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Our
Worship Service
Individuals
come together each Sunday morning at 10:30 for
approximately one hour to celebrate the diversity of
the human spiritual experience. With a nurturing and
focused connection to continually evolving views and
beliefs, we seek to share the mystery and wonder of
life's journey.
Our services
are a combination of ministerial and lay led giving
the opportunity for contrasting mixture of topics.
Near the end of the service, there is access for the
congregation to participate and comment on presented
views.
Our services
contain a number of common elements providing an
hour-long experience of focusing, reflecting and
returning. The common elements of service are:
- OPENING
WORDS
It is important to welcome folks in one way
or another. Equally important, to let
newcomers know what they have wandered into,
and (in some cases) to give regular attendees
a hint of what will be the day's focus.
- ANNOUNCEMENTS
These are non-worship concerns. Sunday
announcements provide an additional news and
information source (for those who attend)
about what is happening in the church.
- PRELUDE
An end to announcements; a signal that we are
about to begin; a mood-setter for the theme
of the service; "thoughtful" music.
- CHALICE-LIGHTING
MEDITATION
The opening parenthesis; an act by which we
set aside space and time in order to enter
into sacred space and sacred time. It is
usually an invoking of the values of the
Universalist Unitarian (UU) faith and of this
congregation. This is our ceremony; although
other groups at other times might also light
candles and chalices, this is our symbolic
moment. Appropriateness of the words used in
each meditation could be to the topic of the
sermon, to the season of the year, the theme
of the service, etc
- ANTIPHONAL
or RESPONSIVE READING
An extension of the tradition of chanting;
instead of singing we recite words together
as a way of illustrating the sharing of
concerns and/or values. The advantage of
antiphonal reading is that the possibilities
of reading are endless, whereas chants are
usually tied to particular moments or to the
special events which generated them.
- HYMNS
Three or four songs clustered around the
theme of the service to awaken our spiritual
energy; sometimes they provide the continuity
of the sermon; to weave perspectives into the
larger "message" of the day.
- A
STORY FOR ALL AGES
A special moment for the children; the story
introduces the topic of the sermon, or it may
be seasonal, or in some cases it illustrates
an attitude or concern which we think is
important and does so in an age-appropriate
way. Hymn #413: A hymn by which we "sing
the children out". Parents learn how to
say good-bye (for now) to their children. The
children are assured of our best wishes for
them as they leave. It also re-enforces the
notion that we all share in some way in the
responsibility for the children. i.e., the
children are "our" children as well
as the parents'
- OFFERING
The giving of financial gifts to the church
as a sign of support for the congregation. In
today's climate of electronic banking and
other innovations, the "collection
plate" has become as much an occasion
for spontaneous giving, a symbolic act of
participating constructively in the
institution, as it is an actual source of
revenue.
- OFFERTORY
an additional gift as the plate is being
passed, usually music.
- READING
an opportunity to prepare the congregation
for the sermon to follow. It gives support to
the sermon by showing that the speaker's
concerns are shared by others who have spoken
or written. It could also be a song, or a
special instrumental, or a display of
photographs, etc.
- WELCOME
OF VISITORS
An acknowledgement that we are a religious
community; also an act of hospitality
welcoming those around us to our communal
endeavour which non-members, or old friends,
will be recognized and, indeed, we are a part
of a larger culture.
- JOYS
AND CONCERNS
The co-central act of the liturgy (along with
the sermon); our congregation follows the
protestant or "low^ church practice of
inviting people to stand and share the joys
and concerns verbally. We are still few
enough in number so that this is practical.
Done silently, this corresponds roughly to
the act of communion in the "high"
churches (Anglican, Catholic).
- MEDITATION
a moment of reflection; a more specific
introduction to the sermon; an alternative
writer's take on the sermon theme; a period
of silence or special music as a clearing
away of the echoes of what the service has
been so far in preparation for the sermon.
- SERMON
the traditional central act of protestant
worship. A public statement of faith, derived
from a reading of the sacred text (for UUs,
"sacred texts" means all of
literature, and the arts, and the sciences).
The statement moves toward clarification or
advocacy of a theme which is important to
that congregation at that time, or important
to the general culture. It draws upon the
history and/or literature of UUs of the past
in order to exemplify how we UUs might make
sense of the complex world/society around us.
It challenges "the faithful" to
live the life of faith.
- INTERLUDE
a quiet moment to examine one's feelings in
response to the sermon in preparation to
respond out loud, if one chooses to do so.
- SHARING
A variation of the Quaker notion of
"speaking as the spirit moves you to
speak". This part of the service also
appropriates the evangelical notion of
"testimony". Except in the UU
tradition, it is assumed that the response to
the sermon will be something others will more
conscientiously understand (as distinct from
speaking in tongues, for instance). The gift
of tongues is a response to the sermon which
speaks to another level of consciousness than
our "normal" waking consciousness.
- CHALICE-EXTINGUISHING
MEDITATION
the closing parenthesis. We close the curtain
on the break in space and time, setting aside
the sacred space and sacred time until later.
The closing words which accompany the
extinguishing of the chalice often echo the
theme of the service or are just as often
well-wishing words of departure.
- POSTLUDE
closing music; sometimes recognizable as
relevant to the day's theme.
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