Congregational Church of Birmingham United Church of Christ

Rooted in Love:

Our Giving Commitment Season

November 7, 2021 Holy Communion and Baptism

10:00 AM

Welcome Visitors! We hope you enjoy this church home. Please take a moment to join us in signing and passing our Ritual of Friendship book. We heartily welcome you to this church family.

Our Nursery is available during worship. An usher can direct you.

You May Contact Rev. Ott for any pastoral request or emergency at 989-245-0092 or REVLRO@aol.com

Prayers? Text them to Rev. Ott (989-245-0092) before 11:30 AM Sunday mornings, or email them to the church office (ccbinfo@ccbucc.org) by 3 PM Friday, so they can be included in the Weekly Prayers email.

Get in the Loop! Stay current on CCB-UCC news. Contact the church office to receive our email communications.

View Sunday Worship Live Streams and all previously recorded services on the “Congregational Church of Birmingham, United Church of Christ” YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwfTgUDxKOY9u4KkZbExhpw

WORSHIP GUIDE (Bold indicates in unison.)

PRESERVICE MUSIC “Jesu, Joy” J.S. Bach,

arr. D. Qualey

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Pastor Louise (Please sign and pass the Ritual of Friendship pad in your pew.)

OUR MINISTRY UPDATES WELCOME TO CCB-UCC LIVE STREAMING! Worship in our Sanctuary is live streamed so that those unable to be with us in person can worship online via our YouTube channel (see link below). We are now accessible to everyone. We are grateful to Chris Hiner who has created the technological set up, and for our new Media & Communications Specialist, Andre Sigur, who will run that technology during the service. Interested in how it works? Worship in the balcony and learn the ropes!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwfTgUDxKOY9u4KkZbExhpw

THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE FOR LIGHTHOUSE: We are accepting food items and monetary contributions NOW through next Sunday, November 14. Details and links to shopping lists were sent out via MailChimp email last Monday and an update will go out tomorrow. The upcoming food/donation drop off schedule is: this Friday, November 12 (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM), Saturday, November 13 (9:30 AM – 11:30 AM), and next Sunday, November 14 (before 2:00 PM). Questions? Call Shirley Fogarty at 248-258-9435. Thank you for supporting this important project. Together we will be God’s helping hands! BOOK SWAP! Colder weather is here, and curling up with a good book has a lot of appeal. So that no one runs out of reading material, CCB is hosting a Book Swap during after worship Fellowship Time each Sunday in November. All are welcome to join in and share a book or take a book...the more, the merrier. And the books can all be recycled again during our CCB spring rummage sale! Here are some guidelines:

Both adult and children's books are welcome

Newer releases are most desired

Thrillers, mysteries, romances, current histories and biographies are in highest demand

If your books are not selected by month-end, please take them back home to save for the rummage sale

TIME TO ORDER POINSETTIAS! We invite you to give a poinsettia or two to decorate our Sanctuary and enhance our Christmas spirit. You may also designate your donation for other seasonal decorations in the Sanctuary. Poinsettias can be ordered for $14.00 per plant. You are welcome to take your plant home after our 9 PM Christmas Eve service. Please find the order and dedication form in this bulletin and return it to the church office no later than Monday, November 29. Thank you! BENEFIT RETIREMENT CONCERT - SAVE THE DATE! Please join us for a benefit concert performed by Dr. Yalan Piao on Saturday, December 4, 2021, to honor Pastor Louise's retirement from ministry. Wine & (continued)

Cheese reception at 6:30 PM, Concert begins at 7:00 PM. Proceeds of Free Will Offering will benefit Rippling Hope.

We will also be hosting a small reception after the worship service on Sunday, December 19, 2021, to give the congregation an opportunity to thank Pastor Louise & Elaine for their ministry at CCB-UCC. Pastor Louise’s last sermon will be Sunday, December 26th. Please mark your calendar for both events and plan to join us. More information will follow. THANK YOU members and friends of CCB-UCC for your outstanding generosity to our South Oakland Shelter (SOS) Campaign. Our goal was to raise $2,100 with our partners Central Woodward Christian Church (CWCC) and Troy Presbyterian Church to provide 2 meals a day for 30 guests for one week. Our final CCB total is $2765! Collectively we raised an awesome $4,665 for SOS, more than twice our goal!!!! GETTING TO KNOW US 2.0… Pair up and use the video camera on your phone to record each other introducing yourselves. Use our beautiful grounds, the patio, the Memorial Garden, the sanctuary, the kitchen, whatever place makes sense for you and tell us where you are from, how you got here, and what occupies your life! Email that recording right from your phone to Andre – www.uccbirminghammedia@gmail.com SIGN-UP FOR YOUR MINISTRY TEAMS using the online sign-up sheets, available through the end of the year. Here’s the link to the sign up google doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-SdAgQsKF_zVLNdWYhS-UYS8cuhK1U48_GWqE3PH-Bs/edit?usp=sharing See Cathy Rupert for assistance or with questions.

