2024 Worship Services

Subscribe to our YouTube channel
SAINT JAMES UMC IS STEAMING LIVE!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel, so you never miss out.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Released

 
SCRIPTURE: John 20:19-23, Psalm 121, Nehemiah 9:9-15
        
In 12-step programs, the first step is admitting powerlessness over anything that threatens to destroy our connection to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to others. This week, we consider the variety of ways addiction occurs in our lives. We will celebrate the Good News that we can refocus our lives onto things that lead us to life and connection to the Holy.
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

 

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Nancy Janson, Liturgist
  • Donna Benson, Children’s Message
  • Chancel Choir

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Freed

 
SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:13-32; Romans 8: 12-25; Acts 16: 16-34
         

Have we missed seeing the things God is doing now in our lives and in our world? Jesus invites us to live with joy, constantly alert for signs of God’s grace around and within us. God is present and at work. Grace and salvation are here, and are available to us in abundance. There is cause for authentic celebration!

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

 

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Barbara Cook, Liturgist
  • Jelinda Blum, Children’s Message
  • Chancel Choir

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Easter Sunday

Look Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Mark 16: 1-7; Psalm 118; Acts 10: 34-43
        
We have all gathered to receive good news. That is what we boldly proclaim today: in the midst of all that brings us down, we can look up in this moment and know that we are not alone and that life and love wins.
 
Three days had passed. The women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, according to custom. No doubt the journey to the tomb was heavy. Perhaps they approached with heads lowered in defeat and grief. But then they looked up and it changed their lives. The barrier that they thought would be there was gone and what they discovered instead was life. Will we look up? Will we look up from our complacency, apathy, fear and depression about “the way things are” and be filled with the promise of new life and hope yet again? Will we be part of the raising up of humanity? We can say yes to this, for Christ the Lord is Risen Today!
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

 

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Jim Quindlen, Liturgist
  • Austin Morse, Children’s Message
  • Chancel Choir
  • Jane Ohlmacher, Piano

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Palm Sunday

Sit Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 118; John 12: 12-16
         

Make no mistake, the powers-that-be in Jerusalem sat up and took notice at the actions of Jesus and his motley crew of palm-waving followers on that morning. It was a show of the “power” of love and injustice for the “least of these,” in stark juxtaposition to the military might of the Roman rulers. It was a non-violent action featuring a man sitting on a donkey — an action that has offered hope throughout the ages. Will we sit up and take notice of the injustice of this world and work to eradicate it in ways that honor that first Palm Sunday parade?

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Antuan Hairston, Liturgist
  • Edie Candee, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir
  • Laural Clark, Handbell Choir Director
  • Saint James Handbell Choir

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Lift Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 51; John 12: 20-33
       
“When nothing else would help, love lifted me!” says the old Gospel song. To be lifted up is to be drawn into the love of God. Jesus drew all kinds of people to him during his short tenure on earth, drawing no boundaries for who was invited into that love. As his hour to die drew nearer, he spread the message that all things would be enveloped in his love even after he was gone. What uplifting message will we pass on to others?
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Austin Morse, Liturgist
  • Tainya Clarke, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Light Up the World

 
SCRIPTURE:  Psalm 107; John 3:14-21
         

John 3:16 is probably one of the most infamous and oft-quoted scriptures in the Bible. What follows that verse is important for our Lenten journey. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but to offer it saving light. As believers in that light, we are called to be those who will continue to light up the world through our lives so that the world might see the hope it yearns for.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Donna Benson, Certified Lay Servant
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Jeremiah Ross, Liturgist
  • Donna Benson, Children’s Message

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Raise Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 19; John 2:13-22
       
The story of Jesus’ response to the temple being made into a marketplace was profound and may have been another step toward his ultimate demise on the cross. He refers to raising up a new temple in three days — something his disciples later remembered as a foretelling of his resurrection. How might we raise up as the Body of Christ and be a holy temple — a holy dwelling place of God — in the world?
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Nancy Janson, Liturgist
  • Donna Benson, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Take Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 22; Mark 8:31-38
       
Jesus was very clear that following him might not be a smooth ride. He was bound to choose the just way, not the easy way, through life. To take up the cross was to lose one’s life — to let go of certain expectations of safety and acceptance in order to stand for the Gospel message of love.
How are we to take up the causes of Jesus — justice, righteousness, and mercy in our day?
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

 
Note:  Due to technical difficulties, the video froze, so only audio is available for this service.

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Mary Anne Espenshade, Liturgist
  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Children’s Message
  • Laural Clark, Handbell Director
  • Saint James Chancel Choir
  • Saint James Handbell Choir

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Come Up

 
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 25; Mark 1: 9-15
       
Lent is often known as a time of giving something up in order to make room in our lives for spiritual pursuits. Rather than just “giving up” in Lent, the scriptures ask us to consider all that Jesus is “up to” and all that he asks us to be up to in his name. Instead of focusing on what we can’t do, or used to do, in a culture where “measuring up” to external standards seems impossible, this Lent we will celebrate the small things that we can do right now to respond to God’s call in our place, for our time.
 
