Our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula (UUFP) committees are integral in carrying out the mission of this congregation!  So how might you be a part of the meaningful activities and outreach both in and beyond our fellowship?

The chairs of the committees must be members of UUFP.  However, for the majority of committees, anyone—members, friends, teens; i.e., any interested individual—may serve on a committee.  We have a large variety of committees, and many committees have programs that can use some planning and implementing help.

Our committees include:  Adult Religious Education, Building, Caring, Children’s Religious Education, Communications, Denominational Affairs, EarthRising, Finance, Grounds, Membership, Music, Planning, Social Justice, Sunday Services, and others.  (Visit UUFP Committees for more info.)  Any of these committees would welcome new members.

One of our groups in which each one of us is a member is Hospitality.  Every four months, for one month of Sundays, one of the four Hospitality Teams (i.e., Engage, Generosity, Sage and Wonder) is responsible for the set-up of food/drinks and managing/cleanup of the common area.  If you have not been appointed to one of the Hospitality Teams, please let Meg Glenn-Albiez know.  This will aid in continuing to offer this time of fellowship and food in-between the two Sunday morning worship services.
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There are other committees that require an individual to be appointed to them, for example:  Audit, Committee on Ministry, Leadership Development and others.  If you wish to be a part of one of these, consider starting with a regular committee, so the Policy Board members will become familiar with your skills.

​At UUFP we want everyone to be as involved as one wishes to be.  As each of us discerns where to devote our time, talents and resources, the Committee on Ministry invites us to reach out to a committee chair, the board member on-call, or to email them at committeeonministry@uufp.org for information about volunteer opportunities.

Remembering Aristotle's words, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts," we are grateful for our UUFP teamwork.  Thank you for serving!

If you are interested in learning more about PORT, there will be a brief informational meeting immediately after the second service on Sunday, December 16, in the sanctuary.  Contact either Bobbie Schilling or Henry Chambers (in person or via socialjustice@uufp.org) with any questions or if you are willing to volunteer for a three or four-hour shift.  Donations of money to buy the food or of new underwear and socks for the clients are greatly appreciated.  This is an excellent way to assist if you are unable to volunteer your time.  There will be a labeled donation basket for the underwear located near the Social Justice table outside the sanctuary doors.  Monetary donations designated for PORT may be placed in the collection baskets Sunday morning.  We welcome all who wish to help!  ​

Donna and I were having breakfast there with another couple from UUFP.  We've found that to be a good way to get to know other church people.  When we were new in town, two years ago, another couple invited us to breakfast there, and we came out feeling a bit closer to and more welcome in the Community.  As a result, we've made it a practice, over time, to invite other couples, new in church, to join us there for a similar experience. 

This time, as we usually do, we got to talking about UUism and what it has meant to us.  That's particularly meaningful to Donna and me, since we actually met at a UU church, thirty-two years ago.  And this time, perhaps more than on other occasions, the chemistry was particularly strong as we exchanged feelings and fears and hopes, and what effect our UU membership has had on these issues.

I could not help admiring the grace which this couple exhibited in dealing with life's issues.  And also, I couldn't help admiring the caring and honesty that my lovely Donna was demonstrating in this sensitive area, as well as the openness with which all of us were discussing some very personal matters.

And suddenly, as we turned to the role that a belief in God plays in all of this, I realized that the four of us expressing and receiving feelings and beliefs, admitting to fears and mistakes around that table were God.  The thing that we call God, I realized, wasn't a being or a quantity, at all, but an experience.  That which we call God was the experience of people being open and honest and caring, as we were, with one another at that particular moment.

theme: Inspiring

Unless otherwise noted, services include sermons preached by Rev. Andrew Clive Millard and take place at 9:30am and 11:15am on Sundays.

December 2nd: “Sharing Hope”
December 9th: “Keeping Faith”
December 16th: “Finding Joy”
December 23rd: “Knowing Love”

For decades, “Guest at Your Table” has been introducing Unitarian Universalists to real people impacted by human rights issues and to grassroots leaders making a difference around the world.  This year, the UU Service Committee’s theme is “Justice Across Borders”, with four stories that provide a personal glimpse into the lives of Central Americans making the perilous journey north in hope of finding refuge in the United States.  Each Sunday in Advent, we’ll meet one of the “guests” whose lives have been changed because of the generosity of UUs like us, and, in turn, their stories will be an inspiration to us.

