Sunday Service Committee Update

It is the beginning of October, and the cold weather and darkness is closing in on us. As your Sunday Service Chair, I have been working diligently with the Sunday Service Committee to support our services.

The Sunday Service Committee includes: Rev. Gordon Bailey, Gloria Burr, Janet Landau, and Marilyn Morton. We put together two services in September. It is always a challenge for us to fill our services with meaningful content when our minister is off.  

We take on that challenge with gusto and reverence as we contemplate this great responsibility. The day of the service can be daunting, and we must learn what worked and what didn’t. Your feedback, both positive and negative, is critical for improvement.

We want to hear from you, and we will deeply consider your option. The service on September 22 was one of my favorites for a lay lead service. The music and Marco Rambaldo continue to bring joy to me days after it was completed. I want to share this reading, read by Ron Ruscillo. It is one of our favorites.

Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day—
           I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,

With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
            And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
            And I can sing.
By James Weldon Johnson