Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
June 2026
Pastor Sean is on sabbatical for the next 10 weeks. He will return on September 6. There will not be any sermons posted until then. Join us on Zoom to hear the sermons each week. Please see the pulpit supply below.
June 28 James Wooten
July 5 James Wooten
July 12 Rev. Lorraine DeArmitt
July 19 James Wooten
July 26 James Wooten
August 2 Rev. Mark Applewhite (Communion Sunday)
August 9 Rev. Mark Applewhite
August 16 Rev. Mark Applewhite
August 23 Rabbi Gadi
August 30 Rev. Mark Applewhite
September 6 Pastor Sean
September 13 Rev. Lorraine DeArmitt
September 20 Pastor Sean (followed by a celebration)
September 27 Rev. Lorraine DeArmitt
Sunday School: Sunday School is finished for the year. Please call our church office at 631-727-2621 if you would like information for next year. Sunday School is held during church services at 10:00.
Bible Study: There is no Bible Study during the summer.
Thrift Shop: The thrift shop hours are Tuesday and Thursday 10-2 and Saturday 9-1. Clothing, knickknacks, and other small household items are accepted. No furniture or children's clothing. Please bring your donations only when we are open. Thank you for your support.
If you would like to join us on Zoom, please follow the link
Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting chat ling ink
https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/84520152334
Meeting: 770 806 2482
Pass code: kx9pVF
“Connecting with God
in Creation” Summer Bible Study Program
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Join us for a three-session Bible study for adults this summer. Each session will focus on God speaking to us through one particular part of creation that surrounds us, but that we often take for granted. Each session will include learning more about these blessings, connecting them to scripture, participating in a creative activity, and eating lunch together. You may bring a bag lunch; beverages and a themed dessert will be provided. The sessions will be held at the home of Rev. Dr. Bonnie Miller, 21 Victor Street, Riverhead on Fridays from 11am-1pm. You may attend all, or any of these sessions:
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Session 1: ROCKS ~ Friday, July 10
This session will explore the occurrence and significance of rocks in the Bible. We will also look at the life cycle of rocks and how our lives reflect such cycles.
Session 2: TREES~ Friday, July 17
This session will include a study of various trees in the Bible, as well as the secret life of trees, and how they communicate with and support each other.
Session 3: SHELLS~ Friday, July 24
This session will reflect on the faith-based wisdom of Ann Morrow Lindbergh from the 70th Anniversary edition of her book, Gift from the Sea.
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For more information, or to reserve your seat, please call Bonnie at 631-779-2560. Space is limited, but other sessions will be added if necessary.
Third Sunday after Pentecost
A Service of the Word
June 14, 2026 ✦ 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Melcombe C. S. Lang
(Once the music begins we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence)
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love;
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship, we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: This is a time of God’s appearing; let us worship!
Let us recognize that God is within and among us.
Many: God’s ear is inclined towards us.
We know that God listens and hears our prayers.
One: We are here to offer our thanks to God.
We will pay our vows to God in the presence others.
Many: We are grateful for the grace in which we stand.
We praise God with great joy and gladness.
One: God bears us up on eagles’ wings.
God draws us into covenant community.
ALL: We will listen for God’s commandments
We will seek to do all that God requires.
*HYMN: O How Glorious, Full of Wonder No. 558
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
God of all creation, help us to recognize your presence among us. May we greet one another as your precious children and as messengers of your care. Help us offer such hospitality to one another that even the most skeptical among us will be touched by love. You are love; in you we find hope amid our weaknesses and doubt. Let your glory shine in this place today as we lift up the cup of salvation and call on your name. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
Shephard of the flock, whose compassion reaches out to all who are harassed and helpless, teach us and empower us to proclaim the good news of your dominion, that healing may be offered, new life received, and demons overcome. May your love tend all of us day by day, transforming us in the image of Christ. Amen.
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ Lord's Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is
the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever.
Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
OFFERING: I Dream a World Andre J Thomas
* DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Genesis 18:1-15 OT Page 13
❖ Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19 HYMNAL Page 699
❖ Romans 5:1-8 NT Page 135
❖ Matthew 9:35-10:8 NT Page 8
SERMON: “Godsends”
A Godsend is a highly welcome, beneficial, or necessary thing, person or event that arrives unexpectedly, often at the exact moment it is needed most. It is used to describe something that is received as a divine blessing or -- for those considerably less religious -- as an extraordinarily lucky piece of good fortune. The found compass for a wayward hiker, the rainstorm in a time of draught, the sudden appearance of strong friends on moving day can all be considered Godsends.
