Circles of Trust
- revjaneblackall
- Jan 24
- 23 min read
Updated: Jan 25
Sunday Service, 25 January 2026
Led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
Musical Prelude: Purcell: Chorus of Cold People (performed by Andrew Robinson and our Quartet of Singers)
Opening Words: ‘The Longing for Something More’ by Gretchen Haley
Every little thing that
breaks your heart is welcome here.
We'll make a space for it, give it its due time
and praise, for the wanting it represents.
The longing for something more,
some healing hope
that remains
not yet.
We promise no magic,
no making it all better,
but offer only this circle of trust;
this human community that remembers,
though imperfectly, that sings and prays,
though sometimes awkwardly.
This gathering that loves, though not yet enough.
We're still practicing, after all, still learning,
still in need of help and partners.
Still becoming able to receive
all this beauty and all these gifts we each bring.
Come, let us worship together. (pause)
Words of Welcome and Introduction:
These words from Gretchen Haley welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those who have gathered in-person at Essex Church, to all who are joining us via Zoom, and anyone tuning in at a later date via YouTube or listening to the podcast stream. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Jane Blackall, and I’m minister with Kensington Unitarians.
Our service today is titled ‘Circles of Trust’ – a phrase borrowed from the Quaker educator Parker J. Palmer – this morning, we'll consider how we might cultivate trust, and create the conditions for it, while also reflecting on questions of discernment – that is, how do we know when to trust, and when to hold back. It’s not an easy question to answer. In the words of Frank Crane: ‘You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough... We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone – but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.'
Chalice Lighting: ‘Our Guiding Principles’ by Jane Blackall
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)
May the light of this chalice be a reminder of the
shared values and principles around which we gather:
upholding the inherent worth and dignity of every person;
cherishing all those diverse creatures and habitats
with whom we share this Earth, our home;
seeking human liberation and flourishing;
and serving the common good of all.
May this little light, and all it represents, make a home in our hearts;
where it will ever guide us back to our highest aspirations,
and help us be responsive, creative, just, and loving,
in this complex and ever-changing world.
Hymn 174 (green): ‘A Church is a Living Fellowship’
Our first hymn is number 174 in your green hymnbooks: ‘A Church is a Living Fellowship’. For those joining on zoom the words will be up on screen. Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer.
A church is a living fellowship
More than a holy shrine,
Where people can share their hopes and fear,
Less of the yours and mine;
Where bonded by trust we search for Truth
Beyond the chains of creeds,
And thought can aspire to shine with fire
From all our deepest needs.
Let’s stretch out the open hand of Love,
Conquer the fists of hate,
Divided no more by voices of war,
Greeds of our mindless state.
We’ll take all our building bricks of Truth,
Make of them homes of Life,
A future to face the shame and disgrace
In all our past of strife.
A church is a place of human trust
More than of brick and stone;
Of Love we will sing to make it ring
In every joyous tone.
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 who or what you light your candle for – please keep it brief – be considerate of others. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak, as we want people to be able to hear 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 Krista Taves
Let’s take those joys and concerns into an extended time of prayer. This prayer is based on some words by Krista Taves. You might 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.
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)
We come together in prayer even though some of us struggle with what that means.
We come together to stand before that which is greater than us,
although we may struggle to say what that is.
And so on this day we pray for those things we struggle with in our everyday lives.
For the conflicts we feel within ourselves and between us and those we love.
We pray for guidance, compassion, for the opening of a path.
We pray for those things that give us joy and hope each day.
For those things that we trust in, believe in, will sacrifice for.
These are gifts of grace, and perhaps we need not define them
in order to savour them, rejoice in them, be thankful for them.
What we do know is that we gather here this morning with all kinds of needs.
Some are facing health problems and are in need of healing.
Others are worn down by all the challenges of the times we’re living through
and need healing of a different kind – emotional and spiritual.
Some are facing problems at home or in their family. Some are weary
with the struggles of life and seek assurance that this, too, will someday pass.
