Come as you are! Everyone welcome … In-person or on Zoom.
R E A D I N G S
🔆Psalm 68 🔆1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 🔆John 17:1-11
S E R M O N
🔆“The Pluses & Minuses of Eschatological Hope” – The Rev. Dr. Max Lynn
M U S I C
PRELUDE … Voluntary No. 7, G. F. Handel (1685-1759)
INTROIT … Brethren, We Have Met to Worship, George Askins (d. 1816), arr. Randolph Currie (b. 1943)
HYMN … All Creatures of Our God and King
ANTHEM … Praise the Lord, G. F. Handel (1685-1759), arr. Hal Hopson (1933-2025)
HYMN … JGod of Grace and God of Glory
OFFERTORY … 2nd Prelude, Edward Bairstow (1874-1946)
HYMN … Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
POSTLUDE … Toccata in G Major, Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-170
Join us for Coffee Hour immediately after the service.
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A N N O U N C E M E N T S – – – – – – –
Upcoming St. John’s Sunday Forum
Take a break after worship for 5-10 minutes, then come back for a conversation:
May 31 – AI & Humans. How Will We Relate? Spend an hour with Dr. Braden Molhoek, Director, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), and Ian G. Barbour, Assistant Professor of Theology, Science, Ethics, and Technology at the Graduate Theological Union. AI is changing our relationships (including humanity’s relationship with God and with the rest of creation). How we think theologically about AI inspires new questions of ethics, virtue, and creation. For example, is AI made in the image of God or of humans? What would its designers say? What do we say? What implications does the answer to this question have for our future and our relationship to AI? Come learn more in an engaging and timely Education session.
Piano Restoration & Workshop Visit, May 23
Currently, our cherished Bösendorfer piano is in the shop. Fortunately, the beautiful loaner we are using is also a Bösendorfer. Callahan Piano Service, which has taken care of St. John’s pianos for decades, is restoring our instrument. This is necessary every three or four decades. The felts compress, the strings begin to break, accidents leave marks and gouges on the case, and it is necessary to have extensive work done to bring a piano back up to its potential.
John Callahan has invited SJ members and friends to tour his workshop in Alameda to see pianos being refurbished, including ours. On Saturday, May 23 at 10am, we will have the opportunity to visit and ask questions. Please let Todd Jolly know if you are interested in joining the group, and if you would like a ride. The Callahan piano workshop address is 1800 Ferry Point, Building 14, Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501. Detailed driving directions are available at callahanpiano.com/contact
Fair Trade Coffee, Chocolates, Olive Oil sales, May 24
Since 2011, St. John’s members have purchased tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of organic, fair-trade coffee, tea, chocolate, & olive oil to support small-scale farmers across the world. This is not a fundraiser for the church; SJ offers these products at the lowest prices possible to the church community — the more frequently we choose these products, the greater our participation in a truly just economic system. On Pentecost Sunday, May 24, during coffee hour on the patio (or in the narthex if it’s raining), there will an assortment of products to select from — come take a look! – Bill Herwood
Sunday, May 24: Pentecost Celebration, and Party after worship
with food, music and bounce house
Come celebrate the birthday of the Church and the Spirit’s movement through many cultures. Église Franco Africaine de la Nouvelle Alliance church, made up mostly of folks from the Ivory Coast and Cameroon will be joining us. If your family originates from somewhere other than California, you may want to wear clothing from that culture. Or you can just wear something Red – the liturgical color of the Holy Spirit’s fire. This is a powerful worship service with input from many cultures and languages.
The Celebration Party after worship on May 24, from 11:30am to 1pm, will have a bounce house, a band, and pot-luck coffee hour. If you feel so moved, bring something yummy to share. Invite neighbors and friends. For more information on Pentecost, please read the Presbyterian website article.
Sunday School Youth Mission Trip – all are welcome, May 31
Join us for a half a day of service, fellowship and faith in action as we reach out to our community on Sunday, May 31. We are visiting Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) to help prepare and serve lunch. GRIP’s mission is to support families on their journey to self-sufficiency; They provide safe shelter, meals, case management, and long-term resources at no cost to those in need. We are departing from St. John’s at 8:30am and expected to return around 2pm. If you would like to participate with us, please contact Manju Noone for more details at manju@stjohnsberkeley.org.
QR Code for Giving Money to St. John’s
One can now donate via PayPal for weekly giving and special events, like Fair Trade Sunday. Simply scan the PayPal QR Code in our bulletin or church lobby. All donations are tax-deductible. Thank you for your continued support.
PC(USA) to consider policy rejecting White Christian nationalism”
By John A Bolt, Presbyterian Outlook Magazine
When commissioners gather for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)’s 277th General Assembly this summer, they will consider a recommendation from the denomination’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) to “repudiate the ideology and practices of white Christian nationalism in all its forms.” The recommendation, COM-033, responds to the 226th General Assembly’s (2024) directive to “develop a new policy and study guide about white Christian nationalism, given (its) powerful and pervasive distortion of Christian faith and its urgent threat to values and freedoms in the United States in the twenty-first century.”
“It is important to distinguish between patriotism and nationalism,” ACSWP says. “Patriotism, which offers appreciation and support for the United States and [commitment] to its ideals, is appropriate for the believer.
By contrast, the belief that the nation has a unique relation to God that should grant Christians special power in the nation — or that the United States has been selected by God for supremacy over other nations because of its inherent goodness — is not [appropriate for the believer].”
The issue of Christian nationalism, particularly White Christian nationalism, has been addressed by the PC(USA) previously, “but not in a way that we have policy, clearly stated in something that the Office of Public Witness could specifically use as they were talking with legislators,” said ACSWP member Rick Nutt, a retired professor of religion and associate provost at Muskingham University, a Presbyterian-related university in New Concord, Ohio.
One of the specific reasons for asking for a full-blown policy statement two years ago was “the increasing manifestations of racism, particularly around the issue of voting rights, and voting restrictions” present in the wake of January 6, 2021, and the rhetoric of the 2024 presidential election, said Nutt, who led the ACSWP writing team. The proposal is a result of 2024’s recommendation. To continue reading this article, click for Presbyterian Outlook magazine.