Date Feb. 8, 2026, 10:30 am

Order of Service 

Guest Speaker Rev. David Usher 

Time for All Ages  Rev. David Usher 

Liturgist   Kirsti Adkins 

Music Ellen Gozion, Director of Instrumental Music; 

Maddy Izzo, flute 

Song Leaders  Janet Pohl and Al Schwartz 

Tech Will Snavely 

Worship Coordinator  Stephanie Pawlowski 

Prelude  Flute Sonata in G, Op. 1, no. 6: Adagio by Ana Bon von Venezia — Maddy Izzo, flute and Ellen Gozion, piano 

Welcome   Stephanie 

Lighting the Chalice and Call to Worship  Stephanie and Kirsti 

Opening Hymn # 347 Gather the Spirit 

Collective Reading    Kirsti 

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. 

We covenant:  

To practice Interdependence, we honor the interdependent web of all existence; 

To practice Pluralism, we celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology; 

To practice Justice, we work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive;  

To practice Transformation, we adapt to the changing world; 

To practice Generosity, we cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope; 

To practice Equity, we declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.  

We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love 

Story for All   The Mirror   Rev. David Usher 

Singing For Our Children  — Go Now in Peace  

(please remain seated) 

Go Now in Peace, go now in peace. 

May the spirit of love surround you 

Everywhere, everywhere 
 

Share the Plate   Martha Moore, Bethel AME Church 

 Offering    Kirsti

Donations by check may be mailed to the church office.  Electronic donations can be made online through the church website or by texting “give” to (412) 435-1050 and following the instructions.          

Share the plate for February is Bethel AME 

Joys and Sorrows: During the offertory music, you are invited to light a candle or place a stone in Blessed Community water as you offer silent gratitude or prayers. Two tables are in the sanctuary; one in the front, to the right of the platform, and one in the back right alcove. 

Offertory Music Suite for Solo Flute: Adagio by Ivana Loudová 

 
Meditation, silence, or prayer    Kirsti 

Meditative hymn  #30 Over my Head 

Sermon   Messages from God        Rev. David Usher 

Hymn #112 Do You Hear? 

Extinguishing the Chalice Flame    Stephanie and Kirsti 

We extinguish this flame but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment: these we carry in our hearts until we are together again.  

Benediction   Stephanie  

Postlude  Flute Sonata in G, Op. 1, no. 6: Allegro by Ana Bon von Venezia — Maddy Izzo, flute and Ellen Gozion, piano 

To donate to Share the Plate  

– by check mailed to the church office, please include STP on the memo line  

– online on the church website, use the drop down to select Plate. 

– by texting “Give” to 412-435-1050 following the directions with the word share or pledge after the donation amount as appropriate. 

To make a pledge payment  

-by check, please put pledge in the memo line  

– online on the church website, keep the default General Fund 2025 option  

Rev. Dr David Usher is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister.  A lifelong Unitarian born and raised in Australia and now living in Pittsburgh, he studied for the ministry at Oxford, England and has had ministries in the UK and USA.  He was founding President of The International Council of Unitarians & Universalists and is the author of two books. 

Bethel AME Church, founded in 1808, is the oldest Black church in Pittsburgh. Initially located in the Lower Hill District, it was once a thriving congregation and center of learning and social activism. However, as part of the Lower Hill redevelopment project of the 1950’s, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh seized the church by eminent domain and demolished it. Since that time, the more the congregation learned about the situation – that is, the value of the seized property versus the compensation they received, and the fact that a neighboring white church wasn’t torn down – the more they understood the demolition as an act of racism. Now Bethel church members are seeking reparations under the leadership of Pastor Dale Snyder. They are challenging the city, the redevelopers of the Lower Hill and local white faith communities to acknowledge how they have participated in, or profited from, racist systems and to compensate Bethel AME Church for its losses.  

PUBLICSOURCE, April 14, 2021 www.publicsource.org/bethel-ame-black-church-history/ 

Anna Bon (1738 – 1769) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. Her compositions include chamber pieces and vocal works, including an opera (now lost) composed at the court of Prince Esterhazy in Eisenstadt 

Composer Ivana Loudová (1941-2017) studied composition under Miloslav Kabeláč at the Prague Conservatoire, and at the Conservatoire de Paris under Oliver Messiaen and André Jolivet.  Her long career as a freelance composer included seventeen years as composer-in-residence for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra (Pittsburgh, USA). From 1992, Loudová taught composition at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Prague.