https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A1Rd5nngYVITRZgc74BciK1wNuLZAptv/view
Above is the link to our recording of worship from Sunday Semptember 20, 2026.
To view the recording, copy the link and place it into your browser.
You can also view recordings on our Facebook page: The Grafton Church.
Order of Worship, Grafton Community Church, 09-20-26 FINAL
Bill Watson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Grafton Community Church Worship
Time: Meeting – 9:45 a.m. September 20 2026
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Meeting ID: 235 223 715
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This will make the service more enjoyable for all.
** For those with health concerns, masks and safe social distance are suggested within the sanctuary, especially so, when singing or responding in prayer! Masks are available at the rear of the sanctuary.
Order of Worship, Grafton Community Church, 09-20-2026 — Autumn Worship
Note: Gathering Music will begin at 9:50 with the Prelude to follow
Musician Amy Cann
Gathering Music — Avinu Malkenu
Prelude – Kol Nidre
See Music Notes
Welcome and Announcements (Linda Robertson, Council Chair)
No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!
*Please observe a moment of silence; so we may each offer our prayers and praise to Creator, Christ & Holy Spirit.
*Hymn #419 “All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly” ©
1 All who hunger, gather gladly; holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wand’ ring. here in truth we will be fed.
You that yearn for days of fullness all around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.
2 All who hunger, never strangers, Seeker, be a welcome guest.
Come from restlessness and roaming, here, in joy, we keep the feast.
We that once were lost and scattered in communion's love have stood
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.
3 All who hunger, sing together; Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing. Here in peace we have been led
Blest are those who from this table live their days in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.
All lyrics © 1995 Chalice Press
Used by Permission. CCLI License
#21383697
* Call to Worship (from “Prayers for the World & Its People,” Iona Abbey Worship Book)
One: Believing that God made and loves the world,
Many: we gather.
One: That it may be reshaped to fulfill God’s purposes,
Many: we pray.
One: To seek a wisdom deeper than our own thinking,
Many: we listen.
One: To honor God who gave us voice,
Many: we worship.
* Unison Prayer
O God, you give your love and mercy to all, even to those who grumble and are dissatisfied. Teach us to practice your generosity. Heal our lives, that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds and offer you thanks from generation to generation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Response: (Hymn #419, Verse 3)
All who hunger, sing together; Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing. Here in peace we have been led
Blest are those who from this table live their days in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.
Scripture:
Exodus 16: 2-6
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days."
So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt. . . .”
Matthew 20: 1–16
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.
When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same.
And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?'
They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.'
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.'
When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received a denarius.
Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.
And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner,
saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'
But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
*Hymn #5 “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
1 O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and king, the triumphs of God's grace!
2 Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health, and peace.
3 My loving Savior and my God, assist me to proclaim
to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name.
4 Glory to God and praise and love be ever, ever given
by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and heaven.
Reflection: “How Dare HE?!” Pastor C.J. King
Synopsis: God’s generosity and love is offered equally to all. Does that offend you?
*Hymn #73 “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
1 There's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in God's justice, which is more than liberty.
2 There is welcome for the sinner, and more graces for the good!
There is mercy with the Savior; there is healing in his blood.
3 For the love of God is broader than the measure of our mind;
and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
4 If our love were but more simple, we would rest upon God's word;
and our lives would be illumined by the presence of the Lord.
Offerings of the People
You can present your offering for the work of Grafton Community Church, using the “Donate Now” button on our Facebook page at The Grafton Church, or on our web site www.graftoncommunitychurch.org (The button may actually say “Shop Now,” but it has the same function.)
*Offertory — L’shanah Tovah!
See Music Notes
Response: Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God all creatures here below – Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God above the source of gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts.
Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit – Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Offertory Prayer of Dedication
The Benediction & The 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.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever. Amen.
Postlude: — Ein Keloheinu — Kurdish Setting
See Music Notes
As the postlude ends, feel free to move about the Sanctuary. Music may continue as you join others for coffee or greet your friends as you exit the Sanctuary. All should feel free to share the peace of this space in the Sanctuary or on Zoom. On Zoom you may unmute your mics and begin virtual coffee hour. (You will temporarily be muted in the Sanctuary.)
In the sanctuary, use appropriate precautions for those with health concerns.*
*Masks are available in the sanctuary for those wishing to use one.
Music Notes:
This morning’s service honors the High Holy Days of our Jewish brethren.
