Begin Your Celebration of Independence Day in Worship
Join us on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 4, 2010
For A Service Filled with Patriotic Songs and Prayers for our Nation
Pastor Boswell will preach on Hebrew 11:8-16, “A Bettter Country”
Easter 2010 Video
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Last year, after worship on Passion/Palm Sunday, a member wondered what happened to Palm Sunday. I appreciated this person’s question and I approached Worship Ministry Team and session with an idea. Beginning this year, our worship would alternate between Palm Sunday and Passion/Palm Sunday. This year, on Palm Sunday, March 28, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday. Worship will begin with a processional with the palms. All of our choirs will provide music for this day. Our youth will have a drama and I will preach on the events of that first day from Luke 19:28-48, “A Day in the Life.”
During Holy Week, on Monday and Wednesday, we will have a brief service of Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. On Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. the Discipleship Ministry Team will have a Seder meal. Please watch your bulletin for more information about these worship experiences.
On Maundy Thursday, April 1, our liturgy will come from Lyn Reith, a pastor in the United Church of Christ. She writes, “This service was designed to be a full service of Word and Sacrament. It was also designed to allow worshipers to share in the intimacy Jesus experienced with his disciples through foot washing and during the meal in the hours prior to his arrest and crucifixion.” While the ritual of foot washing will only be shared by one other person and me, it will raise a question whether there may “Another Sacrament?”
Finally, on Good Friday, April 2, our worship will come from Mary Kortman and Daniel Mouw. Mary serves as worship director at South Grandville Christian Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan, where Dan is pastor. “Beneath the Cross” uses first person narratives from Judas, Simon of Cyrene, a Soldier, Mary, the dying thief, and the Centurion to tell the story of the Passion of our Lord.
Continue reading about Holy Week Worship at Kenmore Presbyterian Church
Women Keeping the Message Alive
On the Third Sunday in Lent, March 7, our worship will celebrate the gifts of women, using resources from Horizons Magazine, the publication of Presbyterian Women. Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday honors women who contribute their gifts to the church and community, and lifts up issues of women’s rights. March 7, 2010, is Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday, the day before International Women’s Day on March 8.
This year’s theme is “Women Keeping the Message Alive.” From Eve, the mother of all living, through the tears of Esther, through an angel to Mary, through Mary and Martha at their brother’s death, through the women who came to the tomb, through Priscilla during the time of Pentecost, through women in the church today, God’s word is kept alive. From sermons preached to lessons taught, from emails sent to text messages received, from inscriptions on papyrus to internet blogs, the message is still being sent and received by women. We rejoice in and celebrate God’s message to women, along with the way women continue to keep God’s word alive.
We will welcome to our pulpit our own Marilyn Koszarek, who serves as Moderator of Presbyterian Women in the Presbytery of Western New York. Women will provide leadership in every facet of worship, except for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Continue reading about Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
Rejoice in the Glory of Christmas!
On Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, Kenmore Presbyterian Church will have two worship services.
- At 6:00 p.m. our worship will be a Service for the Child in Us All. This family friendly worship service includes the reading of the lessons appointed for Christmas, the singing of familiar carols, and the traditional Candlelighting Ceremony to conclude worship. Pastor Boswell will read the children’s book, Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Our children and youth choirs and ringers provide the music for this worship service.
- At 10:30 p.m. Diane M. Green will offer a recital of Christmas music on our historic Schlicker organ.
- At 11:00 p.m. our worship will be a Christmas Communion Service. While traditional in structure, this worship will include drama and dance, as well as music provided by our adult choir and ringers. It includes the reading of the lessons appointed for Christmas, the singing of familiar carols, and the traditional Candlelighting Ceremony to conclude worship. Pastor Boswell will preach another sermon in the Cracking the Christmas Code series, looking at the central symbol of Christmas Eve, “The Manger.”
Yet, Christmas does not end on December 25th! We have two more worship services during Christmastide, which lasts until Epiphany on January 6th!