The first Sunday of this series brings us to the moment at which Jesus comes up out of the waters of baptism to hear, “You are my beloved.” We are called to come up out of the depths of whatever seeks to keep us under and know that we are beloved of God.
Come up, for now is the time to be fully who you are created to be for the sake of the world.
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Barbara Cook, Liturgist
  • Edie Candee, Children’s Message
  • Praise Team

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Becoming People of God: Be the Light and Let it Shine

 
SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
       
The shared themes in these sections are a study in contrasts: silence vs. speaking, seeing vs. blindness, hearing vs. silence, light vs. shadows, calm vs. storm, faithfulness vs. abandonment. More specifically, what is heard or spoken in the midst of what is kept silent; what light or revelation or understanding is found in the midst of what is shadowed or veiled, hidden or confused.
 
What do the encounters with glory call Peter, James, and John to do? What do they call us to do?
If Jesus wouldn’t let the disciples stay on the mountaintop and reminisce about the glorious sight they once encountered there, then we can’t either. This is what it means to go into the mission field.
As we head toward the Lenten season, which commences on Wednesday, lets ponder:
     How will transfiguration lead to transformation in the coming season?
 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship Guide

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Nancy Janson, Liturgist Jelinda Blum,
  • Children’s Message Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Becoming People of God:  Wings Like Eagles

 
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 40; Mark 1:29-39
       

The season of Epiphany slowly moves from the darkness of waiting to the expansive light of awareness. These scriptures tell the story of our call from God and our discipleship journey. We cannot become the people of God without responding to God’s call on our lives.

God’s call informs the readings from both Jonah and Mark. The scriptures taken together reflect human distraction and willfulness and the need to be grounded in God.

We cannot become the people of God without responding to God’s call on our lives. As in music or a dance, think of our journey of becoming the people of God antiphonally (sound in return), we recognize that both God’s call and our response are needed to build the kin-dom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship Guide

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Austin Morse, Liturgist
  • Donna Benson, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Becoming People of God:  Among the People

 
SCRIPTURE: Deut 18:15-20 Mark 1:21-28 (CEB)
       

We listened for the voice of God with Samuel, Philip, and Nathanael. With Jonah, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, we received the persistent and grace-filled invitation to participate with God in living out the fullness of God’s kingdom right here and right now. So, what’s next? Where does the path take us now? Discernment. When we discern the movement of God in our individual and communal lives, we are continuing the call-and-response between us and God, depending on God’s grace and guidance to show us where to go, what to do, and who to be. We practice discernment by noticing the places God is at work among us as we are ‘Becoming the People of God’.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Antuan Hairston, Liturgist
  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir
  • Laural Clark, Handbell Director
  • Saint James Handbell Choir

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Becoming People of God: Again and Again

 
SCRIPTURE: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Mark 1:14-20 (CEB)
       

The season of Epiphany slowly moves from the darkness of waiting to the expansive light of awareness. These scriptures tell the story of our call from God and our discipleship journey. We cannot become the people of God without responding to God’s call on our lives.

God’s call informs the readings from both Jonah and Mark. The scriptures taken together reflect human distraction and willfulness and the need to be grounded in God.

We cannot become the people of God without responding to God’s call on our lives. As in music or a dance, think of our journey of becoming the people of God antiphonally (sound in return), we recognize that both God’s call and our response are needed to build the kin-dom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
  • Barbara Cook, Liturgist
  • Jelinda Blum, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Becoming People of God: Your Servant is Listening

 
SCRIPTURE:  1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) John 1:43-51 (CEB)
      

We hear God’s word in many ways. In Genesis 1, God speaks and creation begins. Psalm 29 describes God’s voice as a mighty wind. As Jesus rises from the waters of the river Jordan, he hears God speak words of blessing. At the start of a new calendar year, we begin anew. As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, we celebrate new beginnings, for God is always at work, creating and calling forth blessings.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Mary Anne Espenshade, Liturgist
  • Edie Candee, Children’s Message
  • Saint James Chancel Choir

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Becoming People of God: Bread, Bath & More

 
SCRIPTURE:  Genesis 1: 1-5; Mark 1: 4-11
      

We hear God’s word in many ways. In Genesis 1, God speaks and creation begins. Psalm 29 describes God’s voice as a mighty wind. As Jesus rises from the waters of the river Jordan, he hears God speak words of blessing. At the start of a new calendar year, we begin anew. As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, we celebrate new beginnings, for God is always at work, creating and calling forth blessings.

 
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
10:30 am – Friendship Time
 

Worship GuideMessage

  • Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
  • Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
  • Jane Ohlmacher, Guest Organist/Pianist
  • Nancy Janson, Liturgist
  • Donna Benson, Children’s Message