17 March 2026 – Chapel – Drew Theo Chapel

Gathering Music

“Come Out”
Words: Mark Miller & Tanya Linn Bennett
Music: Mark Miller, #A-729109

WoMA Message & Welcome

Janice Marie Beauchamp & Dr. Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre

Prayer for Dean Bennett’s Family by the Lord’s Prayer

Janice Marie Beauchamp, Jennifer Lundberg, Rutendo Makarau, Carrie-Lee Farnham, Praise Mapanda,

Leader 1:
Gracious and loving God, we pause in this moment to be still before You. We bring our hearts, our minds, and our spirits into Your presence. Quiet the busyness of our thoughts and the distractions of our day. Help us to breathe deeply of Your peace and to feel Your love surround us. May we be fully present, open to Your guidance, Your comfort, and Your transforming Spirit.

Leader 2:
Remind us, O God, that You are the source of wisdom, the giver of courage, and the One who calls each of us to serve with compassion and love. Teach us to listen deeply to one another,
to honor the gifts and voices of those around us, and to see Your image reflected in every person we meet. May our hearts be guided by Your truth, and may our lives reflect Your grace.

Leader 3:
As we gather in this chapel today, we give thanks for the women who have gone before us,
women of faith, wisdom, and boldness, whose voices, leadership, and witness continue to shape the Church and the world. We remember those whose courage broke barriers, whose devotion inspired generations, and whose lives of service have left a lasting mark on our communities and our hearts. May their stories encourage us to step into our own callings with faith and perseverance.

Leader 4:
In this place where Dean Tanya Lynn Bennett supported and inspired us as students, we hold in our hearts her colleagues, friends, and family, giving thanks for all she shared with us.

We give thanks for her life, her ministry, and the countless ways she inspired, guided, and supported those around her. Her presence in this community was a gift of wisdom, encouragement, and love, touching the lives of all who worked, studied, and learned alongside her. Comfort those who grieve her passing, and surround them with Your sustaining peace. May all who were shaped by her teaching, mentorship, and friendship feel Your presence in their sorrow, and may the memories of her life continue to bring hope, gratitude, and inspiration to our shared life here.

Leader 5:
Surround all who mourn with Your peace that surpasses understanding. Remind us that nothing, not even death, can separate us from Your love. Help us to carry the light of those we have lost into our daily lives, to honor their legacy by living with compassion, courage, and faithfulness. Let us be a community that uplifts one another, bearing one another’s burdens and sharing in each other’s joys and sorrows.

Leader 1:
God of compassion, help us to carry forward the legacy of those who have poured into our lives. May their wisdom inspire our courage, their faith strengthen our own, and their love continue to ripple through the ministries to which You call us. Center our hearts in You. Let every word we speak, every song we sing, and every thought we hold draw us closer to Your Spirit. Guide us in acts of justice, mercy, and love, and empower us to serve boldly in the world around us.

And now, with the confidence of children of God, we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us, saying:

All: Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

Opening Song

Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson – #A-729109

Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty;
let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies,
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our forebears sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered;
we have come, treading our path thru the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.

Witness and Response of Thanksgiving for Women

(Video)

Litany Honoring Women

Rutendo Makarau

Leader: For Mary, who said “yes” to bearing Christ into the world,
People: We give thanks for women who say “yes” to God’s call in every generation.
Leader: For women clothed with strength and dignity, who speak with wisdom and teach with kindness,
People: We give thanks for those who have taught us, challenged us, and loved us into wholeness.
Leader: For women who have stood in hard places—at hospital bedsides, in classrooms, in streets of protest, at the foot of many crosses—
People: We honor their courage, resilience, and faith.
Leader: I invite you to bring forward the images of the women who have been a blessing in your life and place them on the altar. As you come, you are welcome to speak their names aloud, honoring the wisdom, strength, and inspiration they have shared with us.

Scripture

Proverbs 31:25–31

Carrie-Lee Farnham

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
Reader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Luke 1:46–55

Jennifer Lundberg

“46 And Mary said: ‘“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

Reader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Introduction of Guest Preacher

Dean Edwin Aponte

Sermon

“Say Her Name”

Rev. Dr. Rosalyn S. Barnes

Musical Response

Child of God – Words/Music: Mark Miller, #A-729109

No matter what people say
Say, or think about me
I am a child, I am a child of God!

No matter what people say
Say, or think about you
You are a child,
You are a child of God!

No matter what the world says
Says, or think about me
I am a child, I am a child of God!

And there is no thing
Or no one who can separate
They can’t separate
You from the truth that
You’re someone you are family
You are meant to be
A child, a child of God

No matter what the church says
Decisions, pronouncements on you
You are a child,
You are a child of God!

And there is no thing
Or no one who can separate
They can’t separate
You from the truth that
You’re someone you are family
You are meant to be
A child, a child of God