Our nation has so much turmoil within it now.  Maybe it always did and some of us if not many of us weren’t listening.  Beginning with the initial colonial period extending through our separation from Great Britain and moving past the Civil War, Jim Crow, into the present time we’ve failed each other in so many ways.  Deep listening to our indigenous peoples of the world;  America, Australia and Africa would begin to alter many of our views about life if we could really hear them?  Join us at UUCLV as we deep dive into ideas and narrative from other sources and hopefully listen well.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Brother #BrothersKeeper #IndigenousPeople

National Hispanic Heritage Month traditionally honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans as we celebrate heritage rooted in all Latin American countries. During this service let us acknowledge, share the history, heritage, and accomplishments of Hispanic and Latino Americans of the Unitarian Universalist world, past and present.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Connections #HispanicHeritage #LatinX #LatinoAmericans

Ringing the Bell
Welcome
Invocation (Rev. Gordon)
Opening Words

In our society today, so many people are in pain.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us could practice deep listening so we could begin the journey towards healing a broken world.  Join us as we engage our active listening skills and begin yet again to hear our heart's yearnings and maybe come to understand each other a bit better by practicing a skill so many need to learn.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService  #Listening #DeepListening

​Chalice Lighting
Singing Together: #1054, “Let This Be A House of Peace”

Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection & Silence
​Pastoral Hymn: #354, “We Laugh, We Cry” 

We Laugh, We Cry
Words & Music by Shelley Jackson Denham
​
We laugh, we cry, we live, we die; we dance, we sing our song.
We need to feel there’s something here to which we can belong.
We need to feel the freedom just to have some time alone.
But most of all we need close friends we can call our very own.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a need to be together.
We have our hearts to give, we have our thoughts to receive;
and we believe that sharing is an answer.

A child is born among us and we feel a special glow.
We see time’s endless journey as we watch the baby grow.
We thrill to hear imagination freely running wild.
We dedicate our minds and heart to the spirit of this child.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a time to be together.
And with the grace of age, we share the wonder of youth,
and we believe that growing is an answer.

Our lives are full of wonder and our time is very brief.
The death of one among us fills us all with pain and grief.
But as we live, so shall we die, and when our lives are done
the memories we shared with friends, they will linger on and on.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a place to be together.
We have the right to grow, we have the gift to believe
that peace within our living is an answer.

We seek elusive answers to the questions of this life.
We seek to put an end to all the waste of human strife.
We search for truth, equality, and blessed peace of mind.
And then, we come together here, to make sense of what we find.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love,
and we have found a joy being together.
And in our search for peace, maybe we’ll finally see:
even to question, truly is an answer.

Lyrics from https://farfringe.com/stlt354-we-laugh-we-cry/

Musical Interlude by Sky
Let’s Talk About It
     1. •  Have you been a person that seeks to understand before being understood?
     2. •  Do you have experiences of being given undivided attention?
     3. •  What would it take to become a nonjudgmental person?  Is it possible? 
Closing Song #318, “We Would Be One” 

evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love.” But it’s not just prophetic people, it’s also wise people. 

And our faith tells us that some of the wisest people are older people, or as our faith calls them, Elders. They have many years of life experience. Listening to their many journeys helps us navigate our own. So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? It tells us to “Listen to those who have come before! Listen to the Elders!”

We will be talking about our Elders who have died and the wisdom they have passed on to us, drawing pictures to remind us of our loved ones who have passed, and sharing objects or photos with each other that remind us of those who have died. (please bring and object/photo to share)

If you have any questions or would like to help lead an activity, please let us know.

​Please message us for the Zoom ID & password.

to nature, we are taken to a place of calm, knowing that we are not isolated and alone but instead a part of something so interconnected. So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? ​

It tells us to “Listen to Nature!” We will be listening to cicadas/crickets, reading a story about listening to nature, doing some deep listening to our surroundings, and making a cricket band (please bring a comb and wax paper/ plastic bag)

If you have any questions or would like to help lead an activity, please let us know.

​Please message us for the Zoom ID & password.

this work and called white UU’s to be especially vigilant about the work of listening to and centering BIPOC voices. So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? It says, “White UU’s, listen to BIPOC voices and actively work to bring them into the center of our faith!”

