Rising and Falling
Updated: 7 days ago
Sunday Service, 18 October 2026
Led by Rev. Sarah Tinker
Musical Prelude: Piney Ridge – trad. (performed by Georgia Morgan Turner)
Opening Words ‘Come Into this Place’ by Margaret Weis
Come into this place with your whole self – the parts that are raw and exposed;
the part that is beaming with joy;
the part that is seeking the truth, the new, the possibility.
Come into this place – open your heart, lay down your burden, lift up your hope – for something new to happen.
Come into this place, with fellow travellers on the journey –
some faces new
and others familiar
and all welcoming you here – now, to this moment.
Come, let us worship together.
Welcome and Introduction:
Those welcoming words are written by Margaret Weis and they welcome each and every one of you to this Sunday gathering of Kensington Unitarians here in West London. It’s good to be here with you and also to welcome those of you joining us online this morning. Lovely to see your faces on our screen here. A warm welcome too for anyone who connects to this as a recorded service by podcast or on YouTube some time in the future. Hello!
If we’ve not met before, I’m Sarah Tinker, and our service today has Rising and Falling as a theme. It seemed to fit this time of year here in the northern hemisphere of our planet earth home. Here, where our autumn season unfolds at a pace now, with falling leaves and shortening days, sung slanting at a different angle, rising and setting at unexpected compass points in the sky. ‘Rising and falling’, maybe that also fits our human condition, where life is so often changing for better or worse. I hope each of us can find something in today’s theme that helps us think usefully about own lives and the life of our world.
Let’s light our chalice flame now, as you do each week. As your minister Jane often suggests, this is a moment when we can stop and take a breath, settle ourselves down, put aside those issues we came in carrying and might prefer to let go of for a while.
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. A small flame can connect us and strengthen us.
Chalice Lighting: ‘A Reminder of What We Share’ by Pat Uribe-Lichty
(light chalice)
The chalice is a symbol of our faith:
Like our faith, it is not magic
nor is it mysterious.
We light it
as a reminder of what we share
as a community
and of who, each of us, is called to be.
When we feel lost in a chaotic world
May the light of our chalice show us our path.
When we are afraid of the times we live in
May the light of our chalice give us courage.
When we despair at the injustice and cruelty around us
May the light of our chalice recall us to a faithful hope.
Our chalice is a symbol
of our commitment to each other
and to ourselves.
We light it today
as a gathered community
that we may understand more completely
and act more boldly
and hope more fiercely.
Hymn 33 (purple): ‘Enter, Rejoice and Come In’
Time for our first hymn today which will appear on screens soon and can also be found as hymn number 33 in these purple hymnbooks. It’s called ‘enter rejoice and come in’ and it has a cheery message that ends with a repeated line which goes ‘today will be a joyful day’. All well and good to sing a line like that when life is going the way we want it to, not so comfortable when life is bringing us pain – so feel free to mutter ‘today will be a joyful day … for someone’ every time we sing that line if you want things to be accurate. We’d like this to be a joyful day for everyone – but life’s not like that. Still let’s sing with as much gusto as we can muster whatever sort of a day we’ve had so far. And if you prefer, feel free to stay seated or not sing, just listen. Do whatever is most comfortable for you. Enter rejoice and come in.
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Today will be a joyful day;
enter, rejoice, and come in.
Open your ears to the song.
Open your ears to the song.
Today will be a joyful day;
enter, rejoice, and come in.
Open your hearts everyone.
Open your hearts everyone
Today will be a joyful day;
enter, rejoice, and come in.
Don't be afraid of some change.
Don't be afraid of some change.
Today will be a joyful day;
enter, rejoice, and come in.
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Today will be a joyful day;
enter, rejoice, and come in.
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 have a candle lit and share something that is in our heart with the community. We’ll start with 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 – so there’s time for others. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak, so people can hear you through the microphone.
