Sunday Service, 18 August 2024
Led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall and Patricia Brewerton
Musical Prelude: Invention no. 4 by J.S. Bach (performed by Abby Lorimier and Benjie del Rosario)
Opening Words: ‘This Faith’ by Heide Cottam (adapted)
Let us be a faith that gathers, reaching for one another
through the hate and turmoil others stir up,
through the cages of ignorance and arrogance,
and through the fear and confusion seen on our streets.
Let us be a faith that sees a vision of a better world:
More compassionate, more just,
more holy, and with more love.
There is a faith that binds up the broken,
tends battle wounds with the balm of peace,
sings longer and louder than the trumpets of war –
let us be that faith, too.
Let us be the ones who do not drift passively through this world,
but light it up with our love, and strive for liberation;
who hold up the mirror of worth and dignity,
who are the sanctuary others seek.
But first: Let us be a faith that worships together.
Here. This morning. In this space. At this moment.
Let us be a people of faith. (pause)
Words of Welcome and Introduction:
These opening words by Heide Cottam welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those of you who have gathered in-person at Essex Church, to all who are joining us via Zoom, and anyone watching on YouTube or listening to the podcast. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Jane Blackall, and I’m minister with Kensington Unitarians.
The focus of this morning’s service is ‘Worth, Dignity, and Equality’. One of the central principles of our Unitarian movement is that we recognise and affirm the worth and dignity of all people. And it seems particularly important to return to that principle and lift it up in the light of recent events – the racist and Islamophobic violence and disorder on our streets – so we’ll be taking this hour to reflect on our deep commitment to truly knowing the worth, dignity, and equality of all. Our own Patricia Brewerton will be offering her reflections on the subject later on in the service.
Chalice Lighting: ‘Let Us Look First to the Response of Love’ by Maureen Killoran (adapted)
Let’s light our chalice flame now, as we do each week. It’s a moment for us to stop and take a breath, settle ourselves down, put aside any preoccupations we came in carrying. This simple ritual connects us in solidarity with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over, and reminds us of the proud and historic progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part.
(light chalice)
In hard times and good,
let us look first to the response of love.
In the midst of challenge, may our chalice flame
bear witness to the inherent worth and dignity of every human being.
In the midst of uncertainty, may our chalice be
a beacon of encouragement, that our values may guide our choices.
In hard times and good,
Let us look first to the response of love.
Hymn 194 (purple): ‘We Light the Flame’
Let’s sing together. Our first hymn is number 194 in your purple books: ‘We Light the Flame’. For those joining via zoom the words will be up on screen (as they will for all our hymns today). Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer and let’s sing up as best we can.
We light the flame that kindles our devotions.
We lift our hearts in blessed community.
The mind has thoughts, the heart its true emotions,
we celebrate in worship, full and free.
Our faith transcends the boundaries of oceans.
All shall be granted worth and dignity.
So many ways to witness to the wonder.
So many dreams by day for us to dare.
Yet, reaching out, each way is made the grander,
and love made bold for dreamers everywhere.
Diversity will never cast asunder
our common weal, our bonds of mutual care.
Infinite Spirit, dwell with us, we pray thee,
that we may share in life abundantly.
Forgive our sins, feed us with good bread daily,
with strength resist temptation steadfastly.
O God of life, sustain us now, and may we
with mindful hearts, be thankful constantly.
Candles of Joy and Concern:
Each week when we gather together, we share a simple ritual of candles of joy and concern, an opportunity to light a candle and share something that is in our heart with the community. So we’ve an opportunity now, for anyone who would like to do so, to light a candle and say a few words about what it represents. We’ll go to the people in the building first, then to Zoom.
So I invite some of you here in person to come and light a candle and then if you wish to tell us briefly who or what you light your candle for. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak this time as I really want people to be able to hear you and I don’t want to keep nagging you about getting close to the handheld mic. And if you can’t get to the microphone give me a wave and I’ll bring a handheld mic over to you. Thank you.
(in person candles)
And if that’s everyone in the room we’ll go over to the people on Zoom next – you might like to switch to gallery view at this stage – just unmute yourselves when you are ready and speak out – and we should be able to hear you and see you up on the big screen here in the church.
(zoom candles)
And I’m going to light one more candle, as we often do, to represent all those joys and concerns that we hold in our hearts this day, but which we don’t feel able to speak out loud. (light candle)
Time of Prayer & Reflection: based on words by Carter Smith
Let’s take those joys and concerns into an extended time of prayer. This prayer is based on some words by Carter Smith. You might first want to adjust your position for comfort, close your eyes, or soften your gaze. There might be a posture that helps you feel more prayerful. Whatever works for you. Do whatever you need to do to get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together – to be fully present here and now, in this sacred time and space – with ourselves, with each other, and with that which is both within us and beyond us. (pause)
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, in whom we live and move and have our being,
we turn our full attention to you, the light within and without,
as we tune in to the depths of this life, and the greater wisdom
to which – and through which – we are all intimately connected.
Be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the
silence and stillness at the very centre of our being. (pause)
This morning, let us honour our interconnectedness,
within our own circles, within this community,
and radiating ever further to all those with whom
we share this city, this country, this continent, this world…
And further – to all who have gone before us – and all who are yet to be.
When we witness suffering and turmoil,
in ourselves, in our loved ones, our community,
and in the world around us, may we know compassion.
When we are at a loss for words,
when we’re unsure of the path ahead,
may we be guided by this compassion to be witnesses still:
To know and to feel that our human family is broken, in so many ways,
and that it is further wounded with every life lost,
each estrangement and fracture of relationship,
with each time someone’s inherent worth and dignity is denied.
When we find ourselves exhausted and defeated,
and unsure of where to go, may we keep witnessing,
turning ever further toward your still, small voice. Towards Love.
And, remind us too that the experience of suffering
does not, need not, close us off from the possibility of joy.
May we know that our interconnectedness is a miracle,
and may it be a refuge for us, felt in the voice of a friend,
the momentary kindness of a stranger, in the touch of a loved one,
in the comforting memories of days spent in good company.
May we remain grateful for the goodness
we’ve witnessed and enacted in the world,
and may the warmth of our lives together hold us in love
even as we move into a future that is as uncertain as ever.
Help us to truly know your presence, that it may
remind us of what is sacred in each precious moment.
And may you teach us that sacred presence too,
that we might know ourselves here and now,
that we may be present for each other,
and for this one precious life we share. (pause)
And in a few moments of shared stillness now, may we speak
inwardly some of those deepest prayers of our hearts —
the joys and sorrows we came in carrying –
in our own lives and the lives of the wider world.
Let us each lift up whatever is on our heart this day,
and silently ask for what we most need. (long pause)
Spirit of Life – God of all Love – as this time of prayer comes to a close, we offer up
our joys and concerns, our hopes and fears, our beauty and brokenness,
and we call on you for insight, healing, and renewal.
As we look forward now to the coming week,
help us to live well each day and be our best selves;
using our unique gifts in the service of love, justice and peace. Amen
Hymn (on sheet): ‘Who Is My Neighbour?’
Our next hymn is on your hymn sheet: ‘Who Is My Neighbour?’ This is a new one for us – I sent a link out in Friday’s email so you could listen ahead of time – and we’ve got Benjie to help us – and I’m going to ask Blanca to play it through in full once before we sing. Let’s give it our best; the words of this hymn are something we can really get behind and I hope it’ll become a regular.
Who is my neighbour? Every soul who lives upon the earth.
I have been called to treat each one with dignity and worth,
Working for justice, seeking peace and cultivating care,
Offering hope to those whose lives are laden with despair.
When I can ease another’s pain, I know I’ll do my part.
When I can bring another joy, I’ll open up my heart.
When I have more than someone else, I’ll share the things I can.
When I am tempted to be cruel, I’ll strive to understand.
Who is my neighbour? Earth itself and all the beings there:
Flora and fauna, fish and fowl, the trees that graze the air.
River and prairie, sea and sky I honour and respect.
These are my neighbours. These I vow to cherish and protect.
Oh, may we build a world where all have everything they need.
May we be free from hate and fear, from violence and from greed.
May our lives be tributes to compassion, love, and trust
Till we are kin to all the world and all are kin to us.
In-Person Reading: ‘Equality in a Sea of Inequality’ by Peggy Clarke (adapted) (read by John)
This piece was written by Unitarian Universalist Peggy Clarke, and thus it refers to her own particular context, and the history of the United States. However, there are some universal lessons we can take from it, about the complicated and decidedly imperfect history of human beings pursuing greater equality, wherever in the world they are. Peggy Clarke writes:
When the United States of America was founded, the aspiration was high. The men who imagined it dreamed big, casting a vision of a world where all men were created equal, where rights were endowed by our creator, transcending culture and the expectations of the day; where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would be allowed and enjoyed without infringement. It was a radical and new vision, born from Enlightenment optimism, inspired by scientific discovery. It was an intoxicating vision, as bold as the Protestant Reformation that swept all of Europe.
And they had the hubris to believe they could make it happen. They staked their claim in the Declaration of Independence and institutionalized it in the Constitution. They elected their first President and when he stepped down, relinquishing power to return to the role of citizen, those founders believed they lived to see their vision realized. A new President ran for office and the Republic was up and running. It was done. A new world order.
Those men weren’t distracted by the genocide they inspired, or the enslavement of other people they required for this nation to be born. They declared equality while swimming in a sea of inequality. When they declared “ALL men were created equal”, they meant white, Protestant men. They didn’t mean women. They weren’t including Black people who’d been enslaved, or those who were free. They didn’t include Catholics, Jews, or people who didn’t own land. They were so proud of their inclusivity, so inspired by their own cutting-edge philosophy, that they had no idea how narrow it was, how constrictive, how small a vision.
The men who wrote those words were calling into being a More Perfect Union. They were Establishing Justice. Insuring Domestic Tranquility. Securing the Blessings of Liberty. They believed that they, and the men of their generation, would will this new nation into being. They would establish the structures required for such a grand vision, they would test it, and then it would be done. They didn’t realize it would require many more people, many different voices. They didn’t know how many generations would have to be part of the creation of that dream—how long it would take before the nation they imagined would be made manifest. The soul of America has yet to be born.
Meditation: ‘On Human Dignity and Worth’ by Desmond Tutu
Thanks John. We’re moving into a time of meditation. To take us into a time of silence, I’m going to share just a few strong words on human worth and dignity from Desmond Tutu – a few fragments strung together – for you to ponder inwardly. Then we’ll hold three minutes of silence which will end with the sound of a bell. Then we’ll hear some music for our continued reflection. Let’s do what we need to do to get comfortable – maybe adjust your position – put your feet flat on the floor to ground yourself – as we always say, the words are an offering, use this time to meditate in your own way.
Desmond Tutu said:
‘Each one of us is imbued with profound dignity and worth.
To treat people as if they were less than this, to oppress them,
to trample their dignity underfoot, is not just evil as it surely must be;
it is not just painful as it frequently must be for the victims of injustice and oppression.
It is positively blasphemous, for it is tantamount to spitting in the face of God…
All belongs to God and all are of equal worth in God’s sight…
No political ideology could better that for radicalness.
that is what fired our own struggle against apartheid —
this incredible sense of the infinite worth of each person
created in the image of God, being God’s viceroy,
God’s representative, God’s stand-in,
being a God carrier, a sanctuary, a temple of the Holy Spirit,
inviolate, possessing a dignity that was intrinsic…
Human beings are at the centre of the divine enterprise
as creatures of infinite worth and dignity
independent of our work, our ability, or our success.
We are each created by God, like God, for God.’
Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell
Interlude: Berceuse by Reinhold Glière (performed by Abby Lorimier and Benjie del Rosario)
In-Person Reading: ‘The Image of God: The Base Layer of Human Dignity’ by Bill Fullilove (adapted) (Jane to read)
This reflection is from Bill Fullilove, a Presbyterian theologian, and it’s very much rooted in his own Christian tradition, but it speaks to something more generally applicable about the roots of equality. And it chimes with the words of Desmond Tutu we heard earlier. He writes:
One of the lessons I learned early on about being outdoors in the cold, especially hiking, is this: you need to have a base layer. When it’s super, super cold out and you’re hiking, you need layers to keep you warm, but those layers only properly keep you warm if the bottom layer, the one closest to your skin, is right. Underneath them all, right next to your skin, you need a layer that wicks moisture out and away from you. With that correct base layer, the outer layers keep you warm.
How does that relate to faith? Here’s how. Our society rightly values many, many things: equality, generosity, kindness, virtue, to name only a precious few. And it rightly opposes many, many things: racism, sexism, human trafficking, and many more. And that’s right and good—our world should hate racism and sexism. It should hate exploitation. These are those nice, warm layers that make things good and right.
But why should it? Our world has many great instincts (and, we should add, many not so great instincts). When our current society is at its best, it deeply values human dignity. But far too often, these values and layers are missing the why, the base layer. And as a result, instead of leading to a greater world, a good world, they leave things instead cold. Our society and world, for all its good intentions, falls into disaster because it doesn’t have the right foundation for its good instincts about humanity.
One of the best things we, as people of faith, can do for our world is give the why to the things society does value. Christianity has the base layer that makes all the rest of those layers work, a consistent reason for human dignity. The Christian contention is that dignity comes because we are created in the image of God. Because human beings are made in God’s image, we have an inherent dignity, one that can be marred and defaced, but never truly lost.
This is a vision for a world we WANT to live in. This is a true and better story. This is the base layer that makes equality and goodness and generosity and all the rest work—an understanding of humanity as made in the image of God, therefore with an inherent dignity. This is why it’s worth fighting for public health and education, why it’s worth fostering and adoption, why it’s worth building businesses that provide jobs. This is why it’s worth caring for those whose bodies are failing and those who have seen their usefulness to society pass away… because these things are in line with the dignity that all people have being made in the image of God.
In-Person Reflection: ‘Knowing People as Equal’ By Patricia Brewerton
About ten years ago, I was Secretary of a church in Bloomsbury. The church building is architecturally very interesting, there is a beautiful stained-glass window, and it attracts a lot of attention, and many photos are taken. The 1960s building had recently been refurbished to accommodate a room hire business, a busy café, and a gallery where little-known artists could display their work.
Unfortunately, the congregation was very small, and elderly and lacked a minister. However, this meant that, as Secretary, I could make decisions without reference to anyone else. So, when I was asked by the Catholic charity, Positive Faith, if they could use the building for an exhibition, I could just say “yes”. What they wanted to exhibit were some quilts. Now these were not the kind of quilt you could put on a bed, and they were much too big and heavy to hang on the wall in the gallery. In fact, two of them laid side by side filled the worship space of the church, leaving just enough room for visitors to walk around and ponder on what they saw.
The charity Positive Faith works with people affected by AIDS and HIV and these quilts had been made by people who had lost loved ones in the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s. Each quilt represented the lives of several of the people who had died. It had been a communal project designed to help people heal as they gathered together to create these works of art and memory. The quilt I remember most vividly had a section devoted to the memory of a young hairdresser and included combs, scissors, and hair rollers.
The quilts lay on the floor for a week and people using the building for meetings or enjoying a coffee or lunch in the café would take time to look at them. Come Saturday, however, the exhibition had to be removed to make the space ready for the Sunday service. Around 5 pm some people arrived to take up the quilts and asked me if I would agree to take part in a short video in front of the quilts before they were removed.
The questions were about the church’s attitude towards people suffering from HIV/AIDS. I didn’t really know the official view of the United Reformed Church, so I decided to just answer for myself. Some of these questions seemed to be a bit harsh. One was whether HIV/AIDS was a punishment from God. Now any God I could possibly believe in would have to be a loving not a punishing God. The final question was about how we should treat people infected with HIV/AIDS. Should we treat them as equals?
This video formed part of a series aimed at providing support for the people seeking help from Positive Faith and when I attended the launch of the project the filmmaker reminded me of my answer to his last question. Apparently, I had answered that we should KNOW them as equals. I had forgotten this but have to admit I was quite pleased with my answer and the fact that he had remembered and approved of it.
I know why I would have given that answer. I think asking whether we should TREAT someone as equal sort of implies that they are not really our equal. Society appears to consider equality to be desirable whilst accepting that we are obviously not equal in terms of wealth or power. In fact in some ways, it seems that whatever we claim to aspire to we are not really comfortable the idea of equality. We are always finding ways of undermining it, ways of sorting the winners from the losers. Whether it is in sport, or art or even in growing marrows we do like to have a winner. On Jane’s recommendation I have been reading some sermons by Art Lester, who I gather was once Minister of Kensington Unitarians. He points out that winning always depends on someone else losing and no-one wants to be a loser. I hardly ever watch programmes like Bake Off for instance because I can’t bear that bit at the end when we must wait to find out who is going home this week.
Aside from competitions about who is best at baking, singing, painting or whatever there are other subtle ways in which to sort people into their place in our unequal society. I will give one example. We were staying in Marseille and were invited, via a mutual acquaintance, to dinner with an English couple who lived there. We hadn’t really wanted the invitation and had accepted it rather reluctantly. Not surprisingly conversation was a little strained. At some point the husband asked where our grandson went to school. I am sure he had never heard of William Patten school in Stoke Newington but that wasn’t the point of the question. He wanted to find out to what social class we belonged, and our grandson’s school gave the game away!
The sad thing about the questions I was asked during the filming of the video for Positive Faith is that they reflected how the people the charity supported saw themselves. They had been made to feel so ashamed of the infection which their bodies carried that they believed they were being punished by God. They expected to be treated differently from other members of their church. And so the question … should they be treated as equals and my response that they should be KNOWN as equals. But what does it mean to be known? That man in Marseille was treating me as an equal but I don’t think he wanted to know me as one.
Art Lester writes about the “sheer pleasure of being known” which he believes is “the nearest desire to the human heart”. So to know someone as equal like this would have nothing to do with wealth, power or social class. It would mean recognising each other’s inherent worth.
I am sure you have all heard that African word Ubuntu, which has been used by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu but also, perhaps surprisingly by Bill Clinton! At its simplest it means “I am because you are”. It expresses the concept of common humanity, of oneness or as an article I read recently suggested – “you and me, we’re the same really”. But we are not mirror images of each other – some of us do win more often than we lose. Perhaps where our common humanity shows most is in our frailty. And compassion is one of the core values of Ubuntu but so are respect and dignity. We don’t want to be treated as equal but known as equal.
I was deeply moved recently by something Humza Yusef, former First Minister of Scotland, said following the recent riots. He said he had been born, raised and educated in Scotland and had always known himself to be a Scot but these riots had shown that although he had been treated as Scottish enough to be Scotland’s First Minister people apparently didn’t KNOW him as Scottish. He himself had begun to doubt his place in that society.
We can only get to really know people in small communities, in relationships of trust but I wonder if as we practise KNOWING people as equal here in Essex Church we can somehow have an influence in the world outside our doors. Remember that saying “You smile, another smiles and soon there’s miles and miles of smiles, because you smiled”. Little by little the world can be changed.
Hymn 191 (purple): ‘We Have a Dream’
Many thanks Patricia. Time for our last hymn now, it’s number 191 in your purple books, based on the famous words of Martin Luther King Jr, ‘We Have a Dream’. Hymn number 191.
We have a dream: this nation will arise,
and truly live according to its creed,
that all are equal in their maker’s eyes,
and none shall suffer though another’s greed.
We have a dream that one day we shall see
a world of justice, truth and equity,
where sons of slaves and daughters of the free
will share the banquet of community.
We have a dream of deserts brought to flower,
once made infertile by oppression’s heat,
when love and truth shall end oppressive power,
and streams of righteousness and justice meet.
We have a dream: our children shall be free
from judgements based on colour or on race;
free to become whatever they may be,
of their own choosing in the light of grace.
We have a dream that truth will overcome
the fear and anger of our present day;
that black and white will share a common home,
and hand in hand will walk the pilgrim way.
We have a dream: each valley will be raised,
and every mountain, every hill brought down;
then shall creation echo perfect praise,
and share God’s glory under freedom’s crown!
Announcements:
Thanks again to Patricia for her thoughtful reflection. Thanks to John for reading. Thanks to Blanca for stepping in to help us out on piano. Thanks to Abby and Benjie for lovely music. Thanks to Jeannene for tech-hosting. Thanks to Shari for co-hosting. If you’re joining on Zoom please do hang on after the service for a chat with Shari, and if you’re a regular online attender who might be able to help out with co-hosting once in a while do let us know. Thanks to John for greeting and Pat for making coffee. For those of you who are here in-person – please do stay for a cuppa and some apple and sultana cake – that’ll be served in the hall next door.
Once you’ve had your cuppa why not come back into the church for Margaret’s singing class – this is free and fun – she has her ways of helping everyone to make a better sound when they sing.
I need to draw it to your attention that there will be NO SUNDAY SERVICE next week. This is largely because a number of key people are away – all our regular worship leaders – me, Sarah and Michael – are at summer school – Ramona’s on a well-earned break so we’re short of tech hosts – and it’s carnival weekend when we had a very small turn-out last year. We’re back on 1st September when the service will be followed by Many Voices LGBTQIA+ singing with Tati and Gaynor – always fun.
We’ve got an online ‘Heart & Soul’ Contemplative Spiritual Gathering online tonight at 7pm and our theme this week is ‘Peace’. We gather for sharing and prayer and it is a great way to get to know others on a deeper level. Sign up with me if you’d like the link. And there’s also an in-person ‘Heart & Soul’ led by Brian this Wednesday at 7pm. Let him know if you’re coming.
The next meeting of the ‘Better World Book Club’ will be on ‘Rest is Resistance’ by Trisha Hersey. If you want to borrow one of our library copies I think there’s one left. The next meeting is on an irregular date, we’ll meet on Bank Holiday Monday, 26th August at 7.30pm. I’ve just released the list of titles for the next six months so I encourage you to join us and I’ve got a flyer here with all the upcoming titles so please do take one so you have the dates.
I’ve just made a bunch of new flyers for our autumn programme so if you want reminders of all the events or if you could help us promote them to your friends please do take them. I particularly want to draw your attention to the tea dances – next one on 8th Sept – but we’ve also lined up a Christmas special on 22nd December – it’d be great to have a good turn-out (and I’d also be glad of a few more volunteers to help out that afternoon with refreshments). And our Community Singing group is back on 11th September and hopefully we’ll have a more regular run of sessions through the autumn once our singing leader Brian is back in harness.
Our ‘Gathering of the Waters’ service is on 15th September and that will be followed by a bring-and-share lunch coordinated by Juliet. Let her know what you plan to bring. And if you go anywhere interesting over the summer please do collect some water for the ceremony.
Details of all our various activities are printed on the back of the order of service, for you to take away, and also in the Friday email. Please do sign up for the mailing list if you haven’t already. The congregation very much has a life beyond Sunday mornings; we encourage you to keep in touch, look out for each other, and do what you can to nurture supportive connections.
I think that’s everything. Just time for our closing words and closing music now.
Benediction: based on words by Laura Horton-Ludwig
As we go forth from this sacred space,
May we celebrate the wonder of our shared lives,
May we recognize our connections to all that is in and on Earth,
May we truly and deeply value the inherent worth of all
In this astonishing interconnected web of existence,
May we commit ourselves to a new and better way,
And may we hold our commitments and each other
Gently yet firmly, as we meet the days to come.
Go well everyone, and blessed be. Amen.
Closing Music: Rondo from Sonata in B-flat major by W.A. Mozart (performed by Abby Lorimier and Benjie del Rosario)
Jane Blackall and Patricia Brewerton
Sunday 18th August 2024