​We will be reading stories that center white and BIOPIC voices and talking about why it is important to have stories that reflect everyone, talking about a time when deep-listening help a UU congregation reflect on their racism, taking a moment to meditate and pause so we are better able to listen to each other, and talking about the importance of names and having some fun with our own.

If you have any questions or would like to help lead an activity, please let us know.

We discussed the differences between the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and the Platinum Rule (Do unto others as THEY would have you do unto THEM), and we explored how offering healing and help to people must start with asking them how they define the problem they are struggling with. To get at this, we used this Google slide deck (shared below) to show each other a variety of “ambiguous images” on the Zoom screen, and then had everyone share which image they saw first. Like this game, we may think we see their struggle clearly when in truth they have an entirely different perspective on it. The game became a reminder that we can never assume we hold “the one right view” and instead always need to honor how others view their own circumstances and challenges. Talk about times in your life when you’ve struggled with this dynamic.
​
Google Slide Deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vCAsW7Z6GqlqUEI3ugHPcWpAItYXqDOHADNvoaxWOb4/edit?usp=sharing

It tells us to “Listen to your heart’s call to be compassionate!”

We will be reading a story about listening with our compassionate, singing about listening with our hearts, and getting to active to tune into our own hearts.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las vegas is proud to sponsor this special online event.

Poetry Promise, Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival, and Clark County Poet Laureate Present:
LET THERE BE NO REGRETS; an online series featuring our United States Poet Laureate,
Joy Harjo.

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and was named the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States in 2019. She is the first Indigenous author to be so honored.

A free online three-part series running September 23rd, September 29th, and October 1st!

Wednesday, September 23 at 5:00 p.m. (PDT)
The 20th annual Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival (LVJFF) presents a free online screening of a PBS documentary film entitled Unspoken Americas: Native American Boarding Schools, as part of its ongoing virtual film series. Following the screening will be a webinar discussion of the documentary, moderated by Joshua Abbey, Director of LVJFF, featuring Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis and Professor Andrew Woolford Ph.D. of the University of Manitoba.

Tuesday, September 29 at 5:00 p.m. (PDT)
Joy will read poems from her forthcoming publication An American Sunrise via Zoom.

Thursday, October 1 at 5:00 p.m. (PDT) 
Joy will participate in a webinar conversation with author Terry Tempest Williams about the August 2020 publication of the first Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through.

http://poetrypromise.org/joy-harjo/
https://www.facebook.com/events/757940198317730/

A Note from Our Minister
Continuing Conversations
Fall 2020

"People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy." — Anton Chekhov

Greetings dear UU’s, family, friends, and soon to be acquaintances.  

Welcome to the first of four seasonal columns.  My continuing conversations have been offline since summer and I'm finally ready to delve back into the dialogue about subjects ranging from Unitarian Universalist theology to interpersonal relationships.  Along with the usual and very UU things I’d like to engage in this late summer and fall.  I’m looking at the political issues facing our state and nation.  I can't help but pay attention to climate change and the effects that the changing realities are bringing us. Lastly I’m trying the thematic approach to monthly worship and engagement and here are some headings to keep in mind-

September: Renewal, 
October: Deep Listening and 
November: Healings.  

As always I've got lots to say maybe, in fact, too much, but nevertheless here we go - let's have a deep and abiding time engaging our faith, seeking more connections with our partners in seeking justice and in this time of Covid 19, finding ways to stay healthy, have fun, and stay connected to one another.

So, here we go.  Yes, this is new.  Yes, this is strange.  Yes, we will survive even the worst of times if we hold onto the light;  Hold onto our joys;  Hold onto the love and promise of better days ahead.  

As I sit here now, I’m learning of Ruth Badger Ginsburg's death.  Our nation has sustained a great loss.  She has been a tower of strength and resilience; a caretaker of our precious Constitution.  She will be missed, but she has shown us by her actions, by her grace, by her indomitable will, that if you keep your resolve you can persevere in the midst of mind-numbing ignorance.