Others face the anguish of making difficult decisions for themselves,
for their families and friends, and for the common good.
For each of us, we speak the deepest prayers of our hearts in different ways, knowing
that what it means for them to be answered will look and feel different for each of us.
May we, somehow, this morning be met at the point of our differences
and also in the places that we are one, of the same
breath of life that courses through all living things.
May we always hold in our hearts gratitude for those things that bless us
with their presence, forgiveness for the ways we have turned from those blessings,
and the willingness to open ourselves anew to this beautiful and hurting world. (pause)
And in a few minutes of quietness now, let us seek a higher perspective, a longer view;
starting right where we are, let us shift our awareness ever outward, in circles of concern.
Let us bring to mind those we know to be struggling this day – perhaps including ourselves –
those friends and family we hold dearest – our neighbours in community –
others around the globe we may only have heard about on the news.
And let us take time to send prayers of loving kindness to all who suffer. (longer pause)
Let us take stock of our own lives – the challenges we face – and our part in those difficulties –
perhaps we are all too aware of mistakes we have made, or missed opportunities –
times in this week where things didn’t turn out how we intended or had hoped.
And let us take time to ask for what we need to start afresh this week and do better. (longer pause)
Let us look back over the last week, taking time to notice what was good, to count our blessings –
all the ways in which others helped or encouraged us, inspired or delighted us –
all the goodness and beauty we have known even in the midst of struggle.
And let us take time to give prayers of thanks for all we have been given. (longer 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 220 (green): ‘Break Not the Circle’
Let’s sing again now – our second hymn is number 220 in your green book – ‘Break Not the Circle’. I absolutely love this hymn – it has a mournful, yearning quality and a beautiful sentiment which, I hope, reflects what it is we’re trying to create here together – for some reason we don’t sing it often though so I think I’ll ask Andrew to play it through once in full before we sing. 220.
Break not the circle of enabling love
Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving;
Break not that circle, make it wider still,
Till it includes, embraces all the living.
Come, wonder at this love that comes to life,
Where words of freedom are with humour spoken,
And people keep no score of wrong and guilt,
But will that human bonds remain unbroken.
Join then the movement of the love that frees,
Till people of whatever race or nation
Will truly be themselves, stand on their feet,
See eye to eye with laughter and elation.
In-Person Reading: ‘Brené Brown’s BRAVING’ by Ruth Mackenzie (excerpts, adapted) (read by Antony)
Most of us think of trust as something that is built in grand gestures, someone saving your life or someone rushing to a bedside, and certainly that is true. But social science research says that trust is actually built in very small moments. Brené Brown teases out the building blocks of trust as acts of BRAVING, an acronym she developed to describe the tenants of trust. And I would add building our capacity and skill as risk-takers. She talks about these elements of trust as measurable, observable behaviours and describes them with this acronym, BRAVING. (B.R.A.V.I.N.G).
First, B is for Boundaries: I can only build trust with you when you are clear about your boundaries and you hold them, and you understand my boundaries and you respect them. There is no trust without boundaries.
Second, R is for Reliability: you do what you say you're going to do, not once, but over and over again. And I do what I say I'm going to do over and over and over again. That means being clear about our limitations, about what we can and cannot do. When we're not honest with ourselves or others about our capacity to follow through, our reliability tank will always be riding on empty.
Third, A is for Accountability: when you mess up, you own it. You apologize, you make amends. And you extend the same grace to me that when I mess up; allow me to apologize and make amends.
Fourth, V is for the Vault: This simply means that what you share with me I hold in confidence.
Fifth, I is for Integrity: I cannot trust you unless you act from a place of integrity and you encourage me to do the same. Integrity means choosing courage over comfort, doing the right thing over what's fun or fast or convenient. And practicing your values, not just professing your values.
Sixth, N is for Non-judgment: I can only build trust with you if you accompany me when I fall apart, when my heart aches and I'm needing help, and you meet me with non-judgment. And I show up the same way for you. This is hard for most of us because most of us are much more comfortable being the helper than the helpee. Perhaps your self-worth comes from being the helper, but always assuming the position of the helper does not foster trust. Trust is built on mutual vulnerability, on being human with one another in our struggles and our shortcomings, and having someone to turn to who will meet us in non-judgment. Always being the helper does not build trust.
And finally – G is for Generosity: Our relationship is not a trustworthy relationship unless you can assume the most generous things about my actions or my words, and you check in with me.
These are the tenets of trust. They are the measurable, observable ways we can understand trust. So, maybe instead of saying, I don't trust you anymore, or I don't trust that organization, you can break it down a bit and actually get at what broke trust and how might trust be repaired. I will be using the tenets of BRAVING writ large to assess where will I place my trust.
Words for Meditation: ‘I Live for This Moment’ by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Thanks Antony. We’re moving into a time of meditation now. To take us into stillness we’re going to hear a poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer – we’re hearing quite a bit of her lately! – this one is titled ‘I Live for This Moment’ and it describes an ordinary-but-extraordinary moment with her young daughter. I think moments like the one she describes – moments of trust and love – can be found, noticed, cultivated, in many of our relationships. And if we create more moments of trust and love, who knows where it might lead, what ripple effect it might have. I found the last few lines especially powerful and affecting. After the poem we’ll hold a few minutes of shared silence which will end with the sound of a bell. Then we’ll hear music for meditation. So let’s do what we need to do to get comfortable – adjust your position – put your feet flat on the floor to ground yourself – close your eyes. As ever, feel free to use this time to meditate in your own way.
‘I Live for This Moment’ by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
I live for this moment,
when my daughter stumbles
sleepy-eyed from her room
and no matter what I’m doing,
I stop and move to the corner
of the couch so she can settle
her whole weight on me.
Maybe we speak of dreams.
Maybe we converse with the cat.
Maybe we plan the day.
Maybe we say nothing at all.
All that matters is that
she is close and I nuzzle my face
into her hair and wrap an arm
around her chest and know
this is the beginning of everything,
the seed, the cosmic swirl,
the headline that’s never written.
To foster one moment of trust
and love is to belong
to a crucial revolution.
It matters, how we hold each other.
What happens everywhere
starts right here.
Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell
Interlude: Walking in the Air (performed by Andrew Robinson and our Quartet of Singers)
In-Person Reading: ‘Trusting and Being Trusted’ by Mark Nepo (read by Patricia)
Being fully alive requires both finding trusted others as well as being a trusted other. For trusting and being trusted allow us to blossom.
To truly live, we must learn the delicate balance of trusting and being trusted. It's not just about sharing our joys or leaning on others in our times of need; it's about creating a space where vulnerability can thrive, where we allow others to see us as we are—flawed, beautiful, and human. Trusting someone means opening a door to our inner world, while being trusted is a gift, a recognition of our ability to hold space for someone else’s story, their fears, and their dreams.
When we find those rare connections where trust flows freely in both directions, something remarkable happens: we blossom. We feel seen, valued, and empowered to become the fullest version of ourselves. These bonds remind us that we don’t have to carry life’s weight alone and that, in our shared humanity, we find strength and resilience.
But trust takes courage. It’s a practice of showing up consistently, of listening deeply, and of holding space with compassion. And when we cultivate this practice—both in finding trusted others and in being one ourselves—we create a foundation of love and connection that allows us to truly flourish.
Let this be a reminder to seek those connections and to be that safe place for someone else. In doing so, we invite the blossoming of not just ourselves, but the world around us.
Reflection: ‘On Trust’ by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
‘Being fully alive requires both finding trusted others as well as being a trusted other. For trusting and being trusted allow us to blossom.’ Those words from Mark Nepo are at the heart of what today’s service is all about – and I believe his message, it rings true to me – we humans need to trust, and feel trusted, in order to be fully alive. Yet I guess most of us will have had experiences – some small incidents, some devastating – of having trusted a person, or an institution, and having that work out badly for us, when our trust was broken, or abused, or taken advantage of. We know, don’t we, that this troubled and often terrifying world is full of peril and risk. So it’s understandable that we might retreat into a state of being wary and defended to protect ourselves from harm.
