A Call to Worship

by the Rev. Kimberly L. Clayton, Call to Worship Committee

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.”

With these words, with this call to worship, Psalm 122 begins. For centuries people of faith have been called to worship by the sound of the shofar (a ram’s horn), by the ringing of bells, or by the songs and shouts of the people. The call to worship is a glad, often urgent call—inviting people within gates of welcome and security.

The AIDS Survival Project is issuing a city-wide Call to Worship for Sunday, December 2, 2007 in recognition of World AIDS Day. With a shared sense of gladness and urgency, an ecumenical group of pastors, musicians, and church members from Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and United Church of Christ congregations have been working together to organize a Service of Worship in Atlanta.

• We feel a sense of gladness for the great strides that have been made in medical care and treatment, advocacy and acceptance for people who live with HIV/AIDS.
• We have a sense of urgency that so much more needs to be done in our own city and in the South, but also in our own faith communities to increase awareness, compassion and action. We know that our houses of worship have not always been places of welcome and security for people affected by this disease. Our “gates” have often been used to keep people out.
• We are called to confess, proclaim, sing and pray of our faith in the sustaining promise that God is with us and is able to make all things new.

The service will be held at Central Presbyterian Church, situated directly across the street from the State Capitol Building. This location offers a powerful witness to the intersection of faith and public life. The Reverend Bradley Schmeling, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta will preach, and the voices of those who live with HIV/AIDS will also be heard.

December 2, 2007, the date of this Call to Worship, is also the first Sunday of Advent in the Christian tradition. Advent is a season of preparation and longing—urgent waiting—in the promise that God has come among us and is coming again with justice and new life. Psalm 122 is one of the readings from the Bible assigned for this day. The Psalm goes on to describe a city bound firmly together. The Psalmist says that for “the sake of my relatives and friends, I will pray for peace” among people.

And it ends with these words to the city of Jerusalem:
“For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” For the sake of our city, for the sake of our houses of worship, we invite you to join us in worship.