(from Vecteezy.com ) Gathering Music Welcome Centering Prelude "A New Way" by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting and Opening Words Bearers of Hope & Resistance Rev. Michelle Collins Welcome to this place, a place where hope can be nourished. In a world that profits from despair, our gathering is a declaration of faith. We declare that joy still rises, that kindness still matters, that hope is not dead. We come to remember we are not alone. May our time together restore us to wonder, strengthen our...

An early lyric sheet for “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” published by Philadelphia: Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, c. 1863. We’ve sung through various iterations of the late 18 th -century American camp meeting song “Say, Brothers Will You Meet Us?” Just prior to the Civil War, federal soldiers in Massachusetts set the explicitly abolitionist lyrics of John Brown’s Body” to the same tune. Then, as the story goes the poet, author, abolitionist, prison reformer,...

Gathering Music Welcome and Announcements Centering Prelude "Mine Eyes Have Seen" by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting and Opening Words excerpt from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eulogy for the Rev. James Reeb (March 15, 1965) Opening Hymn Mashup "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us" and "John Brown's Body" lyrics by various authors, adapted by Rev. Josh Pawelek traditional American hymn tune Say, brothers, will you meet us, Say, brothers, will you meet us, Say, brothers, will you meet us, On...