Alternative Live Stream (no chat)
If you wish to share a joy or sorrow, you may email it to minister@uuchelmsford.org by 9:00 AM on Sunday mornings. Please remember that our services are live streamed and that names will be shared as you write them.
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church
Order of Worship
September 27, 2026
Centering Thought
Community cannot take root in a divided life.
Long before community assumes external shape and form,
it must be present as seed in the undivided self: only as we are
in communion with ourselves can we find community with others.
Community is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace,
the flowing of personal identity and integrity into the world of relationships.”
(Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness)
Ingathering Chimes
Welcome & Announcements: Brian Snow, Worship Committee
Prelude: Gymnopedie 1, Erik Satie (1866-1925)
Chalice Lighting: Peggy Stephens-North
Introit: “Lean on Me” – Adult Choir, Youth Music Makers, and soloists
Solos: Brian Snow, Frances Killam Djembe: Jake, Ethan
Guitar: Brian Judd, Ezra String Bass: Max
Bass Guitar: Eliot Mayer Drums: Jacob
Flute: Jessica Volk Cello: Owen
For All Ages: Jessica Volk, RECouncil Team
Song: Please join in singing “This Little Light of Mine” as members of our Lifespan Faith Formation program leave for their activities.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine (x3)
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
First Parish Covenant: Led by Leslie Yauckoes
We, the members of First Parish of Chelmsford, covenant together to sustain and strengthen our beloved community by:
Honoring and celebrating the Spirit of Life
Nurturing all souls in our search for truth and the sacred
Caring and being present to one another in our joys and sorrows
Bearing witness through service to justice and peace
And being good stewards of our congregation, our heritage, our Unitarian Universalist principles, and our Earth.
Offertory: Musical Meditation on “Amazing Grace”
Ancient Reading: Excerpt from “A Community of the Spirit” by Rumi – Coleman Barks, with John Moyne, trans.
Modern Reading: Excerpt from “We Should Want to Go” by Kim Debus, Hold My Chalice
Readers: Rick Warner and Garland Kemper
Hymn #1008 in Singing the Journey: “When Our Heart is in a Holy Place”
Soul Matters – Beginnings: “Doing Our Inner Work” – Rev. Ellen Rowse Spero
Hymn #83 in Singing the Living Tradition: “Winds Be Still”
Joys and Sorrows
A Time for Meditation and Prayer
Congregational Response: “Spirit of Life” w/m by Carolyn McDade
Spirit of Life, come unto me
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea
Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close, wings set me free
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.
Benediction & Extinguishing of the Chalice: From “A Blessing for the Journey” by Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao
Postlude: La Fiesta, Chick Corea (1941 – 2021)
——————————-> * <——————————
Many Thanks to this Sunday’s Volunteers:
Greeter: Ami Hughes
Building Usher: Josh Spero
Sanctuary Ushers: Jeanette Moreau & Tip Rawding
Worship Tech: Dave Kaffine
Online Chat Host: Joan Coyne
Social Hour: Frances Killam & Rebecca Gore
Flowers: The Flower Fairy