(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 and Reflection:
Let’s take those joys and concerns into a time of reflection and prayer. You might want to adjust your position, close your eyes, or soften your gaze. There might be a posture that helps you feel more prayerful. Whatever helps you get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together – to be fully present here and now – with ourselves, with each other, and with that which we hold to be of greatest worth, within us and beyond us. (pause)
Let us pray.
Let us pray for our world, with all its grievous troubles. Our hearts ache for those suffering through violence in the Sudan, in Ukraine and Russia, in Israel and Gaza, as well as so many other places where violence rules. May the spirit of peace and possibility whisper its healing message in the ears of all who seek vengeance. May the spirit of love and compassion touch all whose hearts are hardened or despairing. In a shared time of silence now let us pray for all who are suffering. (pause)
Let us pray too for the peacemakers, those who dedicate their lives to finding solutions to the most difficult of situations and the medics who seek to heal the wounded, sometimes in the hardest of circumstances. May they be inspired and strengthened in their work. May they be protected and supported in all they do.
At times some of us feel that we live in a far too complex world, with too many matters calling for our attention and too many irresolvable issues filling our awareness. Life is confusing and challenging and so much is out of our control. May we be comforted then by accepting that we are powerless and that the ups and downs of existence have a rhythm of their own.
In quiet times such as this, may we discover once again the simplicity of stillness and balance, a quiet calm centre in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of both our inner and our outer lives.
May we remember when we claim to be certain and sure that there is indeed so much for us yet to understand. When we are assailed by doubts and uncertainties, may we discover an inner strength that allows us to rest gently in our unknowing. To be human is to be at times confused and challenged; may we remember that when we are about to judge other people or ourselves and resolve to be a little kinder than we might sometimes be.
Let us take time now in quietness for our own thoughts and prayers, for those we love, for the aspects of our lives that are troubling us, for all that we are carrying this day …….
that all who are troubled might know the comfort of a loving presence and a helping hand. And may this be so for the greater good of all, amen, so may it be.
Readings: from Winnie the Pooh, writings by AA Milne, Benjamin Huff & Kathryn Wallace
It’s 100 years this week since AA Milne first published his now famous and much loved book called Winnie the Pooh. It seemed to fit well with our theme of life’s joys and challenges because AA Milne’s characters have character, they’re recognisably different personalities and they cope with life in such different ways. A bit like all of us. Some of us will have had these stories read to us in childhood at school or home but if you’ve not met them before I could briefly introduce them. There’s Pooh the bear himself - often cheery, even bumptious, quite self-focused and with a deep love of honey; Piglet who is small and can quickly become nervous and distressed in life: and Eeyore, an old stuffed toy donkey, who can be so gloomy and low in energy at times, yet he’s so lovable – especially for those of us who can be grumpy and low in spirits from time to time.
I’ll just read two short extracts from chapter Six of this Winnie the Pooh book – a chapter I’d highly recommend everyone reads – because it’s such a helpful reminder that small interventions in the life of another can make a real difference. We can lifts one another’s spirits. So the chapter begins with Eeyore alone in the Woods, staring into a small stream.
Eeyore, the old grey Donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water.
"Pathetic," he said. "That's what it is. Pathetic."
He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again.
"As I thought," he said. "No better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is."
There was a crackling noise in the bracken behind him, and out came Pooh.
"Good morning, Eeyore," said Pooh.
"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it is a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.
"Why, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can't all, and some of us don't. That's all there is to it."
"Can't all what?" said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
"Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush."
"Oh!" said Pooh. He thought for a long time, and then asked, "What mulberry bush is that?"
"Bon-hommy," went on Eeyore gloomily. "French word meaning bonhommy," he explained. "I'm not complaining, but There It Is."
