Tapestry of Faith: Faith Like a River: A Program on Unitarian Universalist History for Adults

Activity 2: The Almighty Love

Activity time: 15 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Handout 1, The Almighty Love
  • Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook
  • Optional: Piano or keyboard

Preparation for Activity

  • Copy Handout 1, The Almighty Love.
  • Become comfortable singing Theodore Parker's lyrics (Handout 1) to one of the tunes provided for Hymns 322 or 370 in Singing the Living Tradition.
  • Optional: Arrange for an accompanist to play the hymn.

Description of Activity

Introduce the activity in these words or your own:

Both the Unitarian and Universalist traditions have a rich history of hymnody, the art of writing music for the church. Many Unitarian Universalists enjoy singing hymns, despite the old joke, "Why are UUs so bad at singing hymns? Because they're always reading ahead to see if they agree with the lyrics!" Historically, hymns have been signposts that show the evolution of our theology and our social justice concerns.

Distribute Handout 1 and lead participants to sing the hymn together or read the lyrics aloud together.

After singing, ask:

  • According to Parker's lyrics, what is the nature of God?
  • Is Parker's naturalism an attractive concept for you?