I'm giving my time this season to getting to know you, Las Vegas, Clark County, and Nevada.  I am involved with DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) and hope to open a chapter here in our beautiful community for POC who feel UUism is for them.  I am on the CENTER Committee of the UUMA (Unitarian Universalist Minister Association). The Mission of C.E.N.T.E.R. is to design and deliver excellent continuing education that inspires, nurtures, and transforms members of the UUMA (our ministers).

I am honored to serve CENTER as it is a resource for the UUMA and the UUA in its mission to organize, plan and support collegial networks of education and training for our UUA clergy.

I am a member of CPSP (College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy). This is a credentialing body of clergy and chaplains, psychotherapists and pastoral counselors that teach, preach, provide mental health services and offer care in the midst of the lives of people far and wide, rich and poor, and people of all faith across our country.  I will be looking to develop a connection for this body within our fair city.

So dear UU’s and friends, your willingness to engage with me is critical for my immersion into our beloved UUCLV and into this region.  I've got to be on point about how I learn, grow and absorb knowledge about each of you and about the needs of our community.

So, let's look at each other via zoom and in small groups and let's dance a bit with each other; maybe on a monthly zoom dance party, and let's get to building the very best UUCLV we can possibly create and live into the wonderful mission of this congregation that says -

As a beacon in the desert,
we gather as a multi-generational, spiritual community
to build a place of love, acceptance, and justice
dedicated to worshiping, learning, and working together here and throughout southern Nevada.

We started the year at UUCLV (the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas) with our opening service last Sunday with the Water Communion.

So, let's go!  Let's dance!  Let's engage!  Let's bring about a new season for UUCLV.  One in which we go beyond our wildest imaginations.  A renewed connection to our vision, mission, and covenant for our beloved congregation.  

All in all, we are on the move and we are offering worship services, volunteer opportunities, and fun that should excite children and families and bring our community closer together.  Ours is a faith that goes out into the world offering hope. Let's keep Hope, Faith, and Love alive as we remember our relationships, stay mindful of all around us, and find ways to express gratitude for the lives we share.

In faith,
Rev Gordon Clay Bailey

Chalice Lighting
Welcome
Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection & Silence
    Excerpt from: Do Something Cool Finding the Beauty in Everyday Life by Steve Bloom
Have you ever watched the movie American Beauty? There’s a scene in the movie where a character is watching a plastic bag floating in the wind. The bag drifts back and forth and up into the air as the wind shifts direction.

As the character watches, he says, “sometimes there is so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it.”

It’s the rather humbling idea that beauty surrounds us. It’s here every day, only it’s hidden in the seemingly insignificant parts of our daily routine. How many of us would have passed by this floating plastic bag and never given it a second thought?

The character in the movie found immense beauty in an everyday item – a plastic bag floating in the wind. But can it really be that simple?

I think it is. There are many everyday things – things everyone else around me fails to notice – that make me feel as if the world is a very beautiful place.

He found everyday beauty in a plastic bag. I find beauty in my morning cup of coffee. It may sound strange, but if I pour my cup of coffee in the morning the right way, the contents swirl together into whitish foam that floats to the surface. If I do it just right, it looks beautiful.

How many times did I wake up in the morning, pour my coffee like that, but fail to notice it? For that matter, how many beautiful things are going on around me right now that I’m failing to notice?
And then I wonder more deeply about my coffee. I think about all the people it takes to ship the beans here, package them and sell them to me.

All so I can enjoy a good cup of coffee every morning.

These people, whether they intend it or not, make my life so much better just by being there.
That, to me, is a beautiful idea.

A lot of everyday beautiful things surround us – only most people never take the time to see them. They’re all too focused on the tasks ahead of them or the routines in their life to take time out and look for them.

It’s as if they have blinders on and can only see what is directly in front of them.

It’s for this reason that I’m fascinated with some Andy Warhol paintings especially the ones that include Campbell’s soup cans and bananas. By putting those ordinary objects front and center, he’s trying to show viewers the everyday beauty we all too often miss.

That’s why I’ve develop a simple habit. Every once in a while, I stop what I’m doing and take five minutes to just look around me. I shift my focus away from my daily routine and check out my surroundings.

It’s crazy what beautiful things you’ll discover.