Let’s just pause for a moment to consider (and hopefully clarify) what it is that we mean by trust. One of the dictionary definitions that I like best for ‘trust’ is this: ‘to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or that something is safe and reliable’; that is, we need to have trust in situations in which we are in some way vulnerable. One way to think about trust, and trusting, is as putting yourself – or something especially precious to you – into the hands of another. We might put our body into the hands of a surgeon – or a lover – both of these require great trust. We might put our heart (in a less literal sense) into the hands of a beloved or a friend as we share intimacies and confide in them – trusting that they will be kind and loving in response. On a rather more mundane level we might put our spare house keys in the hands of a neighbour, trusting them with access to our home and possessions, or trusting them to cat-sit or dog-sit, or water our tomatoes, while we’re away. I’m sure you can think of lots of other instances where trust is woven into daily life.
It is risky to trust – to put ourselves into the hands of others – but if we never take such risks then we can become closed-off, and isolated, and miss out on so much in life. We might end our days realising we have not lived and loved as fully as we could have. But there is always a leap of faith involved in deciding to trust. We don’t know how it will turn out. There’s a short and slightly ominous quote from Ernest Hemingway on this, which acknowledges our trust will sometimes be misplaced and we can’t know for sure. He said: ‘The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.’
A more light-hearted take on the dilemma of trust is encapsulated in these words by Lemony Snicket, who wrote: ‘Deciding whether or not to trust a person is like deciding whether or not to climb a tree, because you might get a wonderful view from the highest branch, or you might simply get covered in sap, and for this reason many people choose to spend their time alone and indoors where it is harder to get a splinter.’ And this in turn links back to the quote from Frank Crane that I shared at the top of the service: ‘You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough... We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone – but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.'
Some of us might have a more trusting temperament and others may be naturally wary. I came across some thoughts on this from UUs Christine Robinson and Alicia Hawkins, who write of the basic trust which, if we are well cared for, we learn as infants – the inner sense that ‘I can trust the world. I know what to expect. I will be cared for. It’s OK.’ They continue: ‘Over our lives, we build on our foundation of basic trust with specific experiences of trust, gullibility, cynicism, and reconciliation after breaches of trust. Our experiences give us a sort of default trust setting, an attitude with which we face the world. Our default setting not only shapes our own feelings and behaviour, it also shapes the way others behave toward us. It might seem that a cynical attitude is safest, but since people who sense they are not trusted often withdraw from relationship, and sometimes even act in untrustworthy ways, it is actually a terrible risk. And while the happy-go-lucky, “trust the universe” stance might seem like an advanced spiritual practice, in actuality, it can invite exploitation.’ Words from Robinson and Hawkins.
While I was pondering this subject during the week I found myself thinking about the temperamental variation of cats and dogs as a model for thinking about trust (in fact on Friday I was in a ministers’ meeting with my colleagues Laura and Michael, where Laura’s dog Bess and Michael’s cat Willow were also in attendance, and as I don’t have any pets I took the opportunity to consult them all on this matter). I observe that some pets are self-contained, wary, and slow to trust, preferring to keep their distance; while others are utterly unboundaried, intuitively open, and demanding of love, affection, and belly rubs! My Instagram feed has ended up with a lot of cat and dog videos on it – I’m only human! – in the last week I’ve seen a lot of ‘clingy cats’ demanding cuddles (bucking the cat stereotype) – but I usually get loads of videos of kind and patient carers in animal rescue shelters doing the slow work of regaining the trust of animals who have been neglected or abused. Sometimes you get to see the long story unfold, where a dog that starts out trembling with fear in the corner of a cage, averting its eyes and making itself small, will eventually very tentatively approach the carer, then maybe allow itself to be cuddled, and you’ll see a little wag of its tail… and by the end of the video it’s all belly rubs and exuberant joy! Clearly this is often a long, painful process – but it’s an incredible model of trust-building – and it’s not too much of a stretch to see parallels in many of our human relations.
