Late summer prayers

On these weeks Crescent Hill church will prayer for and with the following Guatemala partners:

-On Sunday, July 17, and during the week thereafter: Estoreño Presbytery Executive Committee, President Gerardo Pop Ich, and other officers.

 -On Sunday, July 24, and during the week thereafter:  Estoreño Presbytery Presbyterian Women organization, President Ema, and other officers.

-On Sunday, July 31, and during the week thereafter:  Estoreño Presbytery youth and young adult organization, President Willman, and other officers.

-On Sunday, August 7, and during the week thereafter:  Peniel church in Boqueron, Pastor Fidel Juc, and members, deacons, and elders.

-On Sunday, August 14, and during the week thereafter: Familia de Noe church in El Estor’s Sinai neighborhood, Pastor Benjamin Sacul and family, and members, deacons, and elders. 

-On Sunday, August 21, and the week thereafter: Lirio de los Valles church in El Estor’s San Jorge neighborhood, Pastor Mario Xo Ical and family, and members, deacons, and elders.

-On Sunday, August 28, and the week thereafter:  Puerta del Cielo congregation in the El Estor suburb of La Union of El Estor, Pastor Leonel Cacao, and all worshipers

-On Sunday, September 4, and the week thereafter: Arca de Noe church in El Estor, Pastor Santos Teyul Mucu and family, and members, deacons, and elders.

We cannot thank you enough

On behalf of the team who visited our Q’ekchi’ partners in Guatemala, please accept our gratitude for all the ways you supported this opportunity. I am sorry that I will be unable to be with you all for today’s service. (I will be attending a family reunion which I have prayed would happen for a very long time. Thanks be to God.)

Today, you will sample some of the experiences we had. We hope it will provide a better understanding why our church feels this partnership is so important. I trust you will see why miles, cultures, theological differences, travel difficulties, and other barriers between us and our Q’ekchi’ sisters and brothers are truly insignificant. When we get to know one another and work in partnership, God is glorified and God’s work is done so much more effectively.

I felt I was carried by angels on this trip. I believe some of those were heavenly ones, others were our Guatemalan partners, and others were you – our church family, and other family and friends. We felt your presence. We were physically supported, emotionally held and spiritually uplifted by your many gifts.

The letters from our special prayer partners blessed us beyond measure. You knew our trip plans and wrote special words of encouragement for each step of our journey. We received them just when they were most needed. The comfort of knowing that you and others in our church were praying for us kept us calmer and stronger.

Many of you gave monetary support to make this visit possible. Countless others attended fundraising events, purchased items at silent auctions or gave a gift for easier traveling. Whatever way you supported the Guatemalan Connection made a significant difference.

Our prayer is that the ministry of our Guatemalan partnership will continue to deepen and even more will become involved. There are amazing blessings awaiting us all.

-Soni Castleberry

July 10 worship plan

Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church

Service for the Lord’s Day

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 10, 2016

Liturgists: Guatemala Team

We Gather in God’s Name

Welcome Guests! (See Notes for Newcomers on insert)

The Prayer Bowl Calls Us to Worship                        

Greeting by Elder Marsha Berry                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Leader: The grace of the risen Christ be with you.

People: And also with you.

The Life of the Church                                          

Prelude: “Alabaré”         

Alabaré, alabaré. Alabaré a mi Señor. 

Translation: Praises, praises. Praises be to God!]                             

Pouring of the Baptismal Water (Nick Kissel)      

*Call to Worship (Jane Larsen-Wigger)

Leader: Sing out with joy to God. Worship the Holy One with gladness. Come into God’s presence with singing.

People: Praises! Praises! Praises be to God!                            

*Hymn #637 “Cantad al Señor”

[Guatemala Team will sing verse 1 in Spanish, then all join in verses 1, 3, and 5 in either English or Spanish]

*Call to Confession (Perry Chang and Stephanie Gregory)                                       

*Prayer of Confession

All: Lord, we have sinned against you and others by failing to apply partnership principles such as mutuality, cooperation, and shared sacrifice in church partnerships and in other relationships in our lives. We have harbored pride and self-pity, held back our time and money and energy and ideas, struck out on our own, and behaved badly with friends both old and new. We trust that, in your mercy, you will see past our flaws and draw us closer to you, inspiring both our friends and us to work both steadily and hard to reveal more and more of Your Kingdom here on earth.                                                

 

[Silence for examination of conscience and personal prayers of confession]

*Declaration of Forgiveness

Leader: . . . . in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.

