United Church of Christ
Image: Mural in Glendale, CA. Artist unknown
TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY SECOND SUNDAY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
February 14, 2021 Zoom Worship
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
PRELUDE All You Need Is Love John Lennon Lexington Gospel Choir
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Rev. Eric Sherlock
CALL TO WORSHIP Sereen and Tahir Mahmood One: There are times when God calls us to come and rest, be at peace. All: Wisdom meets us like a friend, settling our anxiety and bringing us comfort. One: There are times when God comes to us through chaos and disorder. All: Love moves like a mighty wind, troubling all efforts to dominate and control. One: God brings stillness. All: God stirs up. One: God is restful and restorative. All: God is wild and disruptive. One: Let us welcome God in all Their forms, trusting the Spirit through confusion and clarity. Call to Worship by enfleshed.com
PASSING THE PEACE Sereen Mahmood One: Peace be with you. All: And also with you. One: Let us greet one another with waves and smiles and pass the peace of Christ using the chat feature.
TIME WITH CHILDREN Love Lesson Jubilee Project Life’s Big Questions Unscripted
OPENING HYMN They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love Peter Scholtes Boyd Family Singers, The Riverside Church
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; We will work with each other, we will work side by side; We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; We will work with each other, we will work side by side; And we pray that all unity will one day be restored. And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand; And we pray that all unity will one day be restored. We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand; And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.
SCRIPTURE LESSON Mark 9:2–9 and Mary Taylor MODERN LESSON
“It will take each of us to confront the injustices that continue to perpetuate a broken system that has taken countless Black Americans’ lives. It will take people of every race, creed, and gender identity to speak up and to act. Now is the time to have those uncomfortable conversations about racism with family, friends, and neighbors. It’s time to have honest discussions about our country’s dark history of discrimination and confront the fact that structural racism lives on in our policies and everyday life. And it’s time for all of us—not just some—to speak out against racism.” — then-Senator Kamala Harris from an essay written for Cosmopolitan, June 4, 2020
SERMON Transfigured by Love Rev. Todd Atkins-Whitley
ANTHEM A Change Is Gonna Come Sam Cooke Chase Dean, soloist accompanied by Jecorey “1200” Arthur, Cheyenne Mize, Ben Sollee
It’s been a long / A long time coming / But I know a change gonna come / Oh, yes it will
TIME OF PRAYER Pastor Eric Sharing our Joys and Concerns (Email your requests to Pastor Eric or type them in the chat window.) All: Hear our prayer
Pastoral Prayer The Lord’s Prayer (using these words or the words most familiar to you) Our Loving God, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
TIME OF GIVING Tahir Mahmood Invitation to Giving During this time of virtual worship, we invite you to give online via our web site and clicking “Donate” in the upper right of the screen. Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; feat. Alton Eugene Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. Amen Offertory Prayer
CLOSING HYMN Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Nickolas Ashford, Victory Boyd Valerie Simpson
BENEDICTION Pastor Todd
POSTLUDE Unsung Hero (ภาพยนตร์โฆษณา ปี)
The flowers on the altar for the final Sunday of the season after the Epiphany are provided by Kathie Hixon in memory of her sister Claudia Stine.
Worship Notes
Framed by Black History, Black Futures month, Sundays in February will invite us to consider our role in building what Josiah Royce, and later Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “beloved community”—a society based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow human beings. Through poetry, readings, and music created by people of color and moments of prayer and reflection, we will have the opportunity to reflect on our role in being a part of the UCC mission and vision to be an anti-racist church that works toward a more just world for all people.
Made up of top London session singers, the soulful Lexington Gospel Choir deliver pitch perfect gospel harmonies including today’s Postlude “All You Need Is Love,” which was written by John Lennon in 1967.
There's nothing No one you can save that can't be saved you can do that Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you can't be done in time Nothing you can sing that can't be sung It's easy Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the All you need is love game All you need is love It’s easy All you need is love, love Nothing you can make that can't be made Love is all you need
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough was written by American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo Ashford & Simpson— Nickolas Ashford and and Valerie Simpson. Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York City. Afterwards, his family relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a member of Christ Temple Baptist Church. While there, he sang with a group called the Hammond Singers (named after the founding minister, James Hammond). Later, Nickolas attended and graduated from Willow Run High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, before pursuing his professional career, where he would ultimately meet his wife, Valerie. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined an aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label, where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step at a Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs, "Let's Go Get Stoned," gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. That same year, Ashford & Simpson joined Motown, where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "You're All I Need to Get By," "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)." Ashford and Simpson wrote many other hit songs, including Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" (1978) and Teddy Pendergrass's "Is It Still Good to You?" Ashford & Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. They are also recipients of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award, ASCAP Founders Award, and the Grammy Trustee Award. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 19 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough was originally recorded in 1967 by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell becoming a top- twenty hit on the pop charts and number three on the R&B charts. The song became a hit again in 1970 when recored by Diana ross, becoming her first solo number-one hit and garnering her a Grammy nomination. [Ross’s first solo single was also written by Ashford & Simpson—“Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)”.
