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BLACK HISTORY MUSIC SUNDAY

COMMUNITY NEWS

OPENING PRAYER

CHIMING OF THE HOUR

PRELUDE   Wade in the Water Vincent Perry

WELCOME

INTRODUCTION OF THE THEME: Suffering Transformed Through Song

OPENING SONG One More Time (author unknown)

One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to come together one more time.
One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to come together one more time.

One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to sing together one more time.
One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to sing together one more time.

One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to pray together one more time.
One more time, one more time.
God allowed us to pray together one more time.

SONG Battle Hymn of the Republic #490

Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning
of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
Refrain:
Glory! glory! Hallelujah! Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies,
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He lives to make all holy, let us live that all be free!
While God is marching on.
Refrain:
Glory! glory! Hallelujah! Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

SOLO Dominique Cheney

SONG We Shall Not Be Moved #479

We shall not, we shall not be moved!
We shall not, we shall not be moved!
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water,
We shall not be moved!

Spanish: No, no, no! No nos moveron!
No, no, no! No nos moveron!
Como un arbol firme junte al rio,
No, no, no! No nos moveron!

Let’s stand as one together. We shall not be moved…

The people of God are marching; We shall not be moved…

PEACE and GREETINGS

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SOLO Dominique Cheney

LITANY #57

Oh God, you have heard the anguished cries of our ancestors. Their sounds echo and penetrate time to remind us of our foreparents who were brutally captured and forcibly enslaved, as they left the peaceful womb of their African homeland.
“Stony the road we trod.”

Oh God, you have seen the millions of dark bodies buried beneath the tumultuous waves of the deep. Bodies of African men and women who held the seeds of greatness. You have seen women’s dreams for a united family vanish as they were sold at auction blocks. You have seen the legacy of the African American family decimated and demeaned by those who attempted to control our destiny.
“Bitter the chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died.”

Oh God, you have ignited the sparks within us into a blazing demand for freedom, equality, and justice. This quest cost Harriet Tubman sleepless nights, as she led her people to freedom; it was an equality that Rosa Parks and civil rights activists fought for and gave their lives for; it was a justice that Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, as thousands stood with him at the Lincoln Memorial.
“Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to the place for which our people sighed?”

Oh God, you have seen our tears. You have been pained by the evil of human hearts. Yet, you loved humanity so much that you sent Jesus to identify with the outcast, marginalized, and rejected. As the cries of Jesus pierced your heart, so have the cries of your people—cries from different cultures and in different languages.
“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears.”

Oh God, you answered us during our exodus from Africa. You wiped every teardrop during our exile in captivity. Our foreparents dared to dream that one day, on these shores, we would become politicians, activists, preachers,
educators, doctors, writers, scientists, and so much more.
“Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee.”

Our ancestors’ hard work, their courage, their convictions, and their belief in you paved the way for our emancipation and education. You have set us free. “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!”

RESPONSE I’m Free (Thompson Community Choir)

I’m free.
Praise God, I’m free.
No longer bound.
No more chains holding me.
My soul is resting.
It’s just a blessing.
Praise God, hallelujah, I’m free.

SONG Lift Every Voice and Sing #540

Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies;
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on, till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died.
Yet, with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our people sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered;
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last,
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.

SONG He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand #150

He’s got the whole world in his hand.
He’s got the whole world in his hand.
He’s got the whole world in his hand.
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

He’s got the sun and the moon in his hand…

He’s got the wind and the rain in his hand…

He’s got the little bitty baby in his hand…

He’s got all of my siblings in his hand…

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Let us pray together! share prayers of joy and gratitude; prayers of concern or sorrow; and prayers for the world and its people. We end each prayer by saying “This is my prayer” and then together we will affirm that “This is our prayer.” If you are online, you may unmute yourself at any time or write a prayer in the chat section.

CLOSING SONG We’ve Come This Far By Faith #412

We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord!
Trusting in God’s holy word,
God’s never failed me yet.
Oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh Can’t turn around!
We’ve come this far by faith!

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE

Hymns from the African American Heritage Hymnal and other sources. Liturgy adapted from the African American Heritage Hymnal and other sources.