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Saint Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church

The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost — October 25, 2026

The Prelude

“Air I” — George F. Handel

A Litany of Stewardship

The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

Leader: Let us pray for the wisdom and courage to make stewardship a way of life with God. Because of our faith in You, O Lord…
All: We acknowledge You as the source of all that we have and all that we are.

Leader: Help us to place You, our loving Creator, first in our lives…
All: by becoming more focused on loving and caring for our families and our neighbors in need, and by becoming less preoccupied with material things.

Leader: Help us to hear Your call to be good stewards of all Your gifts…
All: by sharing them for Your purposes.

Leader: Help us to make Your priorities…
All: our priorities.

Leader: Help us challenge each other, as disciples of Jesus Christ…
All: to put our faith into action.

Leader: As we plan the things in our lives that are most important to us…
All: Lord, help us plan our sharing of time with those in need.

Leader: Help us plan…
All: how to “give back” the talents with which we have been blessed.

Leader: Help us plan…
All: how to share our treasure to do Your work.

Leader: Help us plan…
All: to serve our church, our community, and our world with Your gifts.

Leader: Let us pray that we will share in proportion to what has been given us and return a portion of all You have given us.
All: We do this, O Lord, as a sign of our love, and in thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received.

Leader: Giving proportionally means it is equal for all of us.
All: As we give proportionally, help us to put our trust, security and faith in you.

Leader: As good Christian Stewards…
All: we pray we have a joyful spirit of mind and heart. Amen.

The Processional Hymn 680

“O God, our help in ages past” — St. Anne

Hymnal 1982 #680 — O God, our help in ages past (St. Anne) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

1 O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home:
2 under the shadow of thy throne thy saints have dwelt secure; sufficient is thine arm alone, and our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame, from everlasting thou art God, to endless years the same.
4 A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone; short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.
5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all our years away; they fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.
6 O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home.

Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748), alt.; para. of Psalm 90. Music: St. Anne, melody att. William Croft (1678-1727), alt.; harm. William Henry Monk (1823-1889).

The Word of God

Celebrant: Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever. Amen.

Collect for Purity

Celebrant and People:

ALMIGHTY GOD, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Gloria S277

“Gloria in Excelsis” — Canticle 20, David Hurd

S277 — Gloria in Excelsis (Canticle 20, David Hurd) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

1. Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
2. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.
3. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God,
4. you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us;
5. you are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer.
6. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,
7. you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Music: From New Plainsong; David Hurd (b. 1950). Copyright © 1981 GIA Publications, Inc.

The Collect of the Day

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Let us pray.

ALMIGHTY AND EVERLASTING GOD, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Reading

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, ²all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, ³the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. ⁴The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”

⁵Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. ⁶He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. ⁷Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. ⁸The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

⁹Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁰Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. ¹¹He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, ¹²and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.

The Psalm

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

¹ Lord, you have been our refuge *
    from one generation to another
² Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, *
    from age to age you are God.
³ You turn us back to the dust and say, *
    “Go back, O child of earth.”
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
    and like a watch in the night.
⁵ You sweep us away like a dream; *
    we fade away suddenly like the grass.
⁶ In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
    in the evening it is dried up and withered.
¹³ Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? *
    be gracious to your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
    so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
¹⁵ Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *
    and the years in which we suffered adversity.
¹⁶ Show your servants your works *
    and your splendor to their children.
¹⁷ May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; *
    prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.

The Second Reading

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

¹You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, ²but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. ³For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; ⁶nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others,

⁷though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. ⁸So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.

The Sequence Hymn 581

“Where charity and love prevail” — Cheshire

Hymnal 1982 #581 — Where charity and love prevail (Cheshire) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

1 Where charity and love prevail there God is ever found; brought here together by Christ’s love by love are we thus bound.
2 With grateful joy and holy fear his charity we learn; let us with heart and mind and strength now love him in return.
3 Forgive we now each other’s faults as we our faults confess; and let us love each other well in Christian holiness.
4 Let strife among us be unknown, let all contention cease; be his the glory that we seek, be ours his holy peace.
5 Let us recall that in our midst dwells God’s begotten Son; as members of his Body joined we are in him made one.
6 Love can exclude no race or creed if honored be God’s Name; our common life embraces all whose Father is the same.

