Welcome to Worship at the McPherson Church of the Brethren
We invite your active participation in the life of this congregation, as together we continue to grow in grace and seek justice for God's creation.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
“Created in God’s Image; all Creation is Blessed and Welcome”
Welcome Video
Sharing Time – Joys and Concerns | Kevin Jones
♫Gathering Music | “Songs Without Words” Op. 16 No. 1 | Mendelssohn
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Words of Welcome and Invitation
♫Centering Music | “Meditation” from Thais | Jules Massenet
Kaitlyn van Asselt, flute; Ellen Gilbert, piano
Opening Unison Prayer
Come Holy Spirit. Come Breath of God.
With your glorious light, shine forth from heaven!
Come from the four winds and disperse the shadows that lay over us; renew and strengthen us.
You - Holy Spirit - are - our only comforter – giving peace to our souls.
In the heat - you shade us; in our labor - you refresh us; and in trouble you - are our strength.
Kindle in our hearts – the flame of your love so it might;
glow in the darkness of this world and reach to all – forever. AMEN, AMEN, AMEN
♫Opening Song | “Veni Sancte Spiritus” | #298
(Come Holy Spirit)
Message for the Kids | Marie Neher
Invitation to Give Video
Give online or send a check made payable to "McPherson Church of the Brethren," 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 6746
♫Musical Offering | “The Skipping Stone” |Z. Randall Stroope
Small group – Becky Snell, Director
"The Skipping Stone" is focused on human connection, life's journey, and finding peace, emphasizing self-discovery and shared experience,
suggesting a journey through life's moments like skipping stones.
I alone cannot change the world,
but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples, ripples, ripples.
In one drop of water are all secrets of the world.
As the water reflects the stars and moon, we reflect the mind and soul.
I am the flame above the beauty in the fields;
I shine in waters, and I burn in the sun, the moon and all of the stars, the sun, the moon, the stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars.
I alone cannot change the world,
but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples, ripples, ripples, ripples, ripples.
Responsive Litany for the Elements| based on the writings of Hildegard of Bingen
God gave us the four primary elements;
God gave us earth, fire, air and water.
Everything flows together, and no element can exist without the others.
Fire strengthens, Earth provides life force,
Air supports flexibility, Water moisturizes and nourishes.
All of creation coexists and contributes. We are in relationship.
Through the elements we are nourished;
everything and everyone has a place, meaning, and purpose.
WINTER - Earth (North) - new moon – midnight – cold/rest (stability, physical body, grounding)
Words for Winter
ONE:
Hildegard of Bingen viewed Earth as a vibrant, living entity, a mother holding the seeds of all creation,
essential for human life, and capable of reflecting divine goodness through its natural cycles, especially
the “greening power” (viriditas) of plants, urging humans to co-create with nature to cultivate a heavenly
existence, warning that sin disrupts this harmony, leading to environmental decay.
ALL:
"Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly. The earth is at the same time mother, she is mother
of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the
seeds of all…. The truly holy person welcomes all that is earthly."
♫Song for Winter | “In the Bulb, there is a Flower” | #614
SPRING – Air/Wind (East) - waxing moon – sunrise – new life (communication, new beginnings, sunrise)
Words for Spring
ONE:
Hildegard of Bingen saw wind as a powerful, divine force, often described as God's "wings," animating
creation and reflecting divine order, like the eastern wind bringing dew or the northern holding back
frost, with all elements working in harmony, even describing herself as a feather carried by the wind,
surrendering to God's will, with the wind also symbolizing chaotic evil when burdened by humanity's sins.
ALL:
"Now in the people that were meant to be green there is no more life of any kind. There is only shriveled
barrenness. The winds are burdened by the utterly awful stink of evil, selfish goings-on. Thunderstorms
menace. The air belches out the filthy uncleanliness of the peoples. The earth should not be injured!
The earth must not be destroyed!"
♫Song for Spring | “Spirit of the Living God” (sing twice) | #349
SUMMER - Fire (South) - full moon – noon – heat/growth (energy, passion, transformation, warmth)
Words for Summer
ONE:
Hildegard of Bingen saw fire as a powerful symbol of divine light and energy of Spirit, creation, and inner
spiritual energy (viriditas – fire or greenness), often appearing as a radiant, life-giving force of creation
that unifies all things, representing God's fiery love and creative power that illuminates and animates all
life, contrasting with worldly darkness. This fire is a hidden mystery that warms and enlightens ALL
existence.
