First Universalist Church Sunday Service Podcast

May 8, 2022- A Big Enough Story

This Sunday, May 8, we will celebrate the miracle that is at the center of our larger story and the cycle of life. We will welcome, name, and dedicate ourselves to the care of children in our congregation through a Child Dedication Ritual.

Words of Welcome and Land Acknowledgement- Rev. Jen Crow (:20)

Call to Worship- First Universalist 6th Graders (6:26)

Child Naming and Dedication Ritual- Lauren Wyeth, Rev. Jen Crow, Rev. Arif Mamdani (10:58)

Hymn- Come, Come Whoever You Are- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (18:41)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (19:47)

Message- A Big Enough Story- Lauren Wyeth (27:11)

Invitation to Give- Rev. Jen Crow (39:31)

Benediction- Lauren Wyeth (42:05)

 

 

April 17, 2022- Easter Sunday: We Rise Together

This Sunday, April 17, we will rise in the fullness of our community – inviting people in every age and stage of life to join together as one body. We’ve designed an Easter church experience with elements to engage the imagination and spirit of every age, with music, rituals, art, and movement that will help us all consider what boulders stand in the way of the flow of love in our life, and how we might remove them, together. Guest musicians Dean Magraw, Ian Young, and JT Bates will join our own Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder as they lead us in soulful songs familiar to young and old.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:20)

Wisdom Story- Stephanie Vos (5:57)

Invation to Ritual Stations- Rev. Jen Crow (8:32)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Lauren Wyeth (17:37)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:20)

Chant- We Rise (28:54)

Invitation to Give & Receive- Rev. Arif Mamdani (32:08)

Music Throughout - Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder, Dean Magraw, Ian Young, and JT Bates

 

February 13, 2022- Murmurations

In Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown invites us to imagine a future in which we humans have gained the ability to move akin to a flock of starlings, each of us attuned to those around us, able to shift and move in concert with the community(ies) of which we are a part. This Sunday, February 13, we wonder about the wisdom of starlings and how they might inform our lives, and we’ll celebrate and lift up those in the community who volunteer their time and energy in the multidimensional dance of church, making this community the vibrant and radiant place that it is.

Welcome and Land Acknowledgement- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:30)

Wisdom Story- Lauren Wyeth (7:43)

Ritual of Community Acknowlegement (12:19)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (17:20)

Homiy- Murmurations- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:17)

Piano throughout- Franco Holder

 

January 9, 2022- Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday is an annual service that is a time to remember and reflect on our losses over the past year and to honor those we love who have died. This service can also be a time to mark other significant losses in the life of your family, such as a separation or divorce, saying goodbye to friends who’ve moved away, or any number of other things.

 

Words of Welcome, Announcements, and Land Acknowlegement- Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Isabel Quast (:22)

Call to Worship and Chalice Lighting- Rev. Arif Mamdani, Will, Alice (10:21)

Story for All Ages- The Buddha and the Mustard Seed Medicine- Lauren Wyeth (11:54)

Poem- Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye- Margit Berg (17:58)

Sharing Our Loss and Lighting the Candle of Impermanence- Rev. Arif Mamdani (20:02)

Hymn- Aimee K. Bryant (25:08)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (26:41)

Reading- Blessing For the Brokenhearted by Jan Richardson- Janet Merrill (32:14)

Naming Ritual and Lighting the Candle of Memory- Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Rev. Arif Mamdani (34:05)

Song- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (38:21)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (40:47)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (46:30)

 

Piano throughout- Franco Holder

 

 

October 31, 2021- Remembering Ritual: When the Veil is Thin

Instead of our usual hour-long worship service, we invite you to join us for a ritual with music by Franco as the centerpiece.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow

Ritual- Franco Holder, pianist

September 12, 2021- Backpack Blessing/What We Need Is Here

This multigenerational service of song, story, and strength as we remember that no matter what is going on around us or within us, when we are in it together – what we need is here. Backpacks will be blessed for those who carry them, and all of us will come away with the joy of community and a grounding in our deepest commitments.

