Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Farewell Service

Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé)

Sung by the Cornerstone Choir

The Welcome

By Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

God of every journey, every language, every heartbeat,
I stand in the hush of this holy moment,
grateful for the many years I have served this beloved community.

You have walked with me as I walked among my brothers and sisters –
with grace, with courage, with compassion.
You have spoken through my words, my silence, my art, and my prayers.

Now, as we gather – many cultures, one body – may your Spirit stir among us,
binding memory with hope, and blessing this farewell with joy and peace.

[Silence]

Welcome to the house of God.
We have come from all the corners of the earth.

Welcome to the hospitality of God.
We come as we are; we bring our life, our stories, our journey.

Welcome, brothers and sisters.
We are the rainbow people of God.

Welcome, chosen people.
May God our companion bind us in his love.

Amen

Hymn: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not;
as thou hast been thou for ever wilt be:
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand has provided,
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love:
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand has provided,
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand has provided,
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960)
CCL31580

The Confession

Let us come before God, who knows the secrets of our hearts
and holds the threads of our stories with tenderness.

God of mercy, we confess that we have not always listened for your Spirit –
that breathes where it wills, that stirs like wind through the branches,
that beckons us into wilderness and wonder.

We have clung to certainty, resisted the grace of change,
and forgotten that every ending is also a beginning, a doorway into your unfolding promise

Forgive us. Renew us. Shape us again in your image of love.

Kyrie (Missa de Angelis)

Sung by the Cornerstone Choir

Hear the good news:
God’s mercy is deeper than regret, God’s grace wider than farewell.
In Christ, we are forgiven, called again to walk in love.

Thanks be to God.

Amen

The Peruvian Gloria

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to the Father.
Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to the Father.
To him be glory forever.
To him be glory forever.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.

Glory to God, glory to God,
Son of the Father.
Glory to God, glory to God,
Son of the Father.
To him be glory forever.
To him be glory forever.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to the Spirit.
Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to the Spirit.
To him be glory forever.
To him be glory forever.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.
Alleluia Amen. Alleluia Amen.

Prayer of the Week

Holy One, who calls prophets to heed the whisper of sacred wind,
and artists to render the unseen in strokes of light and longing –
I thank you for the grace to serve: for the ministry you entrusted to my care,
for the imagination you stirred within me, for the witness you shaped through the contours of my life.

As I step into a new season, may your Spirit go before me like dawn breaking over quiet hills.
And may those I leave behind be stirred to follow you
with courage that sings, creativity that dances, and joy that endures.
Through Jesus Christ, our companion on the road, our guide through shadow and light.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Philippians 1: 3–11

Read by Chibby Chima-Okoro

Thanksgiving and prayer

³ I thank my God every time I remember you ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.

NIV®

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Pues si Vivimos

Mexican folk song – sung by the Cornerstone Choir

Pues si vivimos, para El vivimos,
When we are living, it is in Christ Jesus,
y si morimos para El morimos.
and when we’re dying, it is in the Lord.

Sea que vivamos o que muramos,
Both in our living and in our dying,
Somos del Señor, somos del Señor.
We belong to God, we belong to God.

Luke 24: 13–35

Read by Brian Halstead

On the road to Emmaus

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’ They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’

¹⁹ ‘What things?’ he asked. .About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’

²⁵ He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, .Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

NIV®

This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.

Meditation

By Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Choral Response

Psalm 40 (U2 version) – sung by the Cornerstone Choir

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by Katherine Wheldon

Sharing the Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said,
‘Peace be with you.’
Then the disciples were glad when they saw the risen Lord.

The peace of God be always with you
and also with you!

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: Bind us together

Bind us together, Lord,
bind us together with cords
that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
bind us together,
bind us together with love.

There is only one God,
there is only one King.
There is only one Body,
that is why we sing:

Bind us together, Lord, …

Fit for the glory of God,
purchased by his precious Blood,
born with the right to be free,
for Jesus the victory has won.

Bind us together, Lord, …

We are the family of God,
we are the promise divine,
we are God’s chosen desire,
we are the glorious new wine.

