June 7 is the First Sunday after Pentecost and what a pentecostal week it has been in our community and nation. With heavy hearts the congregation of Guilford Community Church, UCC, will gather online to sing and worship together at 10am. The virtual choir will offer three anthems: “Here I Am, Lord”, “Deep River” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, often called the African American anthem written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson. Johnson is widely celebrated for his leadership of the NAACP, where he began working in 1917. Other hymns for the day include “Were You There?”, an African American spiritual, and “Holy Holy Holy” by Schubert. Blessed Ngoma and his daughter Willow will share in the telling of Bishop Desmond Tutu’s story entitled “God’s Dream”, Curtiss Reed Jr. and Cathryn Griffith will lead the prayers for the day and Rev. Lise Sparrow will offer a special sacrament of holy communion for racial justice and the sermon for the day, entitled “Praying at Midnight”.
There will also be a special offering for Simply Smiles, an organization dedicated to supporting children and families on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Links to the service, ZOOM coffee hour and special offering can be found on the Guilford Community Church homepage at guilfordchurch.org. The service can also be found on BCTV Channel 8 Sunday morning at 8am and Wednesday morning at 6:30am. If you have questions about connecting online please call Fred Breunig at 254-9019. For more information about the church call 257-2776 or check out our Facebook page. Guilford Community Church is an Open and Affirming, Just Peace Congregation of the United Church of Christ. Everyone is welcome.