- On the First Sunday after Christmas, December 27 at 10:00 a.m. we welcome Lindsey Phillips Williams to our pulpit. Lindsey is a candidate for the ministry of Word and Sacrament under the care of our congregation and the Presbytery of Western New York. Lindsey received her Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and a Master of Science in Patient Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. In August, Lindsey married to Roy Williams and began work as the community food program coordinator for Quin Rivers, a nonprofit, regional community-action group based near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Lindsey will preach on “Joy to the World!”
- Worship begins in the New Year with the conclusion to Pastor Boswell’s Cracking the Christmas Code sermon series. On the Second Sunday after Christmas, January 3, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. we will use the lessons appointed for Epiphany of the Lord, which falls on January 6: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; and Matthew 2: 1-12. All of these texts speak of God’s glory, which God will reveal to all people. The symbol of this glory is the star and the characters who most represent God’s plan are the Magi, who visit the toddler Jesus and his mother with gifts. Join us this Sunday to celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which reminds how people will come from north and south, east and west, and set at table in God’s kingdom.
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Every year, on the first Sunday of November, Kenmore Presbyterian Church observes All Saints and this year, it happens to fall on All Saints Day, November 1. The Companion to the Book of Common Worship describes All Saints’ Day as “A time to rejoice in all who through the ages have faithfully served the Lord.” It continues:
- The day reminds us that we are part of one continuing, living communion of saints. It is a time to claim our kinship with the “glorious company of apostles . . . the noble fellowship of prophets . . . the white-robed army of martyrs” (Te Deum). It is a time to express our gratitude for all who in ages of darkness kept the faith, for those who have taken the gospel to the ends of the earth, for prophetic voices who have called the church to be faithful in life and service, for all who have witnessed to God’s justice and peace in every nation.
Our worship will include the reading of members of Kenmore Presbyterian Church and other loved ones who have died since November 1, 2008. If you have a loved one whom you would like included, please contact the Church Office by phone at (716)-875-7600 or through email at kenpresoffice@gmail.com. Please give suggestions for the proper pronunciation of the deceased’s name. Also, on this Sunday, we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Our music for this day will underscore the solemnity of this celebration. The Prelude and Postlude will come from a “Kyrie” by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Anthems will come from the “Requiem” of the British composer, John Rutter.
Pastor Boswell will continue his Speaking of Stewardship Sermon Series by preaching on “Our Stewardship of the Past in the Present.” Kenmore Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 115th Anniversary on Sunday, November 22. We have known many saints of God in this place and we know their witness encourages us to keep the faith, here and now. This sermon will ask us to consider, “What Legacy Will We Leave?”
On the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 8, we will look at a familiar story, the Widow’s Offering in Mark 12: 38-44. Yet, familiar stories pose problems, because we think we know what they say or we believe we’ve heard it all before. As Pastor Boswell address “Our Stewardship of Possessions,” we will resolve, “The Problem of the Widow’s Offering,” by exploring the promise of proportionate giving. The music for this Sunday begins with Marcel Dupre’s “Magnificat IV,” an organ piece based on the familiar song of Mary, which includes these words, “He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” A Tenor and Bass Ensemble will sing a setting of the African-American spiritual, “He Never Failed Me Yet” by Robert Ray. The Chancel Choir will sing “Ho, Every One That Thirsteth” by Will McFarlane as our Offertory. Our worship will conclude with an organ setting of “Holy God, We Praise Your Name” by Barbara Harbach.
On the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 15, we will dedicate our Stewardship Commitments for 2010. Pastor Boswell will conclude the Speaking of Stewardship Sermon Series by commenting on “Our Stewardship of Presence.” In Hebrews 10: 11-25, the author encourages his (or her) readers to persevere, pointing to Jesus as the prime example of faithfulness in the service of God. He (or she) concludes, “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Pastor Boswell borrows his title for this sermon from this observation, “Showing Up.”