For Abraham, as he sat at the entrance of his tent, the Godsends were the three mysterious men who bring miraculous blessings and words of promise. For the people of Jesus’ day, Jesus himself was the godsend as he taught in their synagogues and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and cured “every disease and every sickness.” And then it’s not Jesus alone, but the early apostles who are the Godsends as they cure the sick, raise the dead. cleanse those with a skin disease and cast out demons. Later it’s Paul who the major Godsend as he establishes churches and takes the time to write to them, letters that will bless congregations for centuries upon centuries.
Yet such as the Godsends of Bible land, that distant region of days long past and accounts that often go more forgotten than embraced.
About 25 years ago, I first moved out of Manhattan and into the unknown land to me of the north shore of suburban Long Island. Even as I was still unpacking, the minister of the NY Association of that time showed up with her husband and with trays of annuals in hand and planted a garden outside the kitchen window. Back then, I knew next to nothing about gardening. That surprise visit and planting inspired me to begin my research, my learning. Godsends.
I joined Dave’s Garden, now National Gardening Association, and read about zones and annuals, perennials and such. Over the years, I befriended a woman of Southold who was a master gardener. She and her husband visited me and I, Miguel and Gaby visited them. We were astounded by her gardens and blessed by her suggestions and gentle advice. They even treated me to lunches at some wonderful restaurants.
When her husband passed away, some five years later, I began to write to her each day. Now some 15 years later, that continues to this day. The notes are brief but contain the joys and the challenges of life as it comes. I’ve helped her through some rough patches, even including computer and tv issues that necessitated a bit more technical knowledge than she had. Perhaps the biggest compliment she’s extended my way, and done so more than once, is to say, “You are a godsend!”
Godsends. I’ve long been blessed by them as I trust you have, too. These are the neighbors and friends who extend the much-needed helping hand, who share a dish or two and perhaps even the recipe, especially when they know we’re in no position to cook, who look after the house and pets when one travels, who do the fixes that have got us befuddled.
As I get to concluding my ministry here with you, and look over my should at the 13½ years I’ve been here, a nod to the Godsends among us seems appropriate. Of course, even prior to my arrival, God was already at work in our midst. There was the team of dedicated individuals who worked hard on the search committee and waded through the dozens and dozens of applications for this position. And, of course, long before them, there were the people who are remembered on our stained-glass windows and in the tomes of historical records who gave much and did much for this church to even get started and built.
Throughout the years, there have been tireless volunteers who have spent long hours, painting, fixing, filing, banking, singing, and thrift-shop working. Ron Blake, Alice Davis, Alice Summerville, and Joan Fleishman are just a few of those now gone whom I knew to be regularly here and at work at keeping this place going and in good shape. A Godsend, each one.
Still today there are many Godsends among us, some long-time members like Jim Wooten, Sandy Gruner, Jane Kulesa, Melinda Topping, Barbara Parsons, Luann Seaman, Janet Sanford, Janis Meyer, Alan and Susan Hubbard, and of course, the Nancy and Alan Repp who continue to help out in big, and sometimes unseen, ways to sustain us, nurture us, and bring the blessings to us especially when most needed. They share their gifts, their expertise, and generosity with us and others.
There are more too, others who have joined during my tenure here, who stepped up to do and to bless such as Marion Maino, Shirley Bergman, and even more recently Jeanne Vecchio, the O’Hares, and now Bonnie Miller, who serve or have served on our boards. There are even those who have yet to join our church, like David Hayes, a big help with our pantry collections, Lorraine DeArmitt, a gift for our bookkeeping issues, Suzanne Pfalzer who’s been a boon to our choir and Tom Pfalzer who has excelled at set-up before we worship. All, too, are doing and giving by the grace of God. There’s every choir member, every thrift shop volunteer, every coffee hour host or hostess, and every regular donor, all who are sharing their time, talent and treasures for the good of this church, for the good of all. These are the Godsends among us.
My thanks to you. Our thanks to you, from this church and our community, for you do bring blessing by your service. As I fade into the horizon, I encourage you to stay with it, keep at it, and know that the Godsends have not ceased. The unknown is always a bit scary, but God remains and God continues to embrace us all.
*HYMN: You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore No. 173
https://youtu.be/CsKijadStPg
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel.
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Sonata K. 545 Scarlatti
We're biblical, traditional, yet progressive.
We honor and take pride in our
Congregational roots.
We covenant with one another and with God,
as revealed
in Jesus Christ through the illumination of
the Holy Spirit.
We endeavor to walk humbly with God and
strive for justice and peace.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 56.7
We are an open and affirming congregation in which all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, economic status, gender, age, or personal ability, are equally affirmed into membership, leadership and employment
and joyfully welcomed.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
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