Live Worship Broadcast
We have aired our services on Emerson Radio WERS 88.9 FM for over 30 years. You can tune in every Sunday at 11 AM by turning your dial or visiting the WERS website and stream the broadcast live from your desktop.
In response to the COVID pandemic, we have begun streaming live video in addition to our usual WERS audio broadcast. The details (and hopefuly, production quality) will be subject to change. The streamed broadcasts will be available for viewing through links on this page on Sunday mornings at 11am.
There are two easy ways two ways to donate to First Church during online services (or at any other time). Both are processed through the same secure service company (Vanco):
(1) The DONATE button here or on our home page on website leads to a secure online Vanco payment form where you can designate the amount and purpose of the contribution.
(2) You can use text messaging on your smartphone to send a contribution that is like dropping a bill in the virtual plate. This is a germ-free way to get that familiar good feeling during the Offertory part of the online service. Text a number representing your dollar amount (5 for Lincolns, 10 for Hamiltons, 20 for Tubmans) to (617) 917-5610. The first time you do that, it will ask you to fill in credit card information that can be reused for subsequent contributions. You will receive an emailed receipt.
First Church in Boston
ORDER OF SERVICE
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Recorded June 10, 2021
Broadcast 11:00 am to noon on WERS, 88.9FM, Vivian Borek, announcer
Streamed on Facebook @firstchurchboston, Craig Hildreth, audio and video engineer
Masha Stepanova, video editor
Dr. Robert August, Director of Music; Wendy Rolfe and Dolores August, flute; Thomas Albanese, tenor.
Prelude Divertissement Grec Philipppe Gaubert (1879-1941)
Wendy Rolfe and Dolores August, flutists
Opening Words Rev. Stephen Kendrick
Hymn # 95 There Is More Love Somewhere BIKO
Chalice Lighting and Tolling of the Bell
Love is the spirit of this church, and Service its law. This is our great covenant,
to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.
Time For All Ages from “Passion for Life” by Muriel James Daniel Lawlor Responsive Reading # 657 “It Matters What We Believe” by Sophia Lyon Fahs
Musical Meditation Cantabo Domino Ivan Lucačić (1575-1648)
Thomas Albanese, tenor
Reading from “Exuberance” by Kay Redfield Jamison Rev. Kendrick
Announcements Daniel Lawlor
Hymn # 159 This Is My Song FINLANDIA
Prayer and Meditation Daniel Lawlor
Affirmation # 123 Spirit of Life
Sermon "Approaching the Threshold” Rev. Kendrick
Offertory “Tutta ridente” Tomaso Cecchini (c. 1583-1644)
Thomas Albanese, tenor
Text Messaging Donation
You can use text messaging on your smartphone to send a contribution to the First Church offertory. Text a number representing your dollar amount (5, 10, 20, etc.) to
(617) 917-5610. You will receive confirmation by email. Thank you!
Hymn # 163 For the Earth Forever Turning BLUE-GREEN HILLS OF EARTH
Benediction Rev. Kendrick
Postlude Andante from Flute Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
arr. Ervin Monroe
Wendy Rolfe and Dolores August, flutists
Please note, this order of service may vary from the actual broadcast service. _________________________________________________________________________
Hymn Texts, Responsive Reading, Lyrics (6/13/21)
Hymn # 95 There Is More Love Somewhere BIKO
There is more love somewhere.
There is more love somewhere.
I’m gonna keep on ‘til I find it.
There is more love somewhere.
There is more hope somewhere…
There is more peace somewhere..
There is more joy somewhere…
Responsive Reading # 657 “It Matters What We Believe” by Sophia Lyon Fahs
Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged.
Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.
Some beliefs are like shadows, clouding children's days and fears of unknown calamities.
Other beliefs are like sunshine, blessing children with the warmth of happiness.
Some beliefs are divisive, separating saved from unsaved, friends from enemies.
Other beliefs are bonds in a world community, where sincere differences beautify the
pattern.
Some beliefs are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose one's own direction.
Other beliefs are like gateways opening wide vistas for exploration.
Some beliefs weaken a person's selfhood. They blight the growth of resourcefulness.
Other beliefs nurture self-confidence and enrich the feeling of personal worth.
Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death, impotent in a changing world.
Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling, ever growing with the upward thrust of
life.
Musical Meditation Cantabo Domino Ivan Lucačić (1575-1648)
Cantabo Domino in vita mea psallam Deo meo quamdiu sum
Iucundum sit ei eloquium meum ego vero delectabor in Domino
Deficiant peccatores a terra et iniqui ita ut non sint benedic anima mea Domino
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more:
O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
Hymn # 159 This Is My Song FINLANDIA
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.
Affirmation # 123 Spirit of Life
Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.
Hymn # 163 For the Earth Forever Turning BLUE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH
For the earth forever turning; for the skies, for ev’ry sea;
for our lives, for all we cherish, sing we our joyful song of peace.
For the mountains, hills, and pastures in their silent majesty;
for the stars, for all the heavens, sing we our joyful song of peace.
For the sun, for rain and thunder, for the seasons’ harmony,
for our lives, for all creation, sing we our joyful praise to Thee.
For the world we raise our voices, for the home that gives us birth;
in our joy we sing returning home to our bluegreen hills of earth.
