FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF WISCONSIN

January 29, 2006

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

MORNING WORSHIP 8:45 AND 11:00 A.M.

 

 

GATHERING MUSIC                                                                                                                      

 

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS                                 Rev. Carrie Kreps Wegenast

 

PRELUDE                                             Ave Verum                                                     Mozart

 

CHIMES AND TOWER BELLS 

 

THE CALL TO WORSHIP                                                 R. Duane Coates, Pastoral Intern                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Liturgist:    We can study the past to learn what has been done.           

People:     We can live in the present to hear what should be done.

Liturgist:    We can hope for the future that God’s will might be done.

People:     May God help us explore our past, present and future that we might know our
 rich heritage and live our promising future.

 

*HYMN 75                            Heaven and Earth, and Sea and Air

 

*CHORAL CALL TO WORSHIP

 

*THE PRAYER OF INVOCATION AND LORD’S PRAYER (unison)

Faithful God, you have given us the gift of the church and sustained it with your covenant.
 Keep us firm in our faith, loyal in our love, and united in our work that we may be your Son’s
 body in the world. We pray these things in the name of the one who taught us to pray…

 

Our Father who 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not

into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.

 

*GLORIA PATRI (Hymn 513)

 

THE PSALMODY (unison)                    Psalm 111                                        Bible, page 529

 

CHILDREN’S SERMON

 

*HYMN 97                    God of Our Life, Through All the Circling Years

              {Children are dismissed to Sunday School during the singing of the hymn.}

 

THE LESSON                                 2 Corinthians 3:1-6                               Bible, page 1005

                                                                       

THE OLD TESTAMENT READING   Exodus 24:3-8                                   Bible, page 67                       

 

ANTHEM      8:45                             A Vineyard Grows                                                   Scott           

                     11:00                                Be Not Afraid                                               Courtney

                                                                                                                                                                                   

THE SERMON                               “Exploring Church”                       Rev. Kreps Wegenast                       

 

THE CALL TO PRAYER AND SILENT MEDITATION

 

THE PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE

 

THE CHORAL RESPONSE

 

THE OFFERTORY

 

ANTHEM      8:45                         Rejoice, the Lord Is King                                         Ashdown

                     11:00                         Gloria (from Heiligmesse)                           Haydn-Woodman

 

*DOXOLOGY (Hymn 515)

 

*THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND DEDICATION

 

*HYMN 419                         Thou God of All, Whose Spirit Moves                                             

 

*THE CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

 

*THE CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE

 


Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of every day.

Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do.

 

Go now in love, and show you believe. Reach out to others so all the world can see.

God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.


 


THE POSTLUDE                                    Pastorale                                                      Kuchar


 


*The congregation is invited to stand, if able.

 

Today’s Chancel Flowers honor the memory of
 Carl & Evelyn Swanson,

 who were married on

 January 28, 1926. Carl passed away in 1990 at age 87and Evelyn in 1997 at age 92.

 Both joined The First Congregational Church in 1970.

 

Worship Preview for Sunday, February 5, 2006 ~ 8:45 and 11:00 a.m.

Rev. Samuel Schaal continues our

“Imagining Church” series with “Extending Church.”

Tom Gregory is the organist.

Lee Jacobi directs the Pilgrim Choir at 8:45 and the Chancel Choir at 11:00.

 

SERVING January 29, 2006

Head Greeters: Marilyn Auer, David Moore

Head Ushers: Sue Melby, John O’Meara

Ushers: 8:45 a.m. Nick Sgarlata-Captain, Dermot Kerin, Butch Boyd, Scott Rondeau, Doug Jacobson

Ushers: 11:00 a.m. John O’Meara-Captain, Paul Schulze, Susan Sappington, Melissa Coppage

Greeters: 8:45 a.m. Bonnie Wiegand, Margie Idzikowski

Greeters: 11:00 a.m. Alida Smith, Sue Schmitt

Acolyte: 8:45 a.m. Elizabeth and Evan Carollo

Acolytes: 11:00 a.m. Merrick Wells

 

 

 

 

CALENDAR

WEEK OF January 29, 2006

SUNDAY, January 29

7:45 a.m. Lectionary Bible Study-Parlor

8:45 & 11:00 a.m. Worship/Children in Church/Sunday School

10:00 a.m. Coffee Hour-SH, Sunday Symposium-Lounge, Junior Choir Rehearsal-LL5, Cherub Choir Rehearsal-202, Site Committee-Parlor

2:00 p.m. Choral Ensemble Rehearsal-Nave

3:00 p.m. Markham Dunn Memorial Service-Nave

3:30 p.m. Garrett Team Mtg.-Parlor

4:00 p.m. Dunn Reception-Lounge

6:00 p.m. Garrett Team supper-SH

 

MONDAY, January 30

8:00 p.m. AA-LL5

 

TUESDAY, January 31

9, 10, 11:00 a.m. Music Jamboree-LL2

7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts-LL5

 

WEDNESDAY, February 1

6:30 a.m. Women’s Bible Study “Invitation to the Old Testament”-Parlor, Men’s Bible Study-Lounge

