Finding Our Center is the SoulMatters theme for January, and at the center of who we are as individuals and a community, is a place of truth. These truths can inspire and guide us as we again embark on an unknown journey, together. 

 

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“In Search of Our Truth”
with Rev. Telos Whitfield

Order of Service
Sunday, January 22, 2023

Greeting                                                                       Rev. Telos

Board Welcome & Announcements                        Leslie Kinney

Prelude:   “Largo” from Xerxes   G. F. Handel
Peter Gibbons, viola; Eva Greene, piano

Chalice Lighting                                Ed Burke
We kindle our flame in honor of our search for truth, truth that we find in so many places. What we know to be true within ourselves, in what we see around us, reaching back in our history, looking forward to the future. The truth we seek is here to be found.                        

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.

Call to Worship                                                          Rev. Telos                                                     

Opening Hymn #188   “Come, Come, Whoever You Are”

Time For All of Us: “The Empty Pot”

Sharing Our Covenant

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)

Anthem: Frost (Excerpt) poem “Winter”
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson, music by Franklin Gallo
           All Souls Choir, Tom Baehr, Director

Sharing a Poem by Wendell Berry                         Ed Burke               

Sermon: “In Search of Our Truth”                  Rev. Telos

Hymn #403   “Spirit of Truth”

Offering shared with Theatre Adventure

Offertory:  Psalm 19:14 (traditional melody)
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer

Our Candles of Joys and Sorrows

Closing Hymn #1064   “Blue Boat Home”

Extinguishing the Chalice by Elizabeth Tarbox                           Ed Burke
“As we extinguish our flame, we ask ourselves, “Do you have work to do today?”  Then do it as if your life were hanging in the balance, do it as fiercely as if it mattered, for it does.  Do you think the world doesn’t need you?  Think again!  You cleanse the world with your breathing, you beautify the world with your giving, you perfect the world with your thinking and acting and caring. Don’t stay home and suffocate on your sorrow: go outside and give yourself to the world’s asking.”                                              

Closing Circle: “Carry the flame of peace and love, Until we meet again.” (sung two times)
Benediction                                                                         Rev. Telos