Sounding of the Singing Bowl (Rev Denis) Prelude (Marj) Welcome and Announcements (Nancy Tozer) Opening Hymn #389 Gathered Here (Denis introduces) Gathered here in the mystery of the hour.Gathered here in one strong body.Gathered here in the struggle and the power.Spirit, draw near. Call to Worship and Chalice Lighting (Rev Denis) We are gathered here in one strong bodyAmidst the beauty of…
Reading by Akaya Windwood, “Don’t be Nice, Be Kind,” from an article in Yes magazine Niceness is often filled with falseness-it is a way to not tell the truth,or to obscure it. “Be nice!” is something many of us heard as children asa way of avoiding upsetting someone. While niceness might be a strategythat gets us through an immediate situation, it is…
Welcome again to our International Day of Peace service. The actual day declared by the United Nations was Friday, but since this is the closest Sunday, we commemorate it today, along with many other churches. The United Nations General Assembly invites us on this day to ponder peace in a focused way, and to recommit ourselves to it. I had just began…
Reading “Loaves and Fishes,” by Denis Letourneau Paul Once upon a time, in a desert land by a far away sea, there was a teacher named Yeshua. He was an ordinary man, of ordinary beginnings, born of a carpenter, and a teenage mother, but somehow, against all odds, he became well-known for his teaching. Maybe it was because as he reached adulthood,…
Reading From Bad Feminist: Essays, by Roxane Gay This morning’s reading is by Roxane Gay, a professor of English at Purdue University. It’s from her book of essays entitled Bad Feminist. I openly embrace the label of bad feminist. I do so because I am flawed and human. I am not terribly well versed in feminist history. I am not as well…
Sounding the Singing Bowl (Judy) Prelude La Cinquantaine, by Gabriel Marie Welcome and Announcements (Board Member) Opening Hymn #118 This Little Light of Mine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shineThis little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shineThis little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shineLet it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Everywhere I…
Sounding the Singing Bowl (Nancy) Prelude (Choir) Welcome and Announcements (Board Member) Opening Hymn #188 “Come, Come, Whoever You Are” Come, Come whoever you are,Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.Ours is no caravan of despair.Come, yet again, come. Call to Worship (Denis)Mother Earth, Father Time,Energy of the ever-expanding Universe,That which holds all:You are here with us this morning,To celebrate your creative abundance, and…
Sounding of the Singing Bowl (Justin) Prelude Welcome, Welcome Clif Hardin (Choir) Welcome and Announcements (Dick Hurwitz) Opening Hymn #1017 We Are Building a New Way We are building a new way (3x)Feeling stronger every dayWe are building a new way We are working to be free (3x)Hate and greed and jealousyWe are working to be free We can feed our every…
This month we have been looking at the question of emotional tone in our relationships, and how we might help to warm them up. Two weeks ago we celebrated Valentine’s Day with the message to come right out and say it when we love someone, be it a partner, family member or friend. Last week we looked at the importance of really…
Last week, in our multi-generational, valentines service, I tried to talk about the importance of coming right out and saying it when we love someone. That was the beginning of a three week focus on warming up relationships in our personal lives, our family lives (however you define family) and in our larger communities as well. Next week will be the final…