“A Change Is Gonna Come” is a song by American recording artist Sam Cooke. It initially appeared on Cooke's album Ain't That Good News, released mid-February 1964. The song was inspired by various personal events in Cooke's life, most prominently an event in which he and his entourage were turned away from a whites-only motel in Louisiana. Cooke felt compelled to write a song that spoke to his struggle and of those around him, and that pertained to the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans. The song contains the refrain, "It's been a long time coming, but I know a change gon' come." Though only a modest hit for Cooke in comparison with his previous singles, "A Change Is Gonna Come" is widely considered Cooke's best composition and has been voted among the best songs ever released by various publications. In 2007, the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, with the National Recording Registry deeming the song "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.
Young people all over the world are using their voices to inspire change. One of those distinct voices is Louisville’s own, Chase Dean, who has continually used the power of song to inspire, uplift and spark action. Chase started singing in church when he was four-hears old. From passionately singing into a megaphone to lead protesters through downtown Louisville to signing on the steps of Metro Hall’s before the historic unanimous vote in favor of Breonna’s Law, Chase has become a leading voice of the next generation. On June 8, The Kennedy Center invited Kentucky Performing Arts to curate an online “Couch Concert,” placing a national spotlight on Louisville featuring Jecorey “1200” Arthur, Cheyenne Mize, Ben Sollee, Hannah Drake, Cierra Porter, and Chase. The powerful performance concluded with a music video featuring Chase singing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” accompanied by Jecorey, Ben, and Cheyenne. The artists share this video with the world in support of a tuition fund set up to help Chase attend his dream school, The University of the Arts, and to continue to lead the change. We hope this video sparks emotion and action in the name of peace + love + justice. Click the link to help support Chase: https://bit.ly/3fy1LQl.
Today’s Doxology comes to us from a live recording session during a Maverick City Music song share night. Maverick City Music is an American contemporary worship music (CCM) collective and record label founded by Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay, originating from Atlanta, Georgia. Maverick City Music was launched in 2018, after hosting seventeen songwriting camps which brought together over one hundred Christian artists and songwriters and the result being the creation of over one hundred songs. Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay intended to create space for diversity by including often marginalized creatives such as black people and women who identified as CCM singers and songwriters, and bringing their voices to fore. In 2020, Maverick City Music was nominated for two GMA Dove awards for Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the EYar and Gospel Worship Album of the year The soloist and leader is Alton Eugene, a musician, songwriter, producer, and siinger living in Redding, California.
Today’s recording of the song is a cover by Victory Boyd. Victory is one of nine siblings who grew up singing in the Boys & Girls Choir of Detroit, a group founded by her father, John Boyd. Victory started performing with the choir at the age of four. She later studied jazz guitar. The family moved from Detroit to North Bergen, New Jersey when she was 12, and they started busking together under various monikers, including Peace Industry Music Group, at New York City tourist attractions and subway platforms. The family eventually became known for appearing regularly in the Minton Tile Arcade next to Bethesda Fountain, a spot favored for its acoustics. She was a member of the vocal- harmony sibling act Infinity's Song before emerging as a solo artist in her early twenties. It was while performing one of her group’s songs in Central Park with her brother Abraham and younger sister Angel that Victory was discovered pop singer Tory Kelly who joined the trio singing the contemporary Christian song Oceans, captured by a fan and posted on YouTube. The video got the attention of Jay-Z who signed Victory to his Roc Nation label. Drawing some comparisons to idol Nina Simone for both her unusual voice and jazzy proclivities, Victory made her solo debut in 2017 with the Roc Nation-issued EP It's a New Dawn. The title was taken from her favorite line in Simone's song "Feeling Good," which she covered on the release. With production by hip-hop artist 9th Wonder, Victory's full-length debut, The Broken Instrument, followed in 2018. Victory, her brother Abraham, and her sister Angel join the rest of their family performing “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” at The Riverside Church in New York City. (Abraham Boyd performed “There is a Balm in Gilead” shared at last week’s service.” The Riverside Church is an interdenominational, interracial, international, open, welcoming, and affirming church and congregation. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ.
Today’s Postlude meditation “Unsung Hero” is—if you can believe it—a 2014 commercial for Thai Life Insurance commercial, created by Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok. Neither the actors nor the writers are credited but what a powerful expression of the value of a generous life. On its YouTube page, the rough translation says the ad isn’t the answer to leading a good life but “could be a starting point for you to do certain things … to find the answer yourself.”
