September 15, 2024
The Invitation: Welcoming our Newest Members
Rev Rosemary Morrison, Service Leader Maida Zederayko
Chimes
Welcome and Announcements
Land Acknowledgement
Prelude
Chalice Lighting
A Place of Belonging and Caring by Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson
It is not by chance that you arrived here today.
You have been looking for something larger than yourself.
Inside of you there is a yearning, a calling, a hope for more,
A desire for a place of belonging and caring.
Through your struggles, someone nurtured you into being,
Instilling a belief in a shared purpose, a common yet precious resource
That belongs to all of us when we share.
And so, you began seeking a beloved community:
A people that does not put fences around love.
A community that holds its arms open to possibilities of love.
A heart-home to nourish your soul and share your gifts.
Welcome home; welcome to this sacred space.
Hymn 188 Come, Come Whoever You Are
Sharing Our Abundance
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X)
Responsive Reading 442 We Bid You Welcome
Song Draw the Circle Wide by Gordon Light
Meditation
Candles of Joy and Concern
Hymn 1058 Be Ours a Religion
Message Part One
New Member Ceremony
Message Part Two
Hymn 1008 When Our Heart is in a Holy Place
Extinguishing the Flame
A Benediction for New Member Sunday by Thomas Rhodes
In this religious community we reach back into the past to honor those who came before us and those who have given much so that we may be here today. And we reach forward with hands of welcome to embrace those who have newly joined our Fellowship.
Wherever your path may take you, may you carry the good news you have heard here today with you in your heart and on your lips as a blessing to everyone you may meet.
Go in peace.
Benediction
Carry the Flame
Postlude
Lyrics: Draw the Circle Wide
Chorus
Draw the circle wide
Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one is alone,
We’ll be side by side
Draw the circle wide.
Verse 1
Love the still point of the circle,
around it all things turn;
nothing lost, but held forever,
in love's gracious arms.
Chorus
Verse 2
Let our hearts touch far horizons,
to encompass great and small;
let our loving know no borders,
faithful to love's call.
Chorus
Verse 3
Let the dreams we dream be larger,
than we've ever dreamed before;
let our hearts be full of welcome
opening every door.
Chorus