Bind us together, Lord, …

Bob Gillman (b. 1946)
CCL31580

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all, your face is turned towards your world.
In love you gave us Jesus your Son to rescue us from sin and death.
Your Word goes out to call us home to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

We bless the name of Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
whose brokenness and suffering makes love real,
who on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup saying,

Drink from this, all of you, this is my blood given for you.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

This is the mystery of our faith.

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

Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we acknowledge brokenness as a path to truth.
We long for the bread of tomorrow: eternally broken and so able to nourish.
We long for the new wine of the kingdom: continuously poured out that thirst may be quenched.

Send your Spirit on us now,
that by these gifts we may feed on Christ with opened eyes and hearts on fire.
May we and all who share this food offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven, where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours for ever and ever.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

The Communion

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

Amen

Invitation

Come to this table, not because you must, but because you may,
not because you are strong, but because you are weak.
Come, not because any goodness of your own gives you a right to come,
but because you need mercy and help.
Come, because you love the Lord a little and would like to love him more.
Come, because he loved you and gave himself for you.
Come and meet the risen Christ, for we are his Body.

Post Communion Prayer

Holy God, in this bread and wine, we have received the mystery of your presence –
broken for us, poured out in love.
May this holy meal strengthen us to live as Christ’s body in the world: grateful, faithful, and open to all.
Send us out, nourished and renewed, to walk with humility, to serve with joy, and to love without fear.

Amen

Notices

Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

This Sunday (19 October 2025) is Revd Ernesto’s Farewell Service with us, retiring after serving Cornerstone for nearly twenty years. We wish him and Marie thanks and best wishes as they prepare to move to Wales next year.

With the help of the Implementation Group under Revd Asa Humphreys, the Church Council is working to seek a replacement Anglican minister. The process may take several months.

Cheryl Montgomery, on behalf of the Church Council

Wednesday Bible Study:
‘Weakness Made Strong. the Stories of Moses and Rahab’

Week 5: Redemption and Legacy (God’s Faithfulness to Both)

Theme: God can turn our greatest shame into his greatest glory.

Key Scriptures: Deuteronomy 34:1–12 (Moses’ legacy); Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25 (Rahab’s legacy).

Michael Hall

Michael and Deirdre Hall were members of Cornerstone after they moved to Milton Keynes from Buckingham seventeen years ago. Michael passed away last year. At a Black History Month event held in the Vinson Building, University of Buckingham at 7.30 pm this Thursday (23 October 2025), Buckingham Town Council will be honouring Michael Hall, and his son David will be presenting a tribute to his father. These links: Legacy in Action: Black History Made Local – The Hall Family Story and The New Inn provide full details of the event and more information about three generations of the Hall family.

Harvest Worship next Sunday (26 October 2025)

Our Harvest Worship will be at 10.00 am next Sunday (26 October 2025). As is our custom, there will be a bring-and-share lunch after the Service. Everyone is asked to bring something to share; if you can bring food from your roots, that would be great. There is a sign-up sheet in Reception where you can say what you will bring.

Cheryl Montgomery

Revd George Mwaura: Change of weekly day off

With effect from 1 November 2025 Revd George will take his weekly day off on Friday rather than Monday.

Sponsored Bible readings – Fundraiser

2.00–5.00 pm Saturday, 8 November 2025 on Zoom

Please can you help us raise money for the church at our sponsored Bible reading event?

Here are the different ways you can help!

• Volunteer to read your favourite passage(s) from the Bible for 15 or 30 minutes (you can do this from the comfort of your own home, via Zoom)
• Collect sponsors!
• Choose a favourite passage for someone else to read – and sponsor them to do so.
• Sponsor the readers –  there will be forms for you to do this at Sunday morning services.
• Join us via zoom on the day for some or all of the time to hear the wonderful words read.

There is a chart for volunteers to sign up on the round table in the entrance hall, along with sponsor forms. Or you can let Cheryl (chezmonty73@gmail.com) or Peter (petercope26@gmail.com) know in which way you’d like to take part or if you have any queries.

