Communing With Our Trustees

Morning Worship

San Francisco Theological Seminary

Friday, Friday 9, 2007

Stewart Chapel

Prelude Prelude on "Holy, Holy, Holy" Healey Willan

Welcome

*Call To Worship

God is our light and our salvation.

The Lord is the stronghold of our lives.

Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.

May the name of the Lord be praised forever.

Let us worship God.

*Song PH#138 Holy, Holy, Holy

Call To Confession

Let us confess our sins before God and one another.

Prayer Of Confession

Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love. Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry for all we have done to displease you. Forgive our sins, and help us to live in your light, and walk in your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Assurance Of Pardon

Hear the good news! I declare to you that through Jesus Christ our sins have been forgiven!

*Passing Of The Peace

And since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us forgive one another.

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Song In This Very Room Ron and Cynthia Harris

Seminary Singers

Prayer of Illumination

Scripture Reading Jeremiah 17: 7-10 and 14-18

Communion Meditation Dr. Audrey Yamagata-Noji

Commissioning Of VP Of Finance/Admin Ms. Barbara Brenner Buder

Sacrament of Holy Communion

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

May God be with you.

And also with you.

Beloved of God, lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the One who knows us and loves us.

Beloved of God, give thanks to the Lord our God.

Our praise is continually offered to our Hope, our Trust, our God.

In that time when there was only You, you walked in the midst of chaos, shaping all that is good and beautiful. In that place where there was only your Love, You stretched out your hands scooping up the dirt off earth’s floors, shaping us in your image, breathing Spirit into our lungs. In that silence where there was only your Hope, you called us to be your people, God of Glory.

But the world sang of its seduction, sin called us to follow its despair, death blinded us to the life you offered. And so, we turned away, pouting and stamping our feet wanting our own way.

But you would not pay attention to our foolish tantrums, nor would you leave us in the grasp of death and sin, trusting that if we encountered the grace wrapped in your holiness, we would turn to you in joy.

And so, believing that you have reached out and called us to service with you, and touched our lips with songs of hope, we join our voices with those who, in every time and place, sing of your ways forever:

Holy are you, Sanctuary of our Hearts, and blessed is Jesus Christ, Word of joyous grace. In that time when we had lost our way, he called to us, so we could follow him into your joy; in that time when all hope had died, he touched our souls with the fire of your love; in that time when death’s cold grip wrapped tightly around our hearts, he came to surround us with your life. While we cannot understand the mysteries of your holiness and grace, when we are called to Christ’s side we can only cry, “Here we are; we will follow” even as we hope for that faith which was his. Great is the mystery of faith:

In this time of silence, Spirit of God, may this bread which is broken, become our wholeness. In this time of grace, may this cup which is poured touch our lips with healing. In this time when we feel the brush of your fingertips caressing us, may we believe that your justice and peace are to be shared with all people; that our hearts can bear the burdens of others; that we may bring joy to the lonely and hurting. Make us compassionate people, who have a passion for your justice. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory are yours, Great God, our Hope, our peace, now and forever. Amen.

Sung Lord’s Prayer (attached)

Words of Institution

*Distribution of the Elements

*Concluding Prayer

*Benediction

Commissioning Vows

Do you, as the new Vice President for Administration and Finance of San Francisco Theological Seminary, place your trust in God the Holy Spirit as you commit yourself to manage and direct the financial, human, and tangible resources of the seminary towards our common mission of preparing whole leaders for the whole church?

Do we, the Trustees, Administration, Faculty, Staff, and Students of San Francisco Theological Seminary pledge to pray for Barbara, to respect and honor her leadership, and to work alongside her as colleagues in furthering the seminary’s stated mission?

Prayer

Participants In Worship:

Dr. Audrey Yamagata-Noji, Preacher

Mr. Don Hammond, Liturgist

Rev. Dr. Charles Marks, Chaplain

Dr. Daniel Hoggatt, Musician

Ms. Kitty Lum, Chaplain's Assistant

Communion Servers:

Rev. Dr. Dave Tomlinson, VP, Southern California

Rev. Dr. Don Oliver, Trustee

Ms. Dottie Moss, Trustee

Mr. Nick Kolivas, Junior

Ms. Karen Wells, Junior

Resources:

The Call To Worship, Prayer Of Confession And Assurance of Pardon were adapted from The Worship Sourcebook, Faith Alive Christian Resources, Grand Rapids, MI, 2004. The Communion Liturgy is from Lectionary Liturgies, blogspot.com.