Summer of Collaboration!
Unless otherwise noted, services include sermons preached by the Rev. Andrew Clive Millard and take place on Sundays at 11am via Zoom: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/920676087 or you can dial-in to 646-876-9923 (Meeting ID: 920 676 087)
August 1st: “Religious Innovation”
All manner of churches, congregations and religious communities made a hasty move to on-line worship and programs at the start of the pandemic, rapidly scaling a learning curve that many had shied away from before. So what have we realized about innovation and creativity that can inform our liberating ministry for the twenty-first century? Having audited a course of the same name at Hartford Seminary in June, Rev. Andrew will reflect on this question.
August 8th: “We Keep Searching”
As Unitarian Universalists, ours is a lifelong search for truth and meaning. We wander and we wonder, and yet sometimes we can feel spiritually stuck. So how do we get ourselves unstuck? How do we stumble into deeper knowing and greater connection? And how do we support each other as a community of searchers?
Jaimie Dingus is the settled minister of the UU Church of Huntsville AL and serves on the UUA’s Presidential Search Committee. She previously worked with congregations around Boston while studying at Harvard Divinity School. Nowadays you can find Jaimie at the park with her dog, Clementine, or out exploring downtown Huntsville. Jaimie grew up at the UUFP and is so excited to be swapping pulpits with Rev. Andrew!
August 15th: “To Err Is Human, To Forgive ... ?”
People of faith have long been encouraged to seek and give forgiveness. As theologian Reinhold Niebuhr put it, “we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.” What is the role of forgiveness in our lives, particularly as people of covenant and accountability?
The Rev. Pam Phillips has served as the settled minister of the UU Congregation in Blacksburg for four years. She answered the call to ministry after extensive lay leadership with the UU Congregation of Charlottesville and a career as a Middle School teacher. Pam and her husband, the Rev. Jamie McReynolds, have enjoyed settling into the New River Valley after years of living in central Virginia.
August 22nd: “Forward Together”
The Legislative Collaborative Table of Hampton Roads advocates for a legislative agenda that advances social justice issues in Virginia. As an ad hoc collaboration of non-partisan non-profits, all constituents across our region are invited to participate in studying the issues and meeting with their legislators. Long-time LCT leader Teresa Stanley joins Rev. Andrew for a conversation about this important collaboration.
Teresa Stanley is the coordinator for the Interspiritual Empowerment Project, a joint plan of work program of Virginia Organizing. Virginia Organizing is a social justice, state-wide, grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
August 29th: “Together We Are More”
As described by UU consultant and co-author of the proposed Eighth Principle, Paula Cole Jones, a congregation is a community of communities. Rather than everyone participating in congregational life in the same way, we have a variety of groups and programs in which different people engage in different ways. And yet, we are all part of the same congregation with the same Mission and a common Vision for our future. As we look toward a more “normal” church year, Rev. Andrew will reflect on what this means for us.
