Sunday Bulletin
Celebration Service
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
October 25, 2026 9:30 am
Prelude “Ein’ Feste Burg” (A Mighty Fortress) Kittel
Introit “Open Now the Gates of Beauty”
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship Lay Leader: Nikki Canalichio
We gather this day, stranger and friend,
Known and unknown,
All loved by God.
We gather to worship,
To offer concern and joy,
To be reminded to love as we have been loved.
So let us worship God.
Hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” #4
Unison Prayer
Loving God, teach us to love you more fully. For in loving you, our
lives will show love to all others, even as your love encompasses
all your creation, in all generations. We pray in the name of your
greatest gift of love, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Children’s Message - Blessing of the Costumes
Mission Moment United Church of Morrisville
Psalm 1
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take
the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
But their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate
day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit
in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they
prosper.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous;
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the
wicked will perish.
The Gloria Patri #35
Anthem “Psalm 90” John Weaver
Passing of the Peace*
The first words of the risen Christ to his followers were “Peace be with you.” May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Please share Christ’s peace.
Congregation greets one another and shares the peace of Christ.
Prayers of the People
Hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” #16
Reading Matthew 22:34-40
Message “The Point is Love” Rev. Dan Haugh
Offering
Offertory “Canonic Voluntarty on Dix” Alice Jordan
Doxology* #46
Offertory Prayer*
Hymn “How Great Thou Art” #33
Benediction
Closing “God, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing”
Postlude “O God Our Help in Ages Past” Best
Calendar of Events
Monday, 10/26 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, 10/27 3:30-5:15 Annie rehearsal
7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, 10/28 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
4–5:30 Women’s Fellowship FH
5:30 Choir Rehearsal in Organ Loft
Thursday, 10/29 3:30 Youth Choir rehearsal
Saturday, 10/31 5:00 – 8:00 Trick or Treaters
Happy Birthday this week to:
Jerome Bouramia, David McGaughy & Rose & Rachel Stafford today 10/25
Jacob Ferguson on 10/27
George Bennum II, Diane Bruns, Madeleine Copeland, Marianne Davis and Renee Mitchell on 10/28
Liam Stowe on 10/29
Winship Leisman on 10/30
Leslie Anderson and Jennifer Bennett on 10/31
Happy Anniversary this week to:
Michael and Jena Anthony & Johannes and Lynne von Trapp on 10/26
Announcements
The ushers today are Nancy Money and Heather Stowe. Thank you for helping today.
The Mission and Service Committee is pleased to highlight the United Community Church of Morrisville as our October Mission of the Month. Their Breakfast on Us ministry provides a free, hot breakfast to anyone in the community, five mornings a week. Since beginning in 2015, the ministry has grown to serve more than 10,000 breakfasts each year. More than just a meal, Breakfast on Us offers a welcoming place where people can gather, connect with others, and access additional community resources.
They will share more about this important ministry and the many ways United Community Church of Morrisville reaches out to support people who may be experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, or other challenges. Through hospitality, food, and connection, their ministry strives to offer dignity and welcome to all.
Women’s Fellowship will meet in Fellowship Hall on October 28, 2026 to work on projects for the Christmas Fair 3:30 – 5:00.
We will need your help again this Halloween. Church will be open to trick or treaters. Please bring in candy for us to hand out. Thank you. There is a bin in the Narthex for your contributions under the table.
The SCC Youth Choir and all of our children are invited to gather at Copley Woodlands for a Costume Parade, sharing treats and singing songs with the Residents! Thursday, October 29, 2026 3:15 – 4:15pm.
The trustees are organizing a fall clean-up at the Parsonage, Saturday, October 31st at 10:00am.
It is time to sign up to help with the Halloween Open house at the church on Saturday, October 31, 2026 4 – 9. Church sign up sheet is in the Narthex.
Sunday, November 1st at 11:00am we will have an All Saints Service at the Riverbank Cemetery.
SCC's Eating Well ministry seeks to help the problem of food insecurity in Vermont. We meet about twice monthly to cook fresh, healthy meals for freezing and distributing to local partners or individuals in need. We would like to expand into doing more social-mixer meals for the wider community, as well, but we need man (or woman) power! If you'd like to join in cooking, planning, or distributing meals--or if you know an individual who could benefit from receiving such meals--please contact Nikki Canalichio at 214-725-0088, or nikkicm23@gmail.com.
Stewardship Update
As of October 22, 2026 we have received 15 pledges for a total of $56,460. Our goal is $350,000, and we are now at 16% of our goal! Sincere thanks to all of you have already pledged. What a thrill it would be to announce that we have met our goal before Christmas.
There will be a pledge card inserted in the bulletin for the next several weeks for your convenience OR you can pledge simply online at scc-stewardship.org. Sincere thanks, Nancy Jeffries-Dwyer, Stewardship Chair.
If you, or someone you know, would like prayers for comfort or healing, the members of the Prayer Team are ready to support you. Please fill out the prayer request form in the pew and put it in the offering plate or hand it to an usher to deliver to the office.
Please do not forget our neighbors in need by donating food for the Lamoille Community Food Share. Non-perishable items can be put in our two bins, one in the Narthex and one in the hall downstairs. Thank you.
Musical Notes by Karen Miller
Prelude: The text of the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was written by Martin Luther and was once called the "Marseillaise of the Reformation". Luther probably wrote it at the time of the Diet of Speyer, when the German princes proclaimed their formal protest against the attacks on their liberties, thus earning them the name "Protestants". It was first published in Klug's Geistliche Leider of 1529. The tune's name (Ein' Feste Burg) is derived from the first words of the German text and could have been written by Luther as well. Two organ pieces based on this melody are heard today. The first is by Johann Christian Kittel who studied with J. S. Bach and served churches in Erfurt. He gave many recitals, but he rarely traveled and lived in poverty. The second is by (Arthur Emil) Helmut Walcha (1907-1991), a German organist, recitalist, and recording artist. He was blind but had a wonderful musical memory. He served churches and taught at the academy in Frankfurt.
Anthem: "Psalm 90" by John Weaver was written for the Bicentennial Celebration of the Greensboro Church of Christ and dedicated to the long-time organist there Bronwyn Potter. It was premiered at a special service by the Greensboro choir plus some summer camp residents around Caspian Lake. It remained unpublished at John Weaver's passing in 2021 and still is unpublished. But we keep it alive by singing it ourselves. The text uses Psalm 90 (vss. 1, 2, 16, and 17).
Offertory: The "Canonic Voluntary on Dix" is an organ piece based on the tune we associate with the text "For the Beauty or the Earth". This melody was written by Conrad Kocher and appeared in his collection of German hymns, Stimmen aus dem Reiche Gottes of 1838. Then William H. Monk adapted this melody for William Dix's hymn, "As with gladness men of old" in Hymns Ancient and Modern of 1861, hence the tune's name. Alice Jordan created an organ piece based on this melody where the tune appears first in the tenor range and then moves to the soprano.
Postlude: William Thomas Best (1826-1897) was an English organist and was regarded as the greatest concert organist of his time. He centered many of his activities in St. George's Hall, Liverpool where he was city organist from 1855 to 1894. He arranged many works for organ and edited the organ works of Bach, Handel, and Mendelssohn. He gave the first recital on the Royal Albert Hall organ in 1871 and on the Sydney (NSW) Town Hall organ in 1890. His "O Praise the Lord with One Consent" is based on the tune "St. Anne" that we associate with the text "O God Our Help in Ages Past". The melody appears on bold stops in the pedal line.