About the Author: Polly Moore

Dr. Polly Moore has been chosen by TCPC to be the part-time Director of the Liturgy Project. Polly has remarkable credentials for the task. She has a PhD in mathematics, was the vice president of Genentech Inc, a major biotech firm, and is a recent MDiv graduate of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. She is a candidate for ordination in the United Church of Christ. A gifted musician, she helps create unique liturgies in her church, College Heights UCC in San Mateo, CA.
  • By Published On: July 6, 2014

    All night I lay on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him but did not find him.

  • Written by Martha Graham

    By Published On: June 13, 2014

    There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique.

  • by Rumi

    By Published On: May 1, 2014

    This being human is a guest house
 Every morning a new arrival.
 A joy, a depression, a meanness,
 some momentary awareness comes
 as an unexpected visitor.


  • By Published On: April 5, 2014

    “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The quintessential cry of despair, when all hope is lost.

  • A poem by Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966)

    By Published On: April 5, 2014

    "Weep not for Me, Mother, 
 in the grave I have life."

  • By Published On: February 28, 2014

    A recent memorial service for a much-loved artist in our church ended with a poem and a prayer. The poem was “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver,

  • From St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Washington D.C.

    By Published On: February 16, 2014

    Presider: It was a dull, tasteless thing; People: This life, before salt.

  • From the New Zealand Prayer Book

    By Published On: January 1, 2014

    Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven:

  • by Peter Yarrow

    By Published On: December 8, 2013

    Light one candle for the Maccabee children With thanks that their light didn't die Light one candle for the pain they endured When their right to exist was denied

  • by Howard Thurman

    By Published On: December 8, 2013

    I will light candles this Christmas. Candles of joy, despite all sadness. Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.

  • by Rumi

    By Published On: November 11, 2013

    The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep.

  • Quoted from writings of Meister Eckhart

    By Published On: November 2, 2013

    The seed of God is in us. If you are an intelligent and hard-working farmer, it will thrive and grow up into God,

  • Written by Cesar E. Chavez

    By Published On: October 24, 2013

    Show me the suffering of the most miserable; So I will know my people's plight. Free me to pray for others; For you are present in every person.

  • from Seekers Church, Washington, D.C.

    By Published On: July 24, 2013

    Go into the seething cauldron of the world. Listen for the questions and voices that you would rather not hear.

  • By Published On: May 24, 2013

    The Christianity we have inherited in the 21st century is like an onion, with Jesus’ wisdom at the core and layers and layers of church doctrine added over the centuries. Each of those layers was a solution to a problem in its own time. Progressive Christianity has let go of virtually all of those layers, recognizing that the core teaching – the Jesus experience, if you will – is what transcends time and is worth preserving. The result is that most progressive Christian churches no longer use the old creeds. We are not willing to recite what we cannot believe.

  • By Published On: February 19, 2013

    The Liturgy Project has been in the works for several years, and now that our new website has launched, the liturgy contributions have

  • Words by Lyndon Hutchinson-Hounsell

    By Published On: January 7, 2013

    May Love Divine fill all our hearts, our bodies, minds and souls.
 Let’s love our neighbours as ourselves as Spirit makes us whole.


  • By Published On: October 31, 2012

    In the rising of the sun and in its going down, We remember them.


  • By Published On: October 27, 2012

    John Becker has written a simple chant called “Litany of the Saints,” which in its original form is literally a list of saints of the Catholic Church. But it is easy to write your own lyrics!

  • By Published On: August 14, 2012

    God bless this food we are about to receive. Give bread to those who hunger; and hunger for justice to us who have

  • By Published On: July 9, 2012

    Do you know how to catch a raccoon? I mean good old backwoods ingenuity, no guns, no weapons of mass destruction. Well, I didn’t know either, until some years ago...

  • By Published On: May 13, 2012

    A non-canonical liturgy from the first century.

  • By Published On: May 4, 2012

    "The Golden Rule" from many different religious traditions

  • By Published On: July 4, 2008

    Dr. Polly Moore of College Heights UCC, San Mateo, CA, offers a list of the biblical references in "A NEW EARTH" by Eckhart Tolle, used by the church for its study group focusing on the book.