On December 2nd and 9th, special music will be provided by “Doc” Robin van Tine; on December 16th, special music for flute and guitar will be provided by Marcy Stutzman and Jeffrey Hinkley; and on December 23rd, special music for flute and harp will be provided by Darla Wilmot and Mel Lauf!

Christmas Eve Services!
5pm on Monday December 24th: “The Other Wise Man”
7pm on Monday December 24th: “Bah! Humbug!”

We hold two services on Christmas Eve!  The earlier is a family service about the sharing of gifts and a journey to find the newborn king; the later explores the truth and meaning of a favorite tale of the season.  Each service features traditional Christmas carols and concludes with the beloved ceremony of passing the flame.

At both services, special music for Christmas will be provided by the UUFP’s ChorUUs and Winds!

December 30th: “Looking Back, Looking Forward”

Let’s take a look back into the past and forward into the future in preparation for the New Year!

EarthRising is the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula’s pagan group.  At thirty-one 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.

​Jacy Brooks  
Sarah Edwards
Julia Riach
David Walsh
Donna Sprock
Pat Sloan
Nancy Sessoms
Randy Phillips 
Michael Henry-Richardson
Alice Smith
Jackie Wilson
Erick Hagstrom
Mason Moseley

I have a rather special Veterans Day memory I would like to share.

As many of you know, my mother and I arrived in America in May of 1941, when I was nine.  We settled in Manhattan, on West 74th Street, near the Hudson River.  On Nov 11th we were walking along our street when we saw a crowd on West End Avenue.  It turned out that this was Armistice Day in America, and they were all watching a parade.

There was a marching band, flags, and a unit of soldiers with helmets and rifles marching in perfect step along the avenue.  And right behind them, in Yogi Bear hats and puttees, and marching just as crisply, was a unit that my mother identified for me as WWI veterans.

And, behind these veterans, there were three of the long, open cars that they had in those days, carrying men with long white beards, cowboy style hats, some in uniforms that were blue and some that were gray.

Neither of us knew who they were, though Mother speculated that they might be NYPD and NY State Police vets.

Now consider this:  It stands to reason that one of those elderly veterans must have laid eyes on Robert E. Lee, at some time. Lee's father was a close friend of George Washington.  That means that those of you who know me, are separated from the Father of Our Country by only four degrees of separation.  Small world, ain't it?

For the first eighty-five years of my life, I have believed that the word "love" can be applied properly to my feelings toward my wife; my children, grandchildren, and great-grands; my late parents; and a late aunt and uncle in whose home I spent much of my adolescence.  I have accumulated numerous dear friends during my long lifetime for whom I have great affection, but the word "love" did not, properly, apply to those relationships.
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I have exchanged guarded I love you's with dear friends on various occasions, usually when under the influence of spirits more earthy than ethereal and well aware that our enthusiastic over commitments to each other would wear off harmlessly with the evaporation of the spirits themselves.

During the past year or so, however, I have found myself in the company of various fellow church members, engaged in discussions of spirituality, emotions, impressions, gossip, or the usual banter that passes among people who are close, and I have been aware of an emotion I have not felt under these circumstances before.

I now recognize that feeling as an actual, unadulterated form of love.  I find that I can apply the word "love" to how I feel about a number of the people I have come to know since moving here two years ago.

I consider this ability to be a gift in the same way that the ability to appreciate fine art and classical music are gifts.  And I feel blessed.

theme: Engaging

Unless otherwise noted, services include sermons preached by Rev. Andrew Clive Millard and take place at 9:30am and 11:15am on Sundays.

November 4th: “Thirty One and Going Strong”

Unitarian Universalism is a religion with a very broad theological tent.  Sometimes that has been broadened intentionally, sometimes by happy accident, but today it is part of our identity to engage with one another’s differences, understanding them as opportunities to learn and grow.  Jeannine Christensen and Rev. Andrew will look at how this works, particularly in the case of EarthRising as a valued part of the UUFP’s broad theological tent.

Jeannine Christensen began attending Women’s Drumming and EarthRising in 2006 and joined the UUFP in 2009.  Her family is involved in many aspects of congregational life, and Jeannine has served the Fellowship in many different ways.  She received a Courageous Love Award in 2016.  In her non-UUFP life, Jeannine has seventeen years of small and multi-unit business leadership experience.

Evening Service!
7pm on Wednesday November 7th

Following this year’s mid-term elections, join us for a time of quiet reflection, conversation and candle-lighting.  As part of Beloved Community Wednesdays, a potluck dinner shared by the evening’s programs begins at 6:30pm, though you are welcome to come into the Sanctuary at any time during the program and stay for as long as you wish.  However you feel about the election results, we are here to support one another in community. 

