Please join us for Religious Exploration classes on Sunday November 1st at 10am.   The classes will be discovering the theme of healing and discovering how your good memories can help you deal with any kind of loss.  We’ll be making a memory tree for all classes to add to.

The post Religious Exploration Program News for November 1, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Hello My Friends,

Today I am offering the first third of a very long poem by Ross Gay.  The poem is called “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” and it pours forth a lifetime of experience, all viewed through a lens of prayer and celebrations.

You can watch and hear the poet perform the entire poem here:

https://wordsfortheyear.com/2018/02/25/catalog-of-unabashed-gratitude-by-ross-gay/

But before you decide whether to turn your attention to poetry for the whole adventure, you can read here the beginning of the piece.

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

By Ross Gay

Friends, will you bear with me today,
for I have awakened
from a dream in which a robin
made with its shabby wings a kind of veil
behind which it shimmied and stomped something from the south
of Spain, its breast aflare,
looking me dead in the eye
from the branch that grew into my window,
coochie-cooing my chin,
the bird shuffling its little talons left, then right,
while the leaves bristled
against the plaster wall, two of them drifting
onto my blanket while the bird
opened and closed its wings like a matador
giving up on murder,
jutting its beak, turning a circle,
and flashing, again,
the ruddy bombast of its breast
by which I knew upon waking
it was telling me
in no uncertain terms
to bellow forth the tubas and sousaphones,
the whole rusty brass band of gratitude
not quite dormant in my belly—
it said so in a human voice,
“Bellow forth”—
and who among us could ignore such odd
and precise counsel?
Hear ye! hear ye! I am here
to holler that I have hauled tons—by which I don’t mean lots,
I mean tons — of cowshit
and stood ankle deep in swales of maggots
swirling the spent beer grains
the brewery man was good enough to dump off
holding his nose, for they smell very bad,
but make the compost writhe giddy and lick its lips,

twirling dung with my pitchfork
again and again
with hundreds and hundreds of other people,
we dreamt an orchard this way,
furrowing our brows,
and hauling our wheelbarrows,
and sweating through our shirts,
and two years later there was a party
at which trees were sunk into the well-fed earth,
one of which, a liberty apple, after being watered in
was tamped by a baby barefoot
with a bow hanging in her hair
biting her lip in her joyous work
and friends this is the realest place I know,
it makes me squirm like a worm I am so grateful,
you could ride your bike there
or roller skate or catch the bus
there is a fence and a gate twisted by hand,
there is a fig tree taller than you in Indiana,
it will make you gasp.
It might make you want to stay alive even, thank you;
and thank you
for not taking my pal when the engine
of his mind dragged him
to swig fistfuls of Xanax and a bottle or two of booze,
and thank you for taking my father
a few years after his own father went down thank you
mercy, mercy, thank you
for not smoking meth with your mother
oh thank you thank you
for leaving and for coming back,
and thank you for what inside my friends’
love bursts like a throng of roadside goldenrod
gleaming into the world,
likely hauling a shovel with her
like one named Aralee ought,
with hands big as a horse’s,
and who, like one named Aralee ought,
will laugh time to time til the juice

runs from her nose; oh
thank you
for the way a small thing’s wail makes
the milk or what once was milk
in us gather into horses
huckle-buckling across a field;
and thank you, friends, when last spring
the hyacinth bells rang
and the crocuses flaunted
their upturned skirts, and a quiet roved
the beehive which when I entered
were snugged two or three dead
fist-sized clutches of bees between the frames,
almost clinging to one another,
this one’s tiny head pushed
into another’s tiny wing,
one’s forelegs resting on another’s face,
the translucent paper of their wings fluttering
beneath my breath and when
a few dropped to the frames beneath:
honey; and after falling down to cry,
everything’s glacial shine.

The post Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

The post The Message – October 20, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Photo of the Week #2

Photo of the Week #3

Photo of the Week #4

Our Closing Hymn on October 16, 2026 was “When the Spirit Says Do.” As is our own unique, beloved tradition, some folks get up and dance when we sing the verse “When the spirit says dance.”  Here, Neil and Cristina Heffernan add a dip and a kiss to their dance.

