Crossroads

United Church of Christ  

Indianola, Iowa 

 an open and affirming congregation

Worshiping at Smith Chapel

on the Simpson College campus

 

Pastor: Rev. Julia Tipton Rendon
Worship at 10:30 
 Sunday School for all ages at 9:30 
We worship on Zoom every Sunday.
Sunday School starts Sept. 13!


Here are the CDC guidelines for faith-based organizations.

 

 


 

Ordinary Time

Bulletin for Sept. 27, 2020

 

WORD FOR THE DAY: FREEDOM

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

Leader: Let us worship the One who calls us.

PEOPLE:    HERE WE ARE,

                  READY OR NOT,

                  CALLED BY THE ONE

                  WHO LIVED AND DIED

                  AND ROSE TO LIVE AGAIN AMONG US.

Leader:    Here we are,

                  ready or not,

                  bringing our everyday selves

                  to praise and to pray,

                  to know the Holy One

                  in the midst of our lives.

PEOPLE:    LET US WORSHIP THE ONE WHO CALLS US.

 

HYMN TFWS #2236 “Gather Us In”

 

1.  Here in this place new light is streaming,

now is the darkness vanished away,

see in this space our fears and our dreamings,

brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in—the lost and forsaken, gather us in—the blind and the lame;

call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.

 

2.  We are the young—our lives are a myst’ry,

we are the old—who yearn for your face,

we have been sung throughout all of hist’ry,

called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in—the rich and the haughty, gather us in—the proud and the strong;

give us a heart so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.

 

3.  Here we will take the wine and the water,

here we will take the bread of new birth,

here you shall call your sons and your daughters,

call us anew to be salt for the earth.

Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you;

nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

 

4.  Not in the dark of buildings confining,

not in some heaven, light-years away, but

here in this place the new light is shining,

now is the Kingdom, now is the day.

Gather us in and hold us forever, gather us in and make us your own;

gather us in—all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

 

SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21

 


HYMN NCH #417 “This Is a Day of New Beginnings”

 

1.  This is a day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on,

time to believe what love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that’s gone.

 

2.  For by the life and death of Jesus, God’s mighty Spirit, now as then,

can make for us a world of difference, as faith and hope are born again.

 

3.  Then let us, with the Spirit’s daring, step from the past and leave behind

our disappointment, guilt and grieving, seeking new paths, and sure to find.

 

4.  Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do.

This is a day of new beginnings—our God is making all things new.

 

SERMON

 

PRAYER HYMN "Ubi Caritas"

 

Ubi caritas et amor,

ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

 

PRAYERS

 

LORD’S PRAYER

OUR MOTHER-FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME.  YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN.  GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.  FORGIVE US OUR SINS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US.  SAVE US FROM THE TIME OF TRIAL AND DELIVER US FROM EVIL.  FOR THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY ARE YOURS NOW AND FOREVER.  AMEN.

 

HYMN TFWS #2172 “We Are Called”


BENEDICTION

 

SUNG BENEDICTION TFWS #2184 “Sent Out in Jesus’ Name”

 

Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready now

to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.  (repeat)

 

The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain

into a world of love, of justice and of peace.

The task is ours to do, to set it really free.

O help us to obey and carry out your will.

 

 

Pictures! Since we can't see each other!

Life goes on, and there's much to celebrate, wonder at, and discuss:

 


little girl holding tree frog

Claire and the tree frog!

tree frog in fig tree

also the tree frog

 bug or moth

A bug or moth at the Porters' house

 pink hibiscus flower

Kristi's hibiscus in glorious bloom

 squirrel lying on stomach on deck

pensive squirrel on Julia's deck

 

Mary Shaw's garden
 flower garden

 

 
   


Crossroads members Easter 2014

Here we were at Easter breakfast!

 

What we believe

The United Church of Christ is a non-creedal church.  It is the responsibility of every member to work toward a coherent and informed faith.

 

The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation. The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition—meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members. Christ alone is Head of the church. We seek a balance between freedom of conscience and accountability to the apostolic faith. The UCC therefore receives the historic creeds and confessions of our ancestors as testimonies, but not tests of the faith. 

 

 

Want some links to scientific information about climate change?  Go to our Links page!

 

Some of what we do at Crossroads

We worship by Zoom.  If you'd like to join us, email the pastor, identify yourself, and we will send you a Zoom link.  Pastor *at* crossroadsucc *dot* org


We serve two meals a month at the Catholic Worker House in Des Moines. 


We micro-lend to small business owners through Kiva.  We have lent about $21,000 to help people start or expand businesses!


We are a Jubilee Congregation, supporting efforts to serve, protect and promote economic participation by the most vulnerable. Find out more about Jubilee here!

 

When it is safe and responsible to be out and about, we'll resume our other social activities.

   
 

About Crossroads UCC

Crossroads United Church of Christ is an open and affirming congregation of the Iowa Conference of the United Church of Christ.  We believe that we are called by God, as Christians, to gather people

into community, build them in a relationship

with God, and send them into ministry.

 

We try to make our congregation a place where you can be yourself, and we believe that the practice of hospitality helps us to learn the mind of God.

 

We are "the church you didn't know you were looking for"--a small but active congregation

that is focused on mission, spiritual growth, and community involvement--that doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

Visitors are always welcome.  If you're looking

for a church home, or if you're just curious, please come worship with us!

 

 

 

PO Box 811, Indianola IA  50125


tel.: 515-961-9370

email: pastor *at* crossroadsucc *dot* org 

 

 

head and shoulders of womanThe Rev. Julia Rendon

 

Where to find us

We are in Indianola, Iowa, a community of 14,000 just 12 miles south of Des Moines on Highway 65/69. 

 

Crossroads UCC does not own a building.  We meet in Dirlam Lounge in Smith Chapel of Simpson College.  Here is a campus map. 

 

Here is a Mapquest map. 

 

 

Worship and Sunday School

Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:30 during the school year, and worship is at 10:30.  

 

We have a Safe Church policy for our Sunday School and youth programming.

 


A good resource for learning about dismantling racism is here.