To attend a Zoom service, visit https://zoom.us/j/95025058534.
The Theme for September 2022 is: “The Joy of Belonging”
September 3 “The Longing to Be”
Rev. Leia Durland-Jones
On this Sunday before Labor Day, Rev. Leia reflects on September’s ministry theme “The Path of Belonging.” What does it mean to “belong” and how does it feel in our bodies, minds, and spirits? How can our actions help create a community of belonging for us all, especially those who feel marginalized? How can we support each other in our “longing to be” fully seen, heard, and appreciated for who we are and who we are becoming? Let’s explore together!
September 11 “The Joy of Belonging: An Ingathering Celebration”
Rev. Leia Durland-Jones & Rev. Tim Temerson
In celebration of our return from summer and the beginning of a new church year, we will share our ritual of water communion, explore our monthly theme of “Belonging,” and experience the sheer joy of beloved community. Today’s service is for all ages and you are invited to bring water to share during the water communion. Those joining on Zoom are encouraged to have their water with them in the sanctuary of their home.
September 18 “Free Together”
Rev. Tim Temerson
Unitarian Universalism values religious freedom – the freedom to question, to doubt, to grow, and to search for one’s own authentic spiritual truth and meaning. But rather than searching for truth alone, Unitarian Universalists live and celebrate their spiritual freedom in communities like the UU Congregation of Charlottesville. Today’s service will explore the importance of community in our spiritual lives and ask if we can truly be spiritual alone.
September 25, 2022 “A World of Belonging”
Rev. Tim Temerson
As we conclude our monthly services about the theme of Belonging, today’s service will imagine what a world of belonging might look and feel like and ask what role religious communities like the UU Congregation of Charlottesville can and must play in building such a world.
The Theme for August 2022 is: “Exploring Embodiment”
August 7 “All That We Do Together”
Rev. Tim Temerson, UUCville’s new Lead Minister, preaches his first sermon for this congregation. The late UU minister and former UUCville member, Rev. Gordon McKeeman, defined ministry as “All the that we do together.” As Rev. Tim begins his developmental ministry at UUCville, we will explore the meaning of shared ministry and how every one of us can bring our individual ministries together into a beautiful tapestry of love, justice, and compassion for all. All are invited to hear his message, and to offer him welcome.
August 14 “The Spirituality of I Don’t Know”
Rev. Tim Temerson & Debby Norton (Worship Weaver)
As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm mystery and wonder as important sources of truth and meaning. Today we will explore the importance of uncertainty in Unitarian Universalism and ask if one can be “spiritual” or “religious” while, at the same time, saying “I don’t know” when it comes to the nature of ultimate reality.
August 21 “Living the Shirk Ethic”
Rev. Tim Temerson
So often, we find ourselves in a constant state of doing and working, without the time we need for resting, breathing, and just being. Today’s service will consider the physical, emotional, and spiritual importance of rest and of having time to shirk rather than work.
August 28 “Exploring Embodiment: Coming Home”
Rev. Leia leads this service, as our children begin school and summer travelers return home.
The Theme for July 2022 is: “Cultivating Presence”
July 3 Cultivating Presence: Words that Inspire and Guide
Laura Horn and members of the congregation share the wisdom of their lived experience, in song, poetry, reflections. All are invited to join us this service which will honor our ‘living tradition’ of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from these diverse and personally meaningful sources.
July 10 Cultivating Presence: the Jazz Way of Learning
UUCville Music Director Scott DeVeaux shares some of the content of an important message he delivered at a major conference this spring, about what Jazz has taught so many about being anti-racist.
July 17 Cultivating Presence: Meaning and Reparations
UUCville member and professional mediator Frank Dukes shares his commitment to the work of helping organizations find their way of the tough journey of reparations. Worship Weaver Greg Townsend joins Frank in this powerful service.
July 24 Cultivating Presence: A Meditation
The Rev. Leia Durland-Jones has spent her life nurturing in her work, her life, and her congregation, the deep understandings she shares in this
July 31 Cultivating Presence: Showing Up for Social Action
Debby Norton shares the powerful impact of UUCville’s monthly Social Action Collections, reflecting on how this ministry has inspired her and so many others to put their faith into action.
