REFORMATION SUNDAY
October 26, 2025 | 8:30 & 11:00am
GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME
Prelude
Meditation on Ein’ Feste Burg
Adam Waite
Welcome
Sandy Prouty, Minister of Children & Families
*Call to Worship (Based on Luke 18:14)
Leader: All who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted.
People: We humble ourselves before our God,
ready to hear and receive God’s truth.
Leader: Let us open our hearts to this day;
People: Let us open ourselves to God’s ways.
Let us worship God!
*Gathering Hymn 15 All Creatures of Our God and King, Verse 6
*Call to Confession
Leader: Our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Let us open ourselves in this time of prayer, being truthful in our confession as we humble ourselves before our God.
*Corporate Confession (Unison)
Holy God, your truth is often sharp and unsettling.
We confess the ways we skirt the hard edges of your Word,
turn up the volume on lesser noises,
and lean into the comfort of our own certainty.
Again and again, we resist what we do not want to hear.
And yet you keep calling.
Have mercy on us, Holy One, interrupt our evasions,
and soften our hearts as we seek to follow you. Amen.
*Assurance of God’s Love
*Response Gloria (Sung two times)
*Passing of the Peace
*Hymn
853 We Are Marching in the Light of God (Siyahamba)
LISTENING FOR GOD’S WORD
Word to the Children
When the music begins, children are invited to gather on the chancel steps as we sing, “This is where children belong, part of our family, part of our song. Be with us, pray with us, help us grow strong: this is where children belong.” Please note that the 11:00am service is livestreamed and your child’s image may appear on the video.
Sacrament of Holy Baptism (8:30am)
*The Baptismal Creed (Unison)
In life and in death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.
We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God.
We trust in God, whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
We trust in the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Creator, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Excerpted from A Brief Statement of Faith.)
The Presentation
Pastor: This candle represents the new life in Christ. It is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. May all who have received this sacrament walk as children of the light and may God keep the flame of faith alive in them forever.
People: With joy and thanksgiving, we welcome you into Christ’s church, to share with us this ministry, for we are all one in Christ. Amen.
Anthem
Selections for Bagpipes (8:30am)
arr. Carson McConnell
Beautiful City (11:00am)
André Thomas
Prayer for Illumination (Unison)
O God, open our hearts by the power
of your Holy Spirit
so that the words of Scripture may
become your Living Word.
Amen.
Scripture Lesson
Luke 18:9-14 (Pew Bible New Testament Page 70)
Response to Reading
Leader: Listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking to the Church.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon
The Unglamorous Work of Reformation
Rev. Clover Reuter Beal, Co-Pastor
Moment for Reflection
Musical Reflection
A miniature (8:30am)
Gordon Phillips
I sat down under His shadow (11:00am)
Edward Bairstow
RESPONDING TO GOD’S GRACE
Offering Ourselves and Our Gifts Rev. Dr. Jason Hays, Executive Minister
Making a financial gift makes Montview’s programs and ministries possible, including this worship service. You are invited to give generously at www.montview.org/giving or by texting a dollar amount to 720.452.6449. Offering boxes are stationed at the exit for cash and checks. We’re grateful for your support.
All are invited to sign and pass the Friendship Pad and greet each other by name.
*Prayer of Dedication (Unison)
God, you have so greatly loved us, long sought us, and mercifully redeemed us. Give us grace that in everything, we may yield ourselves, our wills and our works, a continual thank offering to you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Response
607 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow (Doxology)
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Christ, all people here below; Praise Holy Spirit evermore; Praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.
Prayers of the People and The Lord’s Prayer (Unison)
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. Amen.
*Closing Hymn
275 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein’ Feste Burg)
SENDING IN GOD’S LOVE
*Charge and Benediction
Postlude
Highland Cathedral
Roever/Korb, arr. John Kuzma
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHT: SEEDS OF SOUTH SUDAN
Seeds of South Sudan raises funds to educate South Sudanese orphans in Kenya who have languished in a UN Refugee Camp. Since USAID was terminated, refugees in Kakuma have suffered with no medicine and little food. Come to the Seeds table in the Commons today to learn about the success of this Montview Mission partner. Join Seeds November 2 at 12:15 pm for their annual luncheon.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Congregational Meeting
November 9 | 12:00pm (Sanctuary)
Please join us for a Congregational Meeting on November 9 at 12:00pm in the sanctuary. During this meeting, we’ll hear the report of the Officer Nominating Committee and vote on the incoming class of Elders and Deacons.
