“Gathering ourselves…into the Beloved Community…to imagine the possibilities…and to rededicate our lives…” That is what we do together on Sunday mornings. In short, we worship.

Worship is one of those words that occasionally give us trouble. Most definitions of “worship” include a reference to honoring a deity or deities. Some of us believe in God by one name or another. Others of us do not. What does it mean for us to come together and worship as people not bound by a single doctrine or set of beliefs about God?

The root of the word “worship” is “worth.” For Unitarian Universalists of whatever theological persuasion, worship is a time of coming together in community to lift up and consider things that are of worth to us. It is the center of our community life. It is an opportunity for us to reconnect with one another and with the things that matter most to us, including, for some of us, that which is holy and divine.

The purposes of worship are many. Worship can help center us and it can ground us. It can help us make meaning of our lives. It can provide us with a vision and remind us of our highest aspirations. In worship, we come together in community to remind ourselves of what is possible and to rededicate our lives to those possibilities. We commit ourselves to what could be rather than merely to what is.

Worship can both comfort us and challenge us. It can heal us and transform us. Worship can help us feel connected to something larger than our individual selves. It can help us identify and name our most precious values. It can stimulate our intellect, yes, but with luck, worship can also inspire us, encourage us, and empower us.

Worship – or liturgy – is the work of the people. It takes many hands to make worship a positive and inspiring experience: not only the worship leader/s, the musicians and choir members, and the story tellers; but also the chancel decorators who provide beautiful and engaging focal points for our attention; the ushers who help make sure things run smoothly from beginning to end; the greeters who help to assure that everyone feels welcome. And, most importantly of all, those whose bodies fill the pews and whose spirits fill the room, making it whole and therefore holy. Together we all make worship happen.

To participate in weekly worship in any one or more of these ways is to provide a service – a ministry – to others. It is to help nurture the core of our community life and to help support the congregation as a whole. Blessed are those who participate in worship!

Quality worship services happen even without the minister, of course, as you well know by now. This year we’ve again had wonderful worship services provided by some of our own members as well as by worship leaders from outside of our congregation. In past years, we have had a Worship Committee that has arranged for and coordinated these services. This year, we did not. My hope is that next year, and in future years, we will again!

If you think you might be interested in serving on a reinvigorated Worship Team, please do let me know. Together we will work to assure that the pulpit is “filled” on the 9-10 Sundays during our regular church year when I am absent. Next year, my hope is that we will also work together to create a Worship Associates Program that will train lay-leaders to participate in both leading and creating worship services.

I look forward to hearing from you and to working with you!

In faith, Rev. Wendy

PS – If anyone is interested in coordinating worship services or leading worship during the summer months this year, please contact me.

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