Woohoo! It’s 4th of July Weekend! Time for fireworks, barbeques, and get-togethers. All to celebrate our ever-important Independence. But wait…what about our Interdependence? Isn’t that just as important? Are these values in conflict with each other or in collusion? Join us this Sunday as we reflect on the balancing act between these two ideals.
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.
“Celebrating Our Independence”
Order of Service
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Announcements and Board Greeting Leslie Kinney
Prelude in Db major, Op. 28, excerpt (1839) Frédéric Chopin
Eva Greene, piano
Chalice Lighting by Barbara Wells
O Spinner, Weaver of our lives,
Your loom is love.
May we who are gathered here
Be empowered by that love
to weave new patterns of Truth
and Justice into a web of life that is strong,
beautiful, and everlasting.
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 Jody McAssey
Opening Hymn #134, “Our World Is One World”
Story for All Ages: “Swimmi” by Leo Leonni
Sharing Our Covenant Leslie Kinney
We build our church on a foundation of love,
and covenant with one another:
to freely explore our values and honor our diversity
as a source of communal strength,
to accept responsibility for our individual acts
and promote justice and peace,
to celebrate the joys of discovery,
embracing the full measure of our humanity,
to communicate with kindness and support,
to serve with compassion and commitment,
to openly share our laughter and tears, and
to show reverence for the divine in all that is.
(Covenant adopted on April 17, 2001)
Hymn #194, “Faith Is a Forest”
Responsive reading #576 Litany of Restoration
If, recognizing the interdependence of all life, we strive to build community, the strength we gather will be our salvation. If you are black and I am white,
It will not matter.
If you are female and I am male,
It will not matter.
If you are older and I am younger,
It will not matter.
If you are progressive and I am conservative,
It will not matter.
If you are straight and I am gay,
It will not matter.
If you are Christian and I am Jewish,
It will not matter.
If we join spirits as brothers and sisters, the pain of our aloneness will be lessened, and that does matter.
In this spirit, we build community and move towards restoration.
Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley
Offering shared with the Minister’s Discretionary Fund
Offertory: “America the Beautiful” Samuel Ward, a church organist, composed this melody in 1882. After his death,
a publisher used it for Katherine Bates’ poem, “America.”
Eva Greene, piano
Blessing the Candles of Joys and Sorrows
A Homily in Conversation Jody McAssey and Leslie Kinney
Closing Hymn #131, “Love Will Guide Us”
Extinguishing the Chalice The words of W.E.B. DuBois
Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.
It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year.
It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow.
Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.
Closing Circle: “Carry the Flame of Peace and Love” (sung two times)
Benediction : Words of the late Rev. Frederick E. Gillis
We are a part of a web of life that makes us one with all humanity, one with all the universe.
We are grateful for the miracle of consciousness that we share, the consciousness that gives us the power to remember, to love, to care.
Go now in Peace. Blessed Be
Coffee Hour and Conversation