Order of Service-
Earth Sunday 2021 Virtual Worship
Prelude – “Springtime Will Come” by Nick Newlin and Lea Morris
Opening Words, Land Acknowledgment, & Chalice Lighting – Petra Thombs, M.Div.
Opening Music – “Our House Is On Fire” by Emma’s Revolution
Story for All Ages – “The Sweet Story of a Honeybee” by Rev. Elizabeth Mount
Pastoral Prayer – Rev Florence Caplow
Anthem – “Hallelujah for the Earth” words by Dana Clark, melody by Leonard Cohen; performed by the Spring for Change Virtual Choir
Reflection – Rev. Yadenee Hailu
Interlude – #207 Earth Was Given as a Garden (Instrumental)
Offertory – Aly Tharp
Offertory music – #175 We Celebrate the Web of Life (Instrumental)
Closing Hymn – #1020 Woyaya – performed by the Spring for Change Virtual Choir
Words & Music: Loughty Amoa, Soloman Amarfio, Robert M. Bailey, Roy Bedeau, Francis T. Osei, Whendell K. Richardson, and Mac Tontoh; Transcribed from Ysaye M. Barnwell; arr. Jeannie Gangé
Benediction – Responsive Reading #557 – A Common Destiny by Rev. David H. Eaton, read by Paula Cole Jones and Rashid Shaikh
Postlude – “Canonic Sonata No. 1” by Georg Phillip Tellemann (Instrumental) – performed by John Olin
Worship Presenters
Lea Morris, also known as LEA, was born in Baltimore to a father who toured the world playing trumpet in the funk band Black Heat and a mother who dreamed of opera while performing with her siblings in the Jones Family Gospel Singers. LEA was singing on the pulpit of the Baptist church where she grew up as soon she could speak. When she discovered the acoustic guitar as a teenager, she began teaching herself to play by writing songs. She is consistently acknowledged by the Washington Area Music Association as one of the region’s best vocalists, songwriters and recording artists.
Petra Thombs, M.Div. is the Executive Director of the Ramapough Lenape Community Center in Mahwah, New Jersey, operated by the Ramapough Mountain Indians, Inc. a 501-(c)3 organization. She is in preliminary Fellowship with the UUA, and will be ordained this spring. Petra has been an advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples and nations. A graduate from Union Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity, having majored in Church History, her focus is largely addressing the Doctrine of Discovery as it has fostered racism and extreme marginalization for Indigenous communities globally. Prior to coming to Union, Petra retired from her career in the NYC Dept of Education. A lifelong poet, she writes about historical, cultural, religious and personal experiences, expressing the perspectives of marginalized communities. Petra is married to Bernard, has two adult sons, Benjamin and Matthew and a cat named Esteban.
Emma’s Revolution is the dynamic, award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O, known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you can’t resist singing. The duo’s songs have been sung for the Dalai Lama, praised by Pete Seeger and covered by Holly Near. Their recent release, “Our House is on Fire”, was been selected as the opening track for Hope Rises, a compilation CD from a national nonprofit co-founded by Noel (Paul) Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary. Emma’s Revolution are winners of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize and the first Phil Ochs Award, among other honors.
Rev. Elizabeth Mount (they/them) is minister of the First UU Church of Indiana, PA and the Florence UU Fellowship. Elizabeth used to work as an organizer with environmental and Latinx community projects in Western North Carolina, the Appalachian coal fields, and the highlands of Guatemala. Today, they focus on anti-racism and anti-oppression work to further the inclusive capacity of our faith and sustainability projects for a planet on which all can thrive. Elizabeth believes in the power of people cooperating with one another to build the Beloved Community in this life and sustain us in the hardest times.
Rev. Florence Caplow (she/her) is the lead minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, an ordained Zen priest and teacher, essayist and editor, former conservation biologist, and passionate advocate for Indigenous treaty rights and for the planet.
Spring for Change Virtual Choir Director, John Olin (he/him) returned home to the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore in September 2019. He strives to present a variety of spiritual and standard choral literature to support and encourage a diverse choral program. A team player able to handle a wide variety of requests, Olin is someone with experience in building positive relationships with church leadership, choir members, and the congregation. Mr. Olin leads by example and encourages novice and veteran singers to participate in the choir to enhance worship services. All are welcome!
Rev. Yadenee Hailu (she/her) is an ethiopian american, black woman based in Tulsa, OK, USA. She is a writer, speaker, facilitator and project manager. Her community ministry, blk earth, is a love letter to the earth and black people inviting all carbon life to return to rest and right-relationship as it’s baseline. She believes life’s first mandate is to flourish and it’s second is to heal. This is the mission blk earth supports for persons who desire to curate a lifestyle of healing and to shape their relationships/community towards wholeness.
Aly Tharp (she/her or they/them) is the Program Director of the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (UUMFE), manages the denomination-wide Create Climate Justice initiative, and is a member of the UUA Organizing Strategy Team. Aly lives in Austin, TX, and is a member of the Wildflower UU Church. Aly is also an arts and cultural organizer and food activist.
Paula Cole Jones (she/her) is the founder of ADORE (A Dialogue on Race & Ethnicity), a former president of DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) and an independent consultant specializing in multicultural competencies and institutional change. She lives in Washington, D.C. and is a member of All Souls Church, D.C. Paula served as a Interim Congregational Life Consultant for the Central East Region from 2018-2020.
Rashid Shaikh (he/him), Ph.D., is Director of Science Emeritus at the Health Effects Institute, Boston. He has devoted his career to understanding how air pollution harms our health and has a special interest in trends in new technologies for transportation and in environmental justice. Rashid identifies as an Indian Muslim and a UU and is a member of the First Parish in Cambridge, MA.
Worship Planning Team
Ariel Aaronson-Eves, M.Div.
Joshua Long
Aly Tharp
John Olin