The Theme for June 2022 is: “Celebrating Blessings”
June 5 Celebrating Blessings: Bridging
We celebrate the blessing of our congregation’s youth who are completing milestones – those graduating from our OWL (Our Whole Lives) program; those graduating from high school; and those graduating from college. They are all crossing bridges from one part of their lives to the next. Rev. Leia leads a ceremony for UUCville Bridgers, and Rev. Linda preaches a sermon about keeping bridges strong in stormy times. We invite everyone to consider wearing Orange, in observance of a national focus on the public health crisis of gun violence.
June 12 Celebrating Blessings: Benediction
On this, Rev. Linda’s last Sunday in the pulpit as the Interim Lead Minister of the UU Congregation of Charlottesville, we offer one another the blessing of “benediction”. President Pam McIntire and Rev. Leia are offering their own and others’ reflections and words, and Rev. Linda will offer some closing thoughts, music, and a benediction.
June 19 Celebrating Blessings: LGBTQ Pride Sunday
Rev. Leia and members of the congregation reflect on the continuing promise of being a Welcoming Congregation.
June 26 Celebrating Blessings: The Power of We
On this Sunday when thousands of Unitarian Universalists are worshipping together in Portland, Oregon, at the UUA General Assembly, and thousands more are watching the live-stream online (available at 12:30 Eastern time at www.uua.org ), UUCville’s 11am Community Worship features our own liturgy led by Worship Weaver Clarisse RePass, with music and a sermon from the 2019 General Assembly. The Rev. Marta I. Valentin’s powerful message “It Is Time Now” calls us to be a faith which is inclusive of all people, especially those who have historically been on the margins of power.
The Theme for May is Nurturing Beauty
May 1 – Swords into Plowshares
We welcome to our pulpit the Rev. Michael Cheuk, secretary of the Cville Clergy Collective. The Jefferson School’s “Swords Into Plowshares” is an innovative project to melt down the statue of Robert E. Lee that formerly stood in one of Charlottesville’s public parks and use the bronze to make a new work of public art. Rev. Cheuk will reflect on what “turning swords into plowshares” might look like for him and for our community. The choir will be singing under the direction of Scott DeVeaux, joined by accompanist, Professor John Mayhood, head of the UVA piano faculty.
May 8 – Remembering Beauty
Rev. Linda’s message in this service on Mothers’ Day encourages us to rediscover and remember the messages from our childhoods which can sustain and encourage us today, wherever and whomever they came from – parents, teachers, or others we met along the way. Recalling the beauty that was in our childhood can help us better reconcile with any pain or harm we might have known.
May 15 – Endings and Beginnings
Each moment is at the same time an ending and a beginning. Rev. Linda shares some thoughts of what she has been learning in her own life of good-byes and hellos. Both she and the UU Congregation of Charlottesville are preparing for significant endings and beginnings this summer, and reflecting on how we observe the changes can add beauty to our lives.
May 22 – Marking Passages
In this service for our whole congregation, Revs. Leia and Linda help us honor the many milestones we might not have had the chance to share with our community during the two years of Covid-separation. We lift up the birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, marriages, deaths, and other meaningful passages of the past two years. We will welcome all our new UUCville members as well. And following the service, there will be cake!
May 29 – Beauty in the Blossom: Celebrating Flower Communion
Rev. Leia will lead us in our annual Flower Communion, ritual celebrating beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community. Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek of Prague, Czechoslovakia, Flower Communion was introduced to the United States by Rev. Maya Capek, Norbert’s widow. Please bring a flower to add to our communal bouquet to be blessed during the service and then redistributed. Everyone is invited to take home a different flower than the one they brought, symbolizing our connection to one another and the gifts we each bring to our community. Those participating on Zoom are invited to place a bouquet in your own home as part of this observance.
April 2022: AWAKENING!
