“Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what love feels
like in private.” ― Cornel West

 

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
 
PRELUDE –  Pat Morse, piano
         
CALL TO WORSHIP – Rev. Chad McGinnis
 
One: Come, friends, and give thanks to God, however known.
 
ALL: A God who invites and welcomes; a God who challenges and sustains.
 
One: Come, friends, give thanks to God, for a community of faith, a body together, in which all might find belonging and love.
 
ALL: We give thanks for this place and these people – for one another – and for the life we share.
 
One: Come, friends, and give thanks for a way of being that rejects barriers and prejudice.
 
ALL: We gather in joy, as we share in the goodness of community bound together in justice, curiosity, and love. Amen.
 
 
OPENING SONG – “For Everyone Born, A Place at the Table” by Shirley Erena Murray, with slight adaptations

For everyone born, a place at the table,

for everyone born, clean water and bread, a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing, for everyone born, a star overhead,
 
Refrain: and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace: yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
 
For genders diverse, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding the share,
with wisdom and grace, dividing the power, for genders diverse, a system
that’s fair,
             
Refrain
 
For young and for old, a place at the table, a voice to be heard, a part in the song, the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled, for young and for old, the right to belong,
 
Refrain
 
For spectrums of love, a place at the table, a covenant shared, a welcoming space, a rainbow of race and gender and color, for spectrums of love, the chalice of grace,
         
Refrain
 
For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship, for everyone born, the right to be free.
                   
Refrain

TIME WITH CHILDREN AND BIRTHDAYS – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
 
INTERLUDE
 
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE — Rev. Talia Raymond
 
RESPONSIVE SONG — “They’ll Know We’re God’s People by Our Love” — Pat Morse, piano
 
We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord. (2x)
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.
And they’ll know we’re God’s people by our love, by our love, (2x)
 
We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand.  (2x)
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.
And they’ll know we’re God’s people by our love, by our love. (2x)
 
NEW MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS

David Aune
Ethan Frey
James Gerien-Chen
Darin Shearer
Blanche Stokley
Peggy Witty
Ramona Zimmerman
 
Something I am seeking at UCG  
A talent or strength that I bring to this church
One thing I’d like you to know about me
 
WELCOME OF NEW MEMBERS — UCG Moderator Jeremy Archer
 
*READING OF THE COMPACT — printed on the back of the bulletin
 
*PRAYER FOR NEW MEMBERS and a SHARED BLESSING  
 
Please come forward and place your hand on the person in front of you.
 
*RESPONSE — “They’ll Know We’re God’s People by Our Love” verse 3
 
We will work with each other; we will work side by side. (2x)
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride.
And they’ll know we’re God’s people by our love, by our love. (2x)
 
READING – from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, offered by Jim Harper
 
So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century – the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of women through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light – are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world; – In other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.
 
SPECIAL MUSIC AND OFFERING  – “Stars” by Alain Boubili and Claude-Michel Schönberg –  offered by Edo Carter, vocals, and Pat Morse, piano
 
Your gifts support all facets of the UCG community. You can also give online: bit.ly/ucgplate. 
 
READING – from Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens – offered by Rev. Chad McGinnis
 
But if by some miracle, and all our struggle, the Earth is spared, only justice to every living thing (and everything alive) will save humankind. Only justice can stop a curse.

SERMON – “Beyond Law and Order” –  Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
 
CLOSING SONG – “Hammer Song”

If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning
I’d hammer in the evening, all over this land.
I’d hammer out danger, I’d hammer out warning,
I’d hammer out love between my brothers and
   my sisters, all over this land.
 
If I had a bell, I’d ring it in the morning,
I’d ring it in the evening, all over this land.
I’d ring out danger, I’d ring out warning,
I’d ring out love between my brothers and
   my sisters, all over this land.
 
If I had a song, I’d sing it in the morning,
I’d sing it in the evening, all over this land.
I’d sing out danger, I’d sing out warning,
I’d sing out love between my brothers and
    my sisters, all over this land.
 
Well, I got a hammer and I got a bell,
And I got a song to sing all over this land.
It’s the hammer of justice, It’s the bell of freedom,
It’s the song about love between my brothers and
  my sisters, all over this land.

                     
BENEDICTION
                
ALLELUIA