As the world continues to experience the devastating consequence of climate change, we will hear from members of 350Brattleboro, with whom we are sharing our offerings for the month of November. 350, founded in 2008, is an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. Please join us to hear what our local chapter has been up to, and learn how you can be a part of this essential work.
We anticipate that this service will be both in-person and on Zoom. Click right here Sunday shortly before 10:00 a.m. to join via Zoom. Click here to read our protocols for in-person attendance.When attending in person, please completely power off your cell phone during the service to preserve the Church’s WiFi bandwidth for our Zoom attendees.
Order of Service
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Announcements and Board Greeting Catie G. Berg
Prelude No 2 in C Minor, BWV 847 J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Eva Greene, piano
Chalice Lighting by Lynn Harrison Maisie Crowther
Committed to respond to the call of a wounded world…
We join together this day with loving hearts, hands and minds.
Embracing the interconnected web of water, air and earth…
We light a fire of sustaining hope, ever bright with love and justice.
May we bring forth this day new wisdom, strength and courage
To create a new world not of wealth, but well-being.
A world of new peace and abundance for all.
As we give thanks for this earth, our shared and singular home,
May we dedicate ourselves to its ongoing care.
Rising to the calls deep within us, and all around us…
May we respond today and always with courage and with love
Lighting our Children’s Chalice
We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian Universalism. We are the church of the open minds. We are the church of the helping hands. We are the church of the loving hearts.
Opening Words Karen Tyler
Opening Hymn #175: “We Celebrate the Web of Life”
Responsive Reading: “Beatitudes for Earth Sunday” by Richard S. Gilbert
Blessed are the heavens,
for they declare the power of creation.
Blessed is the earth, our beloved home,
for she is a planet of plenitude.
Blessed are the waters thereon,
for they gave rise to living things.
Blessed is the land,
for it is the source of life abundant.
Blessed is the air we breathe,
for it fires us to life and love.
Blessed are the beasts of the field,
for they are glorious to behold.
Blessed are the birds of the air,
for they carve a graceful arc in the sky.
Blessed are the mountains and the seas and the valleys,
for their variety makes rich our habitat.
Blessed are the fields of grain, the orchards of fruit,
for they give sustenance, asking nothing in return.
Blessed are the dwellers on earth,
for they cherish the privilege of living upon it.
Blessed are they who protect the earth and all her creatures,
from the plants of the field to the trees of the forest,
for their reward shall be harmony with the web of existence.
Rejoice, and be glad,
for the earth and her people are one.
Anthem: “How Sweet the Darkness”
music by Jason Shelton, poem by Rachel Bates
All Souls Choir, Tom Baehr, Director
Story for All Ages: “We Are Better Together” by Bill McKibben Karen Tyler
Offering Guest Speakers: 350 Brattleboro: Rebecca Jones, John Woodland, Linda Bailey, Fahr Miess, Nancy Braus
Inviting the Offering
Offertory: Lobe den Herren Stralsund Gesangbuch,1665
Eva Greene, piano
Reflection on Joys and Concerns
Reading: “Fierce Urgency” by Ashley Horan Trish Murtha
My four-year-old daughter has taught me this lesson:
when a child wants to derail Business As Usual—
to curb the hubris of adults who dare believe
in schedules and plans and productivity—
one fierce little body and one clear, piercing voice,
strategically applied to the right pressure point,
will change the course of the day’s events.
My comrades in organizing have taught me this lesson:
when a silenced people want to be heard—
to raise from dry bones a living, breathing dream
of new ways of moving, being, incarnating freedom—
one small, tenacious group whose hearts beat in rhythm,
rising shoulder to shoulder against the inevitable,
will bend the arc from impossibility to hope.
Our young climate leaders are teaching us this lesson:
when the grownups and the old movements are too slow—
as the sea levels rise and the hurricanes rage and
the migrants flee and the corporations profit—
one generation, both young and silenced,
refusing to accept an inheritance of doom,
will take toward the streets and move us toward life.
Blessings upon them as they teach us,
organize us,
beckon us in
and call us out.
May their fierce urgency and uncompromising clarity
Show us the path toward healing, and freedom, and hope.
Blessed be, Ashé, and Amen.
Closing Hymn #1064: “Blue Boat Home”
Extinguishing the Chalice Maisie Crowther
As we go forth from this sacred space,
May we celebrate Earth and our shared lives,
May we recognize our connections to all that is in and on Earth,
May we truly and deeply value the inherent worth of all
In this awesome interconnected web of existence,
May we commit ourselves to a new way,
And may we hold our commitments and each other
Gently yet firmly.
Blessed be and Amen.
Closing Circle: “Carry the Flame of Peace and Love” (sung two times)
Benediction
“The environment is where we all meet; where all of us have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.”
Lady Bird Johnson
Coffee Hour and Conversation