Gathering Music (Mary Bopp) (begins 10 minutes prior to the service)
Welcome
Announcements
Centering
Prelude
“I Can See Clearly Now”
by Johnny Nash
performed by Mary Bopp
Chalice Lighting and Opening Words
“Awake Awhile”
by Hafiz
Opening Hymn
“The Leaf Unfurling”
words by Don Cohen
music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
#7 (words) and #103 (music) in Singing the Living Tradition
The leaf unfurling in the April air,
the newborn child, the loving parents’ care;
these constant, common miracles we share:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
All life is one, a single branching tree,
all pain a part of human misery,
all happiness a gift to you and me:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The self-same bells for joy and sorrow ring.
No one can know what the next hour will bring.
We cry, we laugh, we mourn, and still we sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Meditation
“Return and Remember”
by the Rev. Summer Albayati
Musical Meditation
Joys, Concerns and Introductions
Musical Meditation
Offering
For the month of April, the recipient of our Community Outreach Offering is the CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Their mission is to create communities free of sexual violence and to provide culturally affirming, trauma-informed advocacy, prevention, and intervention services centered on the voices of survivors. The Alliance seeks to create a world in which everyone believes sexual violence is a preventable problem and actively plays a role in ending it.
Offertory Music
“Meditation on Awakening”
by Mary Bopp
Sermon
“Awakening in Three Movements”
Rev. Josh Pawelek
Closing Hymn
“Wake Now My Senses”
words by Thomas Mikelson
music: traditional Irish Melody
#298 in Singing the Living Tradition
Wake now, my senses, and hear the earth call;
feel the deep power of being in all;
keep, with the web of creation your vow,
giving, receiving as love shows us how.
Wake, now, my reason, reach out to the new;
join with each pilgrim who quests for the true;
honor the beauty and wisdom of time;
suffer thy limit, and praise the sublime.
Wake, now, compassion, give heed to the cry;
voices of suffering fill the wide sky;
take as your neighbor both stranger and friend,
praying and striving their hardship to end.
Wake, now, my conscience, with justice thy guide;
join with all people whose rights are denied;
take not for granted a privileged place;
God’s love embraces the whole human race.
Wake, now, my vision of ministry clear;
brighten my pathway with radiance here;
mingle my calling with all who will share;
work toward a planet transformed by our care.
Extinguishing the Chalice
Closing Circle
May faith in the spirit of life
And hope for the community of Earth
And love of the light in each other
Be ours now, and in all the days to come.
Postlude (Mary Bopp)
