The United Church of Clinton
March 8, 2026
Pastor, Rev. Marilyn Wilcox
Musician, Kate Lyczkowski
Lay Reader, Wanda Pane
WELCOME TO WORSHIP
Third Sunday of Lent
WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
RINGING of the BELL/TIME of CENTER
*CALL to WORSHIP
Leader: In our bones, there are lineages; we carry the seeds of division and the seeds of connection.
People: Look around you and see how the fields are ripe. We are called to prayer the reaps with honesty and awareness, what our ancestors have sown.
Leader: In our cells, there are lineages; we carry the genes of harm and the genes of flourishing. Look around you and see how we are part of one another.
People: We are called to devotion that holds with tenderness and justice what our ancestors have enfleshed.
Leader: In our sanctuaries, there are lineages; we carry the kernels of domination and the kernels of interdependence.
People: We are called to praise that tills with care and clarity what our ancestors have composted.
Leader: In our nation, there are lineages; we carry the marrow of chains and the marrow of freedom. Look around you and see how beneath us the water of life flows.
People: We are called to worship that thirsts with passion and courage for what our ancestors have dreamed.
*SONG of PRAISE and SUPPORTING HUMAN JUSTICE
“Gather Us In” #284
*PRAYER of the DAY
Into the stream of those who have labored before us, Spirit, let us flow. Into the river that rolls down with justice, Spirit, let us step. Into the well that is deeper than our division, Spirit, let us draw. In this moment, in every moment, we pray: give us this water, Jesus, so we will never be thirsty again. Amen.
*AFFIRMING and CONNECTING (Passing of the Peace) We sing: “Peace be with You” Twice.
* GLORIA PATRI
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be; world without end. Amen. Amen. (Be seated)
Moment for All God’s Children
Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
*SONG “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” #305
SCRIPTURE Psalm 95 (Common English Version)
Come, let’s sing out loud to the Lord! Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let’s come before him with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy to him! 3 The Lord is a great God, the great king over all other gods. 4 The earth’s depths are in his hands; the mountain heights belong to him; 5 the sea, which he made, is his along with the He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands. If only you would listen to his voice right now! 8 “Don’t harden your hearts like you did at Meribah, like you did when you were at Massah, in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me and scrutinized me, even though they had already seen my acts. 10 For forty years I despised that generation; I said, ‘These people have twisted hearts. They don’t know my ways.’ 11 So in anger I swore: ‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”dry ground, which his own hands formed. 6 Come, let’s worship and bow down! Let’s kneel before the Lord, our maker! 7
PRAYER of TRANSFORMATION and NEW LIFE
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, long histories and deep lineages of animosity and pain and oppression swirled under their feet. Deep and ancient divisions trained them to see each other only as “enemy.” But in their dance of testing and trust-building, openness and truth-telling, vulnerability and transparency, something new came into being between them. In this moment, as we seek transformation and new life, as we practice repentance or turning around, let us enter this dance and see how honesty and humility can bridge what separates us from each other and God. (Time of silent reflection)
WORDS OF GRACE AND ASSURANCE
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, long histories and deep lineages of animosity and pain and oppression swirled under their feet. Deep and ancient divisions trained them to see each other only as “enemy.” But in their dance of testing and trust-building, openness and truth-telling, vulnerability and transparency, something new came into being between them. In this moment, we seek transformation and new life, as we practice repentance or turning around, let us enter this dance and see who honesty and humility can bridge what separates us from each other and God.
Prayer Concerns and Joys Lifted Up
PASTORAL PRAYER
SCRIPTURE John 4: 5-42 (Common English Version)
5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food. 9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.” 17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.” “You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. 18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.” 19 The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship him this way. 24 God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”[a] 27 Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus. 31 In the meantime the disciples spoke to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” 33 The disciples asked each other, “Has someone brought him food?” 34 Jesus said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me and by completing his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then it’s time for harvest’? Look, I tell you: open your eyes and notice that the fields are already ripe for the harvest. 36 Those who harvest are receiving their pay and gathering fruit for eternal life so that those who sow and those who harvest can celebrate together. 37 This is a true saying, that one sows and another harvests. 38 I have sent you to harvest what you didn’t work hard for; others worked hard, and you will share in their hard work.” 39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.”
Meditation – Rev. Marilyn Wilcox
Musical Meditation
INVITATION to GENEROSITY
Passing of the Plate
DOXOLOGY (Use whatever words are comfortable for you)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God all creatures here below; praise God above ye heavenly host. Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). Amen.
PRAYER of THANKSGIVING and DEDICATION
Let these offerings become seeds taking root in love and justice. Let these seeds become harvests of liberation for all of us. Let these harvests become offerings toward the slow work of healing and transformation. Amen.
*SONG “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” #18
BENEDICTION
SUNG “Amen”(feel free to clap along!)
Postlude
* Please stand if you are able.
Bold– Words in bold are said in unison.
Our worship has ended ~ Let our service begin!
Warm Birthday wishes go out to:
Aggie Feliciano March 2nd Laura Allen March 6th
Robert Ryan March 6th Gabby Turcotte March 7th
Michael Hinkley March 10th Jake Poulin March 15th
Tiffany (Sontag) McElroy March 22nd Tim Reilly March 25th
Meghann (Noonan) Pagliarini March 31st
Happy Anniversary wishes go out to:
Ron & Sue Oja March 20th
Prayers Today were adapted from “Ripe for Harvesting”: Service Prayers for Lent 3A was written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema who serves as a free-range facilitator, ritualist, activist, teacher, and writer whose work lives at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and embodied spiritual practices. She is a founding member of the Liberating Lineages Collective.
For all joys and concerns mentioned in the Pastor’s Tuesday email.
Remember in your prayers our special members: June and Edie K.
THE UNITED CHURCH OF CLINTON
109 Haskell Avenue Clinton, Massachusetts 01510
Website: clintonunitedchurch.org E:Mail: Uccclintonma@gmail.com
rev.marilyn.uccclintonma@gmail.com
Happenings at United Church
(Please notify the church office with any events or meetings.)
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Support Our Church’s Local Community Meal Mission!
The United Church of Clinton is committed to nourishing our community through a monthly pizza meal at the WHEAT Community Cafe. Each month, our congregation generously provides a delicious dinner featuring pizza, Caesar salad, and cookies – all at a cost of over $200!
How You Can Help
Your donation can make a real difference in supporting this vital local outreach program. By contributing, you help ensure that neighbors in need receive a warm, nutritious meal on the third Monday of the month.
Why It Matters
WHEAT Community Connections serves residents in Clinton and surrounding towns, providing critical food support and community connection. Every contribution helps sustain this important mission of care and compassion through our donation of a monthly meal.
Call to Action
Please consider giving to this meaningful local outreach and help keep our part in providing these community meals going strong!
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