by Moira Rouse & David Schowalter, UUCW Stewardship Team As of this writing, we have raised $206,241 in combined pledges and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) for the 2024-25 church year. This represents 91.3% of our goal of $226,000. Many of you increased your pledge amount over last year and several new households pledged for the … Continue reading It’s (been) a Wonderful Pledge Drive
by Laura K. Secor Rumi is so often bubbling with delight, so often filled with the glory of Spirit, positively vibrating and swirling with the exuberance of his earthy ecstasy. But even he occasionally finds a cloud crossing his sun. This poem is titled “Love Moves Away” and goes like this: Pale sunlight,pale the wall. Love moves … Continue reading Rumi in a Rare Blue Mood
by Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration This past Sunday was William Ellery Channing’s birthday, and it was also our Coming of Age class’s traditional pilgrimage to Boston for their self-led UU Boston History Tour. Who is William Ellergy Channing and why do we care? He was born April 7, 1780, Newport, Rhode Island —died … Continue reading Coming of Age and Channing
by Rev. Aaron Payson This month’s Soul Matter’s Theme is “Interdependence.” There has been a lot of talk, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic about the fate of religious communities in our country. We’ve seen many religious communities close in the past few years and others are struggling to find professional religious leadership. For me, the clearest … Continue reading On Interdependence
by David Schowalter & Moira Rouse, Stewardship Team Excerpt from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when George meets Clarence, the angel: As of this writing, our Wonderful Church has raised $160,544, or 71% of our goal of $226,000 for this year’s pledge drive towards next year’s church budget. We are just beginning to contact those of … Continue reading Stewardship Update: “It comes in real handy down here.”
by Laura K. Secor Even people who possess only a passing acquaintance with Buddhism have generally heard of the “Eightfold Path”. In case that’s as far as your acquaintance takes you, this is where the Buddha laid out a step-by-step method of evolving beyond suffering. These eight practices can be grouped into three types – … Continue reading The Patchword Buddhist
by Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration & Education Have you ever come across a quote, a story, or a poem that really makes you pay attention? Maybe this piece of writing transforms you with its words, lingering and growing in size and meaning. I’ll come across something and think: “I need to keep this … Continue reading Words That Transform
by Rev. Aaron Payson “Suzuki Roshi, I’ve been listening to your lectures for years,” a student said during the question and answer time following a lecture, “but I just don’t understand. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?” Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed. “Everything changes”, he said. Then he … Continue reading On Transformation & Loving Kindness
by Dave Schowalter & Moira Rouse, Stewardship Team As our 2024 pledge drive kicks off this coming Sunday, our Board of Management and Minister are heavily focused on the long term sustainability of UUCW’s finances. In recent years, the pledge drive has essentially covered the salaries for our staff–our Minister, RE Director, Music Director, Bookkeeper … Continue reading It’s A Wonderful Church
by Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration I asked the question to the Coming of Age teens : How do you stand up for something that is important to you? We were talking about justice and how people have things that they are concerned with in the world on a variety of levels. What can … Continue reading Ask The Question