ALL:
"All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God's brilliance, emerging from God like the rays of
sun [and moon]"
"The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. This Word manifests itself in every
creature."
♫Song for Summer | “Within Our Darkest Night”
Within our darkest night, you kindle the fire that never dies away, never dies away. (sing three times)
FALL - Water (West) - waning moon – sunset – fading (emotions, intuition, reflection, ocean)
Words for Fall
ONE:
Hildegard of Bingen viewed water as a vital, divine element, symbolizing life, purification, and the 'greening power' (viriditas) of God,
essential for physical health and spiritual vitality, often describing it as a source of healing and freshness, needing to be respected but also
used to cleanse and nourish, mirroring God's life-giving force in all creation, from the body's humors to flowing rivers.
ALL:
"Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people, like fishes caught in a net,
can be restored to wholeness.”
♫Song for Fall | “By Night, we Hasten in Darkness”
By night, we hasten in darkness to search for the living water, only our thirst leads us onwards.
Responsive Prayer | O Comforting Fire of Spirit | Hildegard of Bingen
O comforting fire of Spirit, Life, within the very Life of all Creation.
Holy you are - in giving life to All.
Holy you are in anointing those who are not whole;
Holy you are in cleansing a festering wound.
O sacred breath, O fire of love,
O sweetest taste in my breast which fills my heart with a fine aroma of virtues.
O most pure fountain through whom it is known that God has united strangers
and inquired after the lost.
O breastplate of life and hope of uniting all members as One,
O sword-belt of honor, enfold those who offer blessing.
Care for those who are imprisoned by the enemy and dissolve the bonds of those whom Divinity wishes to save.
O mightiest path which penetrates All, from the height to every Earthly abyss, you compose All, you unite All.
Through you clouds stream, ether flies, stones gain moisture, waters become streams and the earth
exudes Life.
You always draw out knowledge, bringing joy through Wisdom's inspiration.
Therefore, praise be to you who are the sound of praise and the greatest prize of Life, who are hope
and richest honor bequeathing the reward of Light.
[To you, O comforting fire, O sacred breath, O mightiest path; to you we give praise!]
♫Prayer Song | “O Lord Hear Our Prayer” (sing twice) | #348
Sending Words
“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings.
Now, think. What delight God gives to humankind with all these things.
All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without, we cannot survive.”
~ Hildegard of Bingen
♫Sending Song | “Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah” | #50
Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)
She was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath (a person with deep expertise in multiple, diverse
fields, known for broad and comprehensive knowledge, driven by intense curiosity to learn and excel
across subjects, using interdisciplinary thinking to solve complex problems, contrasting with a specialist's
narrow focus.) She was active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and
practitioner during the High Middle Ages.
She is one of the best-known composers, as well as the most recorded in modern history of Monophony
(a musical texture featuring a single melodic line without any harmonic accompaniment or supporting
voices, creating a clear, unaccompanied melody that can be sung or played by one or multiple
voices/instruments performing the exact same notes in unison. It's the simplest texture, found in ancient
chants {like Gregorian} and folk music, where "one sound" (mono-phony) means a singular melodic idea,
even if several people sing it together.)
She has been considered by a number of scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.
(the scientific study of organisms (plants, animals, fungi) and natural objects (rocks, fossils) in
their environment, focusing on observation, description, and understanding Earth's life and systems over
time, bridging biology, geology, and ecology, often through museums and fieldwork, exploring how life
evolves and interacts. It's a broad field that encompasses everything from dinosaur paleontology and
biodiversity to human evolution, often distinguished from human history by its focus on the non-human
world and deep past.)
Hildegard's convent at Disibodenberg elected her in 1136 – at 38 - as mother superior (magistra).
She founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. Hildegard wrote theological,
botanical, and medicinal works, as well as letters, hymns, and antiphons for the liturgy. She wrote poems,
and supervised miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias.
There are more surviving chants by Hildegard
Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Choir Director: Becky Snell
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre
Chancel Decoration Team: Jill Brax, Colleen Gustafson, Janette Hess, Michele Johnson, Shane Kirchner, Marie Neher & Lara Schoming
