Can We Ever Make it Right? By Johanna Woodchild As a white teenager in Oxford, Mississippi in the 1950’s, I was very much aware of the racial prejudice of white folks against black people. My parents, who were not native southerners, had told my 3 siblings and me that all...
In this article, drawn from her July 10 sermon, Rev. Alex shares about her decision in May to candidate at the UU congregation in Charleston, West Virginia, and her subsequent decision not to move. The poet Robert Frost wrote a poem called The Road Less Taken about a traveler who...
The church’s fiscal year begins in July, but the energy of new beginnings is felt most fully in the fall. So welcome to a new year! People often wonder where they can go with a question, comment, concern, or bit of praise. Where can you go, who can you talk...
The Membership Committee of the congregation I serve is wrestling with the question of how to explain Unitarian Universalist spirituality to newcomers (and old-timers). Since I’m unable to attend their retreat this Saturday (since I’ll be at our Board’s retreat!), I wrote something up for them to consider. Here’s what...
This month’s theme question: What does it mean to be a people of peace? At 08:15 on August 6th, 1945, above the city of Hiroshima, Japan, the bomb doors on the Enola Gay opened, dropping the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon. Three days later, at...
By Lynn Heath/Kate Fraleigh TJMC members attending General Assembly in June came home with new energy for racial justice work in Charlottesville. Consistent with the GA theme of interfaith action, we heard from representatives of the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Disciples of Christ,...
If for some reason you come by our building during the week it is very likely that you’ll run into somebody doing something – mowing the lawn, fixing a light, watering the gardens, weeding the gardens, repairing playground equipment, painting something … The list could go on. And I don’t...
By Scott DeVeaux Are you musical? Most of you would answer, “No, I’m not!” But I know that for a lot of you that’s not true. You played clarinet in high school marching band, or sang in the choir. You like playing guitar with friends, and sing lullabies to...
by Karen Ransom Okay, I have to admit that coming up with something to write about this month for the bulletin has been a challenge for me. Not that I don’t have tons of ideas and thoughts and wishes for the church, but crafting it for publication can be hard....
By Sara Gondwe, Chair, Racial Justice Steering Committee HaHa Probably you have. Perhaps you are aware that I have sons whom society identifies as African American. Did it occur to you that they also have a White identity so it would make just as much sense to label them as...