Order of Service
New digital OOS
Date September 6, 2026
Worship Leader Mai Khôi
Liturgist Carol Washburn
Music Ellen Gozion, Mark Micchelli and Mai Khôi
Song Leader Kurt Summersgill
Tech Will Snavely and Emily Sweeney
Prelude Philamot composed and performed by Mark Micchelli
Welcome Carol Washburn
Lighting the Chalice and Call to Worship Carol
Opening Hymn – #1018 Come and go with me to that land
Collective Reading Carol
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
Offering Carol
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 September is A. Philip Randolph Institute*
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 The World Looks on in Silence – composed and performed by Mai Khôi & Mark Micchelli
Singing For Our Children #1057 Go Lifted Up
Go lifted up,
Love bless your way,
moonlight, starlight
guide your journey
into peace
and the brightness of day.
Meditation or prayer Carol
Silence
Presentation “Bad Activist”
Hymn – “Singing for our Lives” by Holly Near
We are a gentle, angry people, and we are singing for our lives.
We are a land of many colors . . .
We are queer and cis together . . .
We are a justice seeking people . . .
Extinguishing the Chalice Flame Carol
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 Carol
Postlude Hymn to Freedom by Oscar Peterson – Mark Micchelli, 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
Mai Khôi is an award-winning Vietnamese singer, composer, and activist. Her compositions and vocal performance represent the meeting of diverse musical traditions and confound listener expectations with experimental and, at times, highly improvised arrangements. In 2010, she rose to stardom after winning Vietnam’s most prestigious award for songwriting. As a pop star, Khoi released eight albums and made regular nationally televised performances. At the height of her fame, her engagement with activism brought her into conflict with Vietnam’s authoritarian government and transformed her artistic practice. She was awarded the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. In 2019-2020, Mai Khoi was an Artist-in-Residence at SHIM NYC. In 2021 she was an Artist Protection Fund Fellow at the Global Studies Center of Pittsburgh University and was an Artist-in-Residence at City of Asylum from 2020-2022. In 2022, Mai Khoi was awarded Roosevelt Four Freedoms for Freedom of Speech. In the US, Mai Khoi has performed at Joe’s Pub, National Sawdust, and Lincoln Center. www.Mai-khoi.com
Mark Micchelli is a pianist, composer, scholar, and educator based in Philadelphia, PA. Recent projects include a solo album for piano and improvising computer, a punk-jazz album with Vietnamese singer-activist Mai Khôi, a podcast episode about “reimprovisation” as an analytical methodology, and the premiere of a 22-minute opera cooking show. He serves as Assistant Professor of Instruction of Music Studies at Temple University.
* The A. Philip Randolph Institute was founded nationally in 1965 to carry forward Randolph’s coalition between labor and civil rights. Randolph organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, the nation’s first predominantly Black labor union, and was a principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Pittsburgh chapter opened in August 1968 as one of APRI’s earliest, and has organized for jobs, justice, and equity in Southwestern Pennsylvania ever since.