May 31, 2026
Trinity Sunday
May 31, 2026 Livestream Worship + Online Bulletin
Gathering
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian arr. James Koerts
Prelude
For the Beauty of the Earth arr. Jason Tonioli
Welcome
Call to Worship
We come carrying questions.
Questions about faith, suffering, hope, and belonging.
Some of us come certain.
Some of us come searching.
Some of us carry doubts we have never spoken aloud.
Yet God welcomes us all.
The Sacred One is not frightened by our questions.
Nor ashamed of our wondering.
Come as you are — curious, weary, hopeful, uncertain.
For love meets us here.
Hymn
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing UMH#400
A Reading from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.”
Hebrew Scripture Reading
Psalm 13 UMH p. 746
Duet
Duet Be Thou My Vision arr. Craig Courtney
Paula Dempsey and Barbara Dick
A Reading from the Psalms
Psalm 130 UMH p. 848
Reading from the Gospels
John 20:24-29
Sermon
Do I Have to Believe Everything to Belong Here?
Recognition and Blessing of Shasta Wilde
Congregational Blessing
There are different gifts,
But the same Spirit.
There are different forms of service,
But the same Lord.
God calls each of us in unique ways to ministries of compassion, justice, mercy, and love.
We give thanks for those who answer that call.
Joys & Concerns with the Lord’s Prayer
Our Creator, who dwells among us and beyond us, holy is your name.
May your way of justice, mercy, and peace take root in our hearts and in this world.
Give us today the courage and nourishment we need for this journey.
When we struggle with doubt, hold us gently.
When we carry grief, stay near to us.
When fear closes our hearts, lead us back toward love.
Forgive us for the ways we have wounded one another,
and free us to offer grace where harm has been done.
Help us resist the temptation
to cling to certainty more than compassion,
to choose fear over understanding,
or exclusion over belonging.
Guide us through the hard questions of life and faith,
and remind us that nothing can separate us from your love.
For the hope we seek, the courage we need,
and the love that sustains us are found in you. Amen.
Blessing of the Tithes and Offerings
Make a Gift of a Tithe or Offering
Doxology UMH#94
Hymn
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah UMH#127
Blessing and Sharing of Christ’s Light
Postlude
Spirit of the Living God Daniel Iverson
Today’s worship participants
Our Pastor: Rev. Kelly Dotson
Music Director: Dr. Joel Reed
Worship Arts Associate: Patty Higgins
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Mars Hill United Methodist Church
PO Box 427
Mars Hill, NC 28754
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