To cut a long story short – Eeyore explains that it is his birthday and that nobody has remembered it. This sends Pooh rushing home to get his last pot of honey to give to his friend. But being Pooh he does take off the lid to try it – and before long he has emptied the pot. But he has the bright idea of making the pot the present. On his way back to give his friend Eeyore this very useful pot he meets piglet. And when Piglet hears that it is Eeyore’s birthday he decides to give Eeyore his very special red ballon. As he runs through the woods Piglet trips and bursts the ballon and is so upset. But when Piglet and Pooh arrive with an empty jar and a burst red balloon, Eeyore cheers up.
It's a Useful Pot," said Pooh. "Here it is. And it's got 'A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh' written on it. That's what all that writing is. And it's for putting things in. There!"
When Eeyore saw the pot, he became quite excited.
"Why!" he said. "I believe my Balloon will just go into that Pot!"
"Oh, no, Eeyore," said Pooh. "Balloons are much too big to go into Pots. What you do with a balloon is, you hold the ballon——"
"Not mine," said Eeyore proudly. "Look, Piglet!" And as Piglet looked sorrowfully round, Eeyore picked the balloon up with his teeth, and placed it carefully in the pot; picked it out and put it on the ground; and then picked it up again and put it carefully back.
"So it does!" said Pooh. "It goes in!"
"So it does!" said Piglet. "And it comes out!"
"Doesn't it?" said Eeyore. "It goes in and out like anything."
"I'm very glad," said Pooh happily, "that I thought of giving you a Useful Pot to put things in."
"I'm very glad," said Piglet happily, "that I thought of giving you Something to put in a Useful Pot."
But Eeyore wasn't listening. He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back again, as happy as could be.... It’s a lovely, heart-warming chapter.
And just to mention that on the order of service I’ve put the names of two other writers who’ve adapted AA Milne’s work to create their own life-enhancing messages - Benjamin Huff who wrote the Tao of Pooh and Kathryn Wallace who used this story in an online post to remind us all that simply making the effort to be a presence in someone else’s life can make a big difference. I’d recommend them both.
Hymn 210 (purple): ‘When the Song of Life is Ringing’
Time for another hymn now, and if you are here in person have a look at this number 210, with words written by a much loved Manchester minister David Doel, who combined work as a minister with psychotherapy, and who spoke movingly of life’s ups and downs and how we can help one another through our highs and lows and all the bits in between. Let’s sing together ‘when the song of life is ringing’.
When the song of life is ringing
through the green fields and the wood
and the love of God is singing
in your mind and in your blood,
holy angels come to give you
wondrous gifts of joy and peace;
and the soul will leap with rapture
in a dance of glad release.
But when life's harsh road has brought us
only hurt and grief and pain
and the darkness hides the promise
we feel now was made in vain,
sad the song we sing amidst tears
from the well of human woe,
for no angels' song the soul hears,
where the heart is stricken low.
Yet in life, if we stay faithful
to the trust we cannot shake,
if we honour our creator
with this life we did not make,
we shall find how God supports us –
God who’s true in everything –
brings us through the dark and lean times
to that place where angels sing.
Story: The Potter and the Clay
The Potter and the Clay is an old story that has a message for any of us who might occasionally think that life is a bit too mean and harsh. Maybe the hard times are readying us for a whole new way of being. Maybe there’s some hard time you’re going through at present, that may be shaping you anew?
It’s a story that begins in a market place, at a stall selling the most exquisite old china. A woman noticed a fine old tea cup, still in perfect condition. A cup with matching saucer. She picked it up to admire and was astonished to hear it speak:
‘You don’t understand’ the cup said, ‘I have not always been a tea-cup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘Don’t do that. I don’t like it! Let me alone’, but he only smiled, and gently said; ‘Not yet!’
Then, whack! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick!’ I screamed.
But the master only nodded and said, quietly; ‘Not yet.’
He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape and then…he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door.
‘Help! Get me out of here!’ ‘Not yet’ came his reply. When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.
Oh, that felt so good! ‘Ah, this is much better’, I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible.. ‘Oh, please, Stop it! Stop it!’ I cried. He only shook his head and said. ‘Not yet…’
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first time. This time it was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged… I pleaded… I was convinced I would never get through this. I was ready to give up and just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering what might come next.
