Message by Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman Moment of Perspective – A Story About Welcome – AJ Fox This morning’s opening words were written by Monica Jacobson-Tennessen. Welcome! What you bring—who you are—enriches us all.We say “Welcome” to your joy, your hope, your pride.We say “Welcome” to your grief, your fear, your anger.And the parts of you … Continue reading Welcomed by Design

Ekklesia Students As we explore the Gifts of Welcome together, some of us may need a gentle reminder to welcome ourselves. Hear these words from poet Derek Walcott, West Indian poet and dramatist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. Love After Love by Derek Walcott The time will comewhen, with elationyou will … Continue reading The House that Equity, Inclusion, and Access Built

Message by Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman The opening words are Bring Your Broken Hallelujah Here by Rev. Theresa I. Soto Bring your broken hallelujah here.Bring the large one that is beyond repair.Bring the small one that’s too soft to share.Bring your broken Hallelujah here.I know that peopleHave told you that before you can giveYou have to … Continue reading Welcome: An Exercise in Being, Belonging, and Becoming

Message by David “Katya” Ketchum

By Rev. Phil Lund The opening words are “Come, Come,” adapted from Rumi by Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Leslie Takahashi. Come, come, whoever you areCome with your hurts, your imperfections, your places that feel raw and exposed.Come, come, whoever you areCome with your strengths that the world shudders to holdCome with your wild imaginings of … Continue reading Whoever You Are, We Welcome You

Message by Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman In an article entitled “Living in the Real World,” Mark Nepo writes: This is what the great choice comes down to—the great conflict between first-hand experience and tradition, between spontaneity and decorum, between compassion and obligation. Other life forms have no part in this. It’s strictly a human affair.The sapling … Continue reading The Architecture of the Heart

Message by Dacia Reid Moment of Perspective – Toothpaste – Babs Garcia Opening Words: We Are Glad You Are HereWords of Amanda Schuber If this is your first time here or your one-hundred-and-first time; we are glad you are here.If you carry the weight of a weary world on your shoulders, or you entered through … Continue reading The Words We Choose

Featuring Tom McFarland, Justin Russell, and Emily McKinney. These words come from the essay The Middle Way by Michael A. Shuler. Most people know the legend: how Siddhartha, desperate for an answer to the riddle of existence, traded a life of comfort and ease for one of austerity and complete self-denial. Like many of his … Continue reading Seeds of Soulfulness: Cultivating Spiritual Practice

Message by Mike Brown Moment of Perspective – Circles – AJ Fox The opening reading is Walking the Crooked Path, by Thomas Rhodes. Holy Spirit of Life and Love,You who are our source and our ultimate destiny,Lead us this day on a crooked path.So often we are in so much of a hurryTaking the direct … Continue reading Homecoming: Sharing Jenny’s Kiss

Message by Scoop Peery Moment of Perspective – Racism: Past and Present – AJ Fox The opening reading is For All That Is Our Life, by Liz Weber Spirit of Life,help us to be present with all that is our life,both our deepest sorrows and our greatest joys,so that we can truly live:engaging fully in … Continue reading Snippets of Growing Up in the Heart of ‘Little Dixie’ (Columbia) Missouri