Our Worship Celebration

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the
Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
~ Pope John Paul II
Our Worship Celebration
*We invite everyone to rise (as you are able) during these times
Childcare is available with Ms. Iris for children under the age of 6.
Act of Radical Hospitality
“You’re welcome just as you are.”
Music for Gathering
Theme of Easter
Sacred Readings
Message
Luke 24:1-5 (Inclusive Text)
Act of Divine Anticipation
“God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way.”
Committing to Life
Moments of Welcome
Closing Song
Easter Introit
We Shall Go Out With Hope of Resurrection
Announcements
Litany of Confession and Assurance
Morning has broken, but this morning is different
Los pájaros cantan canciones de alegría en los
árboles que rodean las tumbas.
The flower buds are bursting in colors
vibrant around each stone.
We’ve come to visit the grave of a friend,
but “he is not here.”
El Sol está saliendo por el este; las sombreadas
oscuras se convierten luminosas!
The Son is risen in our hearts’
darkness and death end in defeat.
Ahora entendemos lo que Jesús dijo,
lo que hizo Dios, proclamando
Christ is Risen! Él ha resucitado,
Hallelujah, aleluya!
*Sung Proclamation
#302 UMH v 1/#152 SUMH v.1, UMH\ v.2
Christ the Lord is Risen Today
*Easter Litany
*Opening Song
#155 SUMH v.1/#308 UMH v2/SUMH v.4
Thine Be the Glory
Act of Genuine Humility
“We’re all in this together.”
Prayer Time
Gather Us In #2236 FWS v.1
Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer Gather Us In #2236 FWS v.4
Offertory
*Love Doxology
Act of Fearless Conversation
“Your thoughts are welcome; your doubts are welcome.”
Break Forth Into Singing
Tune: UMH #94
Music for Going Out
Our Worship Participants
(Featured Vocalists)
Oriana Gutierrez/Lauren Elbaum/Bobby Lopez-Trigo
First-Time Guests
If you are a first time guest, we would love to have you join us for a time
of food and fellowship immediately following our worship in the back
of the sanctuary! If you have any questions, or need anything during
worship, the ushers will be glad to help you.
Who We Are
We are a community of friends hoping to live out our lives in the loving
fashion towards which Jesus guides us. We do not claim perfection,
merely forgiveness. We do not think we have arrived, merely that we
are sharing the journey. We do not think we have completed our task,
merely that we are learning to work, live, and play together as a family
embracing the full spectrum of ethnicity, age, gender, family status,
sexual orientation, heritage, physical ability, economic status, and
religious background. To all who worship God in peace and fellowship,
to all who want to find an inclusive community that expresses love for
humankind,
Welcome to St. John’s!
Our Staff
Rev. Dr. T Glenn Bosley-Mitchell
Rev. Gaye Bosley-Mitchell
Rev. Mairolet Vega
Harold Sloan-Marrero
Scott Bracken-Tripp
Juvenal Correa-Salas
Warren Werner
Cynthia Rodriquez
Dr. Carol Hoffman-Guzman
Phil Bracken-Tripp
Senior Pastor
Worship Pastor
Spanish Pastor
Director of Media
Director of Music
Parish Musician
Parish Sexton
Director of MASJ
Executive Director of ASJ
Artistic Director of ASJ
For More Information Visit Us At:
stjohnsmiami.org & laiglesiaunida.org
ABOUT THE ST. JOHN’S
ON THE LAKE COMMUNITY
WORSHIP SERIES AND
SPECIAL SUNDAYS
UPCOMING EVENTS
AT ST. JOHN’S
FROM THE ST. JOHN’S
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
The last Friday of
every month at the
parsonage.
This informal “Happy Hour” kind
of gathering, gives us a time to
get to know each other better,
but in a less-intimidating setting.
It is a great way to get to know the Pastors and for the Pastors to
better get to know all of us (it’s hard to remember names and make
a connection with everyone on a hurried Sunday morning). So come
one and all and let’s just have a drink and socialize!
Our Mission
Reclaiming Christianity as a faith of extravagant love and grace,
radical inclusion and hospitality, and relentless compassion and
companionship.
A Leading Voice in the LGBT Community
Our church’s commitment to the LGBT Community has been a central
part of our mission as a congregation for many years, highlighted by
our designation as a “Reconciling Congregation” within the United
Methodist Denomination. Although we have held this title for 18 years,
many on the beach still have not experienced open and accepting
places of workshop around them. Therefore, beginning 4 years ago,
St. Johns made the decision to march in the Miami Beach Pride
parade and be a part of the festival.
For the last 4 years, St. Johns has participated in this event as a
way to help the community learn about the welcoming and affirming
congregation here on the beach. Our participation in this event is
not solely to gain worshiping members of our own congregation,
but to ensure that our message of love and acceptance is felt and
understood by those who have been hurt or excluded by the “church”
in the past. We seek to act as a beacon to help people discover a
progressive type of church that accepts and honors people for how
God made them.
Pride is a wonderful time that gives us the perfect opportunity to
express our mission to welcome all, worship passionately, challenge
the status quo, and to transform the world through God’s love. This
mission has the power to change people’s minds about what it means
to be “church” and how they can fully participate in an immersive and
radical new expression of religion.
If you would like to be a part of this great event this April, please let
Pastors Gaye and Glenn know. Each year, volunteers are needed to
march, help out with the booth, and to be ambassadors of our voice
as a congregation. Ask them how you can help today!
“Christianity’s goal is not escape from this world. It
loves this world and seeks to change it for the better.”
-Marcus Borg-
These events will be
missional in nature.
