Many thanks to our congregation for all who stepped up in last spring’s pledge drive!

Summer may feel like a quiet season at UUCW, but our expenses don’t take a break. Numbers from our summer finances tell an important story.

Staff salaries and support staff costs stay steady all summer long, and while facilities and committee expenses dip a bit with lighter building use, they don’t disappear. Meanwhile, our income tells a different tale: pledge payments — our largest source of income — drop significantly over the summer months, even as other income stays roughly flat. That gap between steady expenses and shrinking income can create real cash flow challenges for the congregation.

The fix is simple: If you haven’t made pledge payments over the summer, please catch up on those now!  If you’d like to make it effortless, check out the donation section of our website for a step-by-step guide to setting up automated pledge payments. And if your pledge amount is changing from last year, please let us know so our records stay accurate.

Thank you for keeping UUCW strong all year round — and welcome back!

The Stewardship Team

Moira Rouse & Dave Schowalter

The post Catch up on your Summer Pledge Payments first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

I love September. It’s the beginning of so many things: school, church, autumn. But this year, I think of September in a different way, as a time when we begin a new year without so many public figures who’ve left us recently, those who left us their examples, their inspiration, and a better world.

I have always loved that Dolly Parton took the deprivation of her childhood and decided children shouldn’t be deprived of the opportunity to read. I love that Gloria Steinem left us the example of how to change the world for the better for women. I love that Wendell Berry encouraged us to find the peace of nature, that we learn to block out the buzz of the world around us. And our recent loss of Annie Dillard reminds me of how breathless I become each time I read her work, and how spirituality infuses every word.

In 1939, the world was on the verge of war and two great people passed away, inspiring poet W.H. Auden, who wrote: “. . . every day they die among us, those who were doing us some good.”

A small voice inside me, when it speaks, is afraid: who will replace these amazing people, these leaders-by-example, in this confusing, upsetting, unloving world we live in now? Who will help us? Who will provide their examples of kindness, compassion, inspiration and energy to fix a broken world? Does anyone know how to replace them?

But I think these heroes we’re thinking of now as they leave us knew something important: we mustn’t look to others. They certainly didn’t. They took their own focused vision for a better world and invested all they were in that vision; they did what they could do for their piece of the world.

Which brings me to my questions for myself, for our congregation:

What is your piece of the world? 

What is your goal? 

And how can we help achieve it?

As we bid farewell to Dillard, and Berry I have been reminded of how many times, because of writers like them, I’ve leaned on literature for the answers, and here’s a bit of poem (not theirs, but beloved just the same):

“You must hold your quiet center,

where you do what only you can do.”

—From A Center, by Ha Jin

I hope UUCW can help you find and protect your quiet center.

Namaste.

Melissa McKeon, Board President

The post September first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Photo of the Week #2

Photo of the Week #3

Photo of the Week #4

The post Photos of the Week for September 29, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Social Threads Quilting and Sewing (and creating) community is back in action after a summer break.  We will be gathering this Sunday, October 4 from 1:30-5pm.  Bring a project and your tools -also we have some outreach projects that we are working on if you’d like to get involved!  Free-will donation at the door. Questions?  Email us at  Socialthreads.quilting@gmail.com

The post Social Threads Quilting and Sewing Community – Sunday October 4, 1:30 – 5 pm first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Join members, friends, and clergy from the Greendale Ecumenical Group for their online Fall Study Group beginning Tuesday, October 6 @ 7 pm. We’ll meet weekly on Tuesday evening through Dec. 8. To register and receive online access, click the link below. This is a drop-in group, attendance at each session is not mandatory.

This “volume focuses on the diverse interfaith afterlives of Jesus. Moving beyond the explicitly Christian afterlives traced in volume one, this set of essays explores how Jesus has significant afterlives in Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Ruism and Mormonism, as well as selected secular afterlives in progressive Christianity. The contributors include religion scholars from the respective traditions, as well as faith practitioners reflecting on Jesus within their own religious context. While the essays are all grounded in critical scholarship, reflective practice, or both, they are expressed in nontechnical language that is accessible to interested nonspecialists.”

CLICK HERE to join this group!

For more information contact Rev. Aaron Payson (minister@uucworcester.org).

The post The Interfaith Afterlives of Jesus: Fall 2026 Greendale Ecumenical Study Group first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

October 4th 10am- Classes begin for all participants in the Religious Exploration Program!  On this day, the classes will be split into class spaces by grades. We will guide your child to the correct class!

Spirit Play- pre-k and K– classroom 1

Explorers-grades 1-3- Fellowship Hall

Builders- grades 4 and 5– Classroom 3

Questing Year- grades 6-8 Classroom 2

Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration

The post Religious Exploration Program News for October 4, 2026 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

UUCW hosts a monthly family game night on the first Friday (*except for October and December) from 6 – 8:30 pm. Enjoy pizza and board games with UUCW friends. Register by clicking or scanning QR code below; free or $5 each person for pizza.

Dates:

10/9 (second Friday)
11/6
12/11 (because of craft fair set up on 12/4)
1/8
2/5
3/5
4/2
5/7

Watch The Message for updates or contact Kim Napoleone or Ken Basye with questions.

The post Family Game Night – First or Second Fridays October – May, 6 – 8:30 PM, Fellowship Hall first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

 POP-UP YOUTH GROUP! Highschool teens grades 9-12 and graduates from Coming of Age 25/26. PLEASE REGISTER to be on the POP-UP email and text group to hear about a POP-UP Youth Group meeting or event.  Our first event is on October 4th  Stay tuned for details!  Most events will take place on Sunday later afternoon/early evenings and will occur with a minimum of 5 participants RSVP-ing.  For more info, contact Robin uucwre@gmail.com

Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration

The post Religious Exploration Program News – Pop-Up Youth Group! first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Our fall season “Lunch with the Minister” begins October 6th at noon.  This is a wonderful hour to relax with members and friends and converse with  Aaron  on topics of interest. Bring your sandwich. Beverages will be provided. Text Nancy at 774-239-3729 if you’d like to make and share an apple crisp with the group. Rides can be provided by texting Nancy as well. 

The post Lunch With the Minister, Wednesday October 7, 2026, @ Noon in Fellowship Hall first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

We need YOU to support democracy! Can you help show Worcester that democracy is important to UUCW? Can you help boost Worcester’s voter turnout? 

Join others from UUCW to reach out to Worcester voters to encourage them to vote in the upcoming election. Worcester Interfaith is leading a voter engagement campaign across Worcester through phone calls and door-to-door canvassing. Training and orientation will be provided – no experience necessary!

• Tuesday, 10/6 from 6:30-8pm – Join us via zoom to call local Worcester residents about their plans to vote in the upcoming election

RSVP to gotv@uucworcester.org for zoom information

The post Faith In Action – Side With Love/Get Out The Vote News – Help Support Democracy! first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.