April 3 — A Culture of Contempt
We welcome Rev. Brenda Brown-Grooms to UUCVille’s pulpit today, bringing a message inspired by the story of Jonah and Rev. Brown-Grooms’ experience with David Isay’s Story Corps and One Small Step. The Rev. Brenda Brown-Grooms is Co-Pastor of New Beginnings Christian Community. Pianist James Smith will offer special music.
April 10 — The Roads We Travel
Our life journeys take us to high places and low. We can be inspired to keep on keeping on through the journeys remembered this week – Moses and the Exodus, Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, and the journey of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. Rev. Linda reflects on the meaning of the Soul Matters April theme “Awakening” in this season. The Social Action Collection will be taken for the Cville Immigrant Freedom Fund.
April 17 — Awakening!
This Easter Sunday is a multigenerational Sunday, in which we honor both the darkness of the winter and the new life that comes with the spring, as found in the stories of the Passover, Good Friday and the Resurrection. The choir will be singing, Revs. Linda and Leia leading us in a celebration of Hope for us all, and weather permitting we will have a special garden reception.
April 24 – Earth Sunday: Active Hope/Nurturing Our Capacity to Act for Life
The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change and economic upheaval together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Inspired by the book Active Hope, by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, a group of UUCvillers has been meeting to consider ways to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis with resilience and creative power. Rev. Linda and others suggest ways in which we can counter “the pessimism of the intellect with the optimism of the will” (Antonio Gramsci, Centre for Optimism) as we collectively transition from the Great Unraveling to the life-sustaining society of the Great Turning.
March 2022 : Hope is Our Door
Sun March 6 – “Hope Is Our Door – Renewing Faith”
Renewing Our Faith
With the ongoing challenges in our own lives and in the world around us and it can be hard sometimes to feel hopeful. Join Rev. Leia as we explore together through song, sharing, and silence how to tap into our faith, to renew it, and to remember how to use it to fuel our hope.
Sun March 13 “Hope Is Our Door – Public Witness”
UUCville has been a community that has always hoped to be a part of making the world more just and fair for all people, and many of our members and friends continue to work to make these hopes come true.Rev. Linda reflects on the strengths, the challenges and the new possibilities that we find as we let Hope open our doors to the social justice ministry that calls to us.
Sun March 20 “Hope Is Our Door – the Call of the Spirit”
Hope invites us not to despair, but to enter the future to answer the call to deepen our sense of the holy, our compassion for others, and our love for the gift of life.Rev. Linda invites us all to give ourselves to love, to find the spirit within and among us that opens the doors of our lives so that we may savor the precious miracle of being.
March 27 “Hope Is Our Door – Something to Celebrate”
This all-congregation service welcomes people of all ages to join together in a UU “Revival.”Rev. Leia and Rev. Linda, Scott DeVeaux and choir members, and many voices will speak aloud their hopes for the dawning future!
February 2022 : Widening the Circle
February 6 – Widening the Circle – A Ministry of Welcome
UUCville members made a commitment at the beginning of this year to join in helping to support a family who has been made refugees from the crisis in Afghanistan. Rev. Linda welcomes us all to hear their stories of what has transpired, and reflect on what this means for the circles of our care and concern.
February 13 – Widening the Circle – Share the Love
We welcome to our worship the voices and music of UU ministers and leaders from around the nation, assembled by the Unitarian Universalist Association 30 Days of Love program.The sermon offered is titled “What If I Had Only 30 Days to Love?”Our service will include greetings from our Social Action Collection recipient PHAR (CVille’s Public Housing Association of Residents).And we invite everyone to a post-service “Drive-by” to bring Valentines which we will distribute to Afghan refugee families (and we will offer in return a little Valentine love gift in exchange!).
February 20 – Widening the Circle – Loving the Other
Rev. Linda explores the meaning and the spiritual challenge offered in the Biblical passage to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)Can we widen the circle by listening deeply, and resisting the urge to demonize people we don’t understand?
February 27 – Widening the Circle – Opening the Doors
As this year’s Pledge Drive launches, asking our members and friends to let us know how they will support the ministry of their congregation, Rev. Linda and others encourage us to find hope in the doors we can be opening as we emerge from the Covid trauma, and as we explore what welcome and inclusivity can mean to the UUCville story.
January – Welcome to “Living with Intention”
We invite you to consider not making “resolutions” this January, but rather joining in the exploration of living with intention. This difference? While setting goals and resolving to get there tries to discipline us to follow something outside ourselves, living with intention calls us to discern what is deepest in us, what is the path that aligns us with who we most fully are. Rather than resolving to become “a better me”, pause and reflect on what could help you “finally be me.” A Month of Sundays January 2022 – Living With Intention
January 2 Living with Intention
Join Rev. Leia as together we mark the beginning of the New Year and begin our exploration of January’s ministry of “Living with Intention.” Several months of winter are ahead for us. How might we find the gifts in this dark, cold, and fallow season and make space for what could be born or reborn in us in the coming year? Song, stories, and sharing will offer us inspiration.
January 9 The Ministry of Pastoral Care
Rev. Linda focuses on the power of being intentional about offering pastoral care in all we do together, living out the care and compassion we have for others. We will thank the people in our congregation who put this into action day after day, and will honor Shirley Paul, thanking her for her 18 years as leader of the congregation’s Pastoral Visitors.
January 16 The Legacy of Living with Intention
We welcome to our pulpit, the Rev. Brenda Brown-Groomes, Co- Pastor of New Beginnings Christian Community in Charlottesville. On this Martin Luther King holiday Sunday, we are grateful to hear from this community leader, a partner of UUCville in the Charlottesville Clergy Collective.
January 23 – Making Our Intentions Explicit
Rev. Linda speaks of the important value of showing the reality of our values through all the ways we show up in the world – what we say, what we do, what we make visible – so that our intentions move from inner thoughts to openly experienced.
January 30 – Creating and Being the Scripture of Your Life
Rev. Linda invites us all to consider how we can be intentional about what comes into our hearts and minds, what difference this makes for us, and how we put our personal “Scriptures” into action in our lives. Several UUCvillers offer parts of their own “Scriptures.” This service will be all-online. (Due to Covid and cold weather, we are putting off plans for an all-church, multigenerational, in-person Sanctuary in Action.)
December – A Month of Sundays Opening to Joy
December 5 Opening to Joy
In this season of darkness, leading to winter solstice, Rev. Linda reflects on the stories and traditions of many religions which invite us to consider how joy can be a part of life. This service will be held in person at the Rugby Road sanctuary for 50 who reserve, and streamed into the sanctuaries of those who are at a distance.
December 12 Sharing Your Joy Song
In this Sanctuary-in-Action service for all ages, all are invited to join Revs. Leia and Linda in celebrating the joy found in the stories we tell, the songs we sing, and in giving joy to others. We will sing, dedicate the Giving Tree, invite everyone to give to the Social Action collection for Birth Sisters, and create “Blessing Bags” filled with gifts for people in need of a little joy in their lives.
December 19 Transforming Joy in Music
Director of Music Scott DeVeaux offers us uplifting music, and his insights into how the 19th-century traditional music many associate with Christmas can be transformed to bring joy into our troubled 21st century world. This will be a ZOOM only service at 11:00 AM.
Join the whole congregation in-person to observe the winter solstice with a nighttime candle walk in the evening of Sunday, December 19. More information can be found here.
December 24 Christmas Eve
Join your church friends and family for our Christmas Eve service full of carols, candlelight, stories, and sharing at 7:00 PM on Christmas Eve. While increases in COVID cases in our area make gathering in-person not possible, we will be together on-line to share the wonder of this special night with one another—complete with an encore presentation of our Interactive Nativity pageant. Please join us! All are warmly welcomed in the Zoom room.
December 26 Time for Breathing
This will be an All Zoom service, to allow our staff and all our congregants to stay at home, in their PJs, on this day after the festivities. We will take a breath, recalling the meaning and memories created in this season, and centering as we approach the New Year. Rev. Linda will guide this service of sharing and meditation.
