This story was created collaboratively by several religious educators. As you prepare to share it, read the 1966 Ware Lecture "Don't Sleep Through the Revolution," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Hollywood, Florida, May 18, 1966.
Story
| By
Gail Forsyth-Vail
|
January 29, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Humanism, Juneteenth, Justice, Justice Sunday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility
This is adapted from a litany by Gail Forsyth-Vail, who suggests the following to maximize the reading's power: Identify seventeen people who will come forward to represent the generations of African Americans in the British colonies and in the United States. As you name the first generation,...
Reading
| By
James (Jay) C Leach
|
January 29, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, History, Humanism, Juneteenth, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity
This reading requires seventeen people who are able to come forward and represent the generations of African Americans in the British colonies and in the United States. As you name the first generation, indicate to a person that they should stand. Each time you call a new generation, you indicate...
Reading
| By
Gail Forsyth-Vail
|
January 29, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, History, Humanism, Juneteenth, Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity
“The Miseducation of Justice-Making” excerpted from Nathan C. Walker (2014) Exorcising Preaching: Crafting Intellectually Honest Worship. St. Louis: Chalice Press. What does justice-making look like, feel like, when we receive hostile communication? Are we hostile in return? Or is something else...
Reading
| By
Nathan C. Walker
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: Courage, Direct Experience, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Strength, Teamwork, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
“Beyond the Zero-Sum Game” excerpted from Nathan C. Walker (2014) Exorcising Preaching: Crafting Intellectually Honest Worship. St. Louis: Chalice Press. For centuries, insiders have been democratizing their religions. Incremental moments of institutional reform have led to a new era of...
Reading
| By
Nathan C. Walker
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: Courage, Covenant, Direct Experience, Power, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Responsibility, Teamwork, Unitarian Universalism
“This Ain’t No Country Club” excerpted from Nathan C. Walker (2014) Exorcising Preaching: Crafting Intellectually Honest Worship. St. Louis: Chalice Press. There is no time to be spinning around ourselves saying, “We’re so small. We’re a minority religion.” As if “minority” is...
Reading
| By
Nathan C. Walker
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
“Personal Spiritual Trainers” excerpted from Nathan C. Walker (2014) Exorcising Preaching: Crafting Intellectually Honest Worship. St. Louis: Chalice Press. When you come to me, come not with the expectation to have some passive clergyperson coddle you into complacency. No. Come to me as your...
Reading
| By
Nathan C. Walker
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: Direct Experience, Growth, Humility, Meaning, Progress, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Unitarian Universalism
Great Spirit of Life, as a new year begins, we turn inward to reflect about the state of our lives: What lessons have we learned in the past year and which new ones now call us forward? To whom do we still owe an apology or expression of thanks? And with whom must we draw fresh boundaries? As we...
Prayer
| By
Kate Lore
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: Awe, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Judaism, New Year, Paganism, Power, Relationships, Rosh Hashanah, Searching, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
I want to talk about choice. I want to talk about the fact that just because someone who is out to destroy you says you chose to be the way you are does not mean the path of best protection is to counter with “no I didn’t, it’s not a choice, I was born this way and I’ve always been this...
Affirmation
| By
Alex Kapitan
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
There once was a child who got lost in the woods. As night began to descend, the child became more and more frightened. I’m sure any of us would be frightened too, in that situation, but what made this child even more frightened, was that he had always been afraid of the dark. He was more afraid...
Story
| By
Sheri Phillabaum
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
O come all you faithful, rejoicing and victorious, Come, let us embrace the mystery in the spirit of life, as we celebrate the goodness of Kwanzaa and the the African American heritage. Come and give thanks for companions on the journey in the struggle for freedom and justice....
Prayer
| By
Addae Ama Kraba
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Oh Beloved, Can it be that another year has passed? Wasn’t it just yesterday when we heard such familiar music, when these well-worn stories awakened us from our post-harvest slumber? Wasn’t it only weeks ago when we last reminisced about seasons past, when life seemed easier, when this season...
Prayer
| By
Aaron Payson
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Hope, Joy, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule
My name is Mary Magdalene. You may have heard of me. I lived a long, long time ago, 2,000 years ago. And I’m here today to tell you the story of Easter as I saw it. But first I should tell you that some people think I'm a little crazy. Legend has it that I spent most of my life alone in a cave,...
Script
| By
Tess Baumberger
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Leader 1: This is a special night – Christmas Eve, the night before we celebrate the birth of a Jewish leader whose life and words have changed the minds and hearts of many to the side of goodness, generosity and caring. Leader 2: In honor of that birth, tonight we tell the story of a man whose...
Script
| By
Tess Baumberger, Cindy Clarenbach
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
A Christmas Play for Grownups Minister: Tonight I invite you to imagine yourselves there that holy night, when a mother and father had their first child. We try to imagine what went through the minds and hearts of the parents of Jesus, in the months leading up to his birth....
Script
| By
Tess Baumberger
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Something has changed in me this winter. In the past I’ve focused on how long winter is, How miserable I find it, and how it seems so interminable. This winter, I find myself thinking instead That every day, every hour, every minute Brings us just that much closer to spring. We all experience...
Poetry
| By
Tess Baumberger
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Waiting to be born, again, into the morning, onto the day, from dark warm comfort, of my bed full of sleep and blankets, back into bright spring-scented air with all its life and branches....
Reading
| By
Tess Baumberger
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Keeper of our journeys, Today we mark and celebrate a significant moment in the lives of these young people Who this year assume the responsibility of becoming licensed drivers. We ask that they might be gifted with wisdom to make good choices as they navigate the roads ahead....
Blessing
| By
Gary Kowalski
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
You never know how things will turn out. Sometimes big events have very small beginnings. A little acorn can turn into a giant oak tree, for example, but you’d never guess from looking that the acorn had all that potential hidden inside. Long ago, Jesus talked with people about that very idea....
Homily
| By
Gary Kowalski
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
Tagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Children, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, Justice, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation
I like congregational meetings. More than any other facet of church life, more than the worship or music or potlucks, these exercises in democratic decision-making go to the heart of our religious heritage....
Opening
| By
Gary Kowalski
|
January 25, 2015
| From
WorshipWeb
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This story was created collaboratively by several religious educators. As you prepare to share it, read the 1966 Ware Lecture "Don't Sleep Through the Revolution," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Hollywood, Florida, May 18, 1966.Story | By Gail Forsyth-Vail | January 29, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Humanism, Juneteenth, Justice, Justice Sunday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility
Great Spirit of Life, as a new year begins, we turn inward to reflect about the state of our lives: What lessons have we learned in the past year and which new ones now call us forward? To whom do we still owe an apology or expression of thanks? And with whom must we draw fresh boundaries? As we...Prayer | By Kate Lore | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Judaism, New Year, Paganism, Power, Relationships, Rosh Hashanah, Searching, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
Leader 1: This is a special night – Christmas Eve, the night before we celebrate the birth of a Jewish leader whose life and words have changed the minds and hearts of many to the side of goodness, generosity and caring. Leader 2: In honor of that birth, tonight we tell the story of a man whose...Script | By Tess Baumberger, Cindy Clarenbach | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Conscience, Dignity, Generosity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism