The home of Unitarianism in the West Midlands
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Sylvia L. Howe (adapted) I bid you welcome on this first Sunday of the New Year. Like Janus we gather with part of us looking backward and part of us looking forward. We gather on the edge of the new … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Cliff Reed We gather in a house of peace, where violence of hand or tongue are unwelcome strangers. The Spirit is among us as we breathe and sing and pray, speaking gentle, kind, and friendly words. Within us and through us may … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Cliff Reed (adapted) For millennia beyond count, in winter’s cold and night’s darkness, people have gathered around fire, feeling its warmth, seeing by its light, forging community with food and work and songs and stories. In all faith traditions of our kind, … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Cliff Reed In the quietness of this place and the peace of this hour, may we come close to our deeper selves. Fantasies and daydreams too often cloud our minds, and we use our time and energy pursuing empty goals. In busy-ness we … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words Prayer for Advent by Vernon Marshall (adapted) At Advent, O God, the Father of our spirits, the Mother of our souls, We wait in anxious anticipation for the coming season, keen to experience the warmth of goodwill which is abundant at this time. … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words from the Sanskrit Look to this day – For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities And realities of your existence: The bliss of growth, The glory of action, the splendour of beauty. For … Read more
Two Minute Silence Our service this week will begin with the customary Two Minute Silence, in honour and remembrance of those who have laid down their lives in war, that others might have peace. [silence] They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Cliff Reed We gather to share our faith in the spirit of freedom, our doubts in the spirit of honesty. We gather to focus our love in prayer, to send it to those who suffer and grieve – in our own … Read more
Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words The Blessing Chant from the White Goddess website (adapted) May the powers of the One, the source of all creation; all-pervasive, omnipotent, eternal; May the Goddess, the Lady of the Moon; And the God, Horned Hunter of the Sun; rulers of the elemental … Read more
Prelude Clouds by Elizabeth Harley Opening Words by Cliff Reed, based on words used by Rev John Fairfax at the opening of Ipswich Unitarian Meeting House, 26th April 1700 Divinity is present everywhere. Heaven and earth are filled with God. But in some places at certain times We feel a specialty of presence. … Read more