PRELUDE

The Service may open with a Chorale, an Introit, a Processional Hymn or opening Sentences.

SENTENCES, one or more to be read by the Minister:

Peace be to this house and to all who enter herein. Luke X: 5.

Thou canst not, even if thou wouldst, separate thy life from that of humanity. Thou livest in it, by it and for it. Thy soul cannot separate itself from the elements amongst which it moves. Mazzini.

None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Romans XIV: 7.

Fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell: fellowship is life, and lack of fellowship is death: and the deeds that ye do on earth, it is. for fellowship’s sake that ye do them. William Morris.

Seek to dwell in love and peace and truth with one another, and the gifts of the spirit shall enrich all and make no man poor: for in fellowship is strength, and immeasurable is the help that man can yield to man. Editors.

Let your love abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve the things which are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence. Philippians I: 9, 10.

PRAYER OF ASPIRATION, by the Minister:

In the holy quiet of this hour, let each of us bring an offering of penitence, if not of purity; of love, if not of holiness; of teachableness, if not of wisdom; of devout obedience for the time to come, if not the fruits of well—doing in in the time that is past. And so may we find strength and courage for every time of need. Amen.

or:
In the presence of that which is excellent we are filled with radiant hope that we also may obtain the objects of our heart’s desire. We would know more completely and feel more fully the skills that serve us and the innumerable beauties that surround us, in order to use more wisely their benefits to the enlargement of our powers. As we desire to do noble deeds, so may we acquire the insights of noble being; as we long for the greater unity of mankind, so may we strive for a greater unity of self. Under the stress and strain of earthly strife and hopes deferred, let us remember the permanence of the excellent and the power of the ideal. So shall we gain strength to be what we would, and to do what we should. Amen.

Peace be with you.
And with all mankind.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up in joy and praise.

HYMN, or the following Song of Exaltation.

From all that dwell below the skies
Let faith and hope with love arise;
Let beauty, truth and good be sung
Through every land, by every tongue. Amen.

RESPONSIVE READING

ORGAN RESPONSE

FIRST LESSON

CHANT, if desired.

SECOND LESSON, if desired.

The Minister may then say:
Here endeth the reading of the lesson.

Here may follow a period of silent meditation, after which the Minister may read the Litany, the people responding.

LITANY

Let us rejoice in the light of day, in the glory and warmth of the sun, in the re—awakening of life to duty and labor;
We rejoice in the light of day:
In the quiet night, with its rest from wearying toil and its revelation of glorious worlds beyond the dark;
We rejoice in the peace of night:
In the earth with its hills and valleys, its widespread fields of grain, its fruits and its hidden treasures;
We rejoice in the beauty of earth:
In the sea, changeless and yet forever changing, the ancient mother of renewing life;
We rejoice in the everlasting sea.
We rejoice in the strength to win our daily bread from nature’s ample stores, and in our quiet homes, hallowed by love, where we find refuge from the cold and storm;
We rejoice in the shelter of home:
In the love of fathers and mothers, who have nurtured our lives and comforted our hearts, with whose blessing we have gone forth to our own work in the world:
We rejoice in the love of parents:
In the children who bless our homes, whose eager minds and hearts are the promise of a better world;
We rejoice in the love of children:
In our friends who share our sorrows and our joys, who are one with us in fellowship and service;
We rejoice in comrades along the way of life:
In the fulness of the abundant life, in the serenity of old age and the peace which cometh at the last:
We rejoice, and will rejoice for evermore.

OFFERTORY, during which an anthem may be sung.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HYMN

SERMON

HYMN

CLOSING WORDS

POSTLUDE