We each need to discern for ourselves who we can trust and who we can’t. Or perhaps I should say when we can trust and when we can’t – there may be people we can trust in some domains but not others – there’s an element of context dependence here, I think. In each moment we need to consider what might be gained and what might be lost by taking the risk of being more trusting and open. We won’t (and we shouldn’t) trust everyone equally all the time. We need to set boundaries for our own protection. Each of us is probably aware, of the different levels of trust we have with others, radiating out in concentric circles. We’ll most likely have an ‘inner circle’ of close confidantes, who we trust to share the intimate details of our lives, and trusted comrades who we can rely on to give us practical support and encouragement. Some of you have probably taken part in an exercise called the ‘Trusted Ten’ – it comes up a lot in diversity and equalities training (and I’m not going to focus on that aspect of the exercise today but it’s an interesting and important thing to reflect on the make-up of the ten) – but if you want to have a go it simply asks you to make a list of the ten people you trust the most. Then reflect on why you trust them, what it is that makes them trustworthy, to you. Perhaps there might be echoes of the qualities we heard from Brené Brown earlier.
I’m interested in how we might create the conditions for deepening trust – whether that’s in the context of our personal relationships, or our community, or in the world – and I think they’re all linked up anyway. That’s why I so loved the poem we heard from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, with the image of stopping what she was doing to be fully present, give her time and attention to her daughter, and those beautiful, inspiring, closing lines: ‘To foster one moment of trust and love is to belong to a crucial revolution. It matters, how we hold each other. What happens everywhere starts right here.’ And Mark Nepo said something similar about how the trust we build at a micro scale can have an impact that travels further than we can possibly know. He said: ‘Let this be a reminder to seek those connections and to be that safe place for someone else. In doing so, we invite the blossoming of not just ourselves, but the world around us.’
I mentioned at the start of the service that the title ‘Circles of Trust’ was borrowed from the oft-quoted Parker J. Palmer. It’s a phrase he uses for a certain way of holding space for small groups – very much like our own Unitarian Engagement Groups – these groups have a very particular structure which is intended to cultivate deeper trust and make space for the soul to emerge. So I want to share an extended extract from him on this – a few paragraphs from his book ‘A Hidden Wholeness’ – Parker J. Palmer says this:
‘The soul is like a wild animal…tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places… Yet despite its toughness, the soul is also shy. Just like a wild animal, it seeks safety in the dense underbrush, especially when other people are around. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we will walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently at the base of a tree, breathe with the earth, and fade into our surroundings, the wild creature we seek might put in an appearance. We may see it only briefly and only out of the corner of an eye—but the sight is a gift we will always treasure as an end in itself.
Unfortunately, community in our culture too often means a group of people who go crashing through the woods together, scaring the soul away. In spaces ranging from congregations to classrooms, we preach and teach, assert and argue, claim and proclaim, admonish and advise, and generally behave in ways that drive everything original and wild into hiding. Under these conditions, the intellect, emotions, will and ego may emerge, but not the soul: we scare off all the soulful things, like respectful relationships, goodwill, and hope.
The people who help us grow toward true self offer unconditional love, neither judging us to be deficient nor trying to force us to change, but accepting us exactly as we are. And yet this unconditional love does not lead us to rest on our laurels. Instead, it surrounds us with a charged force field that makes us want to grow from the inside out—a force field that is safe enough to take the risks and endure the failures that growth requires. Circles of Trust combine unconditional love, or regard, with hopeful expectancy, creating a space that both safeguards and encourages the inner journey. In such a space, we are freed to hear our own truth, touch what brings us joy, become self-critical about our faults, and take risky steps toward change, knowing that we will be accepted no matter what the outcome.’
