Gathering Music

“Gather Us In” 

Centering Call to Prayer

(Breathe together and repeat three times slowly)

Breathing in: “I stand in awe …”

Breathing out: “… of all creation.”

Confession

“Come Out, Come Out” 

Scripture

Psalm 65 NRSV

1 Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
2 O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6 By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
7 You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Sung Response

“Many and Great, O God” UMH #148 v. 1

Many and great, O God, are thy things,
Maker of earth and sky. 
Thy hands have set the heavens with stars; 
Thy fingers spread the mountains and plains. 
Lo, at thy word the waters were formed; 
Deep seas obey thy voice.

Extracanonical Reading

“The Prayer of Thanksgiving” (by Walter Rauschenbusch, 1861–1918)

For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

“Stockbridge” (by Tess Taylor from Days & Work)

From Wisconsin before it was Wisconsin
a glacier hauled these stones you stand on.

They traveled on its rubble.

They are the glacier’s spit, its lost hag’s teeth,
the path it garbled on its travel.

In 1880, the Stockbridge, last of the Mohicans
were removed to Wisconsin: The white edict

frozen, impassive as a glacier.
This field, the farm, these gabled houses

all rely upon that absence.
Now you bend into the field to clear it.

You think of frozen fist,
of ice-sheets melting. Glaciers lost

in too-warm early weather.
A west wind blows in from Wisconsin.

Each stone you touch is cold as bone.
As if it holds some trace of spirit.

Seed Meditation

Jennifer Maidrand 

“Many and Great, O God” UMH #148 v. 1

Many and great, O God, are thy things,
Maker of earth and sky. 
Thy hands have set the heavens with stars; 
Thy fingers spread the mountains and plains. 
Lo, at thy word the waters were formed; 
Deep seas obey thy voice.

Prayers of the Creatures

Let us offer our prayers to God for the life of the world
and for all God’s creatures in their daily life and work.
God, the beginning and end of all things,
in your providence and care
you watch unceasingly over all creation;
we offer our prayers
that in us and in all your creation your will may be done,
according to your wise and loving purpose in Christ our Lord.
Lord of all life:
hear our prayer.

We pray for all through whom we receive sustenance and life;
for farmers and agricultural workers,
for packers, distributors and company boards,
for soil, seeds, and air,
for all entangled in our unjust system of food production;
as you have so ordered our life that we depend upon each other,
enable us by your grace to seek the well-being of others before our own.
Lord of all creation:
hear our prayer

We pray for all engaged in research to safeguard crops against disease,
and to produce abundant life despite climate change,
among those who hunger and whose lives are at risk.
Prosper the work of their hands
and the searching of their minds,
that their labour may be for the welfare of all beings.
Lord of all wisdom:
hear our prayer.

We pray for governments and aid agencies,
and those areas of the world where there is disaster, drought, flooding,
and starvation.
By the grace of your Spirit,
touch our hearts
and the hearts of all who live in comfortable plenty,
and make us wise stewards of your gifts.
Lord of all justice:
hear our prayer.

We pray for those who are ill,
remembering those in hospital and nursing homes
and all who are known to us.
We pray for all who care for them.
Give skill and understanding
to all who work for their well-being,
and let us labor for their health as well.
Lord of all compassion:
hear our prayer.

We remember those who have died,
whom we entrust to your eternal love
in the hope of resurrection to new life.
Lord of all peace:
hear our prayer.

We offer ourselves to your service,
asking that by the Spirit at work in us
others may receive a rich harvest of love and joy and peace.
Lord of all faithfulness:
hear our prayer.

God of grace,
as you are ever at work in your creation,
so fulfil your wise and loving purpose in us
and in all for whom we pray,
that with them and in all that you have made,
your glory may be revealed
and the whole earth give praise to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Blessing of the Land and Our Labor

God of the Universe,
You made the heavens and the earth,
So we do not call our home merely “planet earth.”
We call it your Creation, a Divine Mystery,
a Gift from Your Most Blessed Hand.
The world itself is your miracle.
Bread and vegetables from earth are thus also from heaven.
Help us to see in our daily bread your presence.

Upon this garden
May your stars rain down their blessed dust.
May you send rain and sunshine upon our garden and us.
Grant us the humility to touch the humus,
That we might become more human.
That we might mend our rift from your Creation,
That we might then know the sacredness of the gift of life—
That we might truly experience life from the hand of God.
For you planted humanity in a garden,
and began our resurrection in a garden.
Our blessed memory and hope lie in a garden.

Thanks be to God,
Who made the world teeming with variety,
Of things on the earth, above, the earth, and under the earth.
Thanks be to God,
For the many kinds of plants, trees, and fruits,
We celebrate.
For the centipedes, ants, and worms,
For the mice, marmots, and bats,
For the cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers
We rejoice,
That we find ourselves eclipsed by the magnitude
Of generosity and mystery.
Thanks be to God.

Sending

“God Has Work for Us to Do”

In tending to creation
to water, land, and air
through what we do and what we don’t
to nourish and repair;

God has work for us to do!
God has work for us to do!
Til God’s will is done
And all things are made new
God….has work for us…
Work for us to do!

in seeking the protection
of creatures great and small;
in binding up the web of life
that animates us all:

God has work for us to do!
God has work for us to do!
Til God’s will is done
And all things are made new
God….has work for us…
Work for us to do!

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Worship Notes:

Blessing: http://www.commonprayer.net

Prayers of the Creatures: Adapted from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000)