2077 Friday Evening Worship
Planning Committee
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About a third of GA attendees turned out to join in the spirit of worship and community at this first all-GA worship service held in the main meeting hall. The Rev. Dr. W.F. Wooden, Senior Minister of First Unitarian Congregational Society, Brooklyn, NY, led the service. His homily is entitled, "Are We Having Fun Yet?"
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Wooden, pulling out first a thick volume of "a joke for every word," then a tiny little booklet of UU humor collection, exhorted us to have fun with our religion, which is too important to be taken seriously. Real religion has real humor, and is not embarrassed about itself. We UUs are often embarrassed to even talk about ourselves to others, let alone have fun with our faith. One way to have fun with our religion is singing. It is said that angels sing so beautifully because they take themselves lightly. Having been on the last hymnbook commission, Wooden gave us permission to have fun with hymn singing. We are allowed to re-write the text to fit the occasion. With the help of a 5-member collegiate choir and Burke on the piano, Wooden led us through a jazzed-up rendition of "Morning, So Fair to See" (hymn #42) by changing the word from "Morning" to "Evening" to match the occasion. To be able to have fun with one’s religion also implies trust. If we feel grounded and secure in our faith, it doesn’t matter if we get the words wrong every now and then when we sing. With the tempo taken down a whole notch, Burke played the introduction to "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" (hymn #208) in a slow swing. The hymn was sung in a slow and gently swinging rhythm like the flow of a river. The effect felt like praying. Wooden told the joke about a young white woman who married into a Bostonian family. She asked the matriarch in the family for advice on which club and which religion to join. The older woman said, "I can’t speak for you, but I have always been a Unitarian and it’s the very least I can be." We can laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously. We betray our faith by not trusting it. Trust in our faith enables us to build a spiritual and religious bet over which we can take flying leaps and play games and have fun! Participants continued to have fun with our faith when "Once to Every Soul and Nation" (hymn #119) was delivered with a South American flavor. Expanding on the image of a mind set on fire, Wooden introduced the startling concept of a Pentecostal UU. A Pentecostal UU is not someone who speaks in tongues, but someone who SPEAKS! Someone who speaks the truth and who vocalizes our faith. We are not here to save the world, but to have fun. We are here to save people from misery so that they can play and have fun. Reported by Kok Heong McNaughton |
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Courons a la Fêtes Hâtez-vous, redoublez vos pas.
Un Dieu plein d'appas Merite que l'on s'empresse; Un Dieu plein d'appas Vient nous sauver du trépas (French Carol) |
Come unto the feast, let no one be left behind Come unto the feast, follow me to find the way. Come ye shepherds from your flocks Hasten farmers from your hay Holiness is here In our midst if we would see it Holiness is here At the closing of the day. Come unto the feast, leave your labor and your troubles Use your voice and feet, to make music in the night. Sing a thousand merry songs Play and dance until the dawn. Let us not forget, We were children once and joyous. Let us not forget, We were born to know delight. |
Orlanda Brugnola is, among her many roles, the Chaplain for
the First Unitarian Society in Brooklyn. In addition she teaches world
religions and philosophy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in
New York, serves as campus minister at Columbia University, is s President
of both the Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture
and the Institute for the Study of Genocide, and is an established painter
and poet with many exhibitions and publications to her credit. She is
a 1979 graduate of the Starr King School
Leon Burke III is the Choir Director of Eliot (UU) Chapel of Kirkwood,
Missouri. He is a native of St. Louis, who began his musical studies
at age 12, studying piano and organ and voice. By age 16 he was conducting
orchestras. After graduating Oberlin Conservatory, with a BM in Composition,
completed his MM and DMA in Conducting from the University of Kansas.
He has been a Fulbright Fellow in Paraguay and is currently conductor
of the University City Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of
the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. By day he is an environmental consultant.\
Hope Johnson is the Educator at the First Unitarian Society
in Brooklyn, ordained to the ministry this June 2 by her home congregation,
the Community Church of New York. A graduate of New York Theological
School, she is a native of Jamaica who has lived around the world as
part of a diplomatic family. She has a daughter, Jova who is very active
in her YRUU group.
W. F. (Fred) Wooden has been Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Society in Brooklyn since 1994, after three pastorates in Texas and Massachusetts. Following his BA (Music) fro Washgington Univ. he received an MA from the Univ. Of Chicago and a D. Min from Meadville Theological School in 1979. He was a member of the Hymnbook Resources Commission and the Commission on Appraisal. He and Wendy have been married over 25 years and have two sons, Stephen and Aaron, who will be attending Carleton Univ. in Ottawa Canada this fall.
Prelude Mr. Leon Burke
Words of Invitation the Rev. Hope Johnson
Candles of Memory and Hope
Song Courons a la Fêtes
Are We Having Fun Yet?
The Rev. W. F. Wooden
Words of Parting the Rev. Orlanda Brugnola
Postlude Mr. Leon Burke
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