Avinu Malkeinu is the central prayer recited during each of the Ten Days of Repentance, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz described it as "the oldest and most moving of all the litanies of the Jewish Year". Each line of the prayer begins with the words "Avinu Malkeinu" ["Our Father, Our King”]. Depending on local tradition there can be as many as 44 verses of supplication, asking for deliverance from need, want, danger, fear, pain. The last line acknowledges that we need mercy -- "for we have nothing to recommend us, our own actions are insufficient" , and is often whispered, or said silently.
The Kol Nidre – All Vows is a declaration, not a prayer. "All vows, and oaths, and consecrations, that we may vow, or swear, or consecrate, from the previous Day of Atonement until this Day of Atonement, we repudiate them. All of them are undone, abandoned, cancelled, null and void, not in force, not in effect. Our vows are no longer vows, and our prohibitions are no longer prohibitions, and our oaths are no longer oaths." Tradition says that it dates from a time of forced conversions.
L'shanah Tovah – dip apples in honey for a "sweet" New Year!
Ein Keloheinu is the traditional closing hymn:
There is nothing like our God, like our Lord. There is nothing like our King, our Deliverer.
Who compares to our God, to our Lord? Who compares to our King, our Deliverer?
Let us thank our God, our Lord. Let us thank our King, our Deliverer.
Let us praise our God, our Lord. Let us praise our King, our Deliverer.
You are our God, our Lord.
You are our King, our Deliverer.
Grafton Prayer List:
Our Planet Earth * Immigrants experiencing or facing detention or deportation in their loneliness and fear *Transgender people and their families *Those enduring times of stress *Those with PTSD & their families *Beloved pets of Grafton *Mary Karam, & the Humes family *Arlene & Ron Carey *Gaelle McLoud *The Rowley family *Carol Bason *Nancy Merrill *Dick Warren *Cecile Fisher Smith *Todd Baker (Pastor Watson’s friend) *Linda Preziosi *Christine Tattersall *Karen Hunt *David Lambert *Irene Rice *Max Brown *Dick Desrochers *Ben Williams (Pastor King’s husband) *Patricia Donatelli *Lorrie Young *Ed Gruelich *Flo & Tim Bosch *Ross Ludeman *The Olsson families. *Candace Damon & the Jacobson family *The Arbuckle family *Christian Rogerson & family *Krista Gay *Lima Leland *Darlene Babbitt (Katherine Gorey’s sister) *Joanne Giel *Frances Alford *Conrad Delia
Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones
*Irene Rice & family *Family & friends of Liam Parker (Michele Chickering’s son) *Family & friends of Barbara Andrews (Meg Gonzalez’ mom) *Family & friends of Bob Haseltine *Family & friends of Denize Schemm *Family & friends of Helen Lanoie (mother of Andre Lanoie) * Family & friends of Bernard “Pete” Haley *Family & friends of Donna Rice *Family & friends of Galen Pinkham *Family & friends of Susan Lathrop *Family & friends of David James Smith (Cecile Smith’s brother in law) *Family & friends of David Fischmann (partner of Katherine Brown) *Family & friends of Estelle Pieth *Family & friends of Dave Robinson *Family & friends of Debbie Wright *Family & friends of Stephan Fitzsimmons (Caidin Domeracki’s grandfather) *Family & friends of Norm Robertson *Family & Friends of Lisa Cashetto (Lorrie Young’s sister-in-law) *Family & friends of Diana Toomey *Family & friends of Jim Webb (Angela Moulton’s Father) *Family & friends of Kenneth Dorko (Pastor Watson’s nephew) *Family & friends of Dennis Scharback *Family & friends of Arthur Park *Family & friends of Sophie Field *Family & friends of Susan Hadden *Family & friends of Ross & Ginger Ludeman *Family & friends of Christine Kent (daughter of Jean & Galen Johnson)
Extended Care:
*Dottie Royal, Bromley Manor, 2595 Depot St., Manchester, VT 05255
*Addie Hall Vogel. Equinox Village, 49 Maple St. Manchester, VT 05255
*Judy & Chuck Dickison, Equinox Village, 49 Maple St. Manchester, VT 05255
*Rev. Catherine Cadieux, Vernon Green Nursing Home, 61 Greenway Dr. Vernon, VT 05354
*Conrad Delia, Charles Meadows, 125 Dover Rd. Millis, MA 02054
Grafton Community Church, 55 Main Street, PO Box 158, Grafton, VT, 05146, United States
(802) 843-2346 Graftonchurch@gmail.com
Our Website: www.graftoncommunitychurch.org
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