I remember one time in college when I did this. While walking on campus, I looked – I mean really looked – at the trees growing on the grounds.

I never really noticed before how beautiful they were.

I must have passed by them hundreds of times, but never gave them more than a glance. It was only when I stopped and focused my attention on them that I could recognize just how beautiful they are.

That’s the big difference between the negative images happening around us and the beautiful ones. Negative and ugly imagery gets in your face and forces you to pay attention to them.
The beautiful things in life require you to seek them out. And when you do take the time to search for them, you can find there’s a lot more everyday beauty around you than you realize. It’s just one way to bring a little more brightness into a world that can often be too gray.

Pastoral Hymn: #21 For The Beauty of the Earth
(John Rutter) by SJPS Chamber Choir & Christmas Concert Choir

​Offering and Invitations
Offertory Music by Sky
Story for All Ages: A Hat for Mrs. Goldman by Michelle Edwards

Sermon: A Hardware Store as Proof of the Existence of God ~ Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter
​     via the First Unitarian Church of Dallas

Closing Song: What A Wonderful World by ​Louis Armstrong

Benediction and Extinguish the Chalice
Beauty is everywhere, even still. Even with the heartache, trauma, tragedy, every terrible thing.      You’re not fashioned only by what happens to you, but by how you continue to love through it all.    By how you’re willing to keep going, keep giving, opening, softening.
Beauty isn’t only in moments of triumph, glamour, or scenery so divine it takes your breath away.
Beauty is in the crack in the sidewalk, in the short stretches of silence, at that moment when there’s no distance between you and the person you love.
(​https://healingbrave.com/blogs/all/quotes-beauty-is-everywhere)

So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of renewal?
It tells us, “Love who you are!” 
​If you have any questions or would like to help lead an activity, please let us know.

Learning Together - Love Who You Are
by ARIEL SUBLETT on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Hello everybody! Thanks to those of you who joined us on Saturday for Learning Together. During our last session with the theme of Renewal, we focused on how we are renewed by loving who we are, we did a meditation where we visualized a path to a treasure box with a key given by a guide, and we played a game called “Our Favorites” and drew pictures of what we love to do. This was a simple, fun game you can try with your family or friends. Everyone has only a minute to draw their favorite things and others had to guess what their favorites were.
​
Here are some additional resources to use with your families:
● Watch this Story Video: Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dream

Written by: Crystal Hubbard, Read by Kevin Costner and Jillian Estell, Suggested grade level: 3rd - 4th, Run time: 14 minutes

Summary: “If there was anything in the world better than playing baseball, Marcenia Lyle didn't know what it was. As a young girl in the 1930s, she chased down fly balls and stole bases, and dreamed of one day playing professional ball. With spirit, spunk, and a great passion for the sport, Marcenia struggled to overcome the objections of family, friends, and coaches, who felt a girl had no place in the field. When she finally won a position in a baseball summer camp sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals, Marcenia was on her way to catching her dream...” – from the website https://www.storylineonline.net/books/catching-the-moon-the-story-of-a-young-girlsbaseball-dream/

• Or purchase or make a Journal: Me: A Compendium
https://vimeo.com/178109298

The chalice represents our Unitarian Universalist faith and, in a nutshell, bringing our UU faith into our homes is what this journey is all about. Instead of going to the congregation's building, we are bringing church into our homes! It’s also a reminder that church isn’t just a place we go to but something we carry with us wherever we go.



​Ariel Sublett and Rory Solomon will talk about a new program we are trying out where we invite you to create a chalice altar in your own home, and carve out some time for personal, and family, worship and connection.

This is a program from Soul Matters and is being used by UUs around the country.

Join us and ask questions, get ideas, and find out if this is an experience you would like to share in.

If you would like to receive the emails with the monthly packet full of details on setting up your chalice, rituals and worship, please message/email Rory Solomon or Ariel Sublett at [email protected]

More information: ​https://www.uua.org/beliefs/who-we-are/chalice

Hello All!