Words: Latin; tr. J. Clifford Evers (b. 1916). Copyright © 1961-2, World Library Publications, 3815 N. Willow Rd. Schiller Park Il. 60176. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Music: Cheshire, melody and bass from The Whole Booke of Psalmes, 1592, alt.; harm. Hymns III, 1979.

The Gospel

Matthew 22:34-46

Deacon: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ³⁷He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ⁴²“What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? ⁴⁵If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” ⁴⁶No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Deacon: The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Sermon

The Reverend Mary Kay Brown

The Nicene Creed

Please stand, if able.

WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

WE BELIEVE in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

WE BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

WE BELIEVE in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen

The Prayers of the People

from “Hear our Prayer” by Jon White and Lisa Graves

The Deacon says: IN PEACE, we pray to you, Lord God.

GOD OF DELIVERANCE, hear our prayers and deliver us into your kingdom as we say, Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER your church from arrogance and fear; lead us into the places you wish us to go and into the work you wish us to do. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER this nation from division and anger; bend our hearts that, united, we work towards justice and dignity for all people. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER our world from indifference to the welfare of others as we negotiate new ways of being to overcome our global challenges. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER all of us who hear these words from indecision and doubt, that we might boldly take up Christ’s work of healing and reconciliation as our own. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER and hear our prayers for our Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, including All Saints Church, Southern Shores. In our Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer, we give thanks for Live Oak Grove Christian Church, Beaufort, and Local Point Church, Newport. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER all who suffer from their distress and grant them peace and a sense of well-being. Especially, we pray for [today’s petitions]. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

DELIVER the dead into your eternal kingdom, comfort those who grieve with the hope of reuniting again one day in the resurrection. Today, we remember [today’s petitions]. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

RECEIVE our thanks for all our blessings in life Lord, only made possible by You including [today’s petitions]. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

The Celebrant concludes with this collect:

LOVING God who time and time again has heard your people’s cry and lifted them from their despair, hear our prayers and lift us up that we might, more fully, be the people you created us to be and empower us for your mission of love. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Confession of Sin and Absolution

The Deacon says: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor: People:

MOST MERCIFUL GOD, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Rector stands and says…

ALMIGHTY GOD have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.

The Peace

Celebrant: The peace of the Lord be always with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: WALK IN LOVE, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

The Stewardship Moment

Jami Turner-White

The Choral Anthem

“The Majesty and Glory of Your Name” — Tom Fettke
based on Psalm 8

When I gaze into the night skies and see the work of Your fingers;
the moon and stars suspended in space.
Oh, what is man, oh, what is man, that You are mindful of him?

You have given man a crown of glory and honor,
and have made him a little lower than the angels.
You have put him in charge of all creation:
the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea.
But what is man, but what is man,
oh, what is man that You are mindful of him.

O Lord, our God, the majesty and glory of Your name
transcends the earth and fills the heavens.
O Lord, our God, little children praise You perfectly,
and so would we, and so would we.

Alleluia, Alleluia! The majesty and glory of Your Name.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Presentation of Elements and Offerings

The Doxology

Old 100^th

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,
Praise God, all creatures here below.
Praise God above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Eucharistic Prayer

from Enriching Our Worship, Prayer One

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Celebrant: It is truly right, and good and joyful, to give you thanks, all-holy God, source of life and fountain of mercy.

The Celebrant continues…

You have filled us and all creation with your blessing and fed us with your constant love; you have redeemed us in Jesus Christ and knit us into one body. Through your Spirit you replenish us and call us to fullness of life.

Therefore, joining with Angels and Archangels and with the faithful of every generation, we lift our voices with all creation as we sing:

The Sanctus MHSO 38

“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord” — John Bell

MHSO 38 — Holy, Holy, Holy Lord (John Bell) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

Holy, holy, holy, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full, are full of your glory. Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!

Words: from The Book of Common Prayer (1979) of the Episcopal Church USA. Music: John L. Bell (b. 1949) © WGRG The Iona Community (Scotland) (admin. GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638 [www.giamusic.com].) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Celebrant continues…

BLESSED ARE YOU, gracious God, creator of the universe and giver of life. You formed us in your own image and called us to dwell in your infinite love.