Upcoming Gatherings
• Youth Group at 5:00pm (Zoom) • Ash Wedneday Service at 7:30pm (Zoom) https://zoom.us/j/492975948?pwd=blJqZTNpNGo3S1o0YkNFM3FWQ1dIQT09 or by Zoom app: 492 975 948, password 322 or by phone: dial 669-900-6833 and enter 492 975 948 as the Meeting ID and 322 as the password. • Pastor Eric’s Community Coffee Hours, Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3290290990?pwd=elA2ZytGckNXYzNtaGFpcFlLbXhaQT09 Meeting ID: 329 029 0990, Passcode: 989Meeting ID: 838 0442 3154, Passcode: 311752
Announcements
To assist us in learning more about the contributions of African- American people to our communities, society, and culture as well as provide a way of deepening our journey through the season of Lent, DCC’s Anti-Racism Team has prepared a calendar of daily tasks, meditations, and learnings.
You can download and print the calendar here. [You can also share this post on Facebook.]
Click here to access a variety of Anti-Racism resources—including book lists for adults, children, and families; workshops; community events; podcasts; films; and more.
Pastor Eric’s Community Coffee Hour You are invited to join Pastor Eric on Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. for an informal, open space gathering we are calling “Pastor’s Community Coffee Hours.” During this continued time of physical distancing, some of us may need a little extra dose of connection, conversation, and community. You are welcome to join Pastor Eric and other DCC members for casual conversation with your favorite cup of coffee or tea. Feel free to drop in for 5-minutes or spend the entire hour with us in this virtual space to talk about whatever is on your heart and/or mind. Zoom link is below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3290290990?pwd=elA2ZytGckNXYzNtaGFpcFlLbXhaQT09 Meeting ID: 329 029 0990, Passcode: 989
This year, Hope Solutions will present our annual fundraising gala, Ruby Slippers-There’s No Place Like Home in the comfort of your own home on Saturday, February 27th, 2021. Ruby Slippers will be virtual and live-streamed from the Ruby Slippers Gala website. There will be a live and silent auction with fabulous items to bid on, inspirational message from a Hope Solutions’ resident, feature of local musicians, Children’s Choice Award, Community Art Project, and Virtual Red Carpet! CLICK HERE to register and help spread the word by sharing the Ruby Slippers Gala Facebook Event link with your friends, family, and colleagues from coast to coast and around the world.
Our Mission: Hope Solutions heals the effects of poverty and homelessness by providing permanent housing solutions and vital support services to highly vulnerable families and individuals.
The season of Lent invites us into the journey of Jesus toward the cross—the way of suffering. Lent points beyond itself—to resurrection—but invites us to take the journey of suffering alongside Jesus: to note with specificity the grief and trauma associated with the state of our own human-ness; the conditions of the road we take; and the barriers that keep us from right relationship with others and with God.
Last year we spent some time in the wilderness, to be in our thoughts, to engage in introspection about our lives and our need of God. This year, aware perhaps more than ever of the suffering in our own lives and the lives of others, we address with no subtlety the trauma—the suffering—- that white supremacy inflicts upon the human condition; no one is absent from it.
Ash Wednesday Service Imposition of Ashes, Sacred Readings and Music, Communion February 17—7:30pm Our Ash Wednesday service invites us to move into the season of Lent, to move into solidarity on the path of suffering. Acknowledging the violence of white supremacy, we realize the fabric of humankind has been rent. Acknowledging our humanness and our connection to all other humans, we receive ashes, and behold, “we are dust, and to dust, we shall return.” From this space of vulnerability, we journey into the awareness of the trauma and experience of suffering caused by white supremacy, seeking healing and resurrection.
This service begins at 7:30 pm. via Zoom. Members of our youth group will be presenting a dramatic reading. Please prepare simple elements for Communion so that we may share in this sacred meal together. Ashes will be provided in your Lenten bags. Lenten bags are still being distributed. Many are being delivered. Contact the church office to inquire or make arrangements to pick yours up. Those who live out of the San Ramon Valley area will receive theirs by mail. Contact the church office if you’re new to DCC and have not supplied a mailing address.
Special Lenten Offering for Reparations
The Lenten Season is one of the most important seasons in the Christian faith. It is a period of 40 days, starting with Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter Sunday. During this period, Christians around the world participate in a season of penitence, prayers, fasting and self-denial, just as Jesus did when he spent 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-25 and Luke 4:1-13).
This year, Danville Congregational Church will be joining with other East Bay churches* in taking up an offering throughout Lent for a fund devoted to Black Homeownership Reparations. This idea arose in white-majority churches like ours, out of examination of our white privilege and complicity this past year.