November – A Month for Holding Our History
TheQuaker teacher Parker Palmer tells us this Hasidic tale:
A disciple asks the rebbe: “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The rebbe answers: “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.”
This month, at UUCVille, we invite one another to not just remember or retell our history.We offer one another the comfort and support to grieve as we uncover the hurts from the past, to rejoice in the good times we recover, and to feel the capacity to learn, to forgive and to release one another from the burdensof regret.As our Soulful Matters teachers suggest, the world needs broken-open hearts, not just good historians. That is, indeed, the only way the past gets in.
Theme for November –Holding Our History
(all services dual platform both in-person and on Zoom)
Nov 7 Remembrance of Things Past and Present
Rev. Linda reminds UUCVille of the history of the congregation’s Religious Education leaders over the years.In this telling, we also consider how to heal from a history which includes hurt.
A Special Collection will be held to support the Afghan refugee family which our congregation is applying to sponsor.
Nov 14 Holding History with an Open Hand
Often, when we try and make sense of our past as individuals and as a people, we grasp for answers and meaning. Join Rev. Leia in an exploration of how history is constantly unfolding around us and how we might do well to greet and hold it with open hands. Our November Social Action Collection for Hospital Meal Packets will be gratefully received.
Nov 21Thanksgiving in the Park – Holding and Releasing the Myth
At our all-congregation gathering outdoors in Darden Towne Center, we will celebrate the joy of community.Our “Sanctuary in Action” will include the creation of Hospital Meal Packs.And we will be invited by Rev. Linda to let go of the myth of first Thanksgivings, acknowledging the pain of the harm to native peoples, and living out together a new story of sharing food and supporting one another through a pandemic.
Nov 28Thanksgiving for Resilience
On this Sunday after Thanksgiving, members of UUCVille reflect on what difficult times in their lives have ended up helping them find their way to hope and thanksgiving.
Theme for October – Cultivating Relationships
October 3- The Church: To Be and To Do
The Rev. Byron “Tyler” Coles is our guest preacher, joining us as a member of the UUA’s Southern Region Congregational Life Staff. Following what has been over a year and a half of heartache and uncertainty, Rev. Coles suggests we ask ourselves, “What is the Church to be and do in this time?” He invites us to join as a covenanted community to reflect on this question, speak honestly of our journey, and faithfully imagine a future to come.
Rev. Leia will also offer us a blessing of animals, in honor of the Day of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct 4). Bring your favorite dog, cat, chicken, or other critter, to the Zoom screen for this celebration!
October 10 – Cultivating Relationships with Ourselves
As we explore the ministry theme “Cultivating Relationships”, our relationship with ourselves seems like a good place to start. How do we help ourselves prepare to engage in whole and healthy relationships with others? What allows for authentic relationships to occur? We will celebrate National Coming Out Day and hear an inspiring and beautiful story about honoring our truest selves. Join Rev. Leia for a as we worship, learn, sing, and celebrate together. All are welcome!
October 17 – Cultivating Our Relationships through Action
On this whole-community “Sanctuary in Action” Sunday, for people of all ages, join Revs. Leia and Linda at the Forest Hills Park for an in-person outdoor service. (This will also be on Zoom for those who cannot attend in person.) We will put our faith in action, focusing on the importance of our Food Ministry. The story “Stone Soup” inspires us to share soup, as we work together to help feed our neighbors.
October 24 – Cultivating Our Relationships in the World
The UUCville Virtual Choir debuts a new anthem, Lea Morris offers a story and song, and Rev. Linda preaches on the importance of re-committing to our 6th UU Principle: “The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.” On this United Nations Sunday, there is much our faith calls us to remember.
October 31 – Cultivating Our Relationships with Our Ancestors
On the Eve of All Saints Day (all-hallow-e’en) we honor those who have gone before us. We invite everyone to send us digital images of their ancestors, which we will show during the service.
