"Labor in the Pulpit" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, September 6, 2026

Gathering Music

"That's Why I Stand by the Union"

Written and Performed by Dan Thompson, guitar

Welcome

Announcements

Centering

Prelude

"9 to 5"

by Dolly Parton

Performed by Dan Thompson, guitar

Chalice Lighting

Open Words

Rose Schneiderman's 1912 speech to the Women's Trade Union League

"What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist -- the right to live as the rich woman has the right to life, and the sun and music and art. You have nothing that the humblest worker has not a right to have also. The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."

Opening Hymn

#109 "As We Come Marching, Marching"

Words by James Oppenheim

Music by Caroline Kohlsaat

Performed by Mary Bopp, piano

As we come marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,

a million darkened kitchens, a thousand workshops gray,

are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses:

for the people hear us singing, "Bread and roses, bread and roses!"

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

for they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes:

hearts starve as well as bodies -- give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead

go crying, through our singing, their ancient song of bread!

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew:

yes it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days:

the rising of the women means the rising of the race.

No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,

but a sharing of life's glories -- bread and roses, bread and roses!

Time for All Ages

Musical Interlude (Mary Bopp)

Joys and Concerns

Musical Interlude (Mary Bopp)

Offering

Our September Community Outreach Ministry recipients are the Manchester Latino Affairs Council and She Leads Justice.

The Manchester Latino Affairs Council (M.L.A.C.) was established in January of 2007. Its current mission is to address social issues with a focus on diversity, inclusivity and equality within Manchester's Latino community.

She Leads Justice advocates for under-resourced, marginalized women in Connecticut. They work to close the civil legal justice gap and to create state policy for economic security. Formerly known as the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, their work supports women who identify as cisgender and transgender, and non-binary individuals, as well as people of all marginalized gender identities.

Offering Music

"Rich Men Earning North of a Million"

By Billy Bragg

Performed by Dan Thompson, guitar

Homily

"Labor in the Pulpit"

Ed Hawthorne

Musical Interlude (Mary Bopp)

Dialogue

Closing Hymn

"We Belong to One Another"

Music by John Wyeth

Lyrics by Amanda Udis-Kessler

Performed by Mary Bopp, piano

We belong to one another.

To each other we are bound

As we build a world together

full of joy that we have found.

What we are, we owe to others;

when they need us, we respond.

We belong to one another

and we hold a common bond.

We rely on one another

at the dawning of our days,

When we learn from those around us

how to live in loving ways.

As we grow, we need each other

and the gifts that we can share.

As our lives come to their ending,

how we need each other's care!

We give thanks for one another,

for each heart and hand and face.

We are grateful for the blessings

that infuse our lives with grace.

May we offer our abundance;

as we're given, may we give.

In our thanks for one another,

may we help each other live.

Extinguishing the Chalice and Closing Words

The flame in our hearts never ceases burning.

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.

About Our Speaker

Ed Hawthorne is President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, the democratic state federation of hundreds of local unions that represents more than 250,000 working people across the state. President Hawthorne was unanimously elected at the state federation's Constitutional Convention in October 2021, making him the youngest president in the organization's history.

Under President Hawthorne's leadership, he led the organization's efforts to pass legislation to limit an employer's use of anti-union captive audience meetings - becoming the second state in the country to pass this law and inspiring a nationwide campaign to curtail the use of this union busting tactic. He also oversaw a dynamic political program that helped elect dozens of union members while holding elected officials accountable in both Hartford and Washington, D.C.

With over a decade experience in the field of law, President Hawthorne previously worked as an Appeals Referee for the Connecticut Department of Labor where he conducted unemployment appeals hearings as an administrative law judge.

As a member of AFSCME, he formerly served as President of the Western Connecticut Area Labor Federation, Vice President of AFSCME Local 269, and an executive board member for AFSCME Council 4 and the Connecticut AFL-CIO.

President Hawthorne is currently the chair of the Second Injury Fund, and is a member of the Governor's Workforce Council, Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, AFL-CIO State Federation AI Task Force, and Town of Wolcott Pension Committee. He also continues to serve on the Wolcott Democratic Town Committee.

A graduate of Marist College, President Hawthorne earned his Juris Doctor degree at SUNY at Buffalo School of Law and graduated from the Harvard Trade Union Workshop. He is currently licensed to practice law in Connecticut and New York.

Born and raised in Connecticut, President Hawthorne lives in Wolcott with his wife and their two daughters. In his free time he likes to cheer on the Buffalo Bills and is a burgeoning wing connoisseur.