November 11th: “To Care for Those Who Have Borne the Battle”

This Veterans Day marks the centennial of Armistice Day, when hostilities ceased on the Western Front of World War I.  As is our tradition at the Fellowship, we’ll express our appreciation to those in our families, congregation and community who have served in the United States Armed Forces, and we’ll reflect on our hopes for achieving the peace for which so many veterans strove.

Special music will be provided by the UUFP Winds!  Veterans and active duty personnel are invited to wear uniforms or other insignia of service.

November 18th: “A Service on Service”

Jim Sanderson will look at our Mission and how each pillar of it supports the others.  One of those pillars is “Engage in Service”, so Jim, Rosalee Pfister, Pam Luke and Henry Chambers will reflect on their experiences engaging in service for and with the Fellowship.

UUFP President Jim Sanderson is a long-time Unitarian Universalist.  He has served as chair of the Sunday Services Committee, as Vice President, and as a Fellowship Circle facilitator.  Before joining the Fellowship, Jim was the minister of the Jenkins UU Fellowship in Petersburg and served as chair of the Religious Education Committee at First UU in Richmond.

Special music will be provided by the UUFP ChorUUs!

Special Service!
4:30pm on November 18th: “Name Unknown: A Transgender Day of Remembrance”

We remember and honor transgender people around the world whose lives have been lost to anti-transgender violence, but nearly twenty percent of those killed are listed as “name unknown”.  We will read the names of all who have been killed, pausing for those with names unknown.  In recognition that every life has value and that our contributions matter regardless of credit given, all hymns and readings will be by anonymous authors.

This early evening service marks the twentieth annual, internationally observed witness of and resistance to violence based on bias against transgender people.  We’ll begin in the Sanctuary for some music, a brief reflection and the reading of names before lighting candles at sunset and processing outside for a time of silent vigil.

On-Line Service!
10am on Friday November 23rd: “Shining a New Light on Black Friday”

Since 1952, Black Friday has been a day when eager shoppers race to the stores for early-bird specials, fighting traffic and sometimes each other for the current year’s must-have gadget or toy.  If participating in this frenzy does nothing to affirm your UU faith, join us for an on-line service where we will shed light on alternative ways to spend the day such as exploring time in Nature, making a holiday craft together, searching your home for donatable items, or writing letters of gratitude to our troops.

The Sunday Services Committee is chaired by Dan Luke.  Members include Pam Luke, Jim Sanderson, Alice Smith and Jeffrey Hinkley.  Rev. Andrew and DRE Joanne Dingus serve ex officio.  The committee is exploring on-line worship as another way to share the good news of Unitarian Universalism with the wider world.

November 25th: “The Reason Why We Tell Our Stories”

Everyone has stories born of passion, pain, hope, fear and countless other realities.  Each story has value and meaning and can impact others, but often our stories go untold; words swallowed deep in our souls eat away at us and stifle our lives. We stop talking, because we think no one is listening, but when we share the intricate details of what makes us who we are, we discover that we are more connected than divided.

Rev. Deedra Chambers is a resident of Hampton and an alumna of Hampton University.  A mental health professional, she holds an M.Div. from Virginia Union University and is an Associate Minister at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Newport News.  Deedra’s most important ministry is to her family: her husband, Luther, and their three children, Micah, Ayanna and Rebekah.

​Happy Birthday to all our members born in November!

       Robert Drees        
Valerie Herman
 Anne Cunningham
 James Osmundsen
 Allison Millard
 Dean Ceran
 Roberta Thomas
 Steve Wasilausky
 Pam Luke
 Matthew Thompson
 Sam Davis
 Catherine Bond
 Jacquie Ream
 Mary-Elizabeth Cotton

​This year, UUFP Endowment Trustees Judy Remsberg, Mason Moseley and Roy Schilling awarded a $500.00 grant to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to support their Culinary Training Program.  Judy Remsberg received a letter from the Foodbank director and a link to a WAVY TV program highlighting their accomplishments.

“I’m so proud of the UUFP being able to support this worthy program through the Endowment.” -Judy Remsberg,  UUFP Trustee

“For all that is our life” by Rev. Andrew

As part of my professional development this year, I am a Fellow with GreenFaith, an international interfaith environmental organization that was founded in 1992 and inspired in part by the Rio Earth Summit.  About ten years ago, religious leaders approached GreenFaith for training and support in their own work, and a fellowship program was created.  UUFP member Robin van Tine was one of the first GreenFaith Fellows, and I am grateful to Robin for bringing the program to my attention and for supporting my own application for a fellowship.

