10-8-2023 Order of Service

•

Begin in Gratitude

Sunday, October 8, 2023, 10:25 am

Online on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/738363620
Passcode: BUF

Zoom by phone, for audio only: (346) 248-7799
Meeting ID: 738 363 620
Passcode: 306220

Gathering Music             Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing;

Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
by Beethoven, arr by H. Helvey
Melanie Rieck, piano

Welcome                          Rev Paul Beckel

Prelude                             Because, Paul McCartney / John Lennon

Guitar: Chad Nuckles-Flinn
Voices: Kevin Allen-Schmid, Andrew Luccesi,
Kjerstie Nelson, Karen Nuckles-Flinn,
Melanie Rieck, Ann Stevenson

Chalice Lighting              

Covenant

Love is the spirit of this fellowship, and service gives it life.
Celebrating our diversity, and joined by a quest for truth,
We work for peace, and honor all creation.
This is our covenant.

Singing Together             #128, For All that is Our Life

Children’s Focus             Giving Thanks, by Chief Jake Swamp

Children’s Blessing

We hold you in our love as you go, as you go.
May your heart be at peace as you go.
To nurture the spark of your precious life,
We hold you in our love as you go.

Meditation                 

Reflections, Part 1        

Singing Together            #391, Voice Still and Small

Reflections, Part 2

Social & Environmental Justice Collection

IRIS-Immigrant Resources & Immediate Support
Norma Suarez, Executive Director

Sharing our Gifts            Sweet Hour of Prayer, arr by Howard Helvey

Singing Together            #163, For the Earth Forever Turning

Chalice Choir                  Simple Gifts

Singing Together            #155, Circle ‘Round

Circle ‘round for freedom, circle ‘round for peace.
For all of us imprisoned, circle for release.
Circle for the planet, circle for each soul.
For the children of our children, keep the circle whole.

Afterward

If you’re with us on Zoom today, please stay after the service for our online coffee hour. If you’re here in person, please join us downstairs for coffee and conversation. Visitors: you may wish to use a red cup — then we’ll know you’re open to a bit of orientation.

If you’re new, we’d be grateful to have you provide us with contact information so we can let you know what’s happening here. There are buff-colored visitor contact cards in the pew racks, and in the entryway, that you can drop in the collection basket. Or provide your contact information HERE. 

Contributions payable to “BUF” may be sent to:
1207 Ellsworth Street, Bellingham 98225
For info about donating online (credit card or PayPal), by automatic bank transfer, or via phone apps, see the “give” button in the upper right-hand corner at buf.org or contact the office: (360) 733-3837 / admin@buf.org

Announcements

Welcoming Children

There’s space up front with materials for drawing. For the more rambunctious, there’s a nursery at the back where parents can see and hear what’s going on in the sanctuary. Most Sundays, after 10-15 minutes in the sanctuary, kids are invited to go to their classrooms.

 

Accessibility / Restrooms

Hearing assistance devices are available from the ushers. The elevator will take you to any level of the building; each level has accessible restrooms. Single-user restrooms are at the back of the sanctuary (opposite side from the main sanctuary entry).

 

At buf.org you can

  • Find Zoom links to Sunday services, and to our Taize services, which are held at 7 pm on the first Monday of each month
  • Explore programs and events on the calendar — newcomers are welcome at all BUF activities
  • Subscribe to our newsletter: The MidWeek Update, and to our list-serv: BUF-news
  • Also online, type “Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship into a YouTube;
    search to find recordings of Sunday and Taize services

 

Warm weather clothing to spare?

Please share: Winter and raincoats – new or like-new; cleaned and folded. All ages, genders, sizes, styles. Dropbox in BUF entryway, now-October 10th.

 

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote:

  • The inherent worth and dignity of every person
  • Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
  • Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
  • A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
  • The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
  • The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
  • Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part

The living tradition we share draws from many sources:

  • Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life
  • Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love
  • Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life
  • Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves
  • Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit
  • Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.