Order of Worship
- Prelude: Rosemary Nettrouer
- Announcements
- Music: “Hymn of Promise” by Natalie Sleeth, attached
- Children’s moment
- Prayer Concerns
- Pastoral Prayer
- Message: “Times and Seasons”
- Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
· Open Worship
· Benediction
- Postlude: Rosemary Nettrouer
Flowers provided by Ken & Alison Jack, technology by Michael Barrett, music coordination by Dawn Blue, and pastoral leadership by Catherine Griffith.
11:00 a.m. ~ Monthly Meeting for Business
5:00 p.m. ~ Listening Group 6.3 (John & Sue Wine)
Announcements
- Thank you for flowers provided by Ken & Alison Jack, music by Rosemary Nettrouer, technical support by Michael Barrett, music coordination by Dawn Blue.
- We are live streaming on Facebook and the church website (wichitaquakers.org). Please feel free to share our worship with your Facebook friends by posting a link.
- Offering plates are at the front and the back of the meeting-room.
- It’s time for a distance and mask check.
- Make sure your mask covers your nose and your mouth.
- Now make sure you can’t touch anyone’s hands except your family – front and back, side to side.
- Remember not to linger in the aisles after worship but to make your way outside or downstairs to visit with people.
- Ministry and Counsel is concerned about the rising numbers and is monitoring the situation. The possibility of going back to remote worship only is real.
Among church activities this week
- Today
- Monthly Meeting for worship with attention to business, at the rise of worship, here or via Zoom
- 5:00 p.m. ~ Listening Group 6.3 (John & Sue Wine), in person here or via Zoom
- Monday, November 16, 9:30 a.m., Transition Team
- Tuesday, November 17, 5:30 pm, Worship Committee
- Wednesday, November 18, 6:30 pm, Bell choir rehearsal
- Thursday, November 19
- 4:00 p.m., Assets Committee
- 6:30 p.m., Outreach Committee
Any other announcements?
Music: “Hymn of Promise” (Feel free to sing quietly or hum along inside your mask.)
Children’s moment
Prayer Concerns
- People who are dealing with the pandemic – the Suttles, the DeGroots, and others
- Steve Grether is in the hospital this week, dealing with problems with his feet and legs
- Joy Martin, who lives at a care center in Kansas City, has been placed in hospice care due to dementia.
- School boards, teachers, administrators, staff, students and families as they cope with rising pandemic numbers
- Our church during this time of transition, with the holidays and the pandemic – May we find clarity and energy for the tasks at hand and the decisions we will need to make as we find our way forward. May we find ways to use our assets wisely and well. May we discover ways we are to be a beacon of love in our world. May we be looking for the doors you are opening, and may we have the courage to walk through them. May we see what you are doing in our world and join you in it.
- Any other prayer concerns?
Pastoral Prayer
God of time and eternity, we open our hearts and lives to you.
On your people, pour your power.
Message: “Times and Seasons”
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
In every family of more than one person, someone is more of a planner than the other. Between my son and daughter-in-law, my daughter-in-law is more of a planner than my son, but I am way more of a planner than either of them. I am more likely to ask, what’s happening for Naomi’s birthday? Or what time is Thanksgiving dinner? And the answer is likely to be, we don’t know yet.
I’m a planner. It’s part of my personality to be looking ahead and thinking about what’s coming up. When is that going to happen? What do we need to do to get ready?
I am a planner, but I am a flexible planner. When the day actually comes, and a meeting is canceled or I need to stop at the grocery store and pick up some whipped cream for the pumpkin pie at the last minute, I’m good with that.
Given that I’m a planner, it should come as no surprise that I’m the one who initiated an email conversation about holiday plans. In the middle of October.
My sister must have some of that gene, too, because she and I have had several conversations this past week about family Christmas presents, and I’m pretty sure she has a good share of her shopping done already. Not me, but I have been thinking about it. 😊 And I did order some soft, sparkly yarn to knit a pair of socks for my mom.
Whether you are more of a planner or lean more toward spontaneity, this morning, I’m going to suggest that you give some thought to the upcoming holidays.
I noticed one blog called, “5 Simple Things You Can Do to Plan Ahead for the Holiday Season” (https://justagirlandherblog.com/plan-ahead-for-the-holiday-season/). The author posted it on October 12. These are the five simple things:
- Create a budget.
- Make a bucket list. (She doesn’t mean things to do before you die, but things that you want to be sure to include in your holiday celebration.
She writes, “We try to stick with the things that are most important to us so that we can stay sane in the midst of the busy holiday schedule.”)
- Start compiling gift ideas. That’s where I am, thus the yarn for my mom’s socks.
- Make a décor plan. The author suggests, “… get a head start by making a plan for each room ahead of time,” including a theme or color scheme for each room. OK, she’s got me beat. I am thinking I might buy a wreath, and since I’m not grading papers this year, I might actually do something more than put lights and silver ornaments in a jar, but my décor plan is simple – what I can actually do combined with what would make me smile.
- Make or order your Advent calendar or countdown to Christmas. I used to do that when I had children at home. Not happening this year. Though I have been amused by people posting on Facebook this week – based on the number of chocolates in the Advent calendar, Christmas is three days away.
And then, to the usual busyness of the holidays, we have a pandemic. As I have said a couple of times since March, we plan, and the pandemic laughs.
The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, also had a blog post, a few days ago, about planning for the holidays during the pandemic (https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/11/12/planning-your-holidays-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/).
His suggestions aim at what we can actually do while staying safe. See what you think.
