Date 1/18/26  (click the date for the digital OOS) 10:30 am

Guest Speaker Rev. Martin Rafanan

Time for All Ages Erica Shadowsong

Liturgist Kim Francis

Music Ellen Gozion, Director of Instrumental Music

Song Leader Rob Schwartz

Tech Nicky Baldy and Will Snavely

Prelude  Cwm Rhondda, arr. for organ

Welcome Kim Francis

Lighting the Chalice and Call to Worship Kim

Opening Hymn #149 Lift Every Voice and Sing

Collective Grounding Kim

We name our collective recommitment to care for the earth.

Knowing the ground we live upon is sacred,

We pledge to bring new life to the earth

New Life to the air

New Life to the waters

New Life to each other

For all Life is sacred

Story for All   Sometimes People March by Tessa Allen           Erica Shadowsong

Singing For Our Children  Go Now in Peace

Go now in peace, go now in peace.

May the spirit of love surround you

Everyhwere, everywhere you may go.

Offering  Kim

Donations by check may be mailed to the church office.  Electronic donations can be made online through the church website or by texting “give” to (412) 435-1050 and following the instructions.         

Share the plate for January is A. Philip Randolph.

Joys and Sorrows: During the offertory music, you are invited to light a candle or place a stone in Blessed Community water as you offer silent gratitude or prayers. Two tables are in the sanctuary; one in the front, to the right of the platform, and one in the back right alcove.

Offertory Music Birmingham Jail, Trad., from Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter (c. 1888 – 1949)

                                           Ellen, voice and banjo

Meditation and silent reflection Kim

Musical Response #123 Spirit of Life

Reading  “The Moral Responsibility to Disobey Unjust Laws” from Letter from Birmingham Jail by                                                                                            Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.              Rev. Rafanan

Sermon “The Sacred Work of Resistance” Rev. Rafanan

Hymn   #168 One More Step

Extinguishing the Chalice Flame

We extinguish this flame but not the light of truth, the warmth of community,

or the fire of commitment: these we carry in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction  Rev. Rafanan

Postlude Precious Lord, Take My Hand, arr.

Adapted by Thomas A. Dorsey; composed by George N. Allen

Ellen Gozion, piano

To donate to Share the Plate 

– by check mailed to the church office, please include STP on the memo line 

– online on the church website, use the drop down to select Plate.

– by texting “Give” to 412-435-1050 following the directions with the word share or pledge after the donation amount as appropriate.

To make a pledge payment 

-by check, please put pledge in the memo line 

– online on the church website, keep the default General Fund 2025 option 

Rev. Martin Rafanan: I am the son of immigrant parents. My father arrived in the United States from the Philippine Islands in 1927, and my mother came in 1949 as a German Holocaust survivor and displaced person. As a multi-racial, multi-ethnic immigrant family, we experienced discrimination and racism in this country. Yet my family believed deeply in the core values of American democracy, and I was taught that those values must be made real—applied intentionally—to advance equity and dignity for all people.

The legacy of my parents, joined with my commitment to God, compels my advocacy and public engagement. My faith is not abstract or private; it is lived out through participation in the Beloved Community, working to make justice and peace tangible realities in the world.

That faith led me into pastoral ministry within the African American community in St. Louis. There, the people of God challenged me to “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” They lived daily within systems of racism and structural oppression, and they patiently taught me how those systems shaped their lives and threatened the futures of their children. Through their embrace, loving solidarity, and spiritual wisdom, I began to understand injustice as it operates on the ground—and to learn how communities survive and resist through deep connection to what they called “Jesus on the Mainline.”

Our Share the Plate recipient for January is the Pittsburgh A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) “Breaking the Chains of Poverty” pre-apprenticeship program, designed to help participants build the skills necessary to obtain a family-sustaining career in the local building and construction trade unions, manufacturing industries and emerging energy sector. Participants in the program acquire the skills and trade certifications that help them stand out when pursuing trade apprenticeships and manufacturing careers. The program is 8 weeks long, 40 hours a week, and has strict standards with regard to attendance, tardiness, work ethic, and dedication to success. With more than 700 graduates, an 80 percent completion rate, and an 85 percent placement rate, Pittsburgh APRI and its “Breaking the Chains of Poverty” program is transforming activism into action.