"Radical Welcome" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, September 21, 2025

Gathering Music (Mary Bopp)

Welcome & Announcements

Centering

Prelude

#188 "Come, Come Whoever You Are"

Music by Lynn Ungar

Arranged & performed by Mary Bopp

Chalice Lighting

Building Belonging

by Rev. Dr. David Breeden

Welcome, friends--

Newcomers, old-timers, seekers, skeptics, saints of

habit and rebels of the heart

Here, we gather not because we think the same,

but because we choose to journey together.

Belonging is not something given--it is something

we build, with open hands and open hearts.

It is made in the sharing of stories, the holding of

silences, the courage to show up as we are.

Here, we practice and radical hospitality--not of

perfection, but of presence.

May we make this place a shelter for the soul, a

workshop for justice,

a sanctuary where love is not merely spoken but

lived. Deeply.

again--in trust, in hope, in the spirit of belonging.

Introduction to the Service

Opening Hymn

#360 "Here We Have Gathered"

Words by Alicia S. Carpenter

Music per Genevan psalter

Here we have gathered, gathered side by side,

Circle of kinship, come and step inside!

May all who seek here find a kindly word;

May all who speak here feel they have been heard.

Sing now together this, our hearts' own song.

Here we have gathered, called to celebrate

Days of a lifetime, matters small and great;

We of all ages, women, children, men,

Infants and sages, sharing what we can.

Sing now together this, our hearts' own song.

Life has its battles, sorrows, and regret;

But in the shadows, let us not forget;

We who now gather know each other's pain;

Kindness can heal us: as we give, we gain.

Sing now in friendship this, our hearts' own song.

Time for All Ages

Selections from Rumple Buttercup

by Matthew Gray Gubler

Welcoming Visitors and Joys and Concerns

Musical Response

Prayer

"Belonging" (a responsive reading)

Rev. Dr. David Breeden

One: Belonging is the warmth of a hand held out,

All: the nod across the room that says: I see you.

One: Belonging is not agreement but the invitation to the table;

All: the invitation to be whole.

One: Belonging is the story that changes because you arrived,

All: the circle that widens because we are here.

One: Belonging is the lilt in the song sung together,

All: made more true because it holds your note.

One: Belonging is a promise: not that you must become us,

All: but that you already are.

Offering

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

Manchester Latino Affairs Council

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

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

"We Can Be Kind"

Words & Music by David Friedman

Sung by Gerald Dillenbeck

Sermon

"Radical Welcome"

Stacey Musulin

Closing Hymn

#323 "Break Not the Circle"

Words by Fred Kaan

Music by Thomas Benjamin

Break not the circle of enabling love

Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving;

Break not the circle, make it wider still,

'Till it includes, embraces all the living.

Come, wonder at this love that comes to life,

Where words of freedom are with humor spoken,

And people keep no score of wrong and guilt,

But will that human bonds remain unbroken.

Join then the movement of the love that frees,

'Till people of whatever race or nation

Will truly be themselves, stand on their feet,

See eye to eye with laughter and elation.

Extinguishing the Chalice

A Theology of Welcome

Rev. Dr. David Breeden

Let's be the welcome

we crave--

open hearts,

arms outstretched.

Let's embody

radical welcome,

unquestioning love.

Let's be the welcome

we crave--

deeply hearing

voices and hearts.

Let's be the welcome

we crave--

enriching,

understanding.

Let us embody

the community we crave.

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.