Welcome: Mike Zanta, Universalist Church Board of Trustees
Introit: “Butterfly” by Gustav Merkel; Jennifer Madison, piano
Chalice Lighting and Affirmation: Rev. Joy Christi Przestwor
*Unison Affirmation
Love is the spirit of this Church, and service is its law.
this is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace,
to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.
Time for All Ages: “The Giant Jam Sandwich”
Story by John Vernon Lord with verses by Janet Burroway
Adapted and told by Dan Bouchard
Please join in singing our Doxology:
Praise God for Love we all may share,
Praise God for Beauty everywhere,
Praise God for Hope of good to be
Praise God for Truth that makes us free. Amen.
Offering:
Please make your donations through your congregation’s giving platforms:
New Haven: http://www.usnh.org/donate/special-donations/
West Hartford: https://ucwh.breezechms.com/give/online
Hartford: https://www.ushartford.com/stewardship-2/
Manchester: https://bit.ly/3r7bi6I
Hymn: #121 We’ll Build a Land
Emma Graebner, voice; T. L. Hine, piano
Pastoral Prayer: Rev. Joy Christi Przestwor
Today’s prayer includes Dr. Miriam Winter’s feminist reimagining of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Mother who is within us
we celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come.
Your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits
and we let go.
You support us in our power
and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us
the empowerment around us
and the celebration among us
now and for ever. Amen
Spirit of Life
Readings (Linda Miron)
Our first reading is “there is an edge (ode to radical imagination)” by adrienne maree brown (www.adriennemareebrown.net) who writes on culture, justice, and ways to thrive while changing the world:
There is an edge
Beyond which we cannot grasp the scale
Of our universe.
That border,
That outer boundary
Is imagination.
The only known edge of existence
The only one we can prove by universal experience –
We can imagine so much!
We can only imagine so much.
If perhaps it is a function of our collective minds
A dream of our endless nights
Then there will be abundance so long as we can imagine it –
Abundance on earth
If we can imagine it
Or abundance of earths
A sphere for every tribe
And every combination.
And to have it all
All we need is to remember
there is an edge
And grow our dreams beyond it.
Our second reading is by the Rev. Ashley Horan, the Organizing Strategy Director of the UUA:
Another world is possible.
We say it, again and again,
even when the proof lies somewhere beyond the horizon,
beyond our reach,
beyond our imagination.
This is our faith:
Another world is possible.
Not somewhere else–
another world, another lifetime– but here, and now,
for us and for all.
Another world is possible. There is no single path toward that world;
no one strategy or approach that will restore balance, heal brokenness,
sow wholeness,
free creation.
There are many routes toward liberation;
toward freedom.
But the abundance of options does not absolve us of
the responsibility of acting.
Musical Message: “Pure Imagination” by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley;
Emma Graebner, voice; T. L. Hine, piano
Sermon: Imagine What Else We Can Do…
the Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith
Closing Hymn/Postlude: “What a Wonderful World”
by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss
Universalist Children’s Choir;
Patrice Fitzgerald, Children’s Music Coordinator; Mike Zanta, guitar
Unison Benediction:
Engage with the world in peace,
Have courage,
Hold on to what is good.
Return to no person evil for evil.
Strengthen the fainthearted,
Support the weak,
Help the suffering,
Honor all beings.
