Every time we open ourselves to one another, we become more human.

You can crush Love down, bury it, cover it over, but it will rise.

Spirit of Life On this night, may we bear witness to the guiding lights: the lights in the sky That call us to gather, and to give of ourselves To celebrate new life....

We light our chalice as a symbol of gratitude as we celebrate the abundance of our lives together. In this sanctuary we harvest bushels of strength for one another, and offer our crop with the hands of compassion and generosity....

When the angel Gabriel brought to Mary the news that she would give birth to a son, Luke records that “she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” The angel said to Mary, [response:] Do not be afraid. When an angel appeared before the shepherds living...

I long for progressive religious communities that are confessing communities—places where we admit our wrongdoings, are held accountable, and called back into covenant.

Dearly beloved, the story is told that a man named Jesus dined nearly two thousand years ago among his disciples on the eve of his arrest and crucifixion. Some say that Jesus took bread, spoke of it as his body, broke it into pieces and passed it among them to eat....

This reading is an excerpt of the sermon delivered by Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd on Sunday morning at General Assembly 2016. For as long as two or more have gathered in the name of the spirit, those two or more have fought some fake fights. You remember, perhaps, the classic wedding reading from...

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”...

When we take fire from our chalice, it does not become less. It becomes more. And so we extinguish our chalice, but we take its light and warmth with us, multiplying their power by all of our lives, and sharing it with the world.

Spirit of Life, Ground of our being, Root of unified mystery Growing into myriad branches of expression, Bring us together now....

We draw from many wells, From oceans and rivers, From lakes and streams, From the muddy Mississippi to the roaring Rio Grande, From faraway places and from the ponds and puddles in our own backyards....

We light this chalice to honor the teachings of Jesus, The love of neighbor and of God, The command to care for the least of these, and The Kingdom of Heaven, the Beloved Community, Which he proclaimed.

For holy days on which we recall the old stories, we light the flame. For Passover which reminds us of the courage and strength of those seeking freedom in the past, we light the flame. For Easter which reminds us that love is our greatest challenge, we light the flame....

To water in excelsis. In vino veritas. As the Son of Man (or, Jesus) came eating and drinking and made friends with the people of the earth regardless of social distinction or class, let us strive to do likewise in our own eating and drinking, thinking and speaking, living and acting....

O One, for whom words to describe are always inadequate, we give thanks that you may be often found in the most common, the most basic of human experience. Particularly we give thanks for the common meal: that which has sustained us as individuals, as families and as faith communities. Among the...

Seeds, scattered on fertile ground, are warmed by the sun and fed by the soil. They sprout and grow, producing great fields of grain. The grain is harvested and ground into flour and shipped across the nation....