Order of Service
Date Nov 15th, 2026
Worship Leader Community of Communities Advocacy Team with Paula Cole Jones, guest
Time for All Ages Erica Shadowsong
Liturgist Kirsti Adkins
Music Thanakarn Limtham, piano. Michele Bankole, vocalist
Song Leaders Kurt Summersgil & Michele Bankole
Tech Nicky Baldy & Will Snavely
Prelude “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis – Bank Limtham, piano
Welcome Erica Shadowsong
Unison Call to Worship and Lighting the Chalice Kirsti Adkins and Maria Magone
We covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
Opening Hymn #348 “Guide My Feet”
Hymn Leaders: Kurt Summersgill & Michele Bankole
Story for All Together by Mona Damlugi, told by Erica Shadowsong
Singing For Our Children “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” by Pat Humprhies / Emma’s Revolution
Peace, salaam, shalom,
Peace, salaam, shalom, etc.
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 November is 412 Food Rescue*
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 “I Wish I Knew How” by Billy Taylor, sung by Michele Bankole
Reading “Mosaic” by Rev. Dr. Kimi Floyd Reisch, read by Laura Gallagher
Presentation
Segment 1: Looking back at passing the 8th Principle – the way our faith calls us to create the world we want to live in. Denice Galpern
Interlude: Video of Paula Cole Jones
Segment 2: Community of Communities as the key cultural shift to living the 8th Principle. Jean Schmidt
Segment 3: The Importance of links to the Outside. Liz Hrenda
Invitation Linda Fleming
Closing Hymn #1020 Woyaya
We are going, heaven knows where we are going, but we know within.
And we will get there, heaven knows how we will get there, but we know we will.
It will be hard, we know, and the road will be muddy and rough,
but we’ll get there, heaven knows how we will get there, but we know we will.
Woyaya, Woyaya, Woyaya, Woyaya [repeat]
Extinguishing the Chalice Flame
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 by Barrow Dunham Eve Emmons
Postlude “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” Spiritual
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
Community of Communities Advocacy Team (CoCAT)
Transformed by the 8th Principle, CoCAT invites and engages the First Unitarian congregation in practices that foster the well-being of and between the communities that make up our Community of Communities. We are creating Beloved Community free of racism and oppression, and grounded in human dignity, justice, equal opportunity, and love.
CoCAT members: Kirsti Adkins, Ebe Emmons, Linda Fleming, Laura Gallagher, Denice Galpern, Liz Hrenda, Maria Magone, Jean Schmidt, Sandy Woolley
Paula Cole Jones is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and a member of All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC. She is the founder of ADORE (A Dialogue on Race & Ethnicity), a former president of DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries), and co-author of the 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism. Paula is an independent consultant specializing in multicultural competencies and institutional change.
Dr. Thanakarn (Bank) Limtham is a native of Bangkok, Thailand. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the 2023 first prize winner of the 19th Century Music Competition with the Charleston International Music Competition; he was also one of Pittsburgh Concert Society’s 2022 Major Winners. Dr. Limtham has extensive experience collaborating with vocalists and instrumentalists, performing opera and musical theater productions, and playing with big bands, jazz combos, chamber groups, and choral ensembles. He is passionate about encouraging creative instincts in other people, and his main goal as an artist is to bring healing and comfort through the music that he makes. Bank moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June of 2021 to be with his wife, Britney, who was born and raised in the Pittsburgh region. He enjoys spending his free time with her and their very sassy calico cat, Jao Ying. www.thanakarnlimtham.com
Michele Bankole, classically trained soprano, is a Pittsburgh-based singer, writer and playwright with Oklahoma roots and Creek and Blackfoot heritage. Raised on gospel, blues, and jazz, Michele has performed in opera and musical theatre for more than ten years, with Tulsa Opera, Red River Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, The Colour of Music, and the International Black Theatre Festival, among others. She is a frequent soloist and section leader at First Unitarian Church.
*412 Food Rescue works with restaurants, grocery stores and food donors across our region to connect surplus food to members of our community facing food insecurity. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, we rescue nearly 5 million pounds of food annually, which is distributed to our neighbors through our nonprofit partners. In addition to addressing food insecurity in our community, our impact is also environmental, by diverting food away from landfills where its decomposition would otherwise result in methane emissions. For more information: https://412foodrescue.org/