Theme for September: Embracing Possibilities
September 19“UUCVille – Be a Blessing”
We will offer a special blessing to all who will be our leaders in the coming year.Rev. Linda reflects on not only who UUCVille is and can be, but also on why its presence is so important. The 2021 fall season of Faith Development groups for children and families launches this Sunday with in-person/masked outdoor sessions at 9:30.And all families are encouraged to participate in the Community Worship.
September 26 “Emergent Strategy”
Story-teller/singer Lea Morris shares an ancient tale, and Rev. Linda offers up reflections on the possibilities of human relationships to change, inspired by the book Emergent Strategy, by author Adrienne Maree Brown, who was inspired by the work of Octavia Butler.
Theme for August: Play
August 1 – Singing
This is the second of Rev. Linda’s 3-part summer sermon series on the theme of “play” – Swimming, Singing, Sharing.
August 1 she lifts up “Singing” as a powerful way to breathe, to communicate, to heal, and to inspire.We will also take a moment to all sing “Happy Birthday” to Tom Crowell who celebrated his 100th birthday in July!
August 8 “Practicing our Capacity for Relationship”
Does our congregation have a theology of which we aren’t aware? Alex McGee will explore what she has observed over eleven years of serving this congregation, and offer encouragement for spiritually nourishment.
August 15 “Sharing”
As we celebrate “play” as a spiritual practice in these troubling times, Rev. Linda invites us to remember how important it is to treasure the value of sharing with others, sharing our troubles and joys, our gifts and needs, our time and talent.
August 22 “What’s in Your Magic Satchel?”
Do you know that we each have a magic satchel (like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag) that can hold special things? What we put in our magic satchels bolsters our resilience and nurtures in us a sense of hope in hard times. Join Rev. Leia to discover the potential in your own magic satchel and be inspired by the power of play in our everyday lives. You’ll learn how to use the word P L A Y as a helpful reminder and spiritual tool.
August 29, 2021: “Looking Upstream, Looking Downstream: So We Go”
Rev. Alex McGee preaches this sermon as a goodbye to the congregation before her role ends in September: reflections and appreciations, with a little bit of challenge tossed in. Readings from UU writers will offer you a chance to ponder the nature of change. Alex is grateful to Music Director, Scott, and Videographer, Ellie, for helping her with a special musical gift—come hear!
Theme for July: Play
July 4 – What Is American Music?
Music Director Scott DeVeaux celebrates the US Independence Day with a special worship service featuring the music which can most clearly be called “American” – music from the Black community.
July 11 – Rest
Rest can give spiritual nourishment, and therefore access to rest is a justice issue. Rev. Alex McGee, with much gratitude, will share insights from her sabbatical. Note that this is one of three final sermons by Alex before we say goodbye to her in September (Aug 8: “Saved by Community?” and Aug 29, her goodbye sermon).
July 18 – Swimming
Rev. Linda encourages us all to identify and engage in a spiritual practice which refreshes our spirits. For her, it is swimming. And for a faith community, it is helping each other find the holy in our lives and practice together!
July 25 – Living Water
We welcome dynamic preacher Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd, Senior Minister of River Road UU in Bethesda, MD, and Dr. Elias Ortega, President of the UU Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. They share a powerful service of story and music, reminding us to find the holy, the joyful, by joining into conversations with people different from ourselves, opening the chance for life-giving transformation!
Theme for June: Story
We celebrate the story of this UU Congregation of Charlottesville and our UUA in this month.
June 6 Flower Communion—Stories of What We Give and Receive
Rev. Linda and leaders of the congregation join in an on-line celebration of the historic Unitarian custom called “Flower Communion”. Members are encouraged to bring a flower to show on-line, and we will listen to one another share what we give and what we receive from one another when we gather.
June 13 A Story of Our Congregation as a Welcoming Congregation
June is observed by many as “Gay Pride Month” and a good time to revisit the commitment of this congregation to being Welcoming to people who are LGBTQ, to being public in our affirmation of the right to marry, and to continuing the value of teaching our youth about our religious values in offering comprehensive sexuality education, which includes inclusive insight into sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Let us celebrate and affirm our LGBTQ friends, family, and siblings. Happy Pride!