9:00 a.m. Chapel Devotions

9:30 a.m. Prayer and Pilates-Lounge

10:30 a.m. Music Jamboree-LL2

6:00 p.m. Debtors Anonymous-LL5

7:00 p.m. “A Generous Orthodoxy” Book Study –Lounge, Beginnings-Parlor

 

THURSDAY, February 2

9:00 a.m. Big Band-SH

6:45 p.m. Pilgrim Choir-LL1

7:00 p.m. Jubilation Ringers-LL5

7:55 p.m. Chancel Choir-LL1

 

FRIDAY, February 3

8:15 a.m. Prepare for St. Vincent’s-Kitchen

9:00 a.m. Harmony Singers-Lounge

4:15 p.m. Serve at St. Vincent’s

 

SATURDAY, February 4

10:00 a.m. Music Jamboree-LL2

 

Welcome to all visitors joining us today. Please check  the welcome table in the atrium for information about  our church.

 

For those who wear a hearing aid, our Nave is equipped with an FM loop system. Set your hearing aid to the “T” setting. In addition, there is a hearing assistance system, which can amplify the worship service with the use of a receiver and headset. The headset is not usable with a hearing aid. Visit the church office for a receiver and headset.

 

Join us for Sunday Symposium at 10 a.m. today in Friendship Lounge when Dan Schowalter will present “Entertainment in the Roman World.” Why were games, sports, drama and music such an important part of Roman culture and religion? On February 5, Sandra Bisciglia, from the Carthage Religion Department, will speak on “Noah in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Tradition.”

 

Our church will again publish its own devotional manual for the 2006 Lenten season. Each day of Lent (from Ash Wednesday, March 1, to Easter Sunday, April 16) will feature a daily reflection written by members of First Congregational Church. You are invited to share in this ministry and write a daily reflection. Sign up in the office and obtain a copy of the guidelines.

 

Valentine Benefits Library On February 5 and 12, we will have books available for you to purchase for the Library in honor of your favorite valentine. Selections for both the Library and Children’s Library will be available.

 

Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 18, when the Rev. Earl Holt, minister of King’s Chapel, Boston, will present: “Liberal Christianity: Retrospect and Prospect” at 7 p.m. in the Friendship Lounge. There will be time for discussion and an opportunity to meet Rev. Holt at a reception following.

 

Altar Flowers are needed for February 19th and 26th, and March 26th. If you are interested please contact the church office at (414) 258-7375.

 

The book cart in the Atrium has advance handouts for the adult education classes this week, as well as samples of the books needed for those classes, which you may purchase in the office.

 

Join us Wednesday, February 15, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Venice Club for Girls Night Out. Enjoy socializing, dinner and entertainment with Rex Sikes, a nationally renowned motivational mind reader. Cost: $10. Prepaid reservations required by Febru-ary 8 to the church office.

 

The Care Board organizes four Wednesday morning communion services each year for church members living at Harwood Place. Each service lasts about 30 minutes and includes one or two hymns. A piano player is need at the services to accompany the singing. If you are available to play at one or more of these services, call Amy Hawthorne at (414) 443-9495.

 

 

 


 

 

 

Choir Anthems

Pilgrim Choir         8:45

 

 

A Vineyard Grows Amid the World's Bleak Wilderness

Jaroslav J. Vajda

 

Amid the world's bleak wilderness

A vineyard grows with promise green,

The planting of the Lord himself, the planting of the Lord.

His love selected this terrain,

His vine with love he planted here

To bear the choicest fruit for him.

 

We are his branches, chosen, dear,

And though we feel the dresser's knife,

We are the objects of his care.

From him we draw the juice of life,

For him supply his winery

With fruit from which true joys derive.

 

Vine, keep what I was meant to be:

Your branch, with your rich life in me.

 

 

Rejoice the Lord is King

Charles Wesley

 

Rejoice the Lord is King, your Lord and King adore!

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing and triumph evermore.

Lift up your hearts, Lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say rejoice.

 

The Lord, our Savior reigns, the God of truth and love,

when He had purged our sins, He took his place above.

Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

 

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules over earth and heaven;

The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given.

Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

 

Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord the judge will come

and take his servants up to their eternal throne.

Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say, rejoice!


 

 

 

 

 

Chancel Choir       11:00

 

Be Not Afraid

Isaiah 43:1-4

 

Be not afraid: for I have redeemed you;

be not afraid: I have called you by name.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

when you pass through the floods, they will not sweep over you;

when you walk through the fire, you will not be consumed;

you are mine, you are precious in my sight.

 

My love for you is everlasting,

my love for you shall have no end.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

when you pass through the floods, they will not sweep over you;

when you walk through the fire, you will not be consumed;

you are mine, you are precious in my sight.

 

Gloria (from Heiligmesse 1796)

English by Michael S. Woodman

 

Glory to God, to God in Heaven.

Unto God, glory to God in Heaven.

Let there ever be peace on earth to all men.

Let there be on earth good will and peace to all men.

We praise Thee, Lord! And we bless Thee, O Lord!

We who worship Thee. We glorify Thee, Lord, we glorify Thee!