Our service, All Creatures Great and Small, celebrates the Unitarian Universalist principle of respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Guest speaker Turner Lewis will talk about his experiences as a volunteer veterinarian for 30 years at the Iditarod, the dog sled race in Alaska. The prelude by Handel will be played by Jerry Levy, Peter Gibbons, and Wendy Redlinger.
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
Order of Service
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Board Welcome & Announcements Elizabeth Lewis
Prelude: Adagio from Sonata in E major, Opus 2 No. 9
George Frideric Handel
Jerry Levy, Violin; Peter Gibbons, Viola; Wendy Redlinger, Piano
Chalice Lighting from Mark Causey read by Karen Tyler
We light this chalice, spark of the original fire of creation, to remind us that we all on this planet—the furred, the feathered, the finned, and the scaled, along with us featherless bipeds—we are all made of the same star-stuff and all share a common destiny. We all share the same hopes of a life free from harm and suffering and the same aspirations of happiness, love, and flourishing—being able to express our own unique natures and capacities as best we may. We are just that many diverse perspectives from which the whole is seen and experienced. We are inextricably intertwined, interconnected and interdependent. And it is good.
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.
Introduction Christina Gibbons
Opening Hymn #175 We Celebrate the Web of Life
Story For All Ages: “Dogteam” by Gary Paulsen, illustrations by Ruth Wright Paulsen read by Karen Tyler
Presentation Turner Lewis
Offering shared with The Minister’s Discretionary Fund
Offertory:
Eva Greene, piano
Closing Words From “Leaves of Grass,” Walt Whitman read by Karen Tyler
I think I could turn and live with animals,
they are so placid and self-contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession.
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
Closing Hymn #12 O life that Maketh All Things New
Reflecting on the Candles of Joys and Concerns
Extinguishing the Chalice from George G. Brooks read by Karen Tyler
May the love that gives to life its beauty, the reverence that gives to life its sacredness, and the purposes that give to life its deep significance, be strong within each of us and lead us into ever deepening relationships with all of life. Amen.
*Closing Circle: “Carry the flame of peace and love
Until we meet again.” (sung two times)
*Please stand as you are able.”
Blessing Christina Gibbons