James Stewart, Director of Music, with Brenda Balon, Worship Associate Has music ever changed the world? Can culture hold a people together? Join us this Sunday as we explore the Estonian “Singing Revolution,” a non-violent uprising that took place in the late 1980s leading up to the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s a timely … Continue reading “How Music Changed the World: The Estonian Singing Revolution”
Rev. Patricia Hart, with Geoff Duke, Worship Associate The cultures we’re born into have a lot to say about gender roles. And religious ideas are always woven into culture (even in societies that don’t pay much attention to religion). What has our own religious tradition taught about “women’s roles” over the decades? What are we teaching now? We … Continue reading “Women and Unitarian Universalism”
Rev. Patricia Hart, Rev. David Ruffin, Judy Brook Spring is in the air (or at least in our imaginations). It can be hard, though, to relish the small delights of crocus and forsythia as people are fleeing from war across the world, and the climate is in crisis everywhere. How do we live amid such deep sadness … Continue reading “Seasons of Joy and Grief”
Rev. Patricia Hart with Melinda Lee Ready or not, it’s time to think about the future. What will be most important, in this year of risks and opportunities – to you, and this community; for the country, and the world? What will be most important at First UU? Some thoughts to begin this month of … Continue reading “Ask for What You Really Want”
Rev. Patricia Hart with Judy Brook War has come to Europe, again. Climate crises accelerate around the globe. Racism is more present than ever in our country, even as we struggle to celebrate Black history. Old stories change, but do they ever go away? Does it even make sense to feel hopeful about a more … Continue reading History Matters.
Jon Sallée with Rev. Patricia Hart As a faith tradition, we encourage each other to seek and commit to personal spiritual practices. So what brings us together? Religious community brings us across the threshold of vitality, between predictable solitude and the chaos of the larger world, in which we can be held by our care … Continue reading “Practicing for Something: Why We Gather”
Rowan Van Ness, Ministerial Intern, with Brenda Balon, Worship Associate While we can’t always control what happens or how we feel, we have the ability to choose how we act in response. Unitarian Universalists draw from six sources. In this service, we’ll tap into our different sources to strengthen our own ideas of resilience. The … Continue reading “Widening the Circle: Finding Resilience from Our Sources”
As I write, it’s 41 degrees, the sun is pouring in my window, and we’ve now seen over two weeks of decline in Covid infections. This day of welcome thaw is falling on “Imbolc,” marking the turning toward Spring in Irish Celtic tradition, halfway from solstice to equinox. This Imbolc, it’s not hard for me … Continue reading “Widening the Circle…From Within”
Rowan Van Ness, Ministerial Intern, with Brenda Balon, Worship Associate At this point in the pandemic, many of us are so ready to put this all behind us and begin to find our way forward. What are the spiritual issues that come up when we need to keep on going, even when we’re burnt out … Continue reading “And We Keep On Going”
Rev. Patricia Hart with Jon Sallée In our Unitarian Universalist tradition, there is no authority greater than the congregation. It is not the Minister’s role (nor the UUA’s) to determine a particular congregation’s priorities or future direction, to approve its budget, or even to select a new Senior Minister. That work belongs to the people … Continue reading “Dreaming a Future”
