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.

We have been exploring our own theology and the stories of leaders in our history – their faith journeys, work and leadership. We will honor and celebrate several of the women who helped to shape our faith!

“What Moves Us: Celebrating Our Women Leaders“

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, March 27, 2022

Greeting                                                                       Rev. Telos Whitfield

Board Welcome & Announcements                           Leslie Kinney

Stewardship Update                                                   Leslie Kinney

Prelude:   “Berceuse”  (lullaby)    Cecile Chaminade
(the first woman to receive the French Legion d’honneur, in 1913)
Eva Greene, piano
                  
Chalice Lighting                                                   Marty Shaw
As we light our chalice, we honor and remember women of our faith for their leadership and courage. They courageously spoke out for justice, stood their ground in the face of violence and struggle, supported education for our dear children and led our congregations through our transformational history as a faith. In gratitude for the strength of their light, we kindle our flame. 

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 Whitfield                                                    
                                  
Opening Hymn #126: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Music: John Wyeth; words, Robert Robinson & Eugene b.Navias
led by Steve Squires
                           
Time For All of Us: With Her Hands

                       
Sharing Our Covenant                                              Christina  Gibbons
“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 fullest 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)      
 
Stewardship Moment                                     Christina Gibbons

Anthem:”We Are Not Our Own”
         lyrics by Brian Wren, music by Tom Baehr
                   All Souls Choir, Tom Baehr, Director
                         
Sharing a Poem                                                            Ed Burke

Sermon: “What Moves Us, Celebrating Our Women Leaders”
Rev. Telos Whitfield
                   
Hymn #344: “A Promise Through the Ages Rings” 
                 lyrics: Alicia Alexander; music: Was Gott Thut
led by Marie Gorst

A promise through the ages rings, that always, always, something sings.
Not just in May, in finch-filled bower, but in December’s coldest hour,
a note of hope sustains us all.

A life is made of many things: bright stars, bleak years, and broken rings.
Can it be true that through all things, there always, always something sings?
The universal song of life.

Entombed within our deep despair, our pain seems more than we can bear;
but days shall pass, and nature knows that deep beneath the winter snow
a rose lies curled and hums its song.

For something always, always sings. This is the message Easter brings:
from deep despair and perished things a green shoot always, always springs,
and something always, always sings.

Offering shared with The Minister’s Discretionary Fund 

Offertory: “Ballade”     Op. 28, no. 2 (excerpt) Frederic Chopin
  Eva Greene, piano 

Blessing Our Candles of Joys and Sorrows                                          

Closing Song:  “We’re Still Here”     Holly Near
             led by Catie G. Berg; AV Production, George Carvill
                       
Extinguishing the Chalice                            Marty Shaw 
We extinguish our chalice, but hold fast to the legacy of our history, made stronger and brighter for the many women who helped to weave our faith into an open and embracing tradition. Their voices calling for justice and inclusion echo in our ears.

Closing Circle: “Carry the Flame of Peace and Love” (sung two times)

Benediction                                                                         Rev. Telos Whitfield

Community Conversation