Just Pay Attention:
Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility
March 29, 2026
Reverend Rosemary Morrison
Service Leader: Gordon Ritchie
They say that when we give someone our full attention our brain registers it the same as it registers love. During this servie we will have a chance to learn more about attention and maybe even get to practice a little.
Order of Service
Chimes
Welcome and Announcements
Land Acknowledgement
Prelude
Chalice Lighting
Joy and Power That Grow
We light this chalice
for the quiet truths we carry,
and for the futures we’re brave enough to write.
In this circle, we honor
the courage it takes to live openly,
the softness that sustains us,
and the joy and power that grow when we gather.
As the chalice glows
may we feel steadiness rise in us.
May we trust that our becoming—
messy, radiant, unfolding—wholly belongs to us.
By Jami Yandle
Opening Hymn 361 Enter, Rejoice, and Come In by L. Ruspini
Canvass Talk Andrew Mills
Sharing Our Abundance
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X)
Hymn 170 We Are a Gentle Angry People by H. Near
Greeting our neighbours
Responsive Reading
Our Common Life Is Enriched
We are grateful for the gift of our lives and the gift of other people in our lives.
Each of us is created with dignity and worth.
We are called to love one another and to do nothing to others that we would find hateful to ourselves.
We honor the many ways that people live and love.
Our common life is enriched when queer, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay people can come out—sharing the gifts of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
True justice flourishes when all people can live and flourish. We suffer when LGBTQ people are oppressed, excluded, or shamed by religious people who overlook the fundamental call to love one another.
Love does not exclude. We are all worthy.
May we work to build a world where all people are celebrated and loved.
We celebrate sexual and gender diversity as a blessing that enriches us all.
Hymn from the new online hymnbook Coming Home by Shari Woodbury
https://www.singoutlove.org/hymn-library/coming-home-2
LYRICS
I return to myself,
Here where I belong.
I am coming home.
Like a bird to its nest,
Like a river to the ocean,
I am coming home.
Meditation
Today by Sean Parker Dennison from his book of poetry, Breaking and Blessing: Meditations
Today has been a day, like all days, it seems, in which I let people down and did not love as fully as I always hope.
And today I have been sad because always there are the unexpected and unpredictable
Meditation Music 1053 How Could Anyone
Candles of Joy and Concern
Message Celebrating Trans Day of Remembrance
First, the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytSz2Gf6zc
The Letter: by Lisa Salazar from her book, Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life
Hymn 1064 Blue Boat Home by P. Mayer and R.H. Prichard
Extinguishing the Flame
Created in the Image of Love By Karishma Gottfried
Each of us was created in the image of Love.
Wherever we come from, wherever we’re going.
Whoever we are, whomever we love.
We proclaim with Love on our side:
Our bodies are sacred. Our minds are blessed. Our spirits are beloved.
May we be open to receive more love, always more Love.
By Karishma Gottfried
Benediction
Carry the Flame
Postlude
