2023-2024

Order of Service for September 10, 2023
Homecoming: As summer comes to a close, we gather again
Rev. Rosemary Morrison

Chimes

Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, and Announcements

Prelude

Opening Words

Chalice Lighting
Fire and water, earth and air.
We bring all these elements together
this morning to light our chalice.
Water for cleansing and uniting,
Fire to keep us warm and light our way,
Earth, the solid ground we walk upon together
Air fills our lungs and brings us focus.
May this flame be a beacon,
May it shed light on what has
been confounding us, 
and may it beckon us forward
into new imaginings

Hymn	361	Enter, Rejoice, and Come In

Time for All Ages
The Water Princess
Written by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWAjQhCIKO

Sharing Our Abundance
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X)

Hymn	100	I’ve Got Peace Like a River

Service Leader Reflection 

Meditation
Pebbles of Joy and Concern

Hymn	1007	There’s a River Flowing in My Soul

Message: Homecoming and Water COmmunion

Hymn	1064	Blue Boat Home

Extinguishing the Flame
As Breath to Song
By Becky Laurent

As flame is to spirit, so spirit is to breath, and breath to song. 
Though we extinguish the flame in this sanctuary,
may we tend it in our hearts until we meet again. 

Benediction

Homecoming: Summer Comes to a Close and We Gather Once Again. September 10, 2023

Hospitality is a Form of Worship:  From the Babylonian Talmud.  September 17, 2023. Rev. Rosemary Morrison


Order of Service

Chimes

Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, and Announcements

Prelude

Chalice Lighting

A Spacious Welcome by Shari Woodbury
In two voices
1: Welcome, who come in friendship
who long for genuine community...
2: May you be graciously received here
as your authentic self.
1: Welcome, who come in curiosity,
full of questions or simply open...
2: May you embrace wonder
and encounter new delights.
1: Welcome, who come heavy with fatigue,
weary from the troubles of the world
or the troubles of your particular life...
2: May you rest and be filled in this sacred space.
1: Welcome, who come with joy
for flowing rivers and gentle breeze,
for changing skies and great trees...
2: May the grace of the world
leave a lasting imprint in you.
1: Welcome, who come with thanks
for the altruism of the earth
and the gift of human care...
2: May your grateful heart overflow
and bless those around you.
BOTH: Come, let us celebrate together
this wondrous life.

Hymn	1000	Morning Has Come	

Service Leader Reflection

Sharing Our Abundance
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X) 

Responsive Reading	441	To Worship 

Hymn	128	For All That is Our Life

Message: Hospitality is a Form of Worship: From the Babylonian Talmud

Meditation
Meditation Hymn	1031	Filled With Loving Kindness

Candles of Joy and Concern

Hymn	1017	Building a New Way

Extinguishing the Flame

A Theology of Welcome	by 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. 

Benediction

Carry the Flame

Postlude

Hospitality is a Form of Worship:  From the Babylonian Talmud.  September 17, 2023

Order of Service, Sep 24, 2023 “Welcoming Change” - Rev. Rosemary
Chimes
Welcome, Land Acknowledgment, and Announcements
Prelude 	 
Opening Words Rev. Rosemary 
Chalice Lighting John
Hymn 188 - Come, Come, Whoever You Are 
Time for All Ages -  Rev Rosemary (not in recording)
Sharing our Abundance:  From you I receive 
Service Leader Reflection John 
Hymn 331 - Life is the Greatest Gift of All
Message: Welcoming Change Rev Rosemary 
Small group discussion (not in recording)
Video Presentation Room at the Table – Carrie Newcomer (not in recording)
Meditation 
Meditation Hymn 1037 - We Begin Again in Love
Candles of Joy and Concern 
Hymn 131 - Love Will Guide Us
Extinguishing the Flame
Benediction Rev Rosemary
Carry the Flame Congregation
Postlude

“Welcoming Change” Sep 24, 2023

ORDER OF SERVICE 
Chimes 
Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, and Announcements 
Prelude 
Opening Words 
Chalice Lighting - What We Bring, What We are Grateful For 
Hymn 347 - Gather the Spirit 
Time for All Ages (Not recorded) - The Last Stop on Market Street Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson 
Sharing Our Abundance 
Hymn 402 - From You I Receive (Sing 2X) 
Candles of Joy and Concern 
Hymn 21 - For the Beauty of the Earth 
Message: Part 1 - What’s First: Joy or Gratitude? 
Video Presentation - Grateful: A Love Song to the World - Empty Hands Music (used with permission)
Meditation 
Message: Part 2 - What’s First: Joy or Gratitude? 
Hymn 131 - Love Will Guide Us 
Extinguishing the Flame - May We Go Forth From This Place by Charles Howe 
Benediction 
Carry the Flame 
Postlude