During the Learning Together time we focused on how we recommit to anti-racism work, and we played the Who Am I? Race Awareness Game. It is originally a two-player game meant for a parent and child. We suggest you play it together as a family. Both players see a set of faces. The first player selects a face and passes the device to the other player who then tries to guess which face the first player chose. Players can test out their detective skills by asking questions about the physical appearance of the target face to eliminate the other choices. When the second player guesses, players can read more about the selected person. There are conversation tips between rounds.

*Note: Unfortunately, this app is available only for iPhone and iPad at this time. Who Am I? Race Awareness Game for iPhone and iPad (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/who-am-i-race-awareness-game/id372945923 Review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/who-am-i-race-awareness-game

Here are some additional resources to use with your families:
     • Watch Nick News Presents: Kids, Race, and Unity | Hosted By Alicia Keys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWsMEIODo6g&feature=youtu.be Hosted by Alicia Keys, Nick News talks with founders and leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, offer tools for families to have constructive conversations about race, and highlights teen activists who are fighting racial injustice in Kids, Race and Unity: A Nick News Special. Oriented to older elementary and tweens.
With younger children, you may find these resources to be helpful to get the conversations started:
     ● Watch The Skin You Live In | StorytimeWithMsMelange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Bjz1xFteQ As recommended by the Black Lives Matter Instructional Library online
     ● Or Watch Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism (2 parts for a total of 50 min) https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/app-news-section/cnn-sesame-street-race-town-hall-app-june-6- 2020-app/index.html Explaining racism to children. Big Bird, Elmo and CNN newscasters talk about racism. Two part series.

Feel free to send additional resources that you have found helpful!

From the light of days remembered burns a beacon bright and clear
Guiding hands and hearts and spirits Into faith set free from fear.

Chorus:
When the fire of commitment sets our mind and soul a blaze
When our hunger and our passion meet to call us on our way
When we live with deep assurance of the flame that burns within,
Then our promise finds fulfillment and our future can begin.

From the stories of our living rings a song both brave and free,
Calling pilgrims still to witness to the life of liberty.

Chorus

From the dreams of youthful vision comes a new, prophetic voice,
Which demands a deeper justice built by our courageous choice

Chorus

Lyrics from https://farfringe.com/stj1028-the-fire-of-commitment/

Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection & Silence with the Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey
Pastoral Instrumental Piece by Sky
Offering and Invitations
Story for All Ages with Binnie Wilkin: STONE SOUP is a popular, old European folk tale about the value of sharing. Through a little trickery, villagers contribute to a pot of soup made with a "magic" stone. The story has evolved in many variations and in modern times, activities for children help to promote the narrative.  
Reflection/Sermon: The Great Awakening in the USA and in Us with The Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Renewal #Community #Water #WaterCommunion #WaterIngathering

Story for All Ages: Water by Rev. Lynn Ungar 
Every drop of water that we bring to our ceremony today has been on amazing adventures. Our water, this very water, has witnessed the birth of life as well as the death of dinosaurs, has been a part of the body of Buddha, Bach, Jesus, Michael Jordan, and the Queen of England. Each tiny molecule of water has been on its own unique journey, but today I need your help in telling the story of all water, and it sounds much better with some water sounds. I am going to ask you make some water sounds. We can create the rain storm by rubbing fingertips together, then snapping fingers or clapping lightly, then clapping harder, up to drumming hands on thighs or stomping feet. As the rain passes we will get quieter.

Most of our planet is covered by oceans, the cradle of life and water's true home. What does an ocean sound like?

Now, you can't hear it, but all of the time, every day, the sun shines on the ocean, and water evaporates; it rises into the air to become clouds. If we listened very carefully, with our tiniest inside ears, what sound do you think we would hear as the earth breathes water up into clouds?

But eventually, the clouds fill up, and the water comes down again as rain. Imagine standing on a mountain, and it begins, very gently, to drizzle, then to rain, then to pour in a full-scale mountain thunderstorm! Then, slowly, the storm moves on, the rain gets gentler, and slows, and eventually stops.

The water that falls in the mountains runs into little downhill trickles. What might that sound like? These little trickles gather into babbling brooks and streams.

The streams continue on their downward course, eventually joining into rushing rivers.  As the quick rivers join into great rivers they become broader and slower.
And eventually, all water returns to the sea, the cradle of life, and water's true home.

Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection: Blending Our Waters
We bring our waters, which have touched the west, the north, the south and the east, which come from the sky, the surface of the earth and from deep wells and springs within the earth.
We bring water that belonged to lakes, streams, and reservoirs of fresh waters that quench our thirst.
We bring water that is a part of the great oceans and the seas that circle the globe, teeming with life, the source of all life.
We bring water to this place of meeting and sharing.
In this water there is new water, formed in the atmosphere daily, there is old water, water as old as the earth, water from which life has evolved over the eons.
This is the stream of life from which all life flows.
All people are connected by this stream, for it runs through our veins and courses through the stems and leaves of plants.
It is the symbol of the cleansing power of forgiveness and the faithful promise of healing love.
It is the symbol and the reality of the oneness that unites humankind and all life.
Today we bring water
To give back to the earth,
To mingle with all the waters of the earth, And join all living things.
Today we pour water
To honor the earth that gives us life,

To honor the community of all life, Plants, animals and people.
Today we offer thanks for the gift of water and also for the web of life we all share, near or far May our separate waters join into one sacred stream as we add our lives into the stream of living souls who live out love, work for justice and hunger for peace.
Blessed be!

Reflection/Sermon: Homecoming, Water Communion and Transformation
with The Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey
Listen to The Reverend's Sermon by clicking on this link,
or download it by right clicking and saving file as:
https://www.uuclv.org/uploads/1/1/7/5/11756745/2020-09-13_
​rev._gordon_clay_bailey_-_unitarian_universalist_congregation.mp3

Essential for Life, and good water is vitally important for all life…
Water refreshes, water renews, water invigorates…
With water you may cleanse yourself, with water you may commit to something higher in you and beyond, with water you can alter, change and transform…

Benediction and Extinguish the Chalice
"I am but a drop of water.
Alone, I would disappear,
Dried up by the scorching sun
Or sucked up by the dry, thirsty earth.
But together we can wear out stones,
Carve out the Grand Canyon,
Make streams and rivers,
And find our way to the sea."
     -Rev. Kok-Heong McNaughton (Adapted)

This organization speaks to our 1st Principle: 
​The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
And to our 2nd Principle:
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations

Please consider giving to this organization by
using the bill pay function on your phone’s bank app or
sending in a check via snail mail.
​
To set up your bill pay, all you need is our address
UUCLV
3616 E. Lake Mead Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89115

Did you know you can help nominate future 50/50 recipients.
Please contact Rosary at [email protected] or
fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/
​
Read about other charities we support here.

Renewing Our Spirits
September 6, 2020
with The Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey

Just like a doughnut that's been left out too long, life can sometimes seem stale if we let routine take over. Often people get comfortable with what is and ignore what could be. Being present is important -- it's the foundation for powerful living and experiencing the special moments in life. Dear friends actively claiming your future is key to our growth. Balancing the realities of what is versus what we want is the trick. Whether you're looking for a complete overhaul or simply a fresh outlook, this service dedicated to renewal is here to assist you on your journey. See you Sunday.

#UUCLV #UU #UnitarianUniversalist #UnitarianUniversalism #UUCLVEvent #SundayService #Renewal #routine #BePresent #ClaimYourFuture

Welcome & Zoom Orientation
Our new minister is now officially with us. After many years of service to the UUA in congregations and affiliate organizations Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey has found his way to us and is now home.
Welcome Reverend Gordon Clay Bailey! ​

Ringing of the Bell
​
Invocation & Opening Words
#419
“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 splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
                        -attributed to Kalidasa

Singing Together: #188, “Come, Come, Whoever You Are”

Chalice Lighting
Of Our Hearts
Pastoral Reflection & Silence
Pastoral Hymn #123, Spirit of Life  
Offering and Invitations​
Offertory Music by Sky      
Story for All Ages: “Life is Fun” by Nancy Carlson 
To be happy on earth, just follow Nancy Carlson’s simple instructions. Don’t bring snakes inside the house. Laugh a lot! And most importantly, make big, big plans. In the tradition of her acclaimed “I Like Me!” Nancy Carlson presents another warm and funny book sure to boost spirits and encourage kids to make the most of life.​