"Trust in Action" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, March 9, 2025

Gathering Music

Welcome and Announcements

Centering

Prelude

"I Know This Rose Will Open"

Meditation by Mary Bopp

Chalice Lighting and Opening Words

"We light this flame as an act of faith"

by Rev. Scott Tayler

We gather again, with joy and gratitude,

but also with pieces and parts that are

worn out and worn down,

wanting, once again, to trust,

to believe

that hope is not as fragile as it sometimes seems,

that division is not as deep as it sometimes appears.

And so we light this flame as an act of faith,

a reminder

a redeclaration

a rekindling

of the trust

that darkness can’t ever shut out the light,

that kindness is more powerful than we know,

that humility and accountability allow us to change,

that together we can most certainly bend the arc of

this miraculous universe

toward beauty,

toward justice

toward love.

Opening Hymn

#131 “Love Will Guide Us”

Words: Sally Rogers

arr. by Betty A Wylder

Love will guide us, peace has tried us,

hope inside us will lead the way

on the road from greed to giving.

Love will guide us through the hard night.

If you cannot sing like angels,

if you cannot speak before thousands,

you can give from deep within you.

You can change the world with your love.

Love will guide us, peace has tried us,

hope inside us will lead the way

on the road from greed to giving.

Love will guide us through the hard night.

 Time for All Ages

                                                            “Frederick”

Written and illustrated by Leo Lionni

Joys and Concerns

Musical Interlude

Introduction to the Service/Speakers

Reflection from Patricia Corey-Lisle

Musical Interlude

Reading

 #580 “The Task of the Religious Community”

Reflection from Caitlin Vasquez-O’Brien

Offering

Mindful that March is Women's History Month, 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.

Offering Music 

“Spirit of Life” 

     Love offering by Mary Bopp

Reflection from Sid Soderholm

Closing Hymn         

#396 “I Know This Rose Will Open”

Words and Music: Mary E. Grigolia

I know this rose will open.

I know my fear will burn away.

I know my soul will unfurl its wings.

I know this rose will open.

Extinguishing the Chalice and Closing Words

#698

by Wayne B. Arnason

Take courage friends.

The way is often hard, the path is

never clear,

and the stakes are very high.

Take courage.

For deep down, there is another truth:

You are not alone.

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