Send Gifts. … [Collins says] Who wouldn’t want to receive some home-baked goodies, a basket of fresh fruit, or a festive wreath?
I’m planning to do some of that. I’m also thinking I will do some shopping online and have things shipped to Oregon and Indiana.
Make Videos. When I’m visiting family, [Collins writes] there is often music involved—with guitar, piano, and maybe some singing. But, this year, I’ll have to be content with video recording a few songs and sending them to others by text or email. … If you don’t play a guitar or like to sing, you can still make your own holiday-themed videos.
Maybe share a dance routine, a demonstration of athletic skill, or even some stand-up comedy. The key is to have fun and let your imagination run free.
Early in the pandemic, I recorded myself playing the piano for my mom and sister. They seem to like that, no matter how much my fingers stumble. Maybe I’ll have to break out the Christmas music.
Share a Meal Remotely. … With all of the videoconferencing platforms now available, [Collins suggests] it is easy to set aside a block of time to share a meal and good conversation remotely with friends and family members, whether they live nearby or across the country. … You can compare your culinary creations, swap recipes, and try to remember to leave room for dessert. If you have a tradition of playing games or giving thanks for your many blessings, you can still do many of these activities remotely.
My family in Oregon and Indiana are planning to share pie over Zoom on Thanksgiving Day. My sister said they’re having four pies for eight people and wondered if that would be enough. I ordered something special from Peace, Love, and Pie. We have decided that the time differences won’t matter, because in our family, you can have pie any time.
Take an After-Dinner Walk. … After your holiday meal, go on a virtual group walk through your respective neighborhoods to work off the food. Thanks to your smartphone’s camera, you can share your time outdoors and all of the interesting sights along the way. …
Stay Safe. If you plan to go ahead and join a holiday gathering in person, it’s important to remain vigilant, even when interacting with dear friends and loved ones. … Try to keep any family gatherings brief and relatively small, about five people or less. If the weather permits, hold the get-together outdoors.
And, finally,
To protect yourself and your loved ones, both now and over the holidays, please follow these 3 W’s:
• Wear a mask ….
• Watch your distance….
• Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.
We can do this.
As I was thinking about preparing for the holidays, I discovered a Quaker testimony that is not one of the SPICES. Along with simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship, Quakers in times past had a testimony about times and seasons.
One Friend explains,
To Fox and the early Friends the whole of life seemed sacramental, and they refused to mark off any one particular practice or observance as more sacred than others. They took the same stand with regard to Sunday, or First Day; it was not in itself more holy than Saturday or Monday; every week-day should be a Lord’s Day. Their whole attitude was gloriously positive, not negative. They were ‘alive unto God’ and sensed [God] everywhere. … (Gerald K Hibbert, 1941, 27.39, (https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/27/)
And here’s this, from Quaker Janet Scott:
Many of the testimonies and practices established by early Friends have survived only in part. One which has almost died out in Britain is the naming of days and months by number instead of by names of pagan origin. It is rare now to hear ‘first day’ instead of ‘Sunday’ or ‘third month’ instead of ‘March’, though the practice is still acceptable.
Another testimony held by early Friends was that against the keeping of ‘times and seasons’. We might understand this as part of the conviction that all of life is sacramental; that since all times are therefore holy, no time should be marked out as more holy; that what God has done for us should always be remembered and not only on the occasions named Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
… What I would hope for is neither that we let the testimony die, nor that we keep it mechanically. I hope for a rediscovery of its truth, that we should remember and celebrate the work of God in us and for us whenever God by the Spirit calls us to this remembrance and this joy. (Janet Scott, 1994, 27.42, https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/27/)
All of life is sacramental. All of life is holy. And we live that life in time, with the seasons and holidays.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, in the New Revised Standard Version:
3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
In this time of pandemic, we need to refrain from embracing most people. We may need to mourn what and whom we have lost. We may also need to mourn what can’t happen this year. Those losses are real. And we can laugh. And celebrate. And love. Those are real too.
Even in this time of pandemic, we can experience the breaking through of the Divine. This past week, the book club finished the discussion of Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion, and a part of that seems especially good to remember these days.
… I am persuaded [Kelly wrote] that in the Quaker experience of Divine Presence there is a serious retention of both time and the timeless, with the final value and significance located in the Eternal…. For [quoting from George Fox’s journal here] ‘I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love which flowed over the ocean of darkness.’
The possibility of this experience of Divine Presence, as a repeatedly realized and present fact, and its transforming and transfiguring effect upon all of life – this is the central message of Friends. Once we discover this glorious secret, this new dimension of life, … we no longer live merely in time but we live also in the Eternal. … A second Reality hovers, quickens, quivers, stirs, energizes us, breaks in upon us and in love embraces us, together with all things, within [the Eternal] (p. 91).
As you make your plans for the holidays this year, whether you’re a planner or like things a bit more spontaneous, do think about how to spend your time and money. Think about how to do things that will keep you and your family safe. And leave openings for the breaking in of the eternal. Such breaking in can happen any day. All days are holy, and maybe the holidays can be especially so.
Open Worship
Let us join together in a time of open worship, communion after the manner of Friends.
Benediction
May you live wisely in these times, the reality of the holidays during a pandemic. And my you also live in the expectation that the Eternal Spirit hovers, quickens, quivers, stirs, energizes you, breaks in upon you and in love embraces you, today and every day.
Postlude
We are meeting in person and also streaming our sermons on Facebook at 10:00 AM CST. Watch live:
https://www.facebook.com/universityfriendschurch/
Not on Facebook? You can see all of our posts and videos on our site here!