An hour later he handed me a mirror, just like the hairdresser shows you humans what style they have given you, and said ‘Look at yourself.’
And I did… I said, ‘That’s not me, that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!”
Quietly the potter spoke: “I want you to remember, then,” he said, “I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.
“I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any colour in your life.
“And if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”
A story that comes to us thanks to the good old prophet Jeremiah and the many who have interpreted his oral tradition through the centuries. I’m not sure which of us is quite the finished product yet – don’t most of us still feel like works in progress?!
Words for Meditation:
We’re entering a quiet, meditative time in our gathering now, where the invitation if we wish is to allow that imagery of a human life, our life, being similar to a lump of clay that is slowly shaped and pummelled by life itself, altered by forces we do not and cannot always understand, especially when we’re in the midst of it all, whether that shaping be joyful or unwelcome. I wonder if there’s some message in that imagery for you today?
So let’s ready ourselves for this quiet time together. Let’s make those small adjustments in our posture that might help us feel more at ease. Be aware of our feet on the floor, our bodies resting wherever they are right now, the steady rhythm of our breathing allowing us to rest awhile, softening our gaze or closing our eyes, perhaps straightening and adjusting our spines, a bit, any movement little or big, that can help us feel more comfortable, imagining an ease-filled wave of relaxation that soothes us, flowing downwards from the crown of our head, across our sweet faces, down our whole body, releasing any tensions down into the floor and to the earth beneath our feet. As we enter this fellowship of stillness now which will end in three minutes or so with a chime from our bell, followed by some lovely guitar music played by our musician, guitarist Georgias Morgan Turner. I invite you to consider the rising and the falling of your lives, the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows and the many flowing possibilities between and beyond all this, the infinite varieties and multiplicities of our experiences in life, where nothing stays the same. Let’s enter the fellowship of silence together, which will end with a chime from our bell.
Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell
Interlude: Mazurka-Choro by Villa Lobos (performed by Georgia Morgan Turner)
Reading: ‘Grace’ by Wendell Berry (read by Hannah)
This short poem called Grace is written by Wendell Berry, who died earlier this year. A poet, a farmer, and most importantly a man who loved this earth and all that lives upon it, a great observer and describer of the natural world. This poem is short and yet its imagery is so rich, It describes the land known as ‘the woods’ on an autumn day, as leaves fall from trees, glistening in the dappled light. He reminds us to take time to be still and that we are not in charge of the show, with his final lines that read:
Running or walking, the way
is the same. Be still. Be still.
“He moves your bones, and the way is clear.”
I wonder what this poem might evoke for you. Grace by Wendell Berry.
The woods is shining this morning.
Red, gold and green, the leaves
lie on the ground, or fall,
or hang full of light in the air still.
Perfect in its rise and in its fall, it takes
the place it has been coming to forever.
It has not hastened here, or lagged.
See how surely it has sought itself,
its roots passing lordly through the earth.
See how without confusion it is
all that it is, and how flawless
its grace is. Running or walking, the way
is the same. Be still. Be still.
“He moves your bones, and the way is clear.”
Hymn 98 (purple): ‘Love Will Guide Us’
Thank you Hannah. He’s a fine poet Wendell Berry isn’t he. We’ve another hymn to sing now – number 98 in our purple book or on our screens now – it’s called love will guide us – and it reminds me of a question a spiritual teacher used to ask us if we were in doubt about our next steps – ‘what would love do now?’ I think love would suggest we sing together, if that’s what we’d like to do – hymn number 98.
Love will guide us, peace has tried us,
hope inside us will lead the way
on the road from greed to giving.
Love will guide us through the hard night.
If you cannot sing like angels,
if you cannot speak before thousands,
you can give from deep within you.
You can change the world with your love.
Love will guide us, peace has tried us,
hope inside us will lead the way
on the road from greed to giving.