June 20 A Story of Summer Solstice – A Time for Healing
This service, led by UUCVille ministers and others, will reflect on the meaning of using the longest day of the year to face clearly all that has gone before – the hurts as well as the joys – and find the inner strength to move forward toward healing and hope. We will include a ritual of burning burdens and regrets in a solstice fire. That ritual will continue on the grounds of the church, for those who would like to join in person after the service ends.
June 27 A Story of Connection: The UUA General Assembly Worship
Following a brief welcome, the UUs of Charlottesville will join in worship with the largest annual gathering of UUs from across the nation and the world, held as part of the UUA General Assembly. Recognizing the importance of shared ministry and the many innovative approaches to worship created by congregations during the pandemic, UUA President, Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick Gray, selected the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis to serve as worship leaders. First Universalist has been a model of shared ministry and what it means to put the work of dismantling white supremacy and building anti-racist, anti-oppressive practices at the center of their ministry. They have been on the front lines in support of the Movement for Black Lives in Minneapolis, bringing spiritual care and moral leadership in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police and the important uprisings for justice that followed. Children and families are a vital part of their ministry, and they have been using creative approaches to engage all ages in worship during the pandemic, embracing the work of shared ministry rooted in love and justice. Rev. Jen Crow; Rev. Arif Mamdani; Julica Hermann de la Fuente; Karen Hutt; Lauren Wyeth; Dr. Randy Buikema; Franco Holder; Aimee K. Bryant.
Theme for May – “Story”
May 2 – The Story of May Day and Beltane: a Celebration of Friendship and Love
Come hear stories and learn about the traditions of this special day as we pay attention to the turning of the Wheel of the Year. What “seeds” have been planted in your psyche that you are hoping to nourish, grown and blossom during this season of new life and rebirth? We will sing, share and celebrate Beltane and May Day together in multigenerational Community Worship led by Rev. Leia, Dawn Dirks and Greg Townsend
May 9 – Stories of Mothers
Rev. Linda and friends share stories of the many different ways we find the many different kinds of mothers in our lives and in the world, and the complex and varied ways we have celebrated “Mother’s Day” in our nation. The UUCville Choir will debut a new anthem for the month.
May 16 – The Story of Your Congregation
As a follow-up of the May 15 “Remembering the Stories” session on the history of this congregation, Rev. Linda proposes to the congregation some variations on the narrative you might be telling about this community in the future, and how you will be writing the next chapters in your story. We also take a moment to pause to reflect on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the modern Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, a consolidation of the older American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America.
May 23 – The Story of Crossing Bridges
Today on this Youth Sunday, we celebrate our twelfth graders as they reach the milestone of high school graduation. Together, we will rejoice in who these young people are and also celebrate what awaits them. As is our UU tradition, we will “bridge” our graduating youth into young adulthood. Come gather in multigenerational community with Revs. Leia and Linda to hear about the transformational power we can find in Crossing Bridges. Our middle and senior high youth will help craft this service.
May 30 – The Story of Remembering
Memorial Day weekend offers the chance to bring close our memories of loved ones gone. Rev. Linda reflects on the power of stories remembered, and the presence in our lives of those only known to us through the stories we have been told.
Theme for April – “Becoming”
April 4 Easter Becoming…. Awake Again
Revs. Leia and Linda lead this multigenerational service celebrating the Easter message, awakening to what we are becoming as we awaken anew to our new future. The virtual choir will offer a new anthem. All our invited to wear Easter bonnets to the Zoom service, and join a drive-by Easter Parade past the Edgewood Lane entrance following the service.
April 11 Celebration Sunday Becoming…. a New Congregation
Join Dawn Dirks and the Pledge Drive Team and Revs. Leia and Linda in a celebratory service, giving thanks to all the generous members of UUCVille whose pledges of support offer a promise for a new and positive future. Bring your favorite Sunday brunch bubbly to join in a toast!
