Click right here Sunday shortly before 10:00 AM to join our online service. 

All Souls Church member Gary Graff will present a reflection on the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness meditation, including his personal experience and the potential for using this practice to enhance our connection to ourselves and all beings.

“The Heart’s Inclination”

Click right here Sunday shortly before 10:00 AM to join our online service.

                                          Order of Service
Sunday, January 16, 2021         

Announcements and Board Greeting              Robert Wyckoff

Prelude:  “All You Need is Love”         The Beatles (excerpt)
Britain’s entry to the Our World satellite broadcast (June 1967)

Chalice Lighting                  ASC Covenant                        Eva Greene

Covenant of All Souls Church:
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.
        
Opening Hymn #1008:  “When Our Heart Is in a Holy Place”     Joyce Poley
Steve Squires, voice & guitar

      
Reading:   “Saint Francis and the Sow” by Galway Kinnell                                                          Read by Christina Gibbons

Story for All Ages: “Story of the Rabbi” 
Read by Maisie Crowther

Hymn #352:    “Find a Stillness”
Words, Carl Seaburg; Transylvanian hymn tune
Sung by Janis Chaillou

Reflection                            Gary Graff

Guided Meditation

Offering shared with Ethiopian Community Development Council

Offertory:    “If It’s Magic”   Stevie Wonder/Eva Greene, piano

If it’s magic, then why can’t it be everlasting
Like the sun that always shines, like the poets’ endless rhyme, like the galaxies in time.
If it’s pleasing, then why can’t it be never leaving
Like the day that never fails, like on seashores there are shells, like the time that always tells.
It holds the key to every heart throughout the universe
It fills you up without a bite, and quenches every thirst.
So… if it’s special, then with it why aren’t we as careful
As making sure we dress in style, posing pictures with a smile, keeping danger from a child.
It holds the key to every heart throughout the universe.
It fills you up without a bite and quenches every thirst.
So… if it’s magic, why can’t we make it everlasting,
Like the lifetime of the sun. It will leave no heart undone, for there’s enough for everyone.

Honoring the Candles of Joys and Concerns

Closing Words                        Gary Graff
               
Closing Hymn        “Imagine”                 by  John Lennon (1971)
Steve Squires, voice and guitar

  
Extinguishing the Chalice                     Eva Greene

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)

Blessing                                         Gary Graff

Coffee Hour and Conversation