Come as you are! Everyone welcome … In-person or on Zoom.
R E A D I N G S
🔆2 Corinthians 13:11-13 🔆 Matthew 28:16-20
S E R M O N
🔆”The Second Story of Creation” – The Rev. Dr. Max Lynn
M U S I C
PRELUDE … Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, Vater, Sohn und Heiliger Geist, Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
CALL TO WORSHIP … Genesis 1/For the Beauty of the Earth, Todd Jolly (b. 1961), John Rutter (b. 1945)
HYMN … I Sing the Mighty Power of God
ANTHEM … How Excellent Is Thy Name, Eugene Butler (1935-2024)
OFFERTORY … Adagietto, Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)
HYMN … Lord, Our Lord, Thy Glorious Name
POSTLUDE … Prelude in G Major, J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Join us for Coffee Hour immediately after the service.
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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.
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.
Congressional Meeting, June 14
Our next Congressional Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 14 immediately following the worship service in the Sanctuary for the purpose of receiving a report from the Nominations Committee nominating Deacons and Elders and electing them.
Ride for Palestine – all are welcome, July 19
Last day for registrationis Wednesday, July 15, 2026. The Ride for Palestine is an annual fundraising project of the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). MECA works to protect the lives, rights, and well-being of children in Palestine and refugee camps in Lebanon.
There are approximately 14 million Palestinians worldwide–roughly half reside in historic Palestine and the other half live in diaspora communities. Under international law, all refugees have a right to return to areas from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and to receive compensation for damages. The Right of Return for Palestinian refugees was affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948.
The Right of Return remains a central demand in the Palestinian struggle for justice and self determination. This year’s theme, The Ride of Return, symbolizes both the journey toward justice and the enduring claim to the Palestinian Right of Return.
All riders are committing to raise a minimum of $500. MECA will support your Peer-2-Peer fundraising with sample letters, many tips on fundraising, and we are available to help if you need coaching. Learn more at rideforpalestine.com.
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.
Submit Comments by June 1 to Stop ICE in Dublin!
From Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity is part of the ICE Out of Dublin coalition, a growing alliance pushing back against efforts to repurpose the former FCI Dublin prison into an immigration detention center. Submit a public comment by June 1 to stop a new ICE detention facility from opening in our backyard. Follow instructions in toolkit: http://tinyurl.com/IOD-EA-Toolkit.
FCI Dublin, a federal women’s prison in the East Bay, was permanently shut down in 2024 after years of horrific staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and unsafe conditions exposed by courageous survivors and advocates. The prison became a national symbol of abuse and systemic failure.
Now, despite this painful history, the site is one step closer to reopening — this time as an ICE detention facility.
Last year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced plans to transfer the FCI Dublin property to the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency responsible for managing government property. At the same time, GSA has been actively scouting locations for ICE, while ICE continues searching for expanded detention space in Northern California.
Once the property is transferred, GSA could hand the site over to ICE or another agency, allowing detention operations to resume at FCI Dublin.
Our communities cannot allow a place marked by abuse and trauma to become another detention center that separates families and harms immigrants.
On Friday, May 1, the BOP published an environmental assessment, a necessary step in the property transfer process. The assessment shows what FCI Dublin survivors have been saying for years: the FCI Dublin facility is unsafe and uninhabitable, and would cost tens of millions of dollars to repair.
The public now has until June 1, to provide feedback on BOP’s plan. The ICE Out of Dublin Coalition is asking our community to submit public comments and tell the BOP: keep FCI Dublin closed, and keep ICE out of Dublin!
Learn more: http://tinyurl.com/IOD-EA-Toolkit