It’s the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and Jun. 23rd is the fourth Sunday of the month, on which we have a Triple C Service (a Christ-centred, Creative Celebration). This has given us the opportunity to incorporate almost all of the worship resources put together for this year by the Middle East Council of Churches. Our Call to Worship, Prayers of the People, Confession and Absolution, and Sending (Dismissal) are all adapted from this source. In addition, our First Reading, appropriately, is the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul says that all members of the Body of Christ are vital and meant to work together. Our Gospel says what we’re to be working at doing in the world, as, in the power of the Spirit, we live as Jesus’ Body. As part of the “Creative” aspect of our Triple C Service, our Psalm is Robert Alter’s 2007 translation, and our New Testament Readings from N. T. Wright’s 2011 “Kingdom” Translation. Our Collect of the Day is also an alternate Collect authorised for use by General Synod, and our Eucharistic Prayer put together for the Epiphany Season from a number of sources. Our Children’s Time begins with some fun making the point in the 1 Corinthians passage, and then has a new song inviting us to “Share the Light.” In keeping with our Week of Prayer theme, we have as an Offertory Anthem “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love” performed by a Lutheran Music Ministry Team from Cincinnati. Our Virtual Choir is also leading us in 4 other Songs or Hymns, including one of the most widely sung Hymns in the world to open our Service. We also have the dynamic duo of “Virtual” Kerry and Doreen leading us in the First Reading and Prayers of the People, respectively. We have the awesome privilege of receiving our Lord’s light within, feeding on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving, as we share Communion physically or spiritually together. Last, our Liturgy ends, and the service begins, with a “Sending” forth to unite with our brothers and sisters throughout the world in spreading the light wherever there’s darkness, through our words and deeds.
Today’s Service of Holy Eucharist will be livestreamed on our main Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/stpaulscalgary) at 9:30 am. Following the service, the video will be posted on our YouTube Channel, and a link to the service will be added here. To watch this service in full screen mode, please click on the “Watch on YouTube” button in the lower left-hand corner of the video. Please download the Order of Service in the Sermon Notes above if you would like to follow along. If you are sharing this Service online and don’t have Reserved Sacrament, you are invited to say the Prayer for Communion for those receiving Spiritual Communion also available above.
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from:
(a) ONE LICENSE with license # A-713985, and/or
(b) CCLI with Streaming License # 20351479.
All rights reserved.