As we conclude our April series on “Pathways to Resistance,” join us for a rousing and moving service as Board President Leslie Kinney shares powerful words and images from her recent Living Legacy Pilgrimage, visiting landmarks of the Civil Rights Era and hearing stories of activists and their families — and reminding us that the struggle continues to this day.
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
“MAKE GOOD TROUBLE: REFECTIONS ON THE LIVING LEGACY PILGRIMAGE”
Order of Service
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Worship Coordinator: Leslie Kinney
Greeter: Ellie Weiss
Greeting Karen Tyler
Announcements and Board Greeting Barbara Woods
Prelude: Hymn to Freedom Oscar Peterson
Eva Greene, piano
Chalice Lighting “Awaken to the Work” by Rev. Suzelle Lynch
Christina Gibbons
The fire of love burning deep in every human heart calls us to awaken!
Awaken to the work of justice;
Awaken to the work of compassion;
Awaken to the work of community!
For in this time of human suffering and exaltation
we are called beyond awakening into action!
May the chalice flame we now light
guide our hearts in service to a greater good
that holds all living things in its holy embrace.
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 Hymn: #1028: The Fire of Commitment
Time for All of Us: “Rosa Parks” by Lisbeth Kaiser
read by Trish Murtha
Reading: From the writings of Mohandas Gandhi Leslie Kinney
“One often becomes what one believes one’s self to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning”
Remembering….
It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
Anthem: “Now Sing We of the Brave of Old” music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, words by Abert M. P. Dawson
All Souls Choir, Tom Baehr, Director
Now Sing We of the Brave of Old
Now sing we of the brave of old
who would not sell themselves for gold,
yet left us riches manifold; Alleluia!
Of those who fought a goodly fight
for liberty, for truth and right,
their patient love their chiefest might; Alleluia!
Who, when no gleam did point the way,
pressed ever on, by night, by day,
and, spite of pain, did ever say Alleluia!
Who long the world’s old sorrows bore
and toiled and loved and suffered sore,
and, being dead, live evermore; Alleluia!
Offering shared with ECDC Karen Tyler
Offertory: Climb Every Mountain Richard Rodgers
Eva Greene, piano Tom Baehr, harmonica
Our Candles of Joys and Sorrows
Closing Hymn #318: We Would Be One
Extinguishing the Chalice: “Love Looks Different” by Julie Taylor
Christina Gibbons
Love is patient
Love is kind
It does not envy
It is not proud
Love bears all things
We know these words, use these words when we refer to one person loving another.
Love looks different when we relate to systems.
Love looks different in the face of injustice.
It is then that
Love is resistant
Love is defiant
It is not backing down
It is staying in the streets
Love is holding each other and ourselves accountable.
Love is challenging — because none of us is free until all of us are free.
Love is protest
Protest is love
Holding the protest of love in our hearts, we extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our hearts until we are together again.
Closing Circle: “Carry the Flame of Peace and Love” (sung two times)
Benediction