On Christ the King Sunday, November 22, we will celebrate the 115th Anniversary of Kenmore Presbyterian Church. In worship, we will recognize all of those who have been members of the congregation for more than fifty years and acknowledge those joining this special group. Our music in worship will be appropriately regal and celebratory. The Prelude will be “Ride On, King Jesus” by Dennis Janzer. The Jubilant Ringers will offer “Fanfare on ‘Coronation’” by Douglas Wagner as our Introit and “Crown Him with Many Crowns” by George Elvey, arranged by Barbara Kinyon as our Anthem. The Chancel Choir will sing, “God, My King” by Wallace Heaton as our Offertory. Marcel Dupre’s “While the King Sitteth at His Table” will serve as the Postlude.
Pastor Boswell will preach on the Gospel appointed for this day, John 18:33-37, adding 38a, where Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” The sermon will seek to ask, “Can We Handle the Truth?”
While Kenmore Presbyterian Church will not hold a Thanksgiving Worship Service, KenTon Clergy Association will have a Worship Service at 11:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day at Kenmore United Methodist Church. Monsignor Richard Siepka, the Pastor of St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church will preach and several clergy, including Pastor Boswell will lead in worship. Following worship, Kenmore United Methodist Church will host a Thanksgiving Dinner for the community.
Watch your mail for the Advent-Christmas issue of the Crossroads for information about our worship services during this special season and Pastor Boswell’s sermon series, “Cracking the Christmas Code.”
On the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 4, we will celebrate World Communion Sunday in worship with “Many Tongues” a communion service written by Paul Detterman, Pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Published in Reformed Worship in June 2006, the service features music from around the globe. The Call to Worship requires people who speak foreign languages. If you’d be willing to participate, please contact Pastor Boswell as soon as possible. We will receive the 2009 Peacemaking Offering in worship and conclude with the dedication of the Peace Pole, which we purchased with 25% of last year’s offering. Pastor Boswell will preach on Hebrews 1:1-4 and 2: 5-12. These two paragraphs provide us with our place in the world and prepare us to see Jesus Christ as “Above All.”
On the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 11, Pastor Boswell will begin a series of four sermons, Speaking of Stewardship. Mark 10:17-31 tells of a man who comes to Jesus with a question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” After a review of the commandments, which the man assures Jesus he kept since childhood, Jesus says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the disciples suggest then no one can enter the kingdom of God, Jesus assures them, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Often when we consider our stewardship, we concentrate on what we cannot do, rather than on what God can do and has done for us. In a day when we despair of possibilities, how do we embrace this hope and exercise “The Stewardship of Possibilities?” On this Sunday, we will celebrate the baptism of Evan Jablonsky, son of Nicole and Joseph Jablonsky and grandson of Richard and Denise Glogowski, a living symbol of the possibilities God gives us.
On the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, we continue Speaking of Stewardship with a sermon from Mark 10:35-45, in which Jesus speaks about the use of power. “How can we be good stewards of the power we have?” will be the question considered in “The Stewardship of Power.” Speaking of Stewardship will continue on Sunday, November 1 and conclude on Sunday, November 15 when we dedicate our 2010 Stewardship Commitments.
Worship in October concludes with another celebration, the observance of Reformation Sunday on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 25. Growing up, the last Sunday in October offered many of us the opportunity to remember the Reformers. Our worship service will be a Service for Reformation Sunday: “A Great Cloud of Witnesses” by Ron Man, Director of Worship Resources for the Greater Europe Mission. The service lifts up the great watchwords of the Protestant Reformation: By Grace Alone, By Faith Alone, By Scriptures Alone. Three visitors from the past, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Pope Paul III will discuss what the Reformation means in a Readers’ Theater written by James C. Dekker, “So Close to God, So Far From Each Other.” Our Gateway to God children will share with us what they’ve learned as they studied our founder, John Calvin in a special Moment from the Children.
Continue reading about OCTOBER OFFERS MANY SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS IN WORSHIP
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