Worship Schedule

Ingathering Chimes

Prelude

Welcome and Announcements: Elaine Mahoney, Membership-Hospitality Committee

Chalice Lighting: Team Members for the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace

Call to Worship: “A Place of Belonging and Caring” by Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson – Rev. Ellen Rowse Spero

Hymn #1028 in Singing the Journey: “The Fire of Commitment”

First Parish of Chelmsford Covenant: Led by Carla Corey and Frans Janssen in English/Nederlands

We, the members of First Parish of Chelmsford, covenant together to sustain
and strengthen our beloved community by:
Wij, de leden van de 1ste Parochie van Chelmsford, zijn samen overeengekomen
om onze geliefde gemeenschap te onderhouden en te versterken door:

Honoring and celebrating the spirit of Life.
Onze levenslust te eren en te vieren.

Nurturing all souls in our search for truth and the sacred.
Alle zielen te koesteren in onze zoektocht naar een onschendbare waarheid.

Caring and being present to one another in our joys and sorrows.
Te zorgen en aanwezig te zijn voor elkaar in onze vreugde en ons verdriet.

Bearing witness through service to justice and peace.
Te getuigen voor gerechtigheid en vrede.

And being good stewards of our congregation, our heritage,
our Unitarian Universalist principles, and our Earth.
En goede beheerders te zijn van onze congregatie, ons erfgoed,
onze Eensgezinde, Universele grondbeginselen en van onze Aarde.

Offertory

A Celebration of Membership

Opening Words: Rev. Ellen Rowse Spero

Anthem: “Like a Trumpet Resounding” – Jerry Estes

Celebrating the Covenant of Membership

Membership-Hospitality Committee is honored to recognize & celebrate the Members of First Parish UU Church of Chelmsford! Thank you for your Time, Treasure, and Talent!

New Members

Gwen Meins; Rachel Hearn; Cay Outerbridge; and Melissa Sloan

Five Years

Amanda Salowsky; Barry Jefferson; Sue Jefferson; Rick Warner; and Garland Kemper

Ten Years

Jackie Diamond and Nick Kaffine

Twenty-Five Years

Virginia Adams

Covenanting and Re-Covenanting Together
(Adapted by John O’Donohue, from Blessing the Space Between Us)

One: May this house shelter our lives.
When we come in home here,
May all the weight of the world
Fall from our shoulders.

All: May our hearts be tranquil here,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.

One: May this home be a lucky place,
Where the graces our lives desire
Always find the pathway to this door.
May nothing destructive
Ever cross our threshold.

All: May this be a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where we each can be as we are,
Without the need of any mask
Of pretense or image.

All: May this home be a place of discovery,
Where the possibilities that sleep
In the clay of our souls can emerge
To deepen and refine our vision
For all that is yet to come to birth.

All: May it be a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.

One: May there be great delight around this hearth.
May it be a house of welcome
For the broken and diminished.

All:  May we have the eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.

Hymn #311 in Singing the Living Tradition: “Let It Be a Dance”

Joys and Sorrows

A Time for Meditation and Prayer

Congregational Response: “What Wondrous Love” – #18 in Singing the Living Tradition (v. 1)

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul
What wondrous love is this, O my soul?
What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss,
And takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul,
And takes away the pain of my soul.

Benediction & Extinguishing of the Chalice: “To Kindle New Fires in the World” – Rev. Michelle Collins (May 2025 Soul Matters Materials)

Postlude