Love will guide us through the hard night.
Address: ‘Our Risings and Fallings’ by Rev. Sarah Tinker
If we followed that spiritual teacher’s guidance and asked ourselves ‘what would love do now?’ at any turning point we came to in life, would that make life easier and our journey smoother? I rather doubt it, because love can send a human life onto quite a ski slope can’t it at times. The longer I live, the more messy human life seems to be – complex, confusing, a complete mystery some of the time. Perhaps a better description that a ski slope is a roller coaster ride – with its inherent inevitability of going up and down and round, again and again.
Maybe that’s why our human minds so gravitate towards thinking in dualistic ways. What have I called this service? – rising or falling. Highs or lows. Ups or downs. Good or bad. Painful or pleasant. ‘I like this’ says Pooh bear. ‘I don’t like’ that says Eeyore the donkey. But beyond dualism there is a rich messiness when we discover that these opposites contain one another, are in a continual cosmic dance with one another, that reality includes it all, the leaves falling from trees, the leaves still holding on tight, the leaves rotting into the rich humus of the forest floor, the new shoots poking their way tentatively towards the light.
How did Wendell Berry put it in his poem Grace that we heard just now?
See how without confusion it is
all that it is, and how flawless
its grace is.
Maybe this afternoon we might find ourselves out and about, in the autumn sun. Maybe a leaf will fall towards us and we’ll ask ourselves, ‘am I rising or falling now? Or is life swirling me round and sending me in an altogether different direction?’ I don’t know about you, but I need these poets and guides to remind me of the limits of my powers, that I’m not in charge of the show that is this life, though I still like to pretend I am. And aren’t we fortunate to have this wondrous world in which we live, with its seasons of change, to remind us that all life is change, all life is movement, and that there is comfort to be in had in life’s tough moments in knowing that alteration will inevitably come.
Soo here are a few simple methods we can use as we travel on life’s roller coaster and find the ups and downs all a bit much. We can hold on to a fallen leaf as a simple reminder when our lives are taking a spiralling route downwards, a comforting reminder that things will change again. There’s a line from a prayer that I use often in hard times. Written by UUA minister Mark Belletini, I paraphrase it as ‘Remember your power in the days of your powerlessness’. Our minds hold so many memories of our life journeys and we do well to cultivate the memories that support and encourage and comfort us.
We can look for the diamond in the mud – the idea that life’s harsh times will always some kind of learning for us – if we’re prepared to roll up our sleeves and dig around in that metaphorical mud of suffering. Haven’t most of us had struggles that led us to a new discovery? Probably about ourself, but also about others and about life itself? Treating life as a curriculum with much still to learn keeps us humble I reckon, still in the kindergarten, even as this great age! That’s probably why I so appreciate that story of the talking tea cup who had to suffer so very much on his way to becoming a beautiful and useful object. And being human is more complicated than being a tea cup. As I grow older I’m starting to understand that the pummelling and shaping goes right on to the end for us humans. I’m never going to be a perfectly formed tea cup and sadly, neither are you. We’re going to be delightfully imperfect right to the end!
And that’s why we need to remember another method of coping with life’s roller coaster ride with all its ups and downs. Help one another. Reach out to one another. Don’t go it alone too often. Pooh and Piglet responded to their friend Eeyore’s distress in delightfully flawed ways. But they did respond. They needed him to explain that it was his birthday and he wanted some attention. It’s a joyful modelling of how telling people what we need can really help and that we don’t need to feel stuck when the rollercoaster has reached an uncomfortable section. So let’s discover our inner Pooh bear and eat that jar of honey – and then come up with a brilliant to make an empty jar into a meaningful gift. Let’s find our inner Eeyore and be sure to let others know how fed up we’re feeling – giving others an opportunity to respond. Let’s admit that some of us have an inner Piglet who can get so terribly anxious and disappointed at times. And if by chance it turns out that you have become a talking tea cup – well tell everyone about it. They may have been pushed and pummelled and baked a time or two as well. It might just turn out that we’re all on the same roller coaster ride of life together after all. Amen.
