May we honor and hold gently our past. May we live fully our present. May we hope toward and build our future, Living our mission [insert congregation's mission statement]: "To be a spiritual community To welcome all To nurture one another To work for justice And to care for the earth." May these...

NOTE: All or part of this ritual can be used to bless a sacred space. We blessed our newly renovated sanctuary for the qualities and attributes we were trying to create with our renovations. Between each blessing, we sang a hymn, had a children’s story, took the offering, had a choir anthem, and...

Radical hospitality. Radical means “out of the ordinary,” “revolutionary,” even. So what would it mean to receive someone—a stranger—with a presence that was not just polite, but to receive them with revolutionary generosity? Activist Rosemarie Harding remembers her growing-up days, in...

Why should we intentionally work for diversity? The responses to this question vary widely. Of course, hard demographic realities suggest much. But for me, beyond any demographic or sociological justification, there is a theological imperative....

The tale I am about to tell is a based on a true story. It is a tale woven from the stories of those who remember. It is a tale of wayward travels, a tale of the stranded tourist. Some of the people who recounted the events described it as a Happy Accident....

This congregation is a theologically diverse religious community with membership open to all who are in accordance with our principles, mission and vision. We are a Welcoming Congregation to people of all sexual orientations, and we unconditionally welcome any and all of you to our community of...

I hope you all had the opportunity to meet someone new this morning, and I certainly hope to meet all our first-time guests this morning after the service....

May the walls of this house be strong in the face of storms: Whether of winds or of words, whether of thunder or of tyranny. May the windows of this house be clear to the world's light: Whether of dawns or of daring, whether of sunsets or of stillness....

Leader: Whether you have come here with heart full or heart empty, with spirits high or low, rested or tired, hopeful or despairing, Congregation: Whether we have come here out of habit, conviction, loneliness, or curiosity, Leader: You belong here because you are here, and all that you have and ...

Welcome to this place of possibility! This is love's hearth, the home of hope, a refuge for minds in search of truth unfolding, ever beautiful, ever strange. Here, compassion is our shelter, freedom our protection from the storms of bigotry and hate. In this abode, may we find comfort and courage.

Once upon a time, a thief snuck into the room of a sleeping Buddhist monk. As the burglar rummaged about, the monk awoke. The startled thief ran into the snowy streets with the monk racing after him, "Please stop!" the monk called, and the man finally did, realizing that his pursuer was no threat.

The most important thing that I’ve learned in traveling to more than twenty countries is the art of being a guest. And I’m a particularly fine visitor at the supper table. I’ve consumed live fish in Inner Mongolia, not-quite-coagulated blood sausage on the Tibetan plateau, shredded pig’s ear...

Spirit of life, be present with us this hour. Join us today as we gather in a wider search for truth and purpose. In this quest, may we greet one another with open hearts and minds; may we inspire each other to consider new questions and seek deeper meaning; and may we cultivate wisdom and...