The GreenFaith Fellowship Program spans one year, and began last month with a webinar for fellows and program staff to introduce themselves to one another.  I am one of twenty-five fellows, representing Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Quaker and UU traditions, and we come from across the United States and from Chile, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, the United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  As well as monthly webinars and small group discussions on-line, we meet in person twice during the year, with the first retreat taking place next month near GreenFaith’s offices in New Jersey.  There are a number of reading and writing assignments and a leadership project involving religiously-based environmental work in the community.

I plan to write further articles about my experience of the program as it progresses, and I’ll begin with my reasons for applying for the Fellowship, which was part of our discussion during last month’s webinar.

In preparing my sermon for Earth Day this year, I realized I was feeling a need to rededicate myself to spiritual/environmental efforts.  The problem, as I explained in that sermon, is not a lack of scientific knowledge or understanding.  Rather, it is a lack of moral motivation and political will, and both institutional religion and individual spirituality have important roles to play in correcting that.

Knowing about the GreenFaith Fellowship Program from Robin when he was a Fellow some years ago, I decided to look into it.  What I learned confirmed that this would be a good program for developing my own theology around environmental issues and for helping the UUFP to deepen its environmental responsibility.  (We have been working on becoming a Green Sanctuary since before the UUFP called me as minister.  Let’s complete that certification process!) 

As well as the educational component, I expect that the fellowship program will help me to reflect on my own place in both environmental problems and their solutions, as well as to learn how to lead congregants in similar reflection.  I expect that the leadership project in particular will help me to develop significant community relationships, including accountability to the people we’re aiming to help rather than our own agenda, as well as to take public positions on the issues that affect all of us as neighbors and citizens of the Earth.

Finally, I will note that this is timely work, given the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that sets forth in no uncertain terms an imperative for us to act decisively given the short amount of time remaining before the effects of global climate change are irreversible.  Religious traditions and faith communities have an essential role to play in making clear that climate change is a moral issue and that we are called more urgently than ever to care for the Earth.

The Fellowship maintains a Capital Fund which is a reserve of money that is used for improvements and major repairs to the campus and buildings.  As we seek to develop our mission, the quality of our facilities will play a crucial role. 
 
UUFP has reason to be deeply grateful to Richard Hudgins, who has made a major donation to the Capital Fund, a donation that is allowing the Board and Building Committee to move forward on replacing worn and damaged sections of the Sanctuary Building siding.  Another member made an anonymous donation which will help with the cost of replacing the old and dilapidated storage shed.  Pat Yaros asked that those wishing to honor Steve Yaros do so by giving to the Capital Fund.  We thank her for thinking of UUFP.  Already some members have made generous contributions.  The Fellowship appreciates these acts of giving. 

The Capital Fund stands apart from the Operating Budget and is not funded through pledge donations.  Contributions to the Capital Fund can be made at any time and are always welcome.  Be inspired by the generous members who have seen the need and responded.  When you donate to the Capital Fund you are investing in the future success of the Fellowship and helping to protect our investment in our physical property and buildings.  If you are moved to make a gift please be sure to designate it for the “Capital Fund.”

​Have you ever been disappointed that you missed one of UUFP’s Sunday Services?  Or perhaps you attended, but wished the officiant had worded something slightly differently, or that something might have been left out.  Or maybe the topic was something so close to your experiences, you felt you needed to spend more time with it in a Unitarian Universalist setting.  Or on the other hand, maybe it was so out of the realm of your experience that you wanted more time to explore it.  Unitarian Universalist Sunday services often leave people thoughtful, or in the mood for action -- and wanting to talk about them more.

​UUFP is offering a follow-up discussion group to meet just these kinds of needs.  We’re calling it “Reflect Back,” and it will happen on our Beloved Community Wednesdays at 7:00 PM (just after the community meal that is from 6:30 to 7:00).  The inaugural session will be this Wednesday, October 17th, reflecting on the Rev. Andrew Millard’s recent service entitled “Patriotic Correctness.” 
 
Unitarian Universalism has a long tradition of encouraging individuals to rely on their own experience and discernment.  In the past, many congregations provided time during the Sunday worship service itself, after a minister's sermon, for members to "talk back" to the pulpit.  While the tradition has fallen out of favor in most larger congregations, there remains a strong impulse to apprehend, reflect, criticize, deconstruct, reconstruct, and internalize a message, making it one's own — and strengthening our bonds of fellowship in the process.  Our “Reflect Back” program aims to meet those needs. 
 
