SUNDAY SERVICE
August 24, 2025
Back to School
Welcome
It’s back-to-school season—a time of transition for families and our whole community. During today’s Sunday Service, we’ll share a special moment for students of all ages to receive a blessing for the year ahead and a backpack tag as a reminder of God’s steady love through every change.
You may also notice that Pastors Keeyon and Stephanie are not with us this morning. On Friday, Stephanie underwent extensive surgery at Mayo Clinic. Her recovery is expected to take about four months. In the weeks ahead, Pastor Keeyon will be her primary caregiver and will be away from the office during this time.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray:
God, our teacher, who helps us to understand the world around us, thank you for the privilege of education. You have blessed our communities with teachers who take new skills and concepts and pass them along to each new class of young people. God, who came as a child to show us how to be fully human, to show us how to be children of God, You have given our children minds that grow and develop in unique ways, at unique speeds, and we are astounded by that miracle. You speak to us through the words, actions, play, and feelings of children. You call us to listen to the Spirit speaking through our young siblings in Christ. We celebrate the beginning of this school year and ask for your blessings upon the children, the educators, and the families who support them all. But in this celebration of education and learning, we do not forget there are children and families and teachers who do not have the resources they need. When systems are unjust, the outcomes are unacceptable. Today, we remember those who are beginning school this year: those who have what they need to learn and grow in safety, and those who lack supplies, teachers, safe buildings, and accommodations for all needs and abilities. We come to worship together, to lift up our young people and all those who care for them and teach them. Open our hearts to what you are saying to us today.
Amen.
Back to School Blessing
Here are some suggestions to help kids identify and share their feelings during the gathering questions:
Move your thumbs: Kids can use one or both thumbs to share how they feel. They can use any combination of thumbs-up (good), thumbs-down (not good), in between (okay), or all around (a little bit of everything).
• Raise your hand: This is a great way to expand a child’s feelings vocabulary and help them see they’re not alone in what they feel. Begin by saying, “Raise your hand if you feel (fill in the blank),” then give space for kids to raise their hands.
How are you feeling about starting a new year at school? (Allow time for their responses.) Thank you for being brave and sharing how you feel. Going back to school always invites big feelings to come along with us, and those feelings can be different for everyone! Whether you’re starting school for the first time, moving to a new school, or staying at the same school, we can all feel happy, nervous, scared, curious, ________ (insert any other emotion). Sometimes, we can even feel all those feelings at the same time, and that’s okay! But did you know God is always with us? No matter where we go and what we feel?
As we start a new year at school, I want to give you this special backpack tag so that whenever you look at it, you can remember God loves you and is always with you, no matter what.
Passing Out the Tags: Speak this blessing over everyone at the same time and invite to form a line and speak the blessing over each child as you distribute the tags.
(NAME), this school year, may you be curious and kind, gentle and strong, brave and loving.
May these tags remind you that God is always with you.
Call & Response Prayer of Blessing: Praying for the School Year
Steady and comforting God, with you, every transition and new start is a reminder of your goodness. With thanks and love, we now offer everything we are to you, asking for your blessing.
We pray for students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. We pray for our hearts and all they hold—excitement and nervousness, disappointment and hope. We give you all our hopes and fears.
We pray for our minds, that they will expand in wonder and celebration, learning not just from the books studied but the people beside us. Open our minds with a willingness to be changed in unexpected ways, and settle our thoughts in peaceful places.
We pray for our hands, that they will reach out to help, welcome and care.
We pray for our mouths, that they will speak words bringing life and connection. Help us use our mouths to honor the dignity and belovedness of all.
We pray for our feet, that they will move toward those different from us and help others in safe ways. Plant our feet next to those who feel alone, and bless our steps down hallways and sidewalks. We know you are with us wherever our feet go or stay.
We pray for our eyes, that they may see ourselves and others with compassion. Point our eyes toward those who are forgotten or struggling. Grow us in flexibility to see from all kinds of angles.
We pray for our ears, that they will genuinely listen to all voices, especially those that haven’t been listened to much. When things get noisy or overwhelming, help us listen carefully for your voice. Help us hear with the most important ears—the ears of the Spirit within us.
We say a special prayer for parents, as the start of a new school year is always another leap of faith. Wrap them with your reassuring love as they entrust their children and trust in you.
We also pray now for teachers, staff, counselors and administrators. Bless these faithful servants with courage and confidence, knowing you are in their classroom with a steady hand on their shoulder. Give them peace, patience, and balance in the pressures they face, and bravery to build structures which justly serve all your children. Give them delight in the students before them, and recognition of the sweet ways children are also teachers.
We pray for health and wholeness, fun and growth, surprise and amazement, for this school year ahead, knowing you will hold us all the way through.
Amen.
Worship
5 Minute Connection
Christmas Store Announcement
After prayer, discernment, and discussion, the Leadership Team has decided that Wellington Heights Community Church will not host the Christmas Store in 2025.
This decision is not made lightly. We know the Christmas Store has been a meaningful and impactful expression of generosity and community care in past years. We honor the vision behind this experience and the many people who have made it possible.
However, several significant challenges make it difficult to move forward with integrity and excellence this year.
For further conversation around this decision, please reach out to the Leadership Team
Scripture Reading
1 Samuel 18:1–4
“After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”
1 Samuel 23:16–18
“And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.’ The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.”
Sermon
The Friendship Crisis in Christianity
Closing Prayer
O Christ who knows our names, You draw us into a circle of belonging. In You, we are known and held.
Help us to form our identity not in what we do or what we have but in who we are as Your beloved. In the moments when we feel misunderstood, may we remember that You came to earth and made Yourself human.
In moments when we feel isolated or lonely, may we remember that You make spaces where we are wanted and loved. In moments when we feel excluded, may we remember that our belonging lies in You.
May we embrace our belonging so that we may extend it to others. Forgive us for the times we haven’t shared this warmth with someone who needed it. Through Your Spirit, empower us to live in a way that shows others they truly belong.
Amen.
-written by Kayla Craig
Worship
