’s dancing Lord, Kum Ba Ya …
5. Someone’s singing Lord, Kum Ba Ya …
6. Kum Ba Ya my Lord, Kum Ba Ya …
Time with the Young & the young at heart
The Sunday School leaves for their classes.
We Remain in God’s Presence Through Confession
Declaration of Inter-dependence: (David Suzuki Foundation, with revisions)
One: This we know:
All: We humans are but one of thirty million species who inhabit the thin layer of life enveloping the world. The stability of communities of living things depends upon this diversity. Linked in a web, we are interconnected – using, cleansing, sharing and replenishing the fundamental elements of life. Our home, planet Earth, is finite – and therefore has limits to growth. All life shares its resources, and for the first time we have touched those limits.
One: This we believe:
All: The activities of we humans has driven fellow creatures to extinction. The comfort of some comes at the expense of others. When we compromise the air, the water, the soil, and the variety of life, we steal from the endless future to serve the fleeting present. Mourning and learning from our mistakes, we move forward in hope. We respect and uphold the absolute need for clean air, water, and soil. The future is not ours to erase, so where knowledge is limited, we will remember all those who will walk after us, and err on the side of caution.
One: This we resolve:
All: All that we know and believe must become the foundation of the way we live. At this turning point in our relationship with Earth, we work for an evolution from dominance to partnership; from fragmentation to connection; from insecurity to interdependence.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
One: This is the Good News of Jesus Christ
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Hymn #703 “In the Bulb There Is a Flower”
We Respond In Giving And Gratitude
“Annie’s Song” by John Denver
For the gift of creation, the gift of your love, and the gift of the Spirit by which we live, we thank you and give you the fruit of our hands. May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give.
God, we bring you these gifts of the earth; copper, nickel, silver and paper. They represent our toil, and our blessings. They represent our gratitude, and our faith. They represent our love and our desire to love. Bless these and all gifts we offer that they may be used to bring wholeness to our world and to all who live upon it. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.
Gracious God, you are so good to us. Today we offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all of the blessings revealed to us through Christian camping and outdoor ministries. For the gifts of your good creation, which we encounter when we are camping: for forests and fields, beaches, streams and lakes, sunrises and sunsets, wind and rain.
We give you thanks for your gift of time and the cycle of nature; for opportunities in the out-of-doors to reflect, and to feel your presence very near to us; for rest and recreation.
For the dedication of countless people who have supported this ministry through offering of time and talent: builders, counsellors, and instructors; for the gifts of all who create and maintain an environment of faithfulness and healing through their example at camp.
For the blessings you make known to us through those who participate at camp; for the questions and discoveries; for the friendships and fun; for the music and stories, we give you thanks.
Bless the ministry of camps and retreat centres, a ministry which is ours.
We remember today those from among us who are ill. For those who are mourning a loss. We thank you God for the promise that you are with us always to comfort and sustain us. We pray now in silence for those who are in our hearts and minds.
We continue to pray as Jesus imaged God as Father by saying …. Our Father who art in heaven ……
Hymn #87 “I Am the Light of the World”
Commissioning (Based on “The Salutation Of The Dawn by the East Indian poet Kalidasa who is believed to have lived about 400 AD.)
One: Listen to the salutation of the dawn, Look to this day,
All: For it is life – the very life of life,
One: in its brief course lie all the truths and realities of our existence,
All: The bliss of growth,
One: The glory of action,
All: The splendour of beauty,
One: For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision,
All: But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
One: And every tomorrow a vision of hope,
All: Look well, therefore, to this day.
One: Such is the salutation of the dawn.
All: And may the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the joy of the Spirit be with us today and always.
Grace “Johnny Appleseed”
Choral Amen
#298 “When You Walk From Here”
When you walk from here, when you walk from here. Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.
Postlude
Thought For Today
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness . . . I see what people call God in all these things.
by Pablo Casals