People: Thanks be to God.                                                                  

*Sung Response #595 “Santo, santo, santo”                                                  

Santo, santo, santo. ¡Mi corazón te adora!

Mi corazón te sabe decir: ¡Santo eres, Señor!

*The Peace                                                           

Leader: La paz del Señor esté con ustedes.

People: Y tambien con usted. 

[Translation: The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.]                                  

                                               

We Hear and Proclaim God’s Word

Prayer for Illumination

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:3b-10                                    

Message:

Ben Langley

Cara Bridgman

Elisabeth McNinch

Doug Yeager                                                                                                                                        

We Respond to God’s Word

*Hymn #625 “How Great Thou Art” [Sing in whatever language you can!]

Prayers of the People (Shannon Bostrom)

The Offering                

           

Offertory: “Havoun” (Doug Yeager)                                                           

           

*Sung Response: “Alabaré”                                                           

Alabaré, alabaré. Alabaré a mi Señor.

[Translation: Praises, praises. Praises be to God.]                              

We Give Thanks to God

*Prayer of Thanksgiving                                    

Leader: Let us give thanks to God!

People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

                                               

We Go in God’s Name

*Hymn #765 “Song of Hope” [Sing first in English, then in Spanish]

*Blessing                                                            

*All: Alleluia! Amen.         

Guatemala worship July 10

The 2016 Guatemala visit team will lead worship on Sunday, July 10, in Henry Young Hall in the back building.  Featured will be songs, music, photos, and video from the 2016 visit.  Ben Langley, Cara Bridgman, Elisabeth McNinch, and Doug Yeager will preach.  Jane Larsen-Wigger, Stephanie Gregory, Perry Chang, Shannon Bostrom, and Mary Love will participate in other ways, with written words from Soni Castleberry.  A lunch meeting - open to all - of CHPC's Racial Justice Catalyst group, in the Gathering Room, will follow.

Test

Test

Old friends: Ana

It's true that Pastor Jane's previous tenure in Guatemala or her 2006 sabbatical there helped lead to the development of the Estore  o-CHPC partnership.  But so did a parallel visit from Pastor Carlos Lara, a Guatemalan church leader, and his family.  Carlos pastored Crescent Hill in summer 2006, worked at the Presbyterian Center, and then started study at the Presbyterian seminary.  So his wife, son, and daughter stayed in Kentuckiana - and eventually North Carolina - where they attended Presbyterian college.  Ana served as a youth elder at Crescent Hill and the whole family contributed mightily to the development of the partnership (Carlos had helped steer CHPC to Estore no Presbytery, and it was often Carlos who led the phone calls, initially to his old friend, Pastor Gerardo).  Crescent Hill sent the family off with a blessing as the Lara parents headed off to Richmond, Virginia, where Carlos helped a global mission enterprise, and both kids returned to Guatemala.

On the second and final Saturday of the visit, team members et al. reconnected with Ana, one of the two kids, on the grounds of the Guatemala City Mennonite seminary where they stayed Saturday night.  Team members ate, chatted with Ana and each other, and Ana crashed in the female team members' room (where Lowell and other 2010 male visit team members had stayed).  She also joined the team for breakfast and then got a ride to the airport, from which she was to take a shuttle back to her hometown of Antigua.  There she lives with relatives, and works connecting volunteers from around the world with assignments of varying lengths in a magnet school in a town outside Antigua (near where her uncle lives).  Carlitos is managing the family hotel in which members of several other teams have stayed.  The team had originally planned to visit Antigua - and the brother and sister - but - when shifted to returning to Guatemala City only - hatched this plan to see Ana in the city.  Ana participated in the team et. al's late night and morning discussions and planning conversations.  It was great to see her.

-Perry