St. John's UCC Elmore

05/31/2026

We did it…I kept my fingers off the mic switch and it stayed on the entire service. No static, good quality, and good volume …at least for the in person worshippers. Would those of you who access the recording from home let us know how it came through for you? And It’s All Good…thanks to Evan Shurtz and Paul Holewinski! Today we heard scriptures about God as creator, Jesus sending us out, messages in a bottle, and the many names of God. I didn’t use Streets of Laredo with Psalm 8…stay tuned. Enjoy our worship. Have a great week.

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05/24/2026

Today is Pentecost, “the day when flames of faith dance in our hearts. The Day of Pentecost is here: the day when our babbling speech becomes the Good News for the world. The Day of Pentecost is here: the day when compassion seared into our souls. The Day of Pentecost is here: let the people of God rejoice.” Our main focus was Pentecost. A shout or whisper? Using Acts 2: 1-21 and John 20: 19-23, we explored the coming of the Holy Spirit as a shout or a whisper? Are you more comfortable with a shout or a whisper? Focusing on worship, we also heard words of remembrance for Memorial Day and Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones”. Wont you worship with us?

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05/11/2026

Today is Mother’s Day Sunday…or we called it Mothering Sunday. All of us have mothered others, all of us have been mothered. Some of us aren’t mothers..but we’ve been important in providing mothering to children and youth. What do Ruth, Hannah, Mary - the mother of Jesus, and Jochebed have in common? They were all mothers who exhibited faith over fear. Acts 17: 22-31 and John 14: 15-21 provided scriptural texts. We did have a bit of a technical issue with Pastor Margaret’s microphone as we begin ..I’m not sure how much was affected. But I hope you find it a time of worship for you.

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05/04/2026

I began our service this morning with, “what a week we’ve had.” We are just back from Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS, a mission of the United Church of Christ, where we worked in homes, served meals, and helped in the food pantry. This service uses parts of the service at Back Bay this morning. They are holding worship every other week in the Micah Day Center. The first expression of the UCC in worship in over 60 years. As I mentioned, from the Back Bay in Biloxi to our community in Elmore, OH — let us worship together. Themes included GPS, Trust, Acts 7: 55-60, 1 Peter 2: 2-10 and John 14: 1-14. Do we use our faith to help us feel better, to escape? Or do we bring hope and compassion and prayer and basic needs to God’s creations? Not to fix things but to work with God, to walk with Jesus. We’re not fixing we’re providing basic needs. Not to fix but to support. Won’t you listen to our worship.

04/27/2026

Thanks to Rev. Elaine Bast for leading worship this morning. Her message was titled Testimony and Promises with texts Acts 2: 42-47 and John 10: 1-10. This post is coming to you from Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS where Shirley Hensel, Belinda Lentz, Doug Beck from Oak Harbor, Joan from Michigan and I are being presence to the mission here. More on that later cause staff is gathering to give us Monday morning instructions .. it’s 7:30 here. I know..who are you and what have you done with Pastor Margaret? 🙄. Anyway, time to get busy. I hope you enjoy our worship.

St. John's UCC Elmore Live Stream - April 26, 2026

04/20/2026

This is later getting to you than most Sundays because I attended an installation this afternoon at Church of the Redeemer in Westlake as they installed Rev. Kim Nagy as their senior pastor and teacher. Lots of memories of days on association staff, of the excitement of new ministry calls, of seeing a former youth in association and conference events now a new pastor. It was the perfect way to finish the morning story of the walk to Emmaus and of eyes being opened to see Jesus in our midst. In the fellowship, in the music, in the message, in the installation itself, I felt the walk and the eyes open to the new possibilities for mission and ministry…for following Jesus. “As I walk, let me walk, close to you.” I hope you enjoy our St. John’s service.

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04/13/2026

Today was Holy Humor Sunday..a modern resurrection of an ancient Christian tradition celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. It is designed to be a day of joy, laughter, and celebration, highlighting the resurrection of Jesus as God’s “supreme joke” played on the devil and death…essentially, God had the last laugh. So we told jokes and stories, sang a silly song and then got serious as we enter the Easter season with, as some suggest, the 50 forgotten days….we can’t forget that Easter continues. But we also remembered Jesus’s words to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” So I SEND you..to make a difference. Won’t you worship with us?

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04/06/2026

Happy Easter! The sunrise service..at sunrise..was held on the parsonage porch. And then the theme of our service at 10:00 was Not Only One Day: The Journey Continues. Won’t you join our worship?

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04/03/2026

Welcome to our Maundy Thursday worship including communion and the ritual of hand washing. The story is told for all generations. The “new” commandment..a new vision of who our neighbor is. Won’t you watch?

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03/29/2026

Today was Palm /Passion Sunday. Today we waved palms as we heard our Songbirds sing “Wave the Palms.” What a moving sight that was. And we heard the texts from Psalm 118 about the cornerstone and Matthew about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on two donkeys..wait! What? It was part of the prophetic voices that Matthew heard about the coming of the Messiah…”Look your king is coming to you. Humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a c**t, the foal of a donkey.” Some reflections on why…maybe mom wouldn’t leave her foal. Maybe the c**t wouldn’t leave its mother. But the importance is the fulfilling of prophecy. And humility. And empire. Won’t you worship with us?

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