Thank you so much for helping us to raise much needed funds

Congregational Meeting

Sunday, 16 November 2025 in the Worship Area straight after Morning Service

Our next Congregational Meeting has been re-scheduled to Sunday, 16 November 2025, when we shall have an opportunity to hear the latest information about the Episcopal Visitation.

Offering

I Bid You Goodbye

Sung by the Cornerstone Choir

Lay down, my dear brother, lay down and take your rest.
I want to lay your head upon your saviour’s breast,
I love you, but Jesus loves you best.
I bid you goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.
I bid you goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Final Prayer

God of thresholds and turning pages,
I bless you for the years we have shared –
for the prayers we’ve offered, the lives we’ve touched, the laughter, the tears, the sacred ordinary.
I entrust myself to your care now, as I walk into the mystery of what comes next.
But my heart remains with this community –
to the people who have shaped me, challenged me, and revealed your face in countless ways.

Hold them in your love. Surprise them with grace.
Raise up new voices, new dreams, new prophets among them.
May they continue to be a place of welcome, a house of many languages and one Spirit,
a church that listens for the wind and walks toward justice.
And may the seeds we planted together blossom into beauty I may never see, but trust with all my soul.
In the name of the One who never leaves us.

Amen

Hymn: Abide with me

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

Hold thou thy Cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847)
CCL31580

Final Blessing

Go now, beloved community, with hearts full and hands open.
May the blessing of the God who dances in endings and beginnings be upon you –
the Creator who dreamed you, the Christ who walks beside you,
and the Spirit who sings through your soul.
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you, today and always.

Amen

Liturgy of All Endings

[Silence is observed.]

At this appointed moment, representatives of the Mothers’ Union and the stewards proceed to the altar with quiet reverence.
Grace Hunting, Licensed Lay Minister, respectfully removes the priest’s chasuble.
The stole is then placed upon the altar with solemn care,
and subsequently withdrawn in silence by Krou Assoua, Licensed Lay Minister.

The Priest extinguishes a candle – a single breath marking the conclusion of a sacred season.

To mark this moment of closure, Mr Ade Adeyemi, former Chair of Ecumenical Council, steps forward to lead the congregation in prayer.

Beloved brother,
you came among us to serve in the name of Christ – with open hands, listening heart, and steady grace.
You walked with us through seasons of joy and sorrow,
bearing witness to the Spirit’s dance among many cultures, many voices.
Now, we release you into the blossoming of the Father’s love.

May the Spirit go always ahead of you, guiding your steps into this new season of life.
May you be nourished by the prayers we carry,
and surprised by the grace that waits beyond the threshold.

Go in peace, go in beauty, go in the name of Christ,
who is our beginning, our ending, and our ever-unfolding way.

Amen

With solemn reverence, the stewards shall bear the Bible and the basket of prayers, joining the final procession alongside the Priest, the Licensed Lay Ministers, Mr Ade Adeyemi, and members of the Mothers’ Union. A traditional African song shall accompany their steps, lifting the moment in sacred harmony.

Dear Living Stones,

After nearly two decades of Ministry – of Word and Sacrament – at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone, the time has come for a new chapter in our lives. We are deeply grateful for the journey we have shared with you. Walking alongside you all these years has been a profound blessing, one that will remain with us always.

Ernesto & Marie

Gracious God,
Thank you for the journey we have shared, for the love that has grown among us,
and for the grace that has sustained us.
As we step into new paths, may your Spirit guide our steps, bind us in peace,
and keep our hearts open to your unfolding call.

Amen

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
May the love we have known continue to grow,
and may Christ, the Cornerstone, remain the foundation of all we build.

Go in peace, and may God’s blessing be upon you – now and always.

Amen

Thanks

Music

The Cornerstone Choir directed by Adrian Boynton.

The Milton Keynes Chapter of the Zimbabwe Mothers Union.

Live Streaming

Ian Trimnell

Stewards

Brian Halstead (Team leader)
June Halstead
Carl Pinnock

…

Ann Wilson – Churchwarden

Mark Okor – Church Administrator