As you know, a lack of generational wealth hinders many Black communities. Through redlining, adverse mortgage terms, and loan application rejection, Black people in the East Bay have been disenfranchised from homeownership. The Black Homeowner Reparations Fund (BHRF) will be 100% devoted to supporting increased Black homeownership in the East Bay. A major barrier to homeownership, especially in the high-priced Bay Area, is lack of a down payment. This is especially true for Black homebuyers, who may have good incomes but no access to the additional capital they need for a down payment. The BHRF would:
• Create a zero-percent-interest loan fund, to be paid back only when the home is refinanced or sold; • Be housed at the Richmond Community Foundation, as a donor-advised fund; • Work through local organizations to identify potential Black homebuyers who are on the journey to home ownership but who lack a down payment. Because the BHRF will be a loan fund, money from home refinance or sale will flow back into the fund, ready to assist other homebuyers. In addition, there may be other avenues by which we can support Black homeownership through our joint fund.
Prayerfully, consider giving to this special Lenten joint offering of East Bay churches as an expression of penitence and a commitment to make reparations for the generations of harm done to our Black siblings by systemic racism. To make your offering online, go to the DCC Donations page, select Outreach Donations / Other, and type in “Lenten Offering” or “Reparations Fund”. Or you may write “Lenten Offering” or “Reparations Fund” on your check made out to DCC and mail it to DCC.
Faithfully, Doug Leich Outreach Co-Commissioner
* Participating churches include Arlington Community Church, Kensington; First Congregational Church, Berkeley; First Congregational Church, Alameda; Good Table UCC; and Danville Congregational Church.
For more information, see the list of Frequently Asked Questions on the next page.
Special Lenten Offering for Black Homeownership Reparations Fund Frequently Asked Questions
“An America that asks what it owes its most vulnerable citizens is improved and humane. An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future. More important than any single check cut to any African American, the payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the childhood myth of its innocence into a wisdom worthy of its founders.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014
“The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly.” Isabel Wilkerson, Caste, 2020
What is the Black Homeownership Reparations Fund? The Black Homeownership Reparations Fund (BHRF) is a project launched by Arlington Community Church (UCC), to help repair a small portion of the financial damage of racism and white supremacist policies—in particular, the longstanding barriers to Black homeownership that have existed in our East Bay communities. Partner congregations include First Congregational Church, Berkeley; First Congregational Church, Alameda; Good Table UCC, El Cerrito; and DCC.
Why choose Black homeownership as a reparations project? For most Americans, a home is their major source of wealth. A home appreciates over time and can be passed down to the next generation. But because of segregation, redlining, adverse (or nonexistent) mortgage terms, and loan application rejection, the Black community has been shut out from this major wealth-building tool.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the rate of Black homeownership is 44 percent, the lowest of all groups. In contrast, 74 percent of white families in the U.S. own a home.
Addressing Black homeownership is a way to make long-lasting, systemic change in how Black communities can build wealth and pass it along to their heirs.
How does the fund assist potential Black homeowners? A major barrier to homeownership, especially in the high-priced Bay Area, is lack of a down payment. This is especially true for Black homebuyers, who may have good incomes but no access to the additional capital they need for a down payment. The BHRF would: • Create a zero-percent-interest loan fund, to be paid back only when the home is refinanced or sold; • Work through local organizations to identify potential Black homebuyers who are on the journey to home ownership but who lack a down payment.
Because the BHRF is a loan fund, money from home refinance or sale flows back into the fund, ready to assist other homebuyers. In addition, there may be other avenues by which we can support Black homeownership through our fund.
How will the BHRF operate? The BHRF will be housed at the Richmond Community Foundation through a donor-advised fund. This foundation has an outstanding track record for funding housing projects in the East Bay. For example, the foundation recently turned 20 abandoned, single-family homes into affordable housing, with more projects planned (Richmond has several hundred such homes).
How can special Lenten offerings to the fund be made? To make your offering online, go to the DCC Donations page, select Outreach Donations / Other, and type in “Lenten Offering” or “Reparations Fund”. Or you may write “Lenten Offering” or “Reparations Fund” on your check made out to DCC and mail it to Danville Congregational Church, 989 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Danville, CA 94526.
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Ministers—The Entire Congregation
Church Staff The Rev. Eric Sherlock Mary-Marie Deauclaire Senior Pastor Handbell Director The Rev. Todd Atkins-Whitley Elizabeth Setlak-von Thury Associate Pastor Office Manager John Kendall Bailey Nicole Doyle Music Director Nursery Attendant
The DCC Prayer Team prays daily for those in need of prayers. If you would like to submit a prayer request for yourself or someone else, contact a pastor or send an email to [email protected]. All requests are kept confidential unless specified otherwise.
Sonna Dhamrait, Dayspring Preschool Director dayspringpreschool.org
Danville Congregational Church United Church of Christ 989 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Danville, CA 94526-4020 Phone: (925) 837-6944 danvillechurch.org