Next Year’s Word

New Year’s is without a doubt the most meaningful winter holiday for me. As a religious humanist, none of the other winter holidays have ever really called to me. But to me there’s something almost magical about the chance for a fresh start. A new beginning. The start of a...

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New Name Task Force background information

Sodano’s group picked the name Harmony, a Unitarian Universalist Church. “We wanted to get on the radar of church shoppers, so we went with a modern one-word name,” she says. Other names considered were “Discovery” and “Beacon.”

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Order of Service: UU Christmas Eve 2020

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020 7pm UU Charlottesville via Zoom   ORDER OF SERVICE Prelude What Child is This Ollie & Parker Gill French Carol Ollie & Parker Gill Ode to Joy August Gastinger We Wish You a Merry Christmas  Ollie & Bryce Gill Silent Night Madeline Redick-Smith  Welcome   ...

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Every Moment is One

One of my favorite things about all the rituals and traditions attached to this time of year is the way they mess with time. My husband and son and I decorate our Christmas tree, and as we hang each ornament—the ones we brought from our parents’ houses and the ones...

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Christmas Eve Offering: Ministers’ Discretionary Fund

It is the tradition at the UU Congregation of Charlottesville to designate the Christmas Eve offering to replenish the Ministers’ Discretionary Fund. That fund is used by the ministers to assist with emergency needs in our congregation or neighborhood, to tide individuals over until more permanent assistance can be located.

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Prayers and Graces for Mealtimes

For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything your goodness sends, Thank you! Adapted from a grace of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Reverend Phil Lund. Sung to the tune of “Praise God from Whom...

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Sin Barreras: Social Action Collection Dec. 2020

Donate to Sin Barreras here. Over seven years, Sin Barreras has become one of Central Virginia’s preeminent Hispanic non-governmental organizations.  We have benefitted from the generosity of the Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville for three years, and having this support come from concerned-citizen donors means as much to us as the actual...

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Once upon a time……

Do you have go-to stories in your family that are told time and time again? I have several and here are some of the titles: Ducks can run really fast if they think you have food. We’re getting married tomorrow and the dogs have caught a skunk! Why did Mommy...

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Christmas Eve Service

Join us on Christmas Eve for a lovely and meaningful blend of traditions, suitable for all ages.  This Zoom service will include beautiful music from our own members, readings and reflections from Revs. Linda and Leia, and end with a telling of the Christmas story of the birth of a...

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Solstice Stillness in a Home-Made Cave

An Activity to Celebrate Solstice with Your family. To connect with the sacred stillness of the longest night of the year, this activity guides us to create a symbolic, toy-sized cave with our children. This quiet, holy, protective cave will shelter Mother Earth and the Sun Child, symbolically reborn the...

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