April 18 Becoming …. A Nation Who Lives Up to Our Hopes
Rev. Walter Leflore, Minister of the UU Church of Roanoke, VA, joins us to share a powerful reflection on the continued struggle to become the inclusive and democratic nation we have hoped to be. Rev. Linda will join in welcoming and thanking her friend and colleague, a respected UU minister and denominational leader, to the UUCVille virtual pulpit.
April 25 Earth Day Sunday Becoming… Sacred Ground
Rev. Linda is joined by leaders of UUCVille’s Environmental Action Group, Jean Umiker-Sebeok and Sharon Baiocco, to rededicate the congregation’s commitment to being a Green Sanctuary, and describe the vision for going forward.
Theme for March — “Commitment”
March 7 “Commitment to Be the Light”
Rev. Linda, Pledge Drive Chair Dawn Dirks, and other UUCVillers reflect on how we can be inspired by the Amanda Gorman Inauguration poem to BE the light, and pledge our financial support to sharing that light into the next church year. The choir will be premiering two new anthems.
March 14 “Commitment to Lifelong Learning”
Rev. Leia leads this multigenerational service which reminds us that our UU faith calls us to keep growing, learning, and changing throughout our lives. Come experience how faith development opportunities in our congregation help us all keep growing into people who live lives of meaning, purpose, compassion and integrity.
March 21 “Commitment to Compassion and Justice”
Rev. Linda will lift up the many ways UUCVille has, and will be, a home for the nurturing of compassion in human relations, service to others, and a moral conscience for justice.
March 28 “Commitment to Intimacy and Ultimacy”
UUCVille for over 75 years has been a community that invited people to deepen their relationships, their understanding of self, and their place in the larger universal journey of time and space. Listen to the reflections in poem, testimony, and song, how this congregation has meant so much to so many. Rev. Linda and others will show how you can see, share, and BE the light in this important ministry.
Theme for February — Community
Feb 7 – “Improvising to Create Community”
Rev. Linda reflects on how the art form of improvisation could help us in our relationships with people who have ideas, cultures, beliefs that are different from our own. Can we all play together to make a joyful ensemble? The choir debuts their February anthem.
Feb 14 – “Answering the Call to Love”
In this multigenerational Pancakes and PJs service, we’ll invite people to “come to church” in cozy pjs, with their own brunch to enjoy. Revs. Leia and Linda reflect on how love is central to how we connect with each other. This Valentine’s Day comes just before holidays which some people observe – Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras, in preparation for the season of Lent.
Feb 21 –“Descendants Rising”
UUC’Ville member Frank Dukes is the Distinguished Institute Fellow at the UVA Institute for Engagement and Negotiation. He shares with us thoughts about his recent work with regional descendants of the enslaved, including planning for a local Truth & Transformation Commission.
Feb 28 – “Dreaming the Beloved Community – One Circle at a Time”
In this sermon, Judith Tripp, MA, MFT, Leader of the women’s Dream Quest, will talk about her experience of circle building. Through stories of building the Dream Quest Circle in San Francisco, Portland and Charlottesville, Judith will reflect on her experience of calling circles of women who gather once a year to create the Quest and then develop circles of soul connections. She will speak of this year’s Dream Quest theme, Dreaming Into the Light, and how our yearly intentions build ongoing exploration and community.
Theme for January — Imagination
Happy New Year! The theme for the month of January is “Imagination.” That feels so powerful and profound for us all as we greet 2021 and welcome what we can dream of coming true in this dawning time. My hope for all of you is that you can join your own imaginations with those of your friends at UUC’ville, so together the congregation can create something beautiful this year!
Sharing this time with you, Rev. Linda Olson Peebles
A New Year Thought…..
It is good to leave each day behind,
Like flowing water, free of sadness.
Yesterday is gone and its tale told.
Today new seeds are growing.
-Rumi
January 3 – Imagine if We Could Heal in this New Year Rev. Linda OP
We honor and thank the pastoral caregivers of our congregation – the Pastoral Visitors, CareNet, and others who help our members and friends through hard times. Rev. Linda offers reflections on what she has been hearing in “Healing Circle” conversations, and encourages us to imagine what