theme: Deep Listening
Unless otherwise noted, services include sermons preached by the Rev. Andrew Clive Millard and take place on Sundays at 11am via Zoom:
October 4: “Committing Ourselves to Climate Justice and Beloved Community”
Through a partnership between Interfaith Power & Light and the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, ministers, rabbis, imams and other clergy are raising up voting as a sacred act of Beloved Community. “Each of us has a moral responsibility,” Dr. King preached in 1964. “I come here to urge every person, under the sound of my voice, to go to the polls on the third of November and vote your convictions.” In this service, we’ll lift up the importance of voting, for Dr. King’s vision of a Beloved Community and for leaders who will fight for climate justice.
This Sunday is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the natural world, so let’s celebrate our furry, feathery and scaly companions with a “Blessing of the Animals” in our lives. (Since we’re Zooming from home, we already have our pets with us for the service!)
October 11: “Persistence of Vision”
We have been grieving the loss of two pillars of Unitarian Universalism who died recently, namely former UUA co-moderator Elandria Williams and the Rev. David MacPherson. Let’s learn about their vision of Unitarian Universalism as a faith that comforts, restores, lifts up, sets right and saves, and let’s talk about how we can continue to carry their vision moving forward.
October 18: “Acknowledging Our Grief: a Samhain Service”
In the Fall 2020 edition of UU World , Myriam Renaud says: “Rituals of lament give people a powerful voice and a structured way to share their hurt with their communities... But where and how? Such rituals are not a regular part of the worship services of most Unitarian Universalist congregations.” But that’s not exactly true! Every year at Samhain, EarthRising and other pagan groups meet and honor those lost in the prior year in different ways. In this service, members of EarthRising bring some of those traditions to the rest of the Fellowship, for the strength and healing of all.
EarthRising is the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula’s pagan group. At thirty-three years of age, it is the oldest continuously active pagan group in Virginia. EarthRising offers seasonal Earth-centered celebrations — at the solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter days — in support of a modern, Nature-centered spirituality
October 25: “An Extra Measure of Grace”
The last seven months have been challenging for even the most well-adjusted psyche. Between a global pandemic and an increasingly deranged presidency, not to mention a reckoning with white supremacy and the overarching threat of climate catastrophe, anxieties are high, patience is thin and tempers are short. It is at times like this when we are called to bring all of our spiritual values and skills into play, to carry a little more kindness into our interactions with one another.
Though we cannot be together in person for our traditional Water Communion this year, stay tuned for forthcoming details of how we’ll practice this water-inspired celebration of community and oneness this month!