Worship leaders: Rev. Jen Crow, Lauren Wyeth, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Rev. Karen Hutt

June 6, 2021- The Stories We Tell- Rev. Jen Crow

This Sunday, we say a final Good Goodbye to Rev. Justin through story, song, ritual, and a message from Rev. Jen Crow. 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Story for All Ages- Rev. Arif Mamdani (5:22)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (11:21)

Ritual of Relinquishment- Worship Leaders (18:52)

Message- The Stories We Tell, Rev. Jen Crow (24:09)

Outro Music- For Good by Stephen Schwartz- Franco Holder

May 23, 2021- Youth Sunday

In our annual beloved Youth Sunday worship, our senior high youth offer a message, story and music to remind us to cross the thresholds in our lives with care, creativity and courage. This Sunday, May 23, the service includes a Bridging Ritual to honor our graduating seniors, marking the end of their time as First Universalist youth and welcoming them into young adulthood in our church. Youth Sunday is a moving expression of our vibrant multigenerational religious community that you won’t want to miss.

Words of Welcome- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:28)

Story for All Ages- Sylvia (3:35)

Musical Offering- Wherever Is Your Heart by Brandi Carlile, Juliet and Theo (7:00)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (8:40)

Message- Liv (12:45)

Special Music- Swimming to the Other Side by Pat Humphries, David and Lisa Carnes (12:51)

Bridging Ritual- Lindsey Thomas, Lauren Wyeth, Emma Paskewitz (22:25)

Closing Words - Julica Hermann de la Fuente (27:52)

 

January 10, 2021- Remembrance Sunday

Every year, as we begin the New Year, we hold a ritual space to name and recount the losses we’ve experienced in the past year. This year, more than ever, this ritual of “Remembrance Sunday” feels so important. In 2020, grief was a constant companion. We lost jobs, business, and loved ones, many of them to Covid-19. We lost opportunities to attend graduations and weddings, memorials and family reunions. For many of us, grief wove with grief.

In this service, we will be held by beautiful music from Ellis as well as Franco Holder and violinist Travis Waymon. Lauren Wyeth, Rev. Arif Mamdani, and Rev. Justin Schroeder will lead us in story and ritual as we touch on the realities of impermanence, remember what lives on in memory, and discover how, even in the face of grief, we might embrace life and love once again.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Justin Schroeder (:29)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (3:03)

Lighting the Candle of Impermanence (9:30)

Interlude- Excerpt from Spiegel im Spiegel- Travis Waymon and Franco Holder (10:55)

Prayer and Reflection- Rev. Justin Schroeder (11:43)

Lighting the Candle of Memory (21:02)

Spirit of Life- Travis Waymon and Franco Holder (22:02)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:20)

Lighting the Candle of Embracing (30:46)

Start Where You Are- Ellis Delaney (32:45)

Closing Words- Lauren Wyeth, Rev. Arif Mamdani, Rev. Justin Schroeder (36:59)

December 27, 2020 - A Year-End Prayer- Rev. Arif Mamdani

Rev. Arif Mamdani shares: In a year that has seen so much, how we gather, how we mark this passing, is not as clear cut as it may have been in other, less tumultuous years.

Back in the spring, almost a year ago now, I asked “what is the story that we want to be able to tell about this time?” I invited us then to imagine ourselves into a future where we’d be sharing the story of this pandemic with young ones who hadn’t lived through it or were too young to recall. This was before George Floyd was murdered, before the cities across our nation and around the world rose up in a cry for justice that is still reverberating, before it became evident that Line 3 was going to be a significant fight, before our president would make numerous attempts to destroy our democracy and we would wonder (we are still wondering) if we’d have a peaceful transition of power or if we would need to be in our streets defending our democracy. And in the background of all this, the drumbeat of loss, and loss, and loss that has been a constant refrain of 2020.

It has been a year. And so, when we gather as a community on the 27th, let’s gather with this question in mind: “how shall we end this year? And what comes next?” And when we gather, let’s see how we answer it, together.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Arif Mamdani (:34)

Opening Hymn, Sanctuary - Seth Anderson-Matz (3:01)

Collective Prayer- Rev. Arif Mamdani (4:59)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (19:27)