Our inclusive language liturgies generally set the structure and theme of Sunday morning worship.
GATHERING
REFLECTION
Remember, God, that we are the plants in your fields, so connected to the earth that you know what would happen if you did not rain upon us. And if your light ceased to lift us from the ground and craft our bodies; how might we draw near you like the sun? Remember, God, to love us in a way our souls can taste and rejoice in.
– St. Teresa of Avila, in Love Poems from God, by Daniel Ladinsky, p.284…
GATHERING
REFLECTION
Because we dare to believe that Jesus is the world’s light still, we are not stumbling in this darkness. … Carry this glowing ember, even if it is covered and waiting for the day’s lighting and work ahead, that is keeping the perpetual light of God’s love and goodness alive in this old world.
from Sarah Bessey’s Field Notes, January 19, 2026…
GATHERING
REFLECTION
If as Herod, we fill our lives with things,
And again with things,
If we consider ourselves so unimportant that
We must fill every moment of our lives with action,
When will we have time to make the long slow journey
Across the desert as did the magi?
Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds?
Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary?
For each one of us there is a desert to travel,
A star to discover
And a being within ourselves to bring to life.
Anonymous …
GATHERING
REFLECTION
The reality of Advent isn’t that we are waiting for the birth of the Christ Child. The Christ Child is here and is waiting for us to come. He is crying out to us from the border. He is calling to us from the voices of the poor. He is shouting to us from prison. He is waiting for us to live out our faith. He is waiting for us to seek justice. He is waiting for us to pursue peace. Let us go, for He is waiting.
– The Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe,
General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) for the United Methodist Church,
https://www.umcjustice.org/latest/christ-is-waiting-for-us-796…
GATHERING
REFLECTION
God never says, you should have come yesterday;
God never says, you must come again tomorrow,
but today if you will hear God’s voice,
today God will hear you. …
God brought light out of darkness,
not out of lesser light.
God can bring summer out of winter,
even if there is no spring.
All occasions invite God’s mercies,
and all times are God’s seasons.
John Donne (1571-1631), (revised with inclusive language)
quoted in Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief, by Martha Hickman…