Eldad – Hampton Pastoral Charge
of the United Church of Canada.
Rev. Doug Ferris
Music Director: Evan Funnell
April 26, 2026
Services are recorded, contact eldadunitedchurch@gmail.com,
if you wish to receive a link each Sunday to the service.
PRE-SERVICE: WE PREPARE FOR WORSHIP
PRE-SERVICE SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still water; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. Amen. (Ps. 23)
LIGHTING THE CHRIST CANDLE
In the Light of Christ, make us to know your ways. Teach your paths and lead us, for you Oh God are our Guide. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, as you guide us as one body. Today, we light this candle as the light of Christ, calling all to worship.
Thanks be to God, Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CELEBRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE LAND
We acknowledge this land as the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat First Nations, governed by the Williams Treaties and Treaty Number Twenty. We give thanks for the stewardship of the first people of this land. May we live in to the agreements of Truth and Reconciliation as e partner together.
WE GATHER FOR WORSHIP
GATHERING IN WORSHIP
One: Come, beloved community, for the Holy One is our Shepherd.
ALL: We shall not want, for God provides all that we need.
One:God leads us to green pastures and still waters.
ALL: God restores our souls and guides us in paths of justice and peace.
One: Even when we walk through the darkest valleys, we will not be afraid.
ALL: For God is with us–comforting, protecting, and strengthening us.
One: God’s goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.
ALL: And we will dwell in God’s house, God’s love, forever.
One: Come, let us worship the One who is our Shepherd and our Guide.
ALL: We come with joy, gratitude, and trust.
One: God has given us seasons in the cycle of nature, and in our own lives: Rest in winter, and now, regeneration in Spring.
ALL: Thanks be to God for the natural seasons on Earth, and for the seasons of faith in our lives. Let us worship the Creator and Sustainer of all that lives, in love, in thanksgiving and in praise.
CONGREGATION PRAYER OF APPROACH:
One: Sculpting God, it is your that gives galaxies their form, you that shapes the granite mountains, and you who designs butterfly wings and the iridescent colours of the chameleon.
ALL: We are grateful for the beauty of your creation, Oh God.
One: Dancing God, you choreograph the paths of starts, the branches that fan in the breeze, and the flight paths of Snow Geese.
One: Singing God, your divine song reverberates in the song of the sparrow, the swoosh of mountain streams, and the breath of the gentle breeze.
ALL: We rejoice to be a part of the divine natural world that you have created in the atom, the planet, and the swirl of galaxies. Amen.
HYMN OF APPROACH: Voices United #409 “Morning Has Broken”
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION AND AFFIRMATION
One: God, the Creator of all there ever was and of all that ever will be, had created as a loving partner in the fullness of creation on earth. Yet, we have fallen short of the caretaker’s call, and we have treated the Earth as our own. Let us turn to God as we seek a right relationship with God’s creation. Let us pray:
ALL: Creator God, we confess that you have created us through your love as caregivers for your creation. We confess that we have exploited the gifts within nature, and that we selfishly dominate the richness of creation. Forgive us for our grasping. We confess our part in the devastation of our planet home, mirrored in the violence of cities and brokenness of human hearts. In this season, loving God, may we see your mind and your spirit in the created world around us, and understand that the natural realm, like we ourselves, are your body, filled with your spirit of life, since the first creation. Amen.
WORDS FOR THE YOUNG–& EVERYONE: Celebrating Creations’ Seasons with Family Today & Forever
FAMILY IN SONG: More Voices #37 “Each Blade of Grass” (Circle of God)
MINISTRY OF THE WORD
PRAYER OF ENLIGHTENMENT:
John 10: 1-10 [Link to Scriptures]
Acts 2: 42-27
One: The Word of God for the people of God.
ALL: Thanks be to God for the Word.
THE CHURCH RESPONDS TO THE WORD
THANKSGIVING AND DEDICATION: Offertory
We bring our Gifts of Service and Support before God and for the Work of the Church.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER:
One: In Thankfulness for Creation, let us join in Praise and Prayer, who could have imagined any world at all, and who chose this as the Edenic garden where all life may flourish. Let us pray: Lord of all Being, and Source of all Blessing, we come before you in unity to give you thanks
ALL: For Life and Love, for health and food, for work and home, for nature’s beauty and gentle solace we give you thanks
One: We thank you, God, that we have lived in this great world and known its many joys
ALL: For the songs of birds, the strong, sweet scent of fresh-cut hay, the cool breeze at dusk, and the bright flavour of fresh-picked fruits, we give you thanks
One: We thank you God, for others that we have known who have built into our lives
ALL: For the love of family, the comfort of old friends, and the joy of new acquaintances, we give you thanks
One: And yet, God of Flood and Fire, we lament that not all winds bring gentle breezes. Adversity affects the just and the unjust in our imperfect world. We pray for healing, and we pray for mission. May we, your body in the world extend your hands, your voice and your love to a hurting world.
ALL: Open our ears that we may hear your healing voice so we can lift up the people we meet. Open our eyes that we may see the needs of those around us. Open our minds that we may see the needs of others from their point of view, not our own. Open our hearts to withhold judgment and extend helping hands where needed.
One: And here at home, Our Loving Parent, here in our own community, we pray for all who suffer the pain of sickness, loneliness, fear, or loss. We pray for weaknesses known to all, and for challenges known by You alone. And, we pause together in prayer for those whose names are in our hearts, in our thoughts, and on our lips.
[PAUSE FOR A MOMENT OF SILENT OR EXTEMPORANEOUS PRAYER]
One: God, you have promised that where two or three are gathered in your name, you are here, in our midst. Fulfill now the desires and petitions of your people as may be best for us, and bind us together in the contemporary words of The Prayer of Jesus, saying:
ALL: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
RESPONDING TO THE WORD IN THE UNITED CHURCH’S EXPRESSION OF FAITH, “A SONG OF FAITH”:
With Christians throughout time, we affirm our belief in the Old and New Testaments as primary standards of Christian faith and life. The United Church of Canada also affirms these timeless truths as expressed for our day in the poetic phrases of “A Song of Faith.”
God is creative and self-giving, generously moving in all the near
and distant corners of the universe. Nothing exists that does not find its source in God.
Our first response to God’s providence is gratitude. We sing thanksgiving.
Finding ourselves in a world of beauty and mystery, of living things, diverse and interdependent, of complex patterns of growth and evolution, of subatomic particles and cosmic swirls, we sing of God the Creator, the Maker and Source of all that is.
Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing of the One on whom our hearts rely, the fully shared life at the heart of the universe. Amen.
RENEWED, COMMISSIONED AND SENT FORTH INTO THE MINISTRY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
HYMN OF COMMISSIONING: More Voices #150 “Spirit God Be Our Breath” (5th song in link)
BENEDICTION & BLESSING
Hampton United Church 