Join us, then, for reflection!  And if you missed the Sunday service, all the more reason to come — it will be a good way to catch up!

Every week brings a new attack on immigrants.  UU congregations nationwide realize that standing on the sidelines is not an option and many are choosing to become Sanctuary congregations as a way of fighting back.  If you are interested in understanding more about what a Sanctuary Congregation is - and how UUFP can become one - then this is the session for you.  Denise Woods, one of the leaders of All Souls Sanctuary Movement in Washington, D.C., will join us to share their story and then lead a working session for us to make our own plan.​

​General Assembly is the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association.  Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process.  Anyone may attend; congregations must certify annually to send voting delegates.

theme: Connecting

Services include sermons preached by Rev. Andrew Clive Millard unless otherwise noted.

October 7th: “Knowing Our Foremothers”

One of Unitarian Universalism’s seasonal rituals is the Water Communion.  Many congregations used it to mark their “ingathering” at the end of the Summer, and it became dominated by travelogues.  However, the Water Communion was specifically created (at the 1980 UU Women and Religion Continental Convocation) as a feminist ritual, and in recent years there have been efforts to remember and revisit those roots.

For the Water Communion, please bring an ounce or two of water from home to the service.

October 14th: “Patriotic Correctness”

The term “political correctness” refers to the avoidance of wording that might exclude, marginalize or insult people already placed at a disadvantage by society.  It is often used to disparage efforts to respect diversity and multiculturalism as excessive or even unnecessary.  There’s another version of “PC” that is a much greater threat to freedom, though, thanks to a narrow understanding of “patriotism” as obedience and conformity.

October 21st: “How Coyote Lost His Songs, Music and Dance”

Coyote lived in a village with a number of other people, but one day he decided that he didn’t want to be around them any more.  He had his songs, his music and his dance, and he didn’t need anyone else for any of those things.  Besides, Rabbit, Moose, Raven and all of the other people were strange and they often annoyed him.  When he set off to find a place to be by himself, though, Coyote discovered how hard it was to be himself.

Special music will be provided by the UUFP ChorUUs!

October 28th: “Narcissus in Bloom: The Importance of Self Love”

The myth of Narcissus, as interpreted by Freud and others, has contributed to an unfortunate devaluing of self-love.  A more favorable telling of this tale helps to correct the distortion that self-love is mere vanity and ends in ruin.  Removing the pathological underpinnings reveals the ancient truth that the awareness of, and affection for, the true self is the gateway to inner peace and outer harmony.

Mike Verano is a licensed therapist, a cancer survivor and an author with over thirty years of experience in the mental health field.

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Michael Meyer
Bella Finkel Oglesby 
Jim Sanderson  
Pat Yaros 
Tara Joseph 
Steve Yaros 
Kathy Baer 
Lehni Lebert
Meg Glenn-Albiez 
Camryn Goodrich 
Lois Winter 
Donna Carter
Steve Farthing 
Hunter Goodrich 
Jay Joseph 
Paul Hellyer 
Steve Kadar 
Amy Goodrich  
Jeff Hinkley

​If you are a member and have a birthday in October that we overlooked, please contact Bobbie Schilling; membership@uufp.org.

Roy has shared stages with Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres, Holly Near, John Oliver and others.  In his ninety-minute Fellowship presentation, you will hear both hilarious parodies and forceful original songs affirming Peace and Social Justice.  "I get accused of 'preaching to the choir,'" he says, "but that's not how I think of it. I think of it as 'entertaining the troops.'" 

On Wednesday evenings throughout the month of August, Rev. Andrew Millard and I co-led a UU Parenting class.  We used the curriculum, Being a UU Parent, created by Rev. David MacPherson and Rev. Makanah Morriss.  Although the curriculum was published in 1991 the foundations of the program remain relevant today, and with a few tweaks, it provided a wonderful springboard for discussions.  We added chalice lightings and updated resource lists.

We had 21 adults and 24 children participate.  Not everyone was able to make it every week but we always had a good crowd.  Participants included young families, older families, single parents, military families with one parent deployed and co-parenting couples.

We started each session with a meal.  Andrew and I each provided one meal, and the rest of the meals were potluck style with a sign-up sheet so that no family had to contribute more than twice.

