Transgender Remembrance Day Service
[Enter Date Here]
Gathering
Opening Music
Welcome & Call to Worship
Welcome to Metropolitan Community Church. If this is the first time you have visited us then
you are especially welcome.
Today is a special day.
Thanks be to God for this day!
Today, we join our global church to observe Transgender Remembrance Day.
The church engaged and united in Spirit-breathed prayer will see the
powerful, healing effects of God’s loving will for us.
Today, we remember our siblings [in Christ] lost at the hands of hatred, evil and
violence because of their gender identity and expression.
God joins us in our grief and pain.
Today, we restore anew our commitment to protect, support and remember our
transgender [and genderqueer] siblings [in Christ].
God bears witness to our restoration.
Let our worship today honor our memories and reflect our renewal!
Amen!
Opening prayer
We ask that your presence will be manifest in our words and actions and we ask this all in your
many names. Amen.
Song: All are Welcome
Copyright © 1999 Dakota Road Music. Words and Music by Hans Peterson and Larry Olson. CCLI # ______. Used by Permission.
Readings for Today
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 8
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a
time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that
which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a
time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time
to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time
to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to
lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a
time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time
for war, and a time for peace.
Song: Do not be Afraid
Copyright © 2006 David M. Bailey. ASCAP # ______. Used by Permission.
Isaiah 56:1 – 8
God says, "Preserve justice and do righteousness, for liberation is about to come
and justice will be revealed. "How blessed is the one who does this, and the one
who takes hold of it; who is respectful of the sabbath, and keeps from doing
injustice." Let not the stranger who has joined to God say, "God will surely
separate me from God’s people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry
tree." For God says, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbath, and choose what
pleases Me, and hold fast My promise, to them I will give in My house and within
My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of children, sons or daughters; I
will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. "Also the strangers
who join themselves to God, to minister to God, and to love God’s name, to be
God’s servants, every one who is respectful of the sabbath and holds fast My
promise; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in
My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable
on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all people."
Sermon/Homily
Song of Response: Jesus, take me as I am
Copyright © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. By Suzette Thorndycraft. CCLI# _______.
Used by Permission.
Community Prayer
Blesser of all things, You created us in your likeness, in your image, and then pronounced us
good. We give you thanks for the gift of life itself and for our uniqueness. God of
transformations, set us free to change and grow, hold us close in love and grace. We rejoice in
the lives of our transgender siblings, different, strong, dynamic and loved. In the silence now let
us think about those transgender people who share our lives. Let us remember their struggles and
celebrate their strengths. [Silence.]
God we thank you that you have given us all a place to call home and that you have been
with us on our journeys. Bring us even closer to you. Amen.
Passing of the Peace – An Act of Welcome
Affirmation of Faith
As children of God, we celebrate the beauty and individual worth of all creation. We
believe in God: who created each of us, who breathed into us our uniqueness, who delights
in who we are, and what we can still become. We believe in the love of God: who laughs
with us in our joy, who cries with us in our pain, who wants all creation to seek peace,
reconciliation and love for each other. We believe in the justice of God as revealed in the
living Word, and through the lives of the prophets of yesterday and today. God alone
created us. We are not alone; God loves us. Nothing will separate us from the love of God.
Offertory
There is a Redeemer
Copyright© 1982 Birdwing Music BMG Music. By Melody Green and Keith Green. CCLI# ______. Used by Permission.
Communion
The Thanksgiving
May God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the living God.
Let us give thanks and praise to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Yes it is indeed right to give thanks to you, Almighty Creator, giver of live. You created
us in your image, diverse, beautiful and good. You deliver us from the captivity of sin,
empowering us to oppose the evils of this world by your peace and compassionate fervor.
When we turn away from Your glorious gaze in our human frailty and fatigue, You call
us back into communion at this, Your table, and remind us of your everlasting presence.
Therefore, let us join together in saying:
All: Holy, Holy, Holy O God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of
Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of
God. Hosanna in the highest!
Words of Institution
Mystery of Faith
All: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!
Breaking of Bread and Blessing of Cup
Invitation
Communion Music
The Prayer
Copyright © 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster
(Italian Lyrics by Alberto Testa and Tony Renisa).
Sung by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church.
ASCAP# ______. Used by Permission
You Laid Aside Your Majesty
Copyright ©1985 Kingsway's Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing).
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. By Noel Richards.
CCLI# ________. Used by Permission.
Sending Out