We gather today to take up the business of our congregation.
We come to discuss important matters:
– who shall lead us,
– how we shall spend our money,
– details, small and large, that guide how we shall be together.
We do this in order to do the work of the congregation:
– to find the lost,
– to lift up the sorrowful,
– to offer companionship and care to one another,
– to make the world we dream the world attained.
May we be kind in our speaking, thoughtful in our deliberating, and never stray from the love that binds us together.
(In this spirit, I light our chalice.)