Gathering Music
Welcome and Announcements
Centering
Prelude
A melody performed by
Members of the Manchester Women's Sacred Singing Circle
Service Introduction
Chalice Lighting and Opening Words
"We Gather"
by Rev. Dr. David Breeden
Here, gathered, breath mingling,
thoughts intersecting,
we seek
the simple press of presence,
open, earnest.
Here, we strive to
live into knowing.
Our presence is sacred,
our connections divine.
In the clasp of hands,
in a shared glance,
we claim our place--
beyond thresholds that
too often refuse to yield
In words, in silence,
in music and stillness--
the performances of our existence
call to the beauty
etched in every being.
In a world too often
afraid to reach out,
we gather, here,
in the teeth of hierarchies,
in the face of walls built of lies,
we rise in wisdom.
Our presence is sacred,
our connections divine.
Opening Hymn
"Come, Come, Whoever You Are"
#188 in Singing the Living Tradition
Words adapted from Rumi, Music by Lynn Adair Ungar
Come, come, whoever you are,
wanderer, worshipper, love of leaving.
Ours is no caravan of despair.
Come, yet again come.
Reflections from Janice Knotts
Hymn
"Meditation on Breathing"
#1009 in Singing the Journey
Music and Lyrics by Sarah Dan Jones
Led by The Manchester Women's Sacred Singing Circle
When I breathe in,
I'll breathe in peace.
When I breathe out,
I'll breathe out love.
Joys and Concerns
Reflections from Nancy Thompson
Offering
Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts wit the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month of May will be split between Hartford Deportation Defense (Colectivo de Defensa Hartford) and Unidad Latinas en Accion.
Offering Music
"Journeys"
Original Piece by Mary Bopp
Reflections from Ellen Williams
Closing Hymn
"When Our Heart is in a Holy Place"
#1008 in Singing the Journey
Music and Lyrics by Joyce Poley
Chorus:
When our heart is in a holy place,
When our heart is in a holy place,
We are bless'd with love and amazing grace,
When our heart is in a holy place.
When we trust the wisdom in each of us,
Ev'ry color ev'ry creed and kind,
And we see our faces in each other's eyes,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
When we tell our story from deep inside,
And we listen with a loving mind,
And we hear our voices in each other's words,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
When we share the silence of sacred space,
And the God of our Heart stirs within,
And we feel the power of each other's faith,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
Extinguishing the Chalice
Closing Words
"Less beautiful without you"
by Tess Baumberger
This place would be less beautiful without you,
Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jew,
Hindu, Humanist, and Earth-centered, too.
This place would be less beautiful without you,
Your heart honed by hardship, grief, illness,
Seeking solace and comfort here among us.
This place would be less beautiful without you,
Filled with joy and gratitude,
Seeking celebration of life's bounty.
This place would be less beautiful without you,
Curious, inquisitive, asking questions,
seeking transformation emerging from within.
This place would be less beautiful without you,
Striving to resist a world that tells us
We are so much less than we can truly be.
This place would be less beautiful without each of us,
Borne here in this morning to seek heaven's fire
In each other's souls, our own flames rising to meet.
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.