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2025 ONA Sunday Worship Resources

By UCC Coalition | June 1, 2025

Theme: Sacred, Seen, and Called: Living Our Truth, Embracing Our Light
Primary Scripture Focus: Philippians 2:15
Additional Scriptures: Psalm 139:14, Isaiah 43:1, Matthew 5:14, Romans 12:4–6

Welcome:
Welcome to this sacred space. Whether you are full of faith or full of questions, whether you come with joy or with grief, whether you are here every week or today is your first time—you are welcome here. Whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey—you are sacred. You are seen by a love that knows no bounds. You are called into a life that holds beauty, truth, and purpose. Here, we make room for your whole self. Here, we honor the light you carry. Here, we worship a God who delights in every part of who you are. So come—let us live our truth, embrace our light, and worship together.

Congregational Hymn: For All the Children by David Lohman

Call to Worship:
Leader: Come, you who are weary and wounded, you who are radiant and rising—
People: We come as we are, beloved and becoming.
Leader: Come, you who have been told you’re too much or not enough—
People: We come with our stories, our scars, and our strength.
Leader: Come, for you are sacred. You are seen. You are called.
All: We come to worship the One who made us in love and calls us to live in joy.

Prayer:
Holy One, You who named us before we were born, You who claimed us in the waters of baptism, You who have walked with us through closets, protests, pulpits, and pews—Meet us here today. Make this space holy with your presence. Make our hearts soft enough to be moved and strong enough to be bold. Let joy rise, let fear fall away, and let your Spirit move freely among us. Amen.

Holy Communion:
Invitation to the Table:

This is Christ’s table. Not the church’s, not the pastor’s, not the denomination’s—but Christ’s. And Christ has always set a table where the outcast finds welcome, the forgotten are remembered, and the rejected are restored. Here, no one is excluded because of who they love, how they express their gender, the questions they carry, or the story they bring. If you are hungry for grace, thirsty for justice, or longing for a place to belong—come. In this Pride Month and on this Open and Affirming Sunday, we celebrate that each of us is sacred, seen, and called. So come as you are. Bring your whole self—your queerness, your softness, your resilience, your light. There is room for you here.

Prayer of Remembrance and Thanksgiving:
Let us pray. Holy and Loving God, you formed us in your image—diverse, radiant, and good. You called us by name—beloved, whole, and worthy. You have always moved among the margins, lifting up the voices that the world tried to silence. So today, we remember: the queer saints, trans trailblazers, and radical dreamers who lived their truth even when it cost them everything. We remember those who danced in defiance, who marched for liberation, who dared to believe in a church that could fully affirm them. We remember those we’ve lost—to violence, to silence, to shame—and we carry their light with us now. (Pause for reflection or spoken names.) Pour out your Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup. Make them for us the nourishment we need to live boldly, to love freely, to shine unapologetically.

Words of Institution:
On the night he gave himself for love, Jesus gathered with his friends. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “This is my body, broken for you. Eat this, and remember me.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and shared it, saying: “This is the cup of the new covenant, poured out in love. Drink this, and remember me.” Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the mystery of faith: that love lived among us, that love was crucified, and that love rises again.

Sharing the Meal:
Beloveds, this is the bread of life—take and eat. This is the cup of blessing—take and drink. These are the gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Prayer After Communion:
Let us pray. God of sacred bodies and burning bush light, thank you for this meal of mercy and memory. You have fed us with hope. You have filled us with courage. You have reminded us that we are sacred, seen, and called. Now send us out to live our truth, to embrace our light, and to be the church that the world so desperately needs. In the name of the Christ who still sets our tables—Amen.

Offering Invitation:
Leader:
We give not only our money, but our energy, our talents, our time, and our love.
Your gifts sustain this ministry and help us embody the inclusive, liberating love we proclaim.
Let us give with joy and gratitude.

Closing Prayer:
Gracious God,
Thank you for meeting us in this space—
In song, in scripture, in bread and cup, in each other.

Now send us out as people who know who we are: Sacred. Seen. Called.

Let our love be bold.
Let our light be impossible to ignore.
Let our joy be a sign of the world you are still creating.
Amen.