Words from Parker J. Palmer on ‘Circles of Trust’. I think his vision really resonates with what we’re trying to create here, in this beloved community, and I hope you’ll agree. Particularly in our Engagement Groups, gatherings like ‘Heart and Soul’, we’re making a clearing into which the shy wild animal of our soul can emerge. A safer, softer, kinder space, where – over time, given constancy – a deeper level of trust becomes possible. And this way of being might just be something we can carry with us, out into the rest of our lives, changing those around us, and spreading transformative trust into the world.
In that spirit, I want to close with a few prayerful words, based on a prayer from Matthew Smith, in hope that they might prepare our hearts for the days to come.
Spirit of Life, God of All Love,
In this moment let us be conscious
of the importance of trust in our lives.
While being open to others carries its risk,
we know our hearts will shrink and wizen
if we live mainly by wariness and suspicion.
Let us be willing to open ourselves up
to love and trust – for our own dear sakes.
There is good in the world,
and there is good in people.
Sometimes we need to look deeply – but it is there.
We know there are tens of millions of hearts
yearning for the same things that we do –
love, justice, care, compassion.
As we reach out, let us have resolute faith
that we will connect with those
true hearts – the companions
we really need for life’s journey.
So it is that we recognise and celebrate
this hard but invaluable work
of trusting and reaching out –
in our own personal lives,
and in the practise of spiritual community,
as we commit to creating a better world, together.
May it be so, for the greater good of all. Amen.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘The Church Where Love Lives’
Time for one last hymn and it’s a good’un! It’s on your hymn sheet: ‘The Church Where Love Lives’.
The church where love lives is a safe place for all
Where we gather in wonder to remember God’s call,
To embody God’s vision of kindness and care
With each song that we sing, with each protest and prayer.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
The church where love lives draws the stranger inside,
Making neighbours of strangers, no neighbour denied,
Till there’s heaven on earth and God’s will has been done,
Till the whole of creation is restored to its home.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
The church where love lives is preparing a feast
For the pained and rejected, for the lost and the least,
For the deeply afraid, for the truly ashamed.
Come and sit at our table. Love has called you by name.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
Announcements:
Thanks to Ramona for hosting and Shari for co-hosting. Thanks to Andrew and the quartet: Margaret, Lucy, Benjie and Edwin. Thanks to Antony and Patricia for reading. Thanks to Marianne for greeting and Liz for making coffee. If you are in-person do stay for cake (it’s apple and sultana or pear, hazelnut and chocolate). If you’re online stay for a chat with Shari if you can.
At 12.30 here in the church Margaret will be leading her ‘Finding Your Voice’ singing class. That’s free of charge, lasts 45 minutes, and she can help anybody make a better sound.
Tonight we have the Better World Book Club when we’re talking about ‘Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever’ by Lamorna Ash – if you’re expecting to come to that and haven’t yet had the link drop me an email – and next month we’re reading ‘What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat’ by Fat Liberation activist Aubrey Gordon – we have a few copies to lend out if you’d like to join us in Feb.
On Friday at 7pm we’ve got our ‘Heart and Soul’ online contemplative spiritual gathering – this week it’s on the theme of ‘Simplicity’. Email me if you want to join.
Looking further ahead you might like to join us on a Winter Walk (weather permitting) on Thursday 5th February when we’ll be going to Rainham Marshes RSPB reserve which is near Purfleet station. About eight of us are already signed up so it should be a nice outing. Let me know if you’re coming.
Next Sunday our own Sarah Tinker will be leading our service on the theme of ‘Marking the Days’.
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. 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. Just time for our closing words and closing music now.
Benediction: based on words by Cliff Reed and Satish Kumar
We have shared this hour of worship,
as we share our membership of this
living earth and her human family.
As we part, let us remember the ties
that hold us close, the divine unity in
which we exist, and the path of loving
faith that leads us from death to life.
And in that spirit let us conclude
with the Universal prayer for peace:
Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth;
lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust;
lead us from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe. Amen.
Closing Music: You've Got a Friend (performed by Andrew Robinson and our Quartet of Singers: Lucy Elston-Panter, Margaret Marshall, Benjie del Rosario and Edwin Dizer)
Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
25th January 2026