The children were cared for in the back RE space by Mari and Gracie Thompson, two of our teens.  Some of the older children also pitched in to keep the large group of kids happy and safe.

The course began with a discussion on UU values we want to share with our children and ended with ways to live our beliefs.  We talked about family life, ways to bring Unitarian Universalism into our homes and shared thoughts on ways to celebrate.  Each class had time for theological exploration, ways to connect to UUism and a time for sharing and support.

The class work was varied and interesting, but the best part of the course seemed to me to be the connections made between parents and the building of a greater sense of community.
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Rev. Millard and I believe that this course was very beneficial and hope that it will lead to other parent and family programs which might include, parent support groups, marriage support groups, Our Whole Lives classes, and the Parents as Spiritual Guides class.

Last April, as per the the UUFP Endowment Proposal Guidelines, the Trustees, Roy Schilling, Judy Remsberg, and Mason Moseley, decided that $1,500.00 would be offered for grants this year.  Proposals were sought from within the congregation and from our share-the-basket partners.

​

Mike Tabor
Gracie Thompson
Mari Thompson
Larry Baer
Kimberly Irvine
John Kelly
Sara Drees
Bob Smith
Lin Chambers
Rachel Bevins
Victoria Schmidt
Devon Rhone-Christensen
Mary Faia Morales
Wayne Dawkins
Ken Goodrich
Aiden Cotter
Steve Warner
Marcy Stutzman

I probably saw the movie on television when I was about 10 years old, and I know I enjoyed it, especially because I was so familiar with the music.

If I had written a blurb about this story when I was 10, it might have gone something like this.  A nice man wants to help a poor girl.  He buys her pretty clothes and teaches her how to pronounce her words.  They fall in love and live happily ever after.

So, my reaction to seeing this play so many years later was a bit surprising.  Technically, it was really well done.  The cast was very talented.  The woman who played Eliza had an amazing voice.  The costumes were lovely, and everyone spoke with convincing accents.

It was the story itself that upset me.

Here is the description from the Scripts for School Theatre website, which has a similar script to the one used in the production I saw.

Gayle Phillips
Darla Wilmot
Jeanie Goldberg
Heidi Ott
Asher Meyer
Kim Hummel
Selena Carlson-Hagstrom
Sarah Hair Olson
Madison Hair
Lisa Bessel
Dan Luke
Caroline Wasilausky
Neil Bates
Judy Remsberg
Sandy Burkes-Campbell
Barbara Crossman
Allison Black
Sophia Hagstrom
Sarah Conte
Bob Mosolf
Hilary Propst

theme: Questioning

Services include sermons preached by Rev. Andrew Clive Millard unless otherwise noted.

On-Line Service!
2pm on Saturday, August 4th: https://www.facebook.com/events/430987390740005/

During the last few Winters, we’ve held on-line services on Facebook when weather prevented us from meeting at the Sanctuary on a Sunday morning. As well as providing a way for members to gather in community, a number of former members and friends from further away were glad to be able to participate. This on-line service will be held on a Saturday afternoon, primarily as training for members of the Sunday Services Committee, but you are welcome to join in, too!

August 5th: “Your One Wild and Precious Life”

For most of us in our workaday lives, opportunities to be, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, “idle and blessed” are few and far between.  And yet that is our romantic ideal of a Summer day, born of our culture’s collective memory of (pre-digital) childhood.  How do we seek out that simple yet focused state now?  How do we pay attention to what really matters right in front of us?

August 12th: “A Necessary Skepticism”

René Descartes said, “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”  It is only by questioning what we believe and how we live that we test the quality of our beliefs and our ethics.  Only when we are willing to question will our faith grow.

The Rev. Cynthia Snavely lives in Hayes with her son-in-law, currently stationed at Fort Eustis, her daughter, and her four grandsons.  She has served Unitarian Universalist congregations in North Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Cynthia is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College and Drew Theological School.

August 19th: “Life, the Universe, and Everything”

According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is the number 42.  To understand that Answer, though, requires knowing what the Ultimate Question actually is!  Indeed, our task is not only to find answers to our questions about Life, the Universe, and Everything, but to find better questions to ask.

August 26th: “The Endless Human Quest”

As educators and academics have studied how people of all ages learn, they have concluded that one of the bigger determinants of success is not intrinsic talent or sheer effort but a willingness by teachers and students alike to believe that ability can be developed and that mistakes can be instructive.  This is known as a growth mindset, that trusts in the abundance of opportunities to learn, rather than a fixed mindset, that assumes they are scarce.  How does that apply to religion?