At noon on Thursday January 20, 2011, a Service of Cleansing and Healing took place in front of Safeway at Ina and Oracle in Tucson, Arizona. This is the site of the January 8th shooting that took the lives of Christina Taylor Green, Federal Judge John Roll, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck and Dorwin Stoddard and wounded 12 more, including [...]

 
Spiritual Health
A good gauge of spiritual health is to write down
the three things you most want,
If they in any way differ,
you are in trouble.
 
Rumi translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Ordinary 18, Pentecost + 10, Year C
 
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: What has captured my heart?
People: Who can teach me a love song?
Leader: Wherein do my loyalties lie?
People: In what do I invest my time and energy?
Leader: How do I use my resources?
People: How do I share my gifts and wisdom?
Leader: All these matters are of critical [...]

Pentecost Sunday   Year C

Leader:  Though we speak different languages and embrace diverse customs
People: The Spirit crosses every barrier and leads us to understanding
Leader: In moments when we feel abandoned
People: We can rest assured that God has claimed us as daughter or son
Leader: When we stand against rules that harm and demean humanity
People: Christ lights the [...]

Prayer for a Mother with Alzheimer’s

Tender God, thank you for journeying with my mother, for forming her into your brave and loving witness.  Thank you for continuing to journey with her in this dark and frightening time.
Give me patience, O God, like the patience she had with me when I was a child.  Give me [...]

Easter 6    Year C
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: For every person who has nurtured us
People: We thank God for their patience, insight, generosity and love
Leader: For every person who has stayed by our sides in our worst moments
People: We thank God for their faithfulness, tenderness and perseverance
Leader: For every person who has lit a candle in [...]

Easter 5   Year C
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Holy Mystery is greater than all our collective comprehension
People: Who are we to hinder God?
Leader: The Creator is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end
People: Who are we to hinder God?
Leader: God speaks from burning bushes, whirlwinds, in community and in the silence, leading us to new [...]

Easter 4    Year C

CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: May we be brought to life
People: By the circle of community
Leader: May we be brought to life
People: By the faith of friends
Leader: May we be brought to life
People: By telling and hearing the stories of each person’s gifts
Leader: May we be brought to life by Christ’s resurrecting love
People: [...]

Easter 3   Year C

CALL TO WORSHIP  (based on Acts 9:1-20)
Leader: Where is God when fear seeks to unravel individuals and communities?
People: God leads us in the darkness and in spite of the odds
Leader: Is anything impossible with God?
People: God can transform the hearts of persecutors and bullies and set their feet on the path [...]

Easter 2   Year C

CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Grace stood in the company of Fear
People: And offered peace beyond all imagining
Leader:  Hope stood in the midst of Grief
People:  And breathed companionship into broken hearts
Leader:  Forgiveness stood among people eager to cast blame
People:  And taught that offering forgiveness brings freedom
Leader:  The rabbi stood with his students
People:  And loved [...]