june 7, 2026

Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Boon Lin Ngeo

Please use this Order of Service to easily follow the service online.

CLICK HERE FOR HYMNS (or scroll to the bottom)

Prelude:    Richard Harper

Chalice Lighting: 

As we light this chalice, let us remember those who came before us: Our LGBTQ+ ancestors. Those who had unimaginable courage to fight for an equitable world they would never get an opportunity to witness.Those who planted the seeds of revolution, demanding we be afforded the rights we deserve. And those who we’ve lost along the way.

May this flame remind us of our commitment to carry on their legacy and to continue to fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. 

Opening Hymn:       My Life Flows on in Endless Song    SLT 108               

Welcome & Announcements

Call to Worship:  

As members of All Souls Bethlehem Church, we covenant

 • To listen with openness and non-judgment to the words, concerns, and ideas of others.

 • To express our opinions but acknowledge that not all will agree with them, and to be compassionate even in the midst of disagreement

. • To avoid personal attacks and gossip, and to refrain from forms of expression that accuse, intimidate, deride, humiliate, or create intentional division.

 • In the spirit of congregational polity (government), to work toward consensus rather than majority and to accept that at times what we want as individuals may not be what is best for the church overall.

 • To be aware of the sensitive nature of some discussions and that individuals have different comfort levels for discussing different topics.

 • To treat all forms of electronic media including text messages, email messages, website blogs, and social networking websites with the same degree of respect as a face-to-face conversation.

 • Recognizing that worship is a time for celebration, reflection and fellowship, and that a welcoming atmosphere includes respecting the space and each other, to avoid excessive movement, noise, and disruption in order to optimize the experience for all.

 • To address in a spirit of fairness any individual or group behavior which is identified as harassing, intimidating or threatening, or which violates the boundaries, both physical or otherwise, of another person.

In the spirit of extravagant hospitality, to intentionally welcome all who enter the space of our church community.

Prayer of Invocation:   

First Sacred Reading    1 Corinthians 12:1-31        

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant. ² You know that when you were gentiles you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, ⁵ and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many members yet one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, ²⁴ whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵ that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work powerful deeds? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Passing of the Peace 

Sharing of Our Joys & Concerns

Prayers of the People/Pastoral Prayer

Offering & Doxology:    We Give You But Your Own – NCH 785 

We give you but your own, what e'er the gift may be; All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully

Second Sacred Reading:     Dhammapada 10.1-2, and 5

Everyone fears violence; everyone fears death. Putting oneself in the place of others, one should neither kill nor cause another to kill. All beings tremble before danger and love life. Recognizing that others are just like you, do not harm or cause others to be harmed.

Do not speak harshly to anyone; those who are spoken to might retaliate. Angry speech causes pain, and you may suffer in return. 

Hymn of Reflection:      Precious Lord, Take My Hand      SLT. 199         

Sermon:      LOVE -- The Most Excellent Way      

Service of Communion:

God is with you

And also with you

Let us open our hearts

Let us open them to God

Let us give God thanks and praise

It is a good and joyful thing to do

Closing Hymn:                      Make Channels for the Streams of Love   SLT 299

Benediction:                           Rev. Dr. Boon Lin Ngeo

Postlude:                                Richard Harper

All Souls Bethlehem Church

An Open and Affirming Congregation

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Boon Lin Ngeo

Ministers: All Members of ASBC

Minister Emeritus: Rev. Bill Nye 

First Time Visitor?  

Please sign our red Guest Book (located near the entrance)

and be our guest at the gathering following the service!

Interested in “Official” Church Membership?  

Please speak with Council President Raquel Irizarry about our next New Member gathering!  

An All-inclusive, Welcoming Community of Faith

born from the traditions of the:

Disciples of Christ - www.Disciples.org

United Church of Christ - www.UCC.org

Unitarian Universalist Association - www.UUA.org 

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