Hymn 165 (purple): ‘The Spirit Lives to Set Us Free’
And so we now sing our closing hymn, which is number 165 and which reminds us if we are ever in doubt, that we might as well walk in the light of love, for that is bound to set us free. Let’s sing.
The Spirit lives to set us free,
walk, walk in the light.
It binds us all in unity,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light of love.
The light that shines is in us all,
walk, walk in the light.
We each must follow our own call,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light of love.
Peace begins inside your heart,
walk, walk in the light.
We've got to live it from the start,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light of love.
Seek the truth in what you see,
walk, walk in the light.
Then hold it firmly as can be,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light of love.
The Spirit lives in you and me,
walk, walk in the light.
Its light will shine for all to see,
walk, walk in the light
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light,
Walk in the light of love.
Announcements:
Thanks to Jane for hosting and Charlotte for co-hosting (if you’re online please do stay on afterwards for a chat with Charlotte). Thanks to our musicians for lovely music. Thanks to Hannah for both reading and greeting today and Julia for making coffee. Please stay afterwards for tea and coffee and cake.
You can also hang around for our ‘Crafternoon’ which takes place in the hall next door from 1pm. We’ll get the art and craft materials out, you can do colouring, or painting, or maybe you’ve brought a project from home to work on in good company. Unfortunately we’ve cancelled the session on the quilting project this time because Patricia isn’t too well.
Tonight and Friday at 7pm we’ve got our ‘Heart and Soul’ online contemplative spiritual gathering – this week our theme is ‘Awe’ – that’s going to be led by ministry student Eva. If you want to join the online gathering please drop Eva an email. She’ll also be running the in-person H&S on the same theme this Wednesday at 7pm down in the library. Please do come and support her! And we’re aware that some of our emails and Eva’s emails are going into Spam for people at the moment – and we’re not sure why that is – so please do check your Spam folder for our emails.
Sonya is offering Nia Dance here on Fridays at 12.30pm. That’s holistic movement and dance. Get in touch with Sonya if you want to know more.
The Better World Book Club is reading ‘Worn’ by Sofi Thanhauser – about the history of clothing –an unusual subject but it brings in all sorts of social justice and environmental concerns. We have a few copies of that to lend out (hold one up) if you’re able to join us online on the 25th October. You’ve still just about got enough time to read it before next Sunday. Send Jane an email to let her know if you’ve borrowed one of the books and plan to come.
Looking further ahead Jane and Jasmine will be running a new RE course this autumn – it’s every Thursday night in November – on ‘The Language of Faith’. It’ll be exploring our relationship to religious language. That’s on Zoom. All are welcome but you need to sign up in advance and there will be a little bit of homework to do. Email Jane ASAP if you want to sign up for that.
Next Sunday our service will be led by Jane and Antony on the theme of ‘The Time of Tricksters’.
Details of all our various activities are printed on the order of service, and also in the Friday email, so sign up for our mailing list if you haven’t already done so. And we do have a lot of copies of our autumn newsletter which we want to use to promote our events so if you know anyone who might be interested in what we do then take a copy for them! 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 music now, Georgia will be playing the Beatles classic tune ‘here comes the sun’ – a perfect reminder as we move into the darker months of the year, that we are still spinning round our star, just tilted a little bit further away. But first our closing words of blessing.
Benediction: for all that arrives and departs
For all that arrives and departs in our lives,
Let us give thanks
For all that rises and falls, be it moving slowly or speedily,
Let us offer open-hearted acceptance.
For all that lies way beyond our control
Let us bend our knee in gratitude and respect,
For our world is filled with unexpected teachers
And we will always be youngsters, with much still to learn.
Amen, go well each and every one of you, blessed be.
Closing Music: Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles (performed by Georgia Morgan Turner)
Rev. Sarah Tinker
18th October 2026