Order of Service
Verses of the Soul: Poetry as Spiritual Practice
with Rev. Dr. Xolani Kacela
April 27, 2025
Join us for a soul-stirring journey through the power of poetry. We’ll explore how verse can deepen our spiritual lives, challenge our perspectives, and connect us to the sacred. Through readings, reflection, and shared experience, we’ll discover how poetry can be a form of prayer, meditation, and revelation. Come ready to be moved, inspired, and transformed by the magic of words.
Sounding of the Bowl – Rev. Xolani Kacela, Ph.D.
Prelude – Jaime Ramirez
Welcome and Greeting – Maggi Joseph
Opening Words – “Planetarium” (1968) by Adrienne Rich
Chalice Lighting
Opening Hymn – #17 Every Night and Every Morn – lyrics by William Blake
Covenant
Anthem – “The Road Not Taken” by Randall Thompson, lyrics by Robert Frost
Stone Ceremony
Music for Reflection
Reading the Community Book of Life
New Member Celebration – Membership Chair, Claudia Glass & the Membership Committee
We welcome these New Members – Barb Dauerty, David Feagins, Nate Larson, Becca Murillo, Francisco Murillo, Anahi Reyes, Joel Nelson, Turtle Nieves, Janet Robinson, Rebecca Rockeymoore, Mark Rockeymoore, Judith Rowland, Jeanne Strauss, Natalie Sunde, Stephanie Younts. Jason Younts, Sarah Walch, Graham Nessler
Story Wisdom – “Alligator Pie and Other Poems” by Dennis Lee, read by Tim Versteeg DLRE
Children’s Recessional
The Occasion
Poetry, Part I – “American Arithmetic” by Natalie Diaz, 2019; “On Marriage” by Kahlil Gibran, 1923; and “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1991 – read by Kathy Coronado
Interlude
Poetry, Part II – “Working in the Rain” by Robert Morgan, 1995 and “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton, 1993 – read by David Feagins
Interlude
Poetry, Part III – “majestic disabled/queer/people of color elders instruct how to dance in the struggle” by Naomi Ortiz, 2022 and “OCD” by Neil Hilborn, 2013 – read by Natalie Sunde
Invitation to Generosity
Offertory Music
Closing Hymn – #60 In Time of Silver Rain; lyrics by Lanston Hughes
Extinguishing the Chalice/Benediction – “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver, 1990
Postlude