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Chapel 07.21.2020 Columbia theological seminary

Welcome to chapel! This form of online worship has been adapted for the Columbia Seminary community in response to COVID-19 and our collective need to worship from home. It is available to everyone who desires to participate and share in our love for God, creation, and neighbor. As the Spirit moves, please invite neighbors or friends beyond the CTS community to worship with us. All chapel services can be found on the Columbia Current.

Instructions: Move through the service at your own pace with prayerful awareness of the siblings in Christ with whom you worship and the power of the Holy Spirit that makes our worship together possible across distances. Videos will automatically play in full screen. When they are complete, exit from the video and move on to the next worship element when you are ready. If videos are taking too long to load, consider lowering the quality of the video by clicking the gear icon on the lower right side of the video. There are no designated times to stand, sit, or kneel. You may respond with your body as you feel most comfortable and are called to do so. It may be helpful to identify a sacred space from which you will worship or arrange a space in your home with objects or items so as to create a worshipful environment. Wherever you are, may you sense God's presence with you and among us.

Accessibility: Please use the zoom and audio controls of your browser/computer/phone to adjust to your needs. The videos have closed captioning available, click on the cc icon to enable this feature. If you experience any barriers to accessing this service or if you desire to help with chapel planning and leadership, please email worshiplifeservice@ctsnet.edu. Thank you for collaborating with us in this holy experiment.

Let us worship God.

“Gypsy woman’s dance with the angel” by Tibor Balogh

Prayer of the Day

HYMN: “Be Still”

Szabina Sztojka

Szabina Sztojka is a 2018 graduate of CTS where she earned a ThM degree. In her thesis, she researched Black theology of liberation and used it as a source for finding ways for a Roma theology. She is the recipient of the 2018 Frederick Buechner Award in Writing. Szabina is the assistant minister at St. Columba's Church in Budapest, Hungary, which is a diverse multicultural church in the heart of the city. She is in the ordination process in the Reformed Church in Hungary as one of the first Hungarian Romani women. One of Szabina's greatest passions is working towards ethnic and racial reconciliation; she is one of the leaders and trainers of the Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations reconciliation ministry that started in Rwanda, Africa. Szabina loves music, dancing, different cultures, and people. She loved being an international student at CTS and misses all the amazing people she met there.

Sermon:

Scripture: Isaiah 53: 1–12

Prayers of the People

Sharing the Journey

Members of the CTS community shared the following words and phrases from their practices of prayer, meditation, and reflection. Meditate on a word or phrase below as you consider the presence of Christ with us in the beauty and pain of life together in community.

Blessing and Charge

Leymah Roberta Gbowee

In 2011, Leymah Roberta Gbowee won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in non-violence, woman's rights, and peace building. She is a feminist activist peace builder from Liberia who runs the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia.

Kelly Brown Douglas

The Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas is the Canon Theologian at the National Cathedral in DC. In 2017, she was named Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. Douglas is considered a leader in the fields of womanist theology, racial justice, and sexuality and the Black church. She is the author of The Black Christ.

This and other feminist and womanist books may be purchased from Charis Books.

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Worship Notes:

Prayer of the Day offered by Simi Alonge.

Hymn “Be Still.” Text: Kari Jobe and Ed Cash Music: Kari Jobe and Ed Cash © 2008 Gateway Create Publishing. Performers: Aisha Brooks-Lytle, Jerry Chapman, Steve Lindsley, and Katy Walters live at Montreat Youth Conference 2017. A Missing Peace. Used by Permission under CCLI 11345580.

Scripture read by Szabina Sztojka.

Sermon and blessing by Szabina Sztojka.

Prayers of the People offered by Lucy M. Baum. Adapted from World in Prayer.

Sharing the Journey words offered by members of the CTS community. Participants offered these words in response to the contemplative practices as experienced in the July 14, 2020 worship service.

Image curation and service layout by Christópher Abreu Rosario. Images used under Creative Commons agreements and/or through Unsplash, Pixabay, or Flickr. Individual image information below.

Credits:

Created with images by Lars_Nissen - "church sunset sunrise" • pasja1000 - "faith christmas reconciliation" • canariasvision - "petal flowers deleafing" • mollyig - "Reconciliation" • hoyasmeg - "Reconciliation: A Space Where Mercy and Forgiveness Meet_1111" • klndonnelly - "reconciliation" • D-Stanley - "Window of Reconciliation" • butupa - "National Sorry Day - Snowgum Tree plaque - Reconciliation Australia" • Tim Green aka atoach - "Cold Comfort 1" • Sarvodaya Sri Lanka - "Sarvodaya_reconciliation" • Ninara - "Pushkar Camel Fair" • vutu - "Street in Ghimbav" • Mondo79 - "Tarlabaşı, Istanbul" • Ninara - "Pushkar Camel Fair" • K. Kendall - "Festival Romani, Portland" • lamon - "Cartel : La cultura gitana también es tu cultura" • PublicDomainPictures - "jesus cross christianity" • alison.mckellar - "CIMG0010.JPG" • torbakhopper - "the quality of mercy depends on the weight of the paper : san francisco (2012)" • Mahmudul Hasan Shaon - "Keep Smiling " • Hanna Morris - "Dancing Girl" • Stuart Isaac Harrier - "July 2019. Rwanda. Ruduha Village." • Evgeny Nelmin - "Chao Ponhea Yat High School" • MARCIN CZERNIAWSKI - "Auschwitz Birkenau " • MARCIN CZERNIAWSKI - "Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum " • schacon - "Genocide Memorial" • torbakhopper - "gently we ignore the world around us, scott richard" • Trocaire - "IMG_20190213_132128" • configmanager - "Rwanda Genocide Memorial" • lorihowesm - "Kigali skyline" • Hand in Hand International - "Marie Consolee | Farmer | Kiziguro, Rwanda" • Joel Muniz - "Repent & believe " • Kenny Luo - "untitled image" • mrsdkrebs - "Repent" • Antoine Rault - "untitled image" • Jens Johnsson - "untitled image" • Ahna Ziegler - "As a social media manager for my church, I realized there are very few stock photos for liturgical seasons. This was a DSLR selfie after attending an early morning Ash Wednesday service." • Tim Pierce - "ashes" • Santi González-Barros - "Christ from Sant Cugat" • dmparanoid0 - "jesus crucifix christ" • Mateus Campos Felipe - "untitled image" • Crossroads Foundation Photos - "Nobel Peace Prize winner, Leymah Gbowee, shares her message of the role of women in bringing peace at a special screening of 'Women, War & Peace' following the Refugee Run."