God be with you, And also with you Let us pray. Creator of the stars of night, we crown you with our praise as Lord of lords, as Ruler of rulers, as King of kings.   You reign with grace and mercy, justice and power over heaven and earth, over all you have made, as the God of truth and love.  Guide our nation and our leaders in the paths of righteousness and reconciliation.  Stand in the midst of this world’s suffering, O Thorn Crowned King, and work mightily for the welfare

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Lord of all hopefulness, your glory fills the morning skies, your brightness shines in starlight. Visit with your everlasting dawn those places where violence, terror, and suffering seem to reign - Sudan and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, and the streets of our cities here in America, particularly the city of Chicago. Impart your inward light to the leaders of the nations that their decisions - and ours - radiate outward into dee

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Living God, you are the Resurrection and you are the Life.  You restore hope in places of despair, you show a way where there is no way, a future where there seems no future.  Be close to those who live under the deepening shade of loss and hunger, fear and death. We lift to your merciful heart today the grieving peoples of Kentucky and the Philippines, Sudan and Ukraine, and all those in need of safety and food, healing and ho

Here’s a cheerful Thanksgiving and Christmas message for you: Self-sufficiency is a lie.   It is, I think, one of the foundational ideals of our Western, certainly our American  culture, that we are supposed to endeavor to be “self-sufficient”, to not have to depend on anyone or anything else for help.  To pull yourself up by your bootstraps.  To not be indebted to anybody. To make it on your own. It’s a fallacy.   Impossible, actually, to achieve.  Growing up in the Unitaria

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Holy One of Blessing, you adorn the poor with victory, you promise fullness to those who hunger, you comfort those who weep.  You decree judgement upon those who oppress your blessed ones.  And you entrust to our hopes a future where all tears are dried and pain and death are no more.  We pray to you today for those who live in the midst of war, poverty, disease and natural disaster - for the people of Cuba, the Dominican Repub

Sunday, October 26, 2025 God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Creator of the Universe, beside your altars the sparrows find their homes, the swallows make their nest. Your splendors are seen in the fleeting blaze of autumnal beauty, in snowfall and wildflowers and the bright summer sun. You give all your creatures breath.  We thank you and we bless you for all that you have made - the beauties of the earth and sky, the joys and graces of our lives.  Make us and ou

Sunday, October 19, 2025 God be with you, And also with you. O God of Countless Names, O God Beyond All Names, we lift up our eyes seeking your help. We wrestle with the brute fact that we are surrounded in this world of yours by poverty, pain and profound injustice; children who starve, parents out of work, elders unable to afford medication, families separated from one another by warfare and imprisonment.   Yet we trust that, even in lonely darkness, our help comes from you

Sunday, October 25, 2025 God be with you, And also with you. O Lord our God, Ruler of Creation, you are gracious and full of compassion, the works of your hands are faithfulness and justice.  Guide the leaders of our nation and of all nations away from narrow roads of self-interest and pride into following the footsteps of your righteousness and into the path of your wisdom.  Bestow a hearty share of that righteousness and wisdom upon the leaders of Israel and Hamas that they

the silence Holds with its gloved hand The wild hawk of the mind. -Excerpt from “The Untamed” by R.S. Thomas I love Medieval Times.  ...

It was love at first sight. Or...sound...I suppose is more accurate.   I had my first serious post-college job - as dean's assistant at...

At this year’s Annual Meeting in January, the wardens and I proposed that we embark on a year of vocational discernment together as a...

"We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time, important and needed, all of us...

Making a Joyful Noise – Matthew Carey Growing as a Musician and a Person Singing in St. Elisabeth’s Choir Singing with St. Elisabeth’s...

So often, I think music becomes a performative ministry in the church. Churches identify individuals with talent or prior training and...

In 1999, Daniel Barenboim (formerly of the Chicago Symphony) set out to prove the power of music by forming the West-Eastern Divan...

In the orchestra lounge at the Chicago Lyric Opera, there is a My Fair Lady-themed poster with the words: “The raise in pay stays mainly...