Soul Matters theme: Heritage
Sunday Services take place at 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. You can also connect via Zoom at https://uuma.zoom.us/j/920676087 or telephone to 646-876-9923 (Meeting ID: 920 676 087).
The Rev. Andrew Clive Millard
October 1st: "Seized by Avidity: Judith Sargent Murray"
Our lore includes the “miracle” story of John Murray’s encounter with Thomas Potter and how it reignited his passion to preach Universalism. However, it was arguably Murray’s encounter with the Sargent family that led to the establishment of American Universalism. In particular, Judith Sargent was part of the first ruling for freedom of religion in the US, and she developed the first Universalist curriculum for children.
October 8th: "Resilience: Cultivating Peace with Nature"
We know that our world is suffering from pollution, exploitation, and a changing climate full of worsening disasters looming on the horizon. But there is always hope! Time and again, humanity has found its resolve even in the face of adversity, thanks to the courage of our faith and the love of our communities. It’s time to pick each other up and live into our religious wisdom, our covenants with one another, and our care for the Earth.
This Service is part of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light’s “Climate in the Pulpit, on the Bimah, in the Minbar”. Music will be provided by the UUFP ChorUUs!
October 15th: "Power Sunday: Leveraging Our Collective"
We know that our democracy is in danger, but we are not powerless: we all have meaningful ways to save our democratic system. One such way is to commit to being an active part of civil society, which means committing to our institutions. These include our home congregations as well as Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, which is the only national organization lobbying for UU values in Washington DC.
The Rev. Peggy Clarke is Senior Minister at the Community Church of New York and Board Chair of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. Resources for this service have been made available by UUSJ, with the intention that this “Power Sunday” will be the first of many opportunities to draw together UUs from around the country in advocacy for our values on Capitol Hill.
October 22th: "The Tree, the Mistletoe, and the Arborist"
How might we consider spirituality to be like a magnificent tree? Its roots are sunk deep into the ground, it provides shelter to countless smaller creatures, and its branches stretch toward the sky to better drink of the sunlight. What, then, is religion? Is it like mistletoe, sucking the life out of the tree on which it grows as a parasite? Or is it like an arborist, carefully and diligently tending the tree so that it may grow and flourish?
October 27th: "The Final Harvest"
NOTE TIME: 7pm at the UUFP
Merry Meet! EarthRising, the UUFP’s Earth-centered spirituality group, invites you to the Fellowship’s 37th annual Samhain ritual and feast. We’ll celebrate the ancestors and all those who have passed through the veil, thinking about the meaning of their lives, our own mortality and the cycle of life. For all things in Nature die and become the rich soil that feeds the renewal of life: this is the “real Hallowe’en”.
Weather permitting, our celebration will be held outside, followed by a potluck feast. Children are welcome with their parents. Please contact EarthRising if childcare is needed.
October 29th: "A Harvest of Gratitude"
Cultures across the northern hemisphere have been celebrating harvest festivals in recent weeks: giving thanks for the bounty of the land, feasting on the food that has been gathered, and making sure that everyone has enough. In our own culture, most of us buy our food rather than grow it ourselves, and what we want to eat is available all year long, not only when it’s in season locally, so how are we to celebrate the harvest?
Please bring something from this list of Most Needed Items to donate to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. Music will be provided by the UUFP Winds!