Begin Again in Love: A Tribute to the Rev. Dr. Forrest Church
Oct 1st, 2009 by natewalker
Rev. Nate Walker of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia begins this Yom Kippur service by saying, “I come to you mourning the death of one of the great Unitarian Universalists ministers of our time; a mentor, colleague and friend who wrote 25 books and served All Souls Unitarian in New York City for 30 years. On Thursday, the day after his 61st birthday, the Reverend Dr. Forrest Church died of complications associated with esophageal cancer. A reading from his book, Love & Death, serve as our call to worship: just as he described his father’s death, so we use Forrest’s words to describe his own: ‘He… taught us how to die… In his life, [he] was a bit like the daystar, rising early to prominence, brilliant in the dusk and against the darkness, showing other stars the way. When it came time for him to go, when his precious flame flickered, he was ready. Peacefully, naturally, with serenity and grace, he returned his light unto the eternal horizon. Like the daystar, [he] went out with the dawn.’”






