"Earth Day" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, April 19, 2026

Gathering Music (Mary Bopp)

Welcome and Announcements (Rev. Josh Pawelek)

Centering

Prelude

"Improvisation I"

Kristen Dockendorff

Chalice Lighting and Opening Words

excerpt from Braiding Sweetgrass

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Opening Song

"What a Wonderful World"

Bob Thiele and George David Weiss

I see trees of green

Red roses too

I see them bloom

For me and you

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue

And clouds of white

The bright blessed day

The dark sacred night

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow

So pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces

Of people going by

I see friends shaking hands

Saying, "How do you do?"

They're really saying

I love you.

I hear babies cry

I watch them grow

They'll learn much more

Than I'll ever know

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself

What a wonderful world

Ooh, yes.

Time For All Ages

Musical Meditation

Joys and Concerns

Responsorial Song

"Prayer for Connection"

Words by Cyndi Krupa

Music by Mary Bopp

May peace, light and love

Infuse all living beings

With a feeling of connection

And knowing we are one.

Offering

The recipient of our April Community Outreach offering is the Inter-Religious Eco-Justice Network, or IREJN, Connecticut's only faith-based environmental non-profit organization. Their mission is to inspire and equip Connecticut's religious communities and their spiritual allies to protect our planet through education, engagement, and advocacy.

Offering Music

"Improvisation II"

Kristen Dockendorff

Song

"Grace for Pollinators"

By Nancy Schimmel, arr. by Joyse Gilbrick

For this our food we thank the bees

That pollinate the flowers.

We thank the moths that do the same

In the evening hours.

We thank the birds and butterflies

In ev'ry habitat.

And when we eat bananas

We sing to thank the bat.

We all are links upon a chain,

The eater and the fruit,

The light upon the busy leaf,

The water at the root.

We join our hands together when

Another day is done.

We praise the winged workers

And feed upon the sun.

Sermon

Grace for Everything

Rev. Josh Pawelek

Closing Song

#163 "For the Earth Forever Turning"

Words by Kim Oler, music by Nick Page

For the earth forever turning; for the skies, for ev'ry sea;

for our lives, for all we cherish, sing we our joyful song of peace.

For the mountains, hills, and pastures in their silent majesty;

for the stars, for all the heavens, sing we our joyful song of peace.

For the sun, for rain and thunder, for the seasons' harmony,

for our lives, for all creation, sing we our joyful praise to Thee.

For the world we raise our voices, for the home that gives us birth;

in our joy we sing returning home to our bluegreen hills of earth.

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.