Gathering Music
May I Be Filled
may I be filled with joyful loving kindness
may I be calm and at peace
may I be safe, may happiness surprise me
may I be awake and free.
may you be filled with joyful loving kindness
may you be calm and at peace
may you be safe, may happiness surprise you
may you be awake and free.
Call to Worship
“They”
One:
This person I know
Wants to be called a they.
It could bring us much closer
To see them that way.
It’s a strange thing to think
And harder to say,
But they is so happy
When the effort is made.
For all the theys and thems
It is this that I pray,
All:
We be kind and accepting
And just let them be they.
May We Be Filled
may we be filled with joyful loving kindness
may we be calm and at peace
may we be safe, may happiness surprise us
may we be awake and free.
Scripture Reading
Romans 12:15-18 NRSV
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
One: Hear what the spirit is saying
Many: We are listening
Genesis 1:26 NRSV
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
One: Hear what the spirit is saying
Many: We are listening
Galatians 3:28 NRSV
28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
One: Hear what the spirit is saying
Many: We are listening
Sung Response
“Child Of God” (v. 1 and 2) words & music by Mark Miller
Poem “A Queerification” by Regie Cabico queer me shift me transgress me tell my students i'm gay tell chick fil a i'm queer tell the new york times i'm straight tell the mail man i'm a lesbian tell american airlines i don't know what my gender is like me liking you like summer blockbuster armrest dates armrest cinematic love elbow to forearm in the dark humor me queerly fill me with laughter make me high with queer gas decompress me from centuries of spanish inquisition & self-righteous judgment like the blood my blood that has mixed w/ the colonizer & the colonized in the extinct & instinct to love bust memories of water & heat & hot & breath beating skin on skin fluttering bruise me into vapors bleed me into air fly me over sub-saharan africa & asia & antarctica explode me from the closet of my fears graffiti me out of doubt bend me like bamboo propose to me divorce me divide me into your spirit & shadow me w/ fluttering tongues & caresses beyond head heart chakras fist smashing djembes between my hesitations de-clothe me de-gender me in brassieres & prosthetic genitalias burn me on a brazier wearing a brassiere in bitch braggadocio soprano bass magnificat me in vespers of hallelujah & amen libate me in halos heal me in halls of femmy troubadors i am not afraid to love you implant dialects as if they were lilacs in my ear medicate me with a lick & a like i am not afraid to love you so demand me reclaim me queerify me
Sung Response
“Child of God” (v. 3 and 4) words & music by Mark Miller
Blessed Are They
Alex Carney
One: Blessed are the queers
Many: For they break down the boxes which society puts us in
One: Blessed are the femmes
Many: For they demonstrate beauty and compassion
One: Blessed are the butches
Many: For they show us how to stand up for our communities
One: Blessed are the drag queens
Many: For they show us how to be unapologetic
One: Blessed are the genderless
Many: For they reject the norms of this world and become closer to the divine
One: Blessed are they who are “they”
Many: For they help us become “us”
Sung Response – Choir
“No One is an Island”
Love Feast
One: We come to this table to share our food and our lives
Many: We come to break bread together and open ourselves to each other.
One: We come to express faith and gratitude – our holy thanks.
Many: May the holy be present among us.
One: May the divine bless this food and fellowship.
Many: As we give thanks for this abundance we remember those who do not have enough.
One: May we extend the blessing we receive to those who are longing for it.
Many: May the nourishment of our bodies, hearts, and minds at this table leave us with a hunger for justice.
All are invited to come forward, share in the food, and greet one another with signs of peace as they do.
One: Behold the fragments of our feast. Our meal is ended but abundance yet remains.
Many: Let us carry this love and abundance into the world.
Blessing
Dr. Althea Spencer Miller
Sending
“We are Family” – Sister Sledge
Worship Notes:
Love Feast: adapted from http://www.katrinasdream.org/wp-content/uploads/Liturgury-for-the-Love-Feast.pdf
