Joshua Bennett, 2010 student speaker for the Graduation of the College of Arts and Sciences at UPenn

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION/GRADUATION SUNDAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Neichelle R. Guidry Jones, Lectionary Young Adult Liturgists’ Team

Worship Planning Notes

As you are preparing to plan this service, be sure to include students who are on the brink of graduation. Allow them space to discuss their struggles and triumphs throughout their academic journeys, and the manners in which the congregations has been a support to them. Have there been any sermons, songs, or auxiliary ministries that were especially helpful to them over the years? Did the church do an adequate job of speaking to their concerns as students? What are their hopes and fears as they move out of school and into the next phases of their lives? What lessons did they learn through their academic career—both inside and outside of the classroom—and how have they been impacted by these lessons?

Gather the information that you’ve gained from this conversation and tailor a service that celebrates and affirms their journey. Through the course of the service, remind each worshipper that with every achievement comes greater responsibility to justly and creatively contribute to our respective communities. That which is learned in the classroom must be coupled with the wisdom and knowledge that is gained from wider culture, life, relationships, and commitment to creating just communities.

How will you convey the collective call to lifelong learning, specifically the call to learn to do good? The focus Scripture for this service suggests that learning to do good and to promote justice and equality are learned behaviors that are cultivated over time. Allow this service to be a site of inspiration and conviction towards this end of lifetime learning.

1. Invocation

God,
You who have called us to new levels and new mountaintops,
We thank you for gathering us into this sacred space,
This house of worship,
For a dedicated time with You
In Your presence.

In this time, we seek Your face.
Cleanse us from that which unlike You, that we may hear Your voice

Imploring us
To learn to do right!
Seek justice,
Encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
Plead the case of the widow.

Thank you for every graduate in the sanctuary today.
We celebrate their accomplishments and
We celebrate the grace and mercy that allowed them to accomplish them.

Be with us now, we pray.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

2. Hymns and Congregational Songs
(a) We’ve Come This Far by Faith. By Albert A. Goodson

(b) I Want Jesus to Walk with Me. African American Spiritual

(c) Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. By Robert Robinson. Tune, (NETTLETON), by John Wyeth

3. Spirituals or Traditional Songs
(a) This Little Light of Mine. African American Spiritual

(b) We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder. African American Spiritual

(c) Lord, I Want to Be a Christian. African American Spiritual

4. Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams
(a) Here I Am. By Jonathan Dunn

(b) Great and Mighty. By Matthew Goodloe, Amante Lacey, Donnell Phillips, Donnie Reis, and Chris Triplett

(c) I Want to Know Your Ways. By Fred Hammond

5. Liturgical Dance or Mime Ministry Music
(a) Comin’ Out. By Jonathan McReynolds

(b) Get Up. By Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell, Warryn Campbell, and Eric Dawkins

(c) I Don’t Look Like (What I’ve Been Through). By Deon Kipping

6. Anthems
(a) Stand. By Donnie McClurkin

(b) I Win. By Joshua A. Lay and Brittney Wright

(c) If I Can Help Somebody. By Mahalia Jackson

7. Modern Songs (Written between 2005–2012)
(a) Love God Love People. By Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey, and Tommy Sims

(b) Dance, Dance, Dance. By Warryn Campbell

(c) Incredible. By Paul D. Allen and James L. Moss

8. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) Destiny Is Waiting. By Deon Kipping

(b) I Have the Power. By Deon Kipping

(c) Freedom Song. By Mandisa

9. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Shifting the Atmosphere. By Jason Nelson and Dana Sorey

(b) I Do Worship. By John P. Kee and the New Life Community Choir

(c) Jesus at the Center. By Adam Ranney, Israel Houghton, and Micah Massey

10. Sermonic Selection
(a) Invisible. By Gerald Haddon

(b) Grateful. By J.J. Hairston

(c) Moving Forward. By Israel Houghton

11. Invitational Song or Instrumental
(a) How Do You Love That Way. By Fred Hammond

(b) He Has His Hands on You. By Marvin Sapp

(c) Available to You. By Carlis Moody, Jr.

12. Benediction Song or Instrumental
(a) God in Me. By Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell, and Warryn Campbell

(b) If It Had Not Been. By Warryn Campbell and Eric Dawkins

(c) Never Give Up. By Yolanda Adams, James Harris, Terry Lewis, and James “Big Jim” Wright

Cites and Additional Material for Music and Material Listed

1. Invocation - By Neichelle R. Guidry Jones