ADULT FAITH FORMATION
Paul Reimagined: A Progressive Lens on the Apostle
Christy Cobb, Ph.D.
Today, October 26 | 9:30am (Miller Chapel)
What if everything we thought we knew about Paul wasn’t the complete picture? For nearly two thousand years, the apostle Paul has been read through the lens of empire, used to justify exclusion, inequality and silence women. But what if another look at Paul helps us to see a more radical Paul than the one we’ve been taught? Join us for thoughtful and challenging sessions with leading biblical scholars who are re-imagining Paul.
WORSHIP PARTICIPANTS
Preacher: Rev. Clover Reuter Beal
Liturgists: Rev. Dr. Jason Hays and Sandy Prouty
Organ/Piano: Adam Waite
Bagpipes: Carson McConnell
Field Drum: Dan Gasser
Snare Drum: Ethan Waite
Reader: Jennifer Mello (8:30am)
Reader: Braden and Kate Kalanick (11:00am)
Sound: Cate Thieme
Video: John Goerner
Chorus: Westminster Choir (11:00am)
PARISH NEWS
Prayer Tree
Sears Barrett (husband of Colleen Barrett); Edward Collins (son of Dolores Collins); Jolene Cranston; Cindi Graves; Mark Haynes; Joe Hickman; Heather Kerr and family (mourning the death of her brother-in-law, Dan Kerr); Suzy King; Sherwood Lingenfelter (brother of Paul Lingenfelter); Lynn Merwin and family (mourning the death of Lynn’s mother, Ethel Merwin); Eden Murphy; Margaret Pearce (friend of Peggy Gonder); Jim Polsfut; Damara Rice (great niece of The Rev. JeanAnne Swope); Lynne Sheridan (mourning the death of her mother, Nellie Jean Sheridan); Franklin Thompson (brother of Dolores Collins); Kathryn Walton (daughter of MaryGrace Wake); Mary Weinzirl (friend of Sharon Craft); Peggy Whitt; Steve Wrenn (brother of Grover and Suzie Wrenn)
Pastoral Care Concerns
Please reach out to the church with pastoral care concerns such as illnesses, hospitalizations, deaths, births, or any other change of personal circumstances or condition. Contact: caring@montview.org or (303) 355-1651 (general mailbox voicemail). For pastoral care emergencies, please call (303) 355-1651 and press 4.
Flower Dedication
The flowers in the chancel today are given to the glory of God by Ed and Kathy Paulson in memory of their fathers, Floyd Paulson and Robert Dilg.
TODAY AT MONTVIEW
8:00am- 12:30pm
Childcare – Ages Birth-7
Location: Preschool Floor
Enter via the Commons past Heritage Center to the Education wing.
8:30am
Worship Service
Location: Sanctuary
8:45am
Youth Bells (Grades 3-8)
Location: Room 206B
9:30am
Paul Reimagined: A Progressive Lens on the Apostle
Christy Cobb, Ph.D., University of Denver
Location: Miller Chapel
Bel Canto Choir (Grades K-5)
Location: Room 205
Assembly: Choir Alternative Fellowship (Grades K-5)
Location: Room 204B
Confirmation
Location: Confirmation Room
Sunday School (Preschool)
Location: Room 112
JAM in the AM (Grades 6-8)
Location: Cellar
10:00am
Sunday School (Grades K-5)
Location: Second Floor
11:00am
Worship Service
Location: Sanctuary
12:00pm
Jubilate Singers
Location: Sanctuary
Sunday Response Strategy: Volunteer Training
Location: McCollum Room
4:00pm
Annual Pumpkin Carving Event
Location: Fellowship Hall
5:30pm
MOB Pumpkin Patch (Grades 9-12)
Location: Off-Site
ABOUT THIS SERVICE
Assistive listening devices are available in the sound booth in the back of the sanctuary.
Restrooms are available in the Commons. An all-gender restroom is available on the lower level across from Youth Cellar.
A room for families with children who are not enjoying the service is below the sanctuary with livestream.
Childcare is available for ages Birth-7 on the Preschool floor.
Please note that the 11:00am worship service will be livestreamed to several social media platforms and your image may appear on the livestream video.
MONTVIEW BOULEVARD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220
303.355.1651 | www.montview.org