"This Land" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, May 3, 2026

Gathering Music

"Sleep of the Blessed"

by Glen Phillips

"Brokedown Palace"

by the Grateful Dead

"Astral Plane"

by Valerie June

Jennifer Richard, guitar and vocals

Welcome and Announcements

Centering

Prelude

"Where I Go"

by Natalie Merchant

Jennifer Richard, guitar and vocals

Chalice Lighting and Opening Words

"Ground of Being"

by the Rev. Natalie Fenimore

Opening Hymn

"Blue Boat Home"

by Peter Mayer

Though below me, I feel no motion standing on these mountains and plains.

Far away from the rolling ocean still my dry land heart can say:

I've been sailing all my life now, never harbor or port have I known.

The wide universe is the ocean I travel and the earth is my blue boat home.

Sun my sail and moon my rudder as I ply the starry sea,

leaning over the edge in wonder, casting questions into the deep.

Drifting here with my ship's companions, all we kindred pilgrim souls,

making our way by the lights of the heavens in our beautiful blue boat home.

I give thanks to the waves up holding me, hail the great winds urging me on,

greet the infinite sea before me, sing the sky my sailor's song:

I was born up on the fathoms, never harbor or port have I known.

The wide universe is the ocean I travel, and the earth is my blue boat home.

New Member Welcome

Introductions (Membership Committee co-chairs)

The Charge (Minister)

As you take up membership in the Unitarian Universalist Society East, I charge you to share with us who you are. Share your creativity, your experiences, your questins, you doubts, your beliefs, and all your discoveries of life's meaning. I charge you to shake us up with your ideas, to stir us up with your conscience, to inspire us with your actions, and to stimulate our hopes with your dreams of what life can be.

Congregational Welcome (Congregation)

We welcome you as companions in the search for truth and meaning. We invite you to share in our mission of caring for one another, encouraging each other in spiritual growth, working for justice and peace in the wider community, and living in harmony with the earth. We join our gifts with yours, trusting in the power of community to bring freedom, healing and love.

New Member Affirmation (New members)

We join the Unitarian Universalist Society East out of a desire and willingness to participate in a liberal religious congregation. We pledge to share our time, energy and gifts; to diligently seek our spiritual truths; and to strengthen the bonds of community.

Responsive Hymn

"This Meetinghouse"

words adapted from Eugene Sander by Josh Pawelek

Music by Jean Sibelius

This meetinghouse,

A place of love and gladness.

Where all may meet to seek the common good.

A source of strength, to face each doubt and sadness.

Where every dream, is known and understood.

This meetinghouse, ask those who came before,

And found themselves, by crossing through its door.

Joys and Concerns

Musical Interlude

Offering

Hartford Deportation Defense says, "we are an immigrant organization in Hartford, CT, working alongside our neighbors to build a just and dignified future for our families and communities in the Hartford region." They engage in a variety of activities in support of immigrants, including fundraising (especially for people facing health emergencies), providing resources for families with a loved-one in detention, working with immigration attorneys, rapid response, accompaniment to hearings and legislative advocacy.

Offering Music

"Song for the Seeds"

by Humbird

Sermon

"This Land"

Rev. Josh Pawelek

Closing Hymn

"Keepers of the Earth"

by Joyce Poley

We are blessed by ev'ry river,

Ev'ry river makes us whole.

With its riches and its beauty,

Ev'ry river feeds our soul.

And we are called as keepers of the earth,

We are called to speak its sacred worth.

For our children and our children's children,

We are called as keepers of the earth.

We are blessed by ev'ry mountain,

Ev'ry mountain makes us whole.

With its riches and its beauty,

Ev'ry mountain feeds our soul.

And we are called as keepers of the earth,

We are called to speak its sacred worth.

For our children and our children's children,

We are called as keepers of the earth.

We are blessed by ev'ry forest,

Ev'ry forest makes us whole.

With its riches and its beauty,

Ev'ry forest feeds our soul.

And we are called as keepers of the earth,

We are called to speak its sacred worth.

For our children and our children's children,

We are called as keepers of the earth.

We are blessed by ev'ry ocean,

Ev'ry ocean makes us whole.

With its riches and its beauty,

Ev'ry ocean feeds our soul.

And we are called as keepers of the earth,

We are called to speak its sacred worth.

For our children and our children's children,

We are called as keepers of the 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.