Caldwell Presbyterian Church asked the QC Family Tree folks to lead Sunday morning’s worship service on September 6,2020.
We videoed our reflections and the video can be accessed from Caldwell’s sites once it is posted on Sunday. We also wanted to provide folks with some written content to go along with the video. Here you go….
Welcome
Hello everyone, thanks for joining us as we pray, sing, reflect, wonder, and wander together.
Grounding
Let us tell you a little bit about this place…
QC Family Tree
Catawba Land
Grandmother Tree
Tuckaseegee
The daily sounds and scenes from this place….
Invocation
Inhale: Lord, I am not okay.
Exhale: With you, that is okay.
From @blackliturgies by Cole Arthur Riley
Passing of the Peace
Do you have an in person, phone number, email, or social media messaging way of passing the peace to a family member or friend, do that now.
Woyaya
The Unitarian Universalist Association website offers this background information about the song:
Written by Ghanaian drummer Sol Amarifio, Woyaya is the title song of a 1971 album by Oisibisa, a musical group of Ghanaian and Caribbean musicians. It was frequently heard in work camps throughout central West Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. The arrangement in Singing the Journey comes from the version by Ysaye Barnwell (of Sweet Honey in the Rock). “Woyaya,” like many other African scat syllables, can have many meanings. According to the song’s composer, it means “We are going.”
You can listen to the recording of this song by Oisibisa, the Ghanaian music group here.
We are going,
Heaven knows where we are going,
But we know within.
And we will get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
It will be hard, we know,
And the road will be muddy and rough,
But we’ll get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
Scripture Reading
Psalm 121 & Isaiah 52
Family Moment:
We’re going to play a little game. You’ll need some paper and something to write with. If you’re gathered with folks, you can play together with each other, or you can get out your phone and call, text, email, or message someone. Our group here is going to get into two teams...
Round 1: How many Bible stories can you come up with that have to do with mountains? [quickly jot them down] After you’ve spent a few minutes writing them down, share aloud. See if your team thought of any that the other team did not think of. Do a similar thing with the person your calling, texting, or messaging.
Round 2: How many Bible stories can you come up with that have to do with rest? [quickly jot them down] After you’ve spent a few minutes writing them down, share aloud. See if your team thought of any that the other team did not think of.Do a similar thing with the person your calling, texting, or messaging.
We’re Climbing Up a Mountain
We are climbing up a mountain, we are climbing ‘til we reach the top of the hill.
Confession and Assurance of Pardon
Guide my feet, Lord, while I run this race. (x3)
For, I don’t want to run this race in vain.
Hold my hand, Lord, while I run this race. (x3)
For, I don’t want to run this race in vain.
Scripture- Matthew 14:23
“I don’t feel no ways tired. I’ve come too far from where I’ve started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy and I don’t believe God’s brought me this far to leave me.” ~ Curtis Burrell
“We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in God’s Holy Word. God never failed me yet. O, can’t turn around, we’ve come this far by faith.” ~Albert Gibson
“We who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.” ~ Ella Baker
Prayers for the people
Today
My eyelids have become drapes.
They know I can only take
In so much at once.
There are days
When all you can do is squint
At the darkness.
God who died,
Thank you for being a maker well acquainted with sorrows. It helps us to remember that our own tears are not wasted for their origin is in the sacred sadness of you. Today, we are heavy with a grief that has been building. We are filled with such a weight that we’re beginning to feel nothing at all. We feel betrayed and confused and tired, Lord. Please, not one more thing. Just let us live. Let us heal. Grant us rituals of remembrance that allow space for celebration, rest, and wailing. And as we’re healing, grant us a wisdom to know we don’t have to carry every sadness all at once. Walk with us as we protect our minds and bodies from despair.
Poem and prayer by @blackliturgies- Cole Arthur Riley
We are going,
Heaven knows where we are going,
But we know within.
And we will get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
It will be hard, we know,
And the road will be muddy and rough,
But we’ll get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
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