By the Rev. Mantu Joshi*
Bishop Karen Oliveto loves the Carpenter’s song “We’ve only just begun,” so I wrote a liturgy inspired by it. Feel free to use/adapt in worship if it’s helpful.
Leader: We’ve only just begun to live
People: And there are so many roads to choose
Leader: The crossroads of love and justice, signs along the way
People: Even when laws confound, confuse, and conceal the path of inclusive hope
Leader: Holy Spirit you have already opened minds and pushed open closet doors
People: We will walk through those doors of truth, we’ll start out walkin’ and learn to run
Leader: Sharing horizons that are new to us
People: Talkin’ it over, Workin’ together day to day
In Unison: Together
People: We’ll find a place where there’s room to grow
Leader: So much life ahead
People: Gay and straight, together, before the risin’ sun, we fly
Unison: Church, we’ve only just begun to live.
Unison Prayer: Spirit Divine, in such times, when church law fails, and shared wisdom is so hard to find, we ask for your guidance. Help us find a pathway to common ground, some place where justice, love, and progress pushes back against fear. As The Carpenters sang, there are so many roads to choose. As a church, help us to see your big sky picture, that we’ve only just begun to live. Move us to come together and share horizons that are new to us all. Amen.
*Rev. Mantu Joshi is an elder from the California-Nevada Conference who has served several churches in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference. He currently lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.