A new worship series at St. John’s
As evidenced by this year’s presidential race, Americans today are inundated
by situations of fear, uneasiness, pain, crisis, and mistrust. So much of our
dead-lock and polarization is because we are constantly setting ourselves
over and against each other. We believe this is because the events of the past
fifteen years have reverberated with the earthquake of a collapse of privilege:
- 9/11 shattered our image of ourselves as those who had a place of National
Privilege, seeing ourselves as “Leaders of the Free World”… now we have
experienced the terrorism that has existed around the world, no long protected
from organized violence against our people.
- Landmark Supreme Court Rulings deeply affect the sense of social privilege
held by many different groups, including (but not limited to) legalizing same-sex
marriage, limiting women’s reproductive rights, overturning Voting Rights Act,
determining that Businesses are “people” with unlimited political contributions.
- The Housing Crisis and ensuing Wall St Banking crisis were the leading causes
of the most severe financial depression of our lifetimes, which threatened our
sense Economic privilege we have long felt as the “Richest Nation in the World”
- The international “War on Terrorism,” the Global Warming Crisis, and the
Catholic Church Sex abuse scandal have drawn us into a heated battle over
science vs. religion as well as engendering a new era of religious hatred
culminating in unprecedented Islamophobia—demonstrating how threatened is
the Religious Privilege that Christianity has long held in the US.
- Gun violence, Racially Directed Violence by Police, and the high rates of
Domestic Abuse are highlighting the response created when areas of Male
Privilege, White Privilege, and ‘Bully Privilege’ are directly confronted.
- And even our sense of Educational Privilege is being seriously challenged
by the current generation of college graduates who cannot find jobs and are
economically burdened by unprecedented levels of student loans.
Our worship/educational series from Easter to Pentecost will focus on how
The Way of Jesus, including his foundational teachings from his Sermons on
the Mount/Plain, and life example, describe for us how to live a life “beyond
Privilege” and gives absolute direction as to how to live in a world where
privilege is both a thing to be voluntarily set aside, and a system in desperate
need of revolution!
Come join us Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., as we explore what is truly
crashing around us in our world today, and hear how the Gospel (Good News)
of Jesus speaks to us of a way through the pain into healing and wholeness.
- April 3 - Blessed are the Poor/Poor in Spirit: Economic Privilege.
- April 10 (Gay Pride) – Worship at South Beach.
- April 17 - Blessed are the Hungry/Those who hunger for Righteousness:
National/White/Educational Privilege.
- April 24 - Blessed are those who Weep/Mourn and are Hated/Persecuted: Social
Privilege
- May 1 - Blessed are the Merciful/Peacemakers: Religious Privilege.
- May 8 (Mother’s Day) – Blessed are the Meek: Male Privilege.
- May 15 (Pentecost) - Love Your Enemies: Picture a world where privilege is set
aside.
They will focus on either service
to our community or social
justice. These are the kind of
“roll up your sleeves and make
the world a better place” kind
of events. Join us for street/canal cleanups, feeding the homeless,
bringing coffee and doughnuts to the day-workers as they line up for
work, attending rallies to further LGBT rights or Economic Justice
awareness, etc.
Come and experience a contemporary worship service, with a
progressive message. Besides the weekly night time service at 6:00
p.m. St John’s is proud to host on the third Sunday of every month the
No Reservations: Mosaic Experiential Worship Service.
A gathering that seeks to bring a meaningful message with
contemporary Christian feel and mainstream music. If you would
like to know what a deconstructed, post-denominational service
feels and looks like, then we invite you to come and experience
this new emerging Christian community. Mosaic gathers the third
Sunday of every month at 6:00 p.m. For information please visit www.
noreservationsgroup.org.
These are Field Trips
and “Just Fun”
gatherings.
There is no deeper agenda than
enjoying each others’ company
and having a good time with a
great group of folks. We’ll do
things like museum visits, pool parties, and visit local attractions.
These are perfect if you’re the kind of person who likes to have fun
but needs an “invitation” to get out of the house!
This is where the
“spirit” part of the
“spiritual journey”
comes in.
These are gatherings designed
around stretching, growing, and
simply engaging our spiritual
practices. They might be Bible Studies, Book Studies, Theological
discussions, special worship events, etc. Some will pop up
throughout the year, and others will be regularly scheduled. Every 3rd
Wednesday, we will gather for some kind of spiritual formation event
at the church. We will also, at least monthly, gather at a local bar/
restaurant for “Theology on Tap”—an opportunity to talk about a faith
topic and share a drink together.
For more information on all of our events, and for
times and locations, please visit our website at
www.stjohnsmiami.org and sign up for our electronic
newsletter “The Wave” for constant updates and
alerts!
This Monday, March 28, you can hear Steve
Rothaus speak at The Betsy! His talk, “We’re
Not in Kansas Anymore” begins at 9:30am and
includes a delicious breakfast!
Steve Rothaus is Editor of the Miami Herald
Neighbors section and blog editor of Gay South
Florida. Steve’s talk centers on how gay and
lesbians, after coming out, are often rejected
by family and community, and consequently
“lose” their homes.
This talk is part of series in Arts at St. John’s season of “Places We
Call Home.” The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami
Beach, 33139
On April 2 at 7:00 p.m., guitarist/composer
Mesut Özgen presents a program of music
mainly from his homeland Turkey, as well as
from Appalachia and Latin America. Among the
works in the program are Özgen’s Anatolian
Fantasy, Rumeli Turkusu, and Robert Beaser’s
Shenandoah. Guest Performers are guitarist
Celso Cano and Rebecca Benitez, soprano.
VIP Admission is $30, General Admission is
$20, $15 for seniors and students.