You gave the world into our care that we might be your faithful stewards and show forth your bountiful grace.

But we failed to honor your image in one another and in ourselves; we would not see your goodness in the world around us; and so we violated your creation, abused one another, and rejected your love. Yet you never ceased to care for us, and prepared the way of salvation for all people.

Through Abraham and Sarah you called us into covenant with you. You delivered us from slavery, sustained us in the wilderness, and raised up prophets to renew your promise of salvation. Then, in the fullness of time, you sent your eternal Word, made mortal flesh in Jesus. Born into the human family, and dwelling among us, he revealed your glory. Giving himself freely to death on the cross, he triumphed over evil, opening the way of freedom and life.

On the night before he died for us, Our Savior Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his friends, and said: “Take, eat: This is my Body which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said: “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith: Celebrant and People:

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

The Celebrant continues…

Remembering his death and resurrection, we now present to you from your creation this bread and this wine. By your Holy Spirit may they be for us the Body and Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. Grant that we who share these gifts may be filled with the Holy Spirit and live as Christ’s Body in the world. Bring us into the everlasting heritage of your children, that with St. Francis, St. Clare, and all your saints, past, present, and yet to come, we may praise your Name for ever. Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to you be honor, glory, and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray,

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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
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.

The Breaking of the Bread

a period of silence is kept

The Fraction Anthem WLP 867

“The bread which we break” — Carl Haywood

WLP 867 — The bread which we break (Carl Haywood) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

The bread which we break is a sharing in the Body of Christ. We being many are one bread, one body, for we all share in the one bread.

Music: Carl Haywood (b. 1949), from Fraction Anthems, Canticles, and Chants. Copyright © 1997 Carl Haywood.

Celebrant continues: THE GIFTS OF GOD for the People of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

WE INVITE ALL to join us and receive the Body and Blood of Christ at his table. If you desire to receive a blessing, please come to the altar with hands crossed over your chest. Gluten-free communion wafers and chalice are available upon request.

The Communion Response

“Prayer of St. Francis” — Sebastian Temple

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred; let me bring your love,
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there’s doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope,
where there is darkness only light,
and where there’s sadness ever joy.

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love, with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving of ourselves that we receive,
and in dying that we are born to eternal life.

The Post-Communion Prayer

After Communion, the Celebrant says: All stand. Let us pray together: Celebrant and People:

ETERNAL GOD, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Blessing

The Recessional Hymn 379

“God is love, let heaven adore him” — Abbot’s Leigh

Hymnal 1982 #379 — God is love, let heaven adore him (Abbot’s Leigh) — please paste a MusicXML score or upload the music image.

1 God is Love, let heaven adore him; God is Love, let earth rejoice; let creation sing before him and exalt him with one voice. God who laid the earth’s foundation, God who spread the heaven above, God who breathes through all creation: God is Love, eternal Love.
2 God is Love; and Love enfolds us, all the world in one embrace: with unfailing grasp God holds us, every child of every race. And when human hearts are breaking under sorrow’s iron rod, then we find that selfsame aching deep within the heart of God.
3 God is Love; and though with blindness sin afflicts all human life, God’s eternal loving-kindness guides us through our earthly strife. Sin and death and hell shall never o’er us final triumph gain; God is Love, so Love for ever o’er the universe must reign.

Words: Timothy Rees (1874-1939), alt. Held by A.R. Mowbray & Co. Ltd. Music: Abbot’s Leigh, Cyril Vincent Taylor (1907-1991). Copyright © 1942 Renewal 1970, by Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

The Dismissal

Deacon: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
People: Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Postlude

“Festive Voluntary” — Robert Lau

Reprint/podcast/streamed with permission
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All rights reserved.

St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church Welcomes You

Happy Birthday: Anne Rives Lawrence (25^th), Henry Lawrence (25^th), Len Thomas, (29^th), Moni Bottlinger (31^st), Sue Perry (31^st).

Welcome! If you are new to St. Francis or visiting for the first time, we especially welcome you to our community of faith. We ask that you sign our guest register located at the back of the church.