We give these gifts freely, We receive these gifts gratefully,

We dedicate these gifts to the work of our congregation:

serving human wholeness, caring for our planet,

upholding religious freedom, welcoming the stranger,

loving one another.

We dedicate these gifts to the work of this congregation;

weaving a tapestry of compassion and action,

faith and fellowship, hope and wholeness.

We dedicate these gifts to the work of this congregation,

And we affirm our lives within it.

There is no church without its people; We are this church!

We are all it means inside these walls and all it stands for out in the world.

We dedicate these gifts to the church we embody with our hands and our hearts.

We receive these gifts gratefully,

 and we dedicate them to the work of our congregation:

welcoming the stranger and upholding religious freedom;

honoring human wholeness and caring for our planet.

Together, we seek to serve with ever-greater love.

 

What a blessing it is to give and receive, to share and support this church

where love, justice and equality inspire our acts of service and compassion.

We dedicate these gifts to all that we stand for as a community of faith.

We dedicate these gifts, freely given and gratefully received,

to the work of this congregation:

Building honest, caring relationships across all lines of difference;

Growing in spirit and searching for meaning, together and apart;

Promoting religious freedom, practicing compassion, and working for justice.

May these gifts, and the work of our hands and hearts,

give power to all we stand for as a community of faith.

When we give, we say yes to something we value.

With these gifts which we have freely given and gratefully received,

we say yes to the values of our faith.

                  May these gifts help us practice Unitarian Universalism within and                    beyond our church.

We dedicate these gifts to the values and the vision we share.

 With gratitude, we receive these gifts and dedicate them to our shared work:

serving human wholeness, and welcoming the stranger;

caring for our planet, and upholding religious freedom;

walking together, always, with love and compassion.

As a congregation, we offer respect and caring to all who seek hope and wholeness;

We search for meaning with freedom and responsibility,

And we live our faith through compassion and action.

We dedicate these gifts, freely given and gratefully received

To our shared work: shaping a better world for all.

May every gift be gratefully received

as a symbol of the many ways our life energy

helps sustain this congregation
and spread its vision and its values

far beyond these four walls.

May these gifts

Given with generosity and love

Help our church and our world

Become more peaceful, caring, fair and free.

These words for the dedication of the offering are shared with the permission of The Rev. Suzelle Lynch– Unitarian Universalist Church West, Brookfield, Wisconsin.   http://uucw.org/

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Invitation to the Offertory by Rev. Leela Sinha

This church, the work of the church, is so needed.

And so beautiful.

Every church and synagogue and mosque and temple, of course, but especially this one. 

This one, because we are right downtown, when so few churches are.

This one, because we are out and liberal and proud of it.

This one, because there is no question that interfaith work, that civil rights work, that open arms and justice work, belong here.

This one, because the energy of this place is big and deep and solid.

This one, because when you come here to be comforted you are welcome.

When you come here depleted, you are welcome.

When you come here exhausted, you are welcome.

When you come here brimming with joy, you are welcome.

When you come here spilling over with gifts to share, you are welcome.

We are that magic pot, into which we put what we have to give, from which we take what we most need.

We now take an offering that allows us to exercise that all-important generosity of spirit, an offering that will support this self-supporting church and its many ministries. The gifts of the congregation will be most gratefully received.