Welcome:
Good morning! Welcome to this online worship service of the Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church in Racine, WI. We may be apart and distant, yet we are home to each other as we gather in this way. Dr. Cornel West has reminded us that justice is what love looks like in public. We are grateful for all the ways we live out our UU values each day and for the inspiration of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) in broadening our focus in this world. UUSC is focused on climate crisis displacement, and organizing against assaults on immigrant and other human rights. Our work is based on creating love, a liberating type of love that asks us to be courageous and generous as we share this journey together of creating more equity and justice in this world. We are called to build justice, not maintain the status quo. We are looking for partners in the work ahead of us. Our work together is the thread that binds us. It helps to build a more beloved community where everyone’s needs can be met more fairly. This love calls us to build the relationships that are at the core of justice work within ourselves and within our community. These relationships call us into covenant and commitment, not comfort. This morning we will share our thoughts about the needs of asylum-seeking families and adult individuals. We have some ways we can be a part of this movement to sponsor a family or adult individual seeking legal asylum in our country. We are so grateful for you sharing your time with us this morning. Thank you!
Call to Worship– Nancy Gibson, “Welcome and Listen” by Natalie Maxwell Fenimore in To Wake, To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilience”
Prelude: OBUUC Choir, “Would You Harbor Me?”
Chalice Lighting: “HOME” by Warsan Shire
Hymn: “Gather the Spirit”
Reading: “The Common Good” by Kathleen McTigue
“We breath the common wind of the earth
no matter where we live, who we love,
what language we speak.
We drink the common water of the earth
No matter the color of our skin, how long we live, or
The coverings we drape on our forms.
We follow the common paths of the earth
No matter our beliefs, how far we move from home,
The gold that we carry, or its lack.
May we live from these truths, our hearts
Open to the holiness all around us,
Our hands turned always toward the common good.
Invitation to Thought:
“Violence, impunity, and corruption have forced thousands of Central Americans to flee their homes. All people have the right to safety, human dignity, and a process to seek asylum. Asylum is a globally recognized legal right. The butterfly is sometimes used as a symbol for Immigrant Rights groups. This is because butterflies cross borders freely and do not have guards checking their passports, separating them from their family, or throwing them in detention cells. We offer this next song knowing that migrants entering our country do have the right to seek asylum, and be free of arbitrary detention or deportation.
Music: “Butterfly Fly,” Lynn Orlando and Colleen Wilkinson
Gesture of Friendship:
Children’s Story
Children’s Blessing
Centering Words: by Natalie Maxwell Fenimore in To Wake, To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilience
Offering
“The Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church is a community of generosity, compassion, and abundance.
Your generosity is what keeps this community as vital as it is and supports our faith in the power of love.
Each month we share the generosity of our collection with a local partner. This month’s partner is Be-LEAF Survivors who are working to support, advocate, and deliver compassionate care for survivors of sexual assault. Funds received help support a free 24-hour crisis line, 24-hour hospital response, as well as therapy and support groups.
Checks made out to OBUUC with BeLeaf Survivors in memo will be split 50/50. If you want your entire donation to go to the recipient, make checks payable to BeLEAF Survivors and mail to church.”
Offertory Music:
“Immigrant rights issues have been with us for many years regardless of who is our sitting President. This next song is “Deportee”,a protest song written by Woody Guthrie and music composed by Martin Hoffman after a plane crash in Jan. 1948 which occurred near Los Gatos Canyon in California. The crash killed 4 American airline staff and 28 migrant farm workers being deported from California back to Mexico.
Sermon: by Diane Lange
Postlude: “We Are Going” Erica Eddy and the OBUUC Choir