“What’s First:  Joy or Gratitude?”, Oct 8, 2023

This service is based on a presentation by Barbara Park to the Prairie UU Society in Madison, WI May 22, 2011, supplemented with material from UU and Me, Collected Stories; and Singing, Shouting, Celebrating – 200 Years of Universalism by David Johnson and Eugene Navias
Order of Service 
Welcome	
Announcements
Prelude: “Dear God, Behold Thy Servants Here”	Chorealis
Opening words
Chalice lighting “If we agree in love”  by Hosea Ballou 
I	The Founders Set the Tune
Story for all ages: “The Preacher, The Farmer and the Little Church That Waited” by Charlene Brotman, Ann Fields & Barbara Marshman
John Murray “Go Forth, My Friends” All
Hosea Ballou	“When God Descends to Earth” Chorealis
II	Love Is Sweeping the Country
Alexander G. Laurie “The Golden Clouds” All
Sharing our Abundance
Thomas Whittemore “Resurrection Hymn” Chorealis
Receiving the offering: “From You I Receive”
Abner Kneeland “A View of Christendom“ Chorealis
John Greenleaf Adams	“Love for the Sunday School” All
III	The Spirit Sings New Songs
Candles of Care and Connection	
Meditation 
In words: “God is Love” by the Reverend Richard Trudeau
In silence
In song: “One Sweetly Solemn Thought” by Phoebe Cary
Alice Cary"My Soul is Full of Whispered Song" Chorealis
Phebe Hanaford "Cast Thy Bread Upon the Waters" Chorealis
IV	They Sounded a New Call for Justice
Author unknown "Touch Not the Cup" Chorealis
Adin Ballou "Years are Coming" All
Frances Dana Gage "A Hundred Years Hence" All
Closing Words “Go out into the highways and by-ways” by John Murray
Extinguishing the Chalice
Postlude	Mary J. Colburn “Freedom Advancing” Chorealis
Carry the Flame

Unitarian Church of Edmonton

Singing, "Singing, Shouting, Celebrating-the First 100 Years of Universalism” – Oct 1, 2023

“Transformation:  Thresholds and Layers”, March 3, 2024

Every day we cross thresholds - real and imagined - that can change how we view and relate to the world around us. Each time we change, we add to the layers of experience we accumulate over our lives: deposits of joy and sorrow on the foundation of who we are. Crossing and changing are just other ways of transforming. Join us as we examine the possibilities and challenges of transformation.


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ORDER OF SERVICE Mar 3, 2024 Service Leader: Chorealis
“Transformation: Thresholds and Layers”
Chimes
Greeting, Land Acknowledgement, and Announcements
Prelude “Come With Me” by Gordon Ritchie (first verse only) Chorealis
Opening Words “Thresholds” by Arlen Goff
Chalice Lighting “May This Flame” by Bets Wienecke
Hymn 1018 “Come and Go With Me”
Sharing Our Abundance- International Convocation of UU Women (ICW) https://www.intlwomensconvo.org/
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X)
Reading “A Prayer for Desert Times” by Margaret A Keip
Hymn 1019 “Everything Possible”
Candles of Care & Connection “May It Be”  by Eithne Ni Bhraonain - Chorealis
Reading “For When I Really Don’t Want to Learn This” by Elizabeth Nguyen
Service Leader Reflection “Thresholds and Layers” by Karen Mills
Meditation
In word “Formation Prayer” by George Grimm-Howell
In silence
in song “Dawn” by Jacob Narverrud  - Chorealis
Responsive Reading “Litany for Becoming” by enfleshed
Hymn of the Month “Come With Me” by Gordon Ritchie
Extinguishing the Chalice “To Serve, to Grow, and to Love” by Kent McKusick
Closing Words “May You Be Changed” by Emily Richards
Postlude “Learn to Fly” by Mary Grigolia - Chorealis
“Carry the Flame”

Transformation Thresholds And Layers March 3 2024

The Unitarian Church of Edmonton is a liberal, multi-generational, religious community. We celebrate a rich mosaic of free-thinking, spiritually-questing individuals joined in common support and action. We welcome diversity including diversity of beliefs from divine believers to humanists, from pagans to atheists and agnostics. We believe in the compassion of the human heart, the warmth of community, the pursuit of justice and the search of meaning in our lives.

We gather with gratitude on traditional Cree lands that are now a part of Treaty Six and shared by many nations. A treaty is an inheritance, a responsibility and a relationship. May we be good neighbours to one another, good stewards to our planet and good ancestors to our children.

Transformation Thresholds And Layers March 3 2024

Unitarian Church of Edmonton (UCE)