“WHO SO EVER WILL” SUNDAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, August 28, 2011
(Please visit the archive section of the Lectionary Dialogue Corner for articles on this topic. Scroll to the bottom of the Dialogue Corner page.)

Nolan Williams, Jr., Lectionary Team Liturgist and Director of the Young Adult Lectionary Liturgists Division

Worship Planning Notes

This worship experience should focus on the theme of hospitality. Hospitality is presented to us in the Bible as a required ethical way of living. It confirms the high worth and common humanity of all people! On this Sunday we want to begin or continue a dialogue that welcomes Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and those who self-identify as Queer. Many persons in these groups are identified by the church as strangers, even if they have long served in the Church. The first level of getting to know and understand anyone is the extension of hospitality, not judgment or hostility.

The members of your Worship and Arts Division and the Pastor will set the tone for this service through the Word that is preached and the songs that are sung. Prior to this service be sure that the leadership is on one accord regarding this day of worship. This may require teaching, several discussion meetings, prayer and special planning. Your unity will help unify the congregation. Remember, the main message to be lifted in this service is one of hospitality.

Please see the “Additional Ideas for Worship and Teaching” (#13) below for assistance in planning and setting a tone for this service.

1. Call to Worship, Centering Prayer, and Litany

Call to Worship and Litany

2. Hymns and Congregational Songs
(a) Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. By Elisha Hoffman. Music, (SHOWALTER), by Anthony Showalter

(b) Victory in Jesus. By Eugene Bartlett. Tune, (HARTFORD), by Eugene Bartlett

(c) Deeper, Deeper in the Love of Jesus. By Charles Price Jones. Tune, (DEEPER) by Charles Price Jones

3. Spirituals or Traditional Songs
(a) They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love. Traditional. By Peter Scholtes

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

(b) Walk Together Children. Traditional

(c) Jesus, You Brought Me All the Way. By Kenneth Louis

4. Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams
(a) So Glad I’m Here. By Richard Smallwood

(b) God Has Smiled on Me. By Isaiah Jones, Jr.

(c) Koinonia. By V. Michael McKay

5. Liturgical Dance Music
(a) Love. By Kirk Franklin

(b) Happy Being Me. By Donald Lawrence

(c) Today. By Kurt Carr 

6. Anthems
(a) Sanctuary. By Bruce Greer

(b) Wherever You Are. By Tom Fettke

(c) Anthem Alternative (for handbell choir): Just as I Am. Tune, (WOODWORTH), by William Bradbury. Arr. by Kevin McChesney

7. Modern Songs
(a) I Am Not Forgotten. By Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey

(b) Moving Forward. By Israel Houghton and Ricardo Sanchez

(c) What a Fellowship. By Elisha Hoffman. Arr. by Laythan Armor, Donald Taylor, and Tony Wilkins

8. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) Welcome. By Dathan Thigpen

(b) My Soul Says Yes. By Ricky Dillard

(c) Together. By Patrick Lundy

9. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Give Thanks. By Henry Smith

(b) Unity. By Glorraine Moore. Arr. by Daniel Cason and Valeria Foster

(c) I Need Thee Every Hour. By Annie Hawkes. Tune, (NEED), by Robert Lowry

10. Sermonic Selection
(a) We Are One. By Kim McFarland and Walt Whitman

(b) I’ve Come Too Far. By Richard Smallwood

(c) My Life Is in Your Hands. By Kirk Franklin

(d) He’s Been Just That Good. By Ricky Dillard

11. Invitational Song or Instrumental 
(a) Speak to My Heart. By Donnie McClurkin

(b) I’ll Say Yes. By Carol Cymbala

(c) Be Open. By Raymond Reeder

12. Benediction Sung or Instrumental
(a) As You Go, Tell the World. Anonymous. Arr. by Valeria Foster

(b) I’ve Got Something. By Richard Smallwood

(c) I Need You to Survive. By David Frazier

• Visit the Dialogue Corner of The African American Lectionary and go to its Archive section to view the articles on Sexuality.
  
  
• Begin a Discussion with others online. Go to the Religious Institute’s Faithful Voices on Sexuality and Religion website. Online location:
  http://www.religiousinstitute.org/welcome-to-the-religious-institute-forum
  
  
• To learn more about transgender persons, see the informative article “ I Am Transgender and I Want My Voice to Be Heard.” Online location:
  http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/14/transgender.irpt/index.html?section=cnn_latest
  
  
• Implementation Ideas for Becoming a Place of Welcome
  These ideas were obtained from the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  

1. Even if you perceive yourself to be a welcoming congregation, don’t assume you are. Do a hospitality assessment:
   
   1. Have a stranger visit your congregation and tell you what he/she sees, hears, feels.
   
   
   2. Take a hospitality assessment of your congregation at:
      http://archive.elca.org/evangelizingChurch/congregations.
      
      
2. Identify everyone in the congregation as members of the “Welcoming Team.”
   
   1. Provide intentional training for congregational members throughout the year on anti-racism, interacting with persons with disabilities, inter-cultural training, women, welcoming gay and lesbian people.
   
   
   2. Periodically include a short public “Affirmation of Welcome” in worship.
   
   
   3. Graciously ask that no one have a “reserved” pew or seat

      except persons with disabilities for whom certain seating may be necessary.

Books

• Homosexuality and the Bible by Walter Wink. Easily read and accessible to most members of congregations, this 16-page booklet is available from Fellowship Bookstore, Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960. Phone: 845-358-4601.
  
  
• Listening to the Spirit: A Handbook for Discernment, “What is the Gospel Message to Our Church as We Relate to Gay and Lesbian Christians?”edited by William Paulsell. This book offers an alternative process to the usual model of debate followed by a vote. Order online from www.chalicepress.com.
  
  
• A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations by Gary David Comstock
  
  
• Sexuality and the Black Church by Kelly Brown Douglas
  
  
• Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture and Religion (see chapter 18) by Michael Eric Dyson
  
  
• Black Church Studies: An Introduction by Stacey Floyd-Thomas, et al.
  
  
• Stones that the Builders Rejected: The Development of Ethical Leadership from the Black Church Tradition by Walter Earl Fluker
  
  
• Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches by Horace Griffin
  
  
• The Church Has AIDS: Essays on Sexuality, Sexual Orientation, Taboos, and the Black Church by Gerald Palmer
  
  
• Loving the Body: Black Religious Studies and the Erotic by Anthony B. Pinn and Dwight Hopkins<
  
  

Cites and Additional Information for Music and Material Listed

1. Call to Worship, Centering Prayer, and Litany
By Nolan Williams, Jr., Lectionary Team Liturgist