(Live Streaming Begins Here)

PRELUDE “Trusting Jesus Medley” arr. Ham

(“Trust and Obey”, “‘Tis So Sweet to trust in Jesus”)

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD INTO WORSHIP

Pastor Louise

THE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION

ONE: The peace of God be with you always. ALL: And also with you.

ONE: Holy God, our loving Creator, close to us as breathing and distant as the farthest star, we thank you for your constant love for all you have made. We thank you for all that sustains life, for all people of faith in every generation who have given themselves to your will, and especially for Jesus Christ, whom you have sent from your own being as our Savior. We praise you for Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection, and for the calling forth of your church for its mission in the world. Gifted by the presence of your Holy Spirit, we offer ourselves to you as we unite our voices with the entire family of your faithful people everywhere: ALL: Holy, holy, holy God of love and majesty, the whole universe speaks of your glory, O God Most High. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of our God! Hosanna in the highest! ONE: Merciful God, as sisters and brothers in faith, we recall anew these words and acts of Jesus Christ. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat: This is my body.” Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks, gave it to the disciples and said: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We remember Christ’s promise not to drink of the fruit of the vine again until the heavenly banquet at the close of history, and we say boldly what we believe: ALL: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. ONE: Come, Holy Spirit, come. Bless this bread, and bless this fruit of the vine. Bless all of us in our eating and drinking at this table (continued)

that our eyes may be opened, and we may recognize the risen Christ in our midst, in each other, and in all for whom Christ died. ALL: Amen.

SHARING THE SACRAMENT (All elements are gluten free.) (All who love Christ are welcome! We’ll receive Communion individually packaged in

the congregational style. As you are invited tear open and hold the bread until we eat together and the same with the juice. May you hear God’s call in your life.)

SONG “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” Sing Along [CH #75]

I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.

I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well; in a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell.

When you heard the wonder of the word I was there to cheer you on; you were raised to praise the living God, to whom you now belong.

If you find someone to share your time and you join your hearts as one, I'll be there to make your verses rhyme from dusk till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life, not too old, no longer young, I'll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I've begun.

When the evening gently closes in and you shut your weary eyes, I'll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.

TIME WITH CHILDREN Pastor Louise

SACRAMENT OF INFANT BAPTISM RITUAL FOR JULIAN ZELLER

WELCOME

QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS AND SPONSORS

CONGREGATIONAL COMMITMENT We are called to be disciples of Jesus and to share his faith understanding for living. One of the ways we celebrate our faith in God is through the ancient tradition of baptism. Do you, who witness and celebrate this sacrament, promise your love, support, and care for Julian about to be baptized, as he lives and grows in his faith? ALL: We promise our love, support, and care.

PRAYER OF BAPTISM

THE BAPTISM

THANKSGIVING PRAYER We give you thanks, O Holy One, mother and father of all the faithful, for this child and for the grace acknowledged here today in the water and the Holy Spirit. Embrace us all as sons and daughters in the household of love. Grant us grace to receive, nurture, and befriend this new member of the body of Christ. ALL: Give to the newly baptized: strength for life’s journey, courage in time of suffering, the joy of faith, the freedom of love, and the hope of new life; through Jesus Christ, who makes us one. Amen.

BLESSING ALL: Amen.

GREETING OF CHRISTIAN LOVE Pastor introduces Julian to the congregation.

(Pre-K through 8th grade children may now go to their lessons.)

SCRIPTURE READING Ps. 1:1-3 CEB

The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice, doesn’t stand on the road of sinners, and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. Instead of doing those things, these persons love the Lord’s Instruction, and they recite God’s Instruction day and night! They are like a tree replanted by streams of water, which bears fruit at just the right time and whose leaves don’t fade. Whatever they do succeeds.

For the word of God in Scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word of God within us, THANKS BE TO GOD!

OUR CONVERSATION “Where Are You Planted?” Rev. Louise R. Ott

Testimony Video: Ted Grossutti

PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE

THE ECUMENICAL PRAYER OF JESUS All People

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

We continue to pray for:

Afghanistan citizens in dire circumstances All at risk in contracting COVID-19

Ally, Cynthia Martin’s granddaughter, whose face was bitten by a dog Annabelle, Cindy Kyle’s mother, frail and living alone at a distance

Ben Sharpe, with depression challenges Calliope, daughter of Melissa, granddaughter of Brenda, and niece of Kristine

Crook, as the courts make custody decisions

David, brother of Paul von Oeyen, in stem cell transplant treatment for leukemia

Elizabeth Krage, Drew Sharpe’s mother-in-law, at home in hospice care

Greg Peterson and family, mourning the death of his mother, Wilda, and Nate Jacquie & Cliff Wagoner, both transitioning to new homes at Blossom Springs

and Blossom Ridge, respectively Judy, Greg Peterson’s aunt, in palliative care with terminal cancer

Rob, Sue Potter’s brother, with metastasized cancer in his bones Ruth Biersdorf, in treatment for cancer

Suzy, Pastor Louise’s California cousin, in hospice care Victims of war, violence, and natural disasters everywhere

Youth and adults with mental health challenges

MUSIC OF THE DAY “For All the Saints” arr. Bob Moore

CCB Choir

THE RITE OF REMEMBRANCE Pastor Louise

We remember in love the following souls called home to God this year:

Neal Thomas Wilson - father of Kevin Wilson Lisa Pellerito - daughter of Lois Rowe Mary Ann Wehler - friend of Susan McBride George Whitehead - father of Sue Potter Norman (Norm) Walack - father of Karyn Walack-Otani Martha (Marty) S. Bjorkman - longtime member of CCB Joyce Lindeman - friend of Pastor Louise & Elaine Gretchen Elise Fletcher - mother of Beth Prevost Wilda Jean Peterson - mother of Greg Peterson Elizabeth Krage - mother-in-law of Drew Sharpe

All who died in service to our country or community this year.

CLOSING SONG “Shalom to You Now” Sing Along [CH #436]

Shalom to you now, shalom, my friends. May God’s full mercies bless you, my friends. In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.

OUR BLESSING FROM GOD Pastor Louise

The peace of Christ is with you! And also with you! Amen.

OUR GIFTS & SERVICE Your offering is welcomed in support of our ministry and may be made online at www.ccbucc.org; placed in the offering bags at the worship welcome area before, during, and after worship; or mailed to the church.

POSTLUDE “Jesus Paid It All” Grape,

arr. Hayes

(Live Streaming Ends Here)

Credits: A Sanctified Art LLC, www.sanctifiedart.org; CCLI #741179.

WE THANK our greeters, ushers, communion helpers, testimonial contributors, choir, Tech Team: Andre Sigur & Chris Hiner, Worship Design Team: Leslie O’Day-Benyo & Elaine Winter, and Music Team: Joe Bentley & Yalan Piao, for all their help with today’s service. THE COMPLETE CHURCH CALENDAR can be seen on our website at: www.ccbucc.org

We invite you to offer a poinsettia or two to decorate our Sanctuary for Christmas and celebrate that we are back together in worship. Alternatively, you may designate your donation for other seasonal decorations in the Sanctuary. Poinsettias can be ordered for $14.00 per plant (about 7-10 blooms each). You may take your plant home after our Christmas Eve late night service (on a first come, first served basis).

Please turn in your request by Monday, November 29.

You may put your donation in the offering plate with this form, place it in the mail slot on the church office door, or email it to the church and pay by myEoffering as “Sanctuary Flowers.” Please write “Sanctuary Decorations” on the memo line of your check. Thank you for your generous support! Worship Ministry

***** No need to tear here, just return entire page to Church Office. *****

I’d like to order ________ poinsettia(s) x $14.00 ea. = $___________ Total

In lieu of poinsettias, I am donating $ ______ to keep our Sanctuary festive in every season.

Please complete this dedication for the Bulletin: Your Name _________________________________________________ In Memory of _________________________________________________ In Honor of _________________________________________________

Celebrate Christmas

in the Sanctuary

A Just World for All Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost November 7, 2021

Welcome to CCB–UCC an “Open and Affirming” Church We warmly welcome everyone to worship and into the full life and leadership of the church. Whatever your background - your race, your nationality, your physical or mental condition, your gender, your sexual orientation - whoever you are and wherever you come from, we welcome you in love as Jesus Christ welcomes all. Gathered by the Holy Spirit, may the comfort and challenge of God’s presence renew and inspire us all throughout the coming week. Again,

welcome!

A Stephen Ministry Congregation

Contact a Stephen Minister Leader: Dr. Paul von Oeyen 248-646-0837 Rev. Louise R. Ott 989-245-0092

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BIRMINGHAM 1000 CRANBROOK ROAD (@ WOODWARD AVE) BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN 48304-2725

PHONE: 248-646-4511

EMAIL: ccbinfo@ccbucc.org CCB WEBSITE: www.ccbucc.org

MICHIGAN CONFERENCE WEBSITE: www.michucc.org DENOMINATIONAL WEBSITE: www.ucc.org

CHURCH LEADERSHIP & STAFF

Ministers - The Congregation Rev. Louise R. Ott, Pastor

Dr. Carmel Tinnes, Director of Christian Education Dr. Joe Bentley, Choral Director

Dr. Yalan Piao, Accompanist Jasmin West, Preschool/Early Elementary Teacher

Andre Sigur, Media & Communications Specialist Beth Prevost, Church Administrator

Office Hours: Open Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, lunch break 12:30 PM-1:00 PM