With Rev. Victoria Poling, our new minister!

Beginning well together will be a source of encouragement and live-giving hope. Let us offer a blessing to this moment as we embark on a path of shared ministry as minister and congregation. We will be finding our center, together, as we continue to create a Beloved Community of compassion and justice.

Readings from last week’s service for your own reflection and contemplation. Here is the blessing “For a New Beginning,” from To Bless the Space Between Us, by John O’Donohue. The second reading is by UU minister, Rev. Joe Cherry:

Let the Center Hold

This is my prayer: please let the center hold.
The center is what holds our faith together.
The strength of the center is what allows us to stretch farther into the future, To the unknown,
the untried
the uncertain
the unnerving
the places where growth happens.
Let the center be strong.
And let the center of this living tradition move with the times. Let the center of our living tradition LEAD the times.
May the strength of the center strengthen us as we seek,
As we embody compassion
Work for equity
Demand justice for all.
Let OUR center hold
Strong as an old Oak Tree,
Flexible as the Willow Tree
Life giving as an Orange Tree,
Ever green as the Pine tree and
As beautiful as the Almond tree in blossom.

Permission granted for use by Soul Matters.