Photo of the Week #5

Photo of the Week #6

The post Photos of the Week for October 20, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

On Sunday October 25th 10am, we’ll hold our annual Trick or Treat for UNICEF event plus carnival.  This will happen for all classes together during the service.

Children are encouraged to come dressed (in non-scary, appropriate) costumes and bring their own coins. Then, we “Trick or Treat” with our UNICEF boxes up and down our church pews. After, the Halloween Parade will walk to Fellowship Hall to see how much money they have collected for UNICEF and learn a little bit about that outreach program.  All this hard work gives them entrance to the fair which consists of simple games and activities set up in fellowship hall – the Questing Year class will assist all carnival goers! Parents of Spirit Play age may want to attend a portion of the carnival for their childs’ comfort.

The post Religious Exploration Program News for October 25, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

The Book Group will meet next on Wednesday, November 11that 7 PM in Classroom 3.   We will discuss Jennifer Chiaverini’s “Christmas Bells.”   

Intertwines the historical story of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the Civil War with a modern narrative about a teacher facing budget cuts, exploring themes of hope, loss, and the enduring power of Christmas.

You’re welcome if you haven’t finished the book, and even if you’ve not read it but want to listen in on the discussion.

Our books include fiction and non-fiction and are chosen by our members. Contact the Book Club at bookgroup@uucworcester.org if you’re interested in joining us and to get a copy of the current reading list. All readers are welcome.

The post UUCW Book Group News for November 11, 2026 – Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Join us for a Día de los Muertos celebration to remember and honor our deceased loved ones. An ofrenda (altar) will be on display beginning Sunday, November 1. We invite you to bring a photo of your loved one to add to the altar, either during Sunday service on November 1 or at our potluck dinner on November 7.  We also encourage you to bring a potluck dish that reminds you of your loved one. This is a family-friendly gathering, and children are welcome. For those who sign up in advance, we’ll have teen babysitters and a movie available for the kids.

Sign up here.

The post Fall Potluck Dinner – Saturday, November 7th at 6 PM first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

The Midterm election is now two weeks away and there is more that we can do to stand up for democracy, fight voter suppression, and empower more people to vote.  Please join us for these upcoming events:

Saturday, October 24th

Canvass with Worcester Interfaith.  This is the most effective way to make contact with voters.   RSVP to Roberto Diaz (roberto@worcester-interfaith.org) if you are interested in joining.  Training is provided for going door to door in neighborhoods under-represented in voting.

Make calls with Center for Common Ground

Training is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to make calls to VA, GA and TX, critical states with large populations of BIPOC voters.  Go here for instructions to call on your own or to sign up for a training by zoom with other volunteers from across the country.

Join a “Callapalooza” on Sunday, 4 to 8 PM ET.  Click here to register.

Make calls to Worcester voters.  

Use the database and phonebank bank platform (Open VPB) set up by Worcester Interfaith and Mass Voter Table to call under-represented voters in Worcester to help make a plan to vote.  Help reach the goal of 5,000 contacts for this election. Here is a link to the phonebank platform and the instructions.  Contact Beth via gotv@uucworcester.org if you would like to make calls together or need assistance calling on your own.

Make sure you are ready to vote.  Here’s a link to a voting information flyer with resources that folks may need for the November 3rd Midterm election. The QR code connects to a Spanish version, too.  Feel free to share this flyer with others.

Beth Posner-Waldron

UUCW’s Get Out the Vote Team Coordinator

The post The election is coming! What will YOU do to protect Democracy? – Updated Events for October 20 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Join the Connections Team for a conversation about our UUCW community.  All are welcome!

RSVP: https://bit.ly/4zuwQgK

Direct questions to ConnectionsTeam@UUCWorcester.org.

The post UUCW Connections Team Meet & Greet – Monday, October 26 at 7pm first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

MA Rainbow Families Free Community Clothing Swap on April 18th, from 1:30-4:30 pm. Dontation Drop-Off on Friday, November 13 from 5 – 7 pm. Clothing Donations are accepted at the Swap!

The post Massachusetts Rainbow Families Community Clothing Swap – Saturday November 14, 1:30 – 4:30 pm first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.