Our first two online services were broadcast from the church, using the welcome hall and sanctuary as our studios, with musicians and other participants there.  This was just before the March 17 order took effect which meant that nobody could work there or gather in groups.  Since Sunday, March 22, we have been streaming services by Zoom, with each presenter participating from a separate location.

These are words I gave (slightly revised) at that service. Rev. Lucy offered a homily.

Welcome and Announcements–Roger Jones

Good morning and welcome.  It’s good to be with you—those who are connected online, and those of you who have gathered with us in the Welcome Hall here at UUSS.  With us on site this morning are several church members plus our Music Director, Religious Education Coordinator, Custodians, and Sangye our student minister, with deep thanks also to Dirk and Ivan handling the technology to make it possible to be together.

We know this as a time of stress, worry and anxiety.  These are days of overturned schedules, disappointed expectations, and ongoing concern.      For at least the rest of the month of March, the pandemic of covid-19 is keeping us from gathering as a full community for Sunday services, Religious Education programs, and the fellowship we share before and after those times.     Nevertheless, in times like this, we have a longing to be together as much as possible, as safely as possible, and in as many creative ways as possible.

We long to be with people who share our values of compassion, reason, mutual dependence, human worth, openness and curiosity.

This morning’s online service is one of several ways we have come up with to help our community to stay connected.  As you can see on the website and as we will show you on a slide at the end of this time together, we have a series of online programs available as well as activities here on site for individual meetings or small groups.  [Note: All on-site gatherings were cancelled by public health officials as of March 17.]  Check there or call the office to find out what’s going on and what has been cancelled.  Keep checking for new opportunities that will emerge.  We invite your ideas and your help.

The mission of this congregation remains the same:

We come together to deepen our lives and to be a force for healing in the world. 

We invite you to support one another in discovering and shaping new and creative ways to keep living out our mission.

We have been moved and inspired by the offers of time, talent and help that have come from so many of you in the past several days.

We also are gratified by the continuing response to the Stewardship Campaign which began the first of March. This is when all of us as members, friends and other supporters of the congregation make our financial pledges of support for the next budget year.  Various members and families have prepared their testimonials to give on upcoming Sundays, and we will post videos of them on our website and in upcoming Ministerial Message emails.

So now we have an update!  The Stewardship Goal is total pledges of $630,000. We are using a beanstalk to show our progress.  Let’s see where we are after two weeks! [graphic]

We hope you are cheering this progress at home right now.  We also hope you will show your support of our Stewardship Committee by clicking on the web link or telephoning the office (916-483-9283) to make your pledge.  As a congregation, this is how we lead with love.  Thank you for keeping your heart open in these times.

Pastoral Prayer during the Pandemic—Roger Jones

Please join me in the spirit of intention as I offer these words of prayer, after which we will all take a minute of silence, and then our quartet will sing “Teach Us How to Love.”  Let’s take a breath.  Let’s notice the sensation of our bodies wherever we might be resting or seated.

May we know we are held in this moment as we hold one another in our hearts.

O Spirit of Life, in these troubling times, hold us in tenderness.       In these times of actual physical distance, hold us together in spirit.  Bless each one of us with comfort, compassion, and courage. Bless all those whom we hold in our heart.

Within us in our extended community on this Sunday morning are feelings grief and sadness.  Among us are feelings of uncertainty and worry, disbelief and outrage.

Among us are feelings of deep care for those we know and for many others whom we don’t know.  We have deep care for this world we share.

We behold a world in trouble. We behold a world in fear.    We know that fears can separate people.  Fears of this pandemic have driven people to demonize other people and other countries.  Let us rise above our fears.  Let us remember that other people are not our enemy, they are fellow members of our human family.

In these times, our common foe is the spread of infection and the sickness it can cause.  And our common goal is the common good.  Let our common vision be a vision of healthy people, in every land, of every age and social condition.

At moments of trouble and hardship, let us be reminded of the depth of our courage.   Let us remind one another of the abundance of our compassion.  Our compassion grows as we share it.

In these times of challenge, may we express thanks for those who are striving to make a difference—the civil servants and health workers, the scientists, journalists and care givers, grocery and farm workers, food preparers and those who deliver it.  Let us give thanks for all who put the common good about their private concerns.  Let us give thanks for the generosity of those who donate their time, talents and money toward serving the needs of others in the community, this nation, and our world.

O Spirit of Life, we know that in troubling times like these, feelings of impatience and frustration are normal.  When such feelings arise, give us the presence and the grace to take a deep breath, and center ourselves in the present moment.

In times like these, feelings like loneliness or helplessness are normal feelings.  When they happen, let us remember to reach out—to ask for a listening ear or to offer one.  To listen for a kind word, or to speak one.

As we strive to honor the healthy practice of social distance, let us reach out not with hands, but with our hearts, our kind words, our attentive listening, our loving wishes.

Spirit of Life, hold us together.  Hold us in tenderness.  Amen.

And now, as we enter a minute of silence for our own private meditations and prayers, these words of compassion:

May we be well.  May all people be well.      May all beings be well.

May we be at ease and at peace.

May all people be at ease and at peace.          May all beings be at ease and at peace.

(Silence)

Quartet sings: “Teach Us How to Love”