HARROWSMITH-VERONA PASTORAL CHARGE

UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

Worship Time:  10 am at Trinity, Verona

Office Phone: 613-372-2525 or 613-374-2777

Voluntary Associate Minister: Rev. Dr. Peter Bartlett

Retired Voluntary Minister: The Rev’d. Ian MacKay

Office Administrator: Rebecca Peters

Director of Music:  Stan Stinchcombe

Website:  www.h-vpastoralcharge.org

e-mail:  office@h-vpastoralcharge.org

 

 

Trinity United Church acknowledges the traditional territory upon which we gather. For thousands of years, the First Peoples sought to walk gently on this land. They offered assistance to the first European travelers and shared their knowledge for survival. We seek a new relationship with the First Peoples of this land, one based in honour and deep respect.

 

 

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Worship Leader:  Rev. Dr. Peter Bartlett

Lay Reader:  Marg Smith

 

WE GATHER

 

ORGAN PRELUDE

GREETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

INTROIT:  “He Came Riding on a Donkey”   (VU #124)

 

*Lenten Candle Liturgy – Sunday School

Leader: This is the sixth Sunday in Lent, the season for journeys of the heart.  We have gathered here, week after week, sharing a common quest for a deeper faith and a deeper experience of the divine. Let us stop and put aside things that can be distracting.  Listen!  Jesus is preparing to enter Jerusalem. How will we greet him? Will we follow him all the way to the Cross? The power of Jesus is that he lived what he taught, even when it led to his death.  He lived with an abiding awareness of God, radiating the light of God in all he said and did. But that light was too much for the world. There are forces today, as there were in Jesus’ time, that conspire to put it out.  What are we willing to do to continue being a disciple of Jesus?

 

We extinguish the light of candle VI.  In doing it, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of illness and disease in the world.

 

(Candle VI is extinguished.)

Let us pray.

All:  Loving God, there are many choices before us every day.  Some of them encourage the well-being of the earth, of ourselves and of others; there are others that are destructive.  Help us to distinguish between them.  May we learn from the choices made by Jesus to embody compassion, justice, and inclusion in all we say and do. Amen.

 

HYMN:    “Just As I Am” (VU #508 V. 6)

     Just as I am, thy love unknown

     Has broken every barrier down;

     Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone.

     O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

 

LITANY OF APPROACH

One: We join with the crowd that eagerly awaits the coming of Jesus.

All: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!

One: Fulfilling prophecy, Jesus enters the city riding humbly on a donkey.

All: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!

One: Jesus’ followers were excited, filled with anticipation. Yet, within a few short days, they were scattered, disillusioned, and frightened, unwilling to follow as far as Christ would have them go.

All: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!

One: We, too, long to join the triumphal procession, only to find ourselves burdened by the past, fearful of the future, reluctant to accept the way of the cross.

All: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!

One: Yet on this Palm Sunday, we have our cedar branches, to remind us of the welcome offered to Jesus, as he travels toward the cross.

All: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Hosanna in the highest!

One: Like the crowd in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, we lift up our cedar branches and greet Jesus, proclaiming:

All: Blessed is the One who comes!

 

OPENING PRAYER (Unison)  

As we enter Holy Week and gather in this house of prayer, we turn our hearts again to Jerusalem, to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we may see the promise of peace and justice for all. Amen

 

HYMN:  “Morning Has Broken”   (VU #409)

1.  Morning has broken like the first morning, blackbird has spoken like the first bird.  Praise for the singing!  Praise for the morning!  Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

 

2.  Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven, like the first dewfall on the first grass.  Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in the completeness where God’s feet pass.

 

3.  Ours is the sunlight!  Ours is the morning born of the one light Eden saw play!  Praise with elation, praise every morning, God’s recreation of the new day!

 

LORD’S PRAYER

 

ANTHEM:  “Ride On, Ride On, the Time is Right”   (VU #126)

 

(Children and teachers may leave for church school classes)

 

WE GIVE BACK

 

OUR OFFERINGS:  (Offering plates are available at the back of the church)

 

DEDICATION OF THE OFFERING:  (Standing) 

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”   (VU #541)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures high and low; give thanks to God in love made known: Creator, Word and Spirit, One.

 

OFFERTORY PRAYER (Unison)

Gracious God, as we present our gifts, we humbly ponder the truth they declare; that you can use our help, and, that your purposes are served by our generosity and faith.  Help us O God, to treasure this truth and learn to live it more deeply. Amen.

 

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

 

HYMN:  “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”   (VU #315)

1.  Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee; holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

 

2.  Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

 

3.  Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee, thought the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see, only thou art holy; there is none beside thee, perfect in power, in love, and purity.

 

4.  Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty! All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea; holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

 

Words of Invitation

One:  Peace be with you.

All: And also with you.

One:  Let us open our hearts.

All: We open them to God and to one another.

One: Let us give thanks.

All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

One: This is the table of Jesus Christ…

 

Words of Institution and Intercessory Prayer

 

Prayer of Invocation

 

Sharing

 

Post Communion Prayer (Unison)

For the bread we have eaten, for the wine we have tasted, for the life we have received, we thank you God. Grant that what we have done and have been given here, may so put its mark on us, that it may remain always in our hearts. Grant that we may grow in Christian love and understanding, and that ours may be lives of faithful action, in Christ's name. Amen

 

(Remaining Children and teachers may leave for church school classes)

 

WE LISTEN

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 2:1-11

 

SERMON: “We Arise Again”

 

WE GO FORTH

 

HYMN:  “O Jesus I Have Promised”   (VU #120)

1.  O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end; remain for ever near me, my Saviour and my friend: I shall not fear the journey if you are by my side, nor wander from the pathway if you will be my guide.

 

2.  O let me feel you near me: the world is ever near; I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear; my foes are ever near me, around me and within; but, Jesus, then draw nearer and shield my soul from sin.

 

3.  O let me hear you speaking in accents clear and still, above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will; O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control; now speak, and make me listen, O guardian of my soul.

 

4.  O Jesus, you have promised to all who follow you, that where you are in glory your servant shall be too.  And Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end; O give me grace to follow, my Saviour and my friend.

 

BENEDICTION

 

SENDING FORTH:  “Go Make a Difference” (Refrain x 2)   (MV #209)

Go make a difference. We can make a difference. Go make a difference in the world. Go make a difference. We can make a difference. Go make a difference in the world.

 

ORGAN POSTLUDE

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS & MEETINGS

Worship Leader for Sunday April 5th

Rev. Ian Mackay

Lay Reader for Sunday April 5th

Jane Mackay

 

SUNDAY SCHOOL:  Sunday School will resume today. 

 

THANK YOU:  Wow, what an evening here at Trinity Friday night!!!  We hope those who attended the movie night enjoyed themselves with the great company and the movie.  A huge thank you is extended to the Trinity UCW for hosting this amazing event, as well as to the Township of South Frontenac for their assistance with the sound system. 

 

 

EASTER SERVICES:  Please note the dates and times for our Easter service celebrations:

 

     Good Friday:   April 3  10:00 am

              (Rev. Micheline Montreuil)

 

     Easter Sunday:   April 5  10: 00 am

              (Rev. Ian Mackay)

 

 

FOODBANK NEEDS:  The Verona Satellite Foodbank will be open again on April 9th at the Verona Free Methodist Church and is asking for donations of the following:

·      Jam

·      Canned Meat (Tuna, Ham, Chicken, Salmon)

·      Canned Fruit

·      Personal Hygiene Items (shampoo, deodorant)