Sunday, September 20, 2026
Order of Service
Welcome and Mission Statement
Dr. Tracy Simpson, Trustee
Together, we transform lives through love, service, and our welcoming faith.
Prelude
MLUC Band; David Brown, violin; Carr Everbach, bass trombone; Jodie Brown, piano
Jay Wiley, drums
Tanz, Tanz, Yidelekh
(“Dance, Dance, Dear Jews”)
Traditional
Chalice Lighting
Deborah McKnight
Worship Associate
Toward Repair of Relationship by Joanna Lubkin
Opening Hymn
MLUC Band and the Congregation
#400 Shalom Havayreem
Time for All Ages
Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt
The Drummer’s Call
A West African (Yoruba/Ghanaian) Oral Tradition Wisdom Tale adapted by April Rosario
Song
Children & Youth to their classes!
#413 Go Now in Peace
Offering Outreach
Deborah McKnight
Rock to the Future
Offertory
MLUC Band
Gedank fun Kishinev
(“Memory of Kishinev”)
Traditional
Candles of Community
Deborah McKnight
Litany of Atonement (See Below)
Rev. John Morehouse
Interlude
David Brown, violin
Nign by Lorin Sklamberg
Sermon
Rev. John Morehouse
Atonement
Ritual Music
MLUC Band
Dybbuk Shers
(“Demon Dance”)
Traditional
Closing Hymn
MLUC Band and the Congregation
#146 Soon the Day Will Arrive
Benediction and Chalice Extinguishing
Rev. John Morehouse
Postlude
MLUC Band
Der Heyser Bulgar
(“The Hot Bulgar”)
Traditional
Litany of Atonement
Rev. John: Open the gates of Righteousness, enter them and give thanks. The sacred gate is in our minds and in our hearts. We have sometimes left the gate closed, forgetting what is most dear, neglecting what is most important.
The Congregation: WE HAVE, ALL OF US, FAILED FROM TIME TO TIME. WE HAVE, ALL OF US, REVEALED OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS AND FALLIBILITY. WE ARE NOT PERFECT. WE WRESTLE WITH THE FORCES OF GOOD AND EVIL WHICH ARE IN US ALL.
Sing (repeat after David): YITGADAL V’YITKADASH B’RUAKH HAADAM (“Let us enhance and exalt ourselves in the spirit of humanity.”)
Rev. John: We are brothers and sisters, children of one family. We have known the sting of remorse, inadequacy and guilt. Our minds have sometimes grown weary. We have known days of anguish and nights of despair.
The Congregation: MAY WE OPEN THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY OPENING OUR MINDS AND HEARTS TO NEW INSIGHTS INTO OURSELVES AND ONE ANOTHER. WHEN THAT GATE IS OPEN IN US MAY WE USHER OUR OLD HATREDS AND BITTER RESENTMENTS AND ALLOW FRESH, COOL BREEZES OF ATONEMENT TO COME TO US.
Sing: YITGADAL V’YITKADASH B’RUAKH HAADAM
Rev. John: We have sometimes committed the sin of idolatry, thinking we know more than it is ours to know. We have sometimes put too much value on material possessions and worldly wealth.
The Congregation: WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IS NEAR AT HAND – SIMPLE ACTS OF KINDNESS, EXPRESSIONS OF HUMAN COMPASSION, AND OUR OWN DEEP, SINCERE DESIRE FOR WHOLENESS, AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY.
Sing: YITGADAL V’YITKADASH B’RUAKH HAADAM
Rev. John: We are children of the Universe. We have a right to be here. May our faults, failures and limitations remind us of our need for humility, even as we reject the humiliation of calling ourselves unworthy sinners in the hands of an angry god.
The Congregation: LET PEACE COME INTO OUR HEARTS AND REFRESH OUR SPIRITS.
Sing: YITGADAL V’YITKADASH B’RUAKH HAADAM
Rev. John: The Kingdom of Heaven is within. May we enter it and know peace, and may we rededicate ourselves to the tasks which remain before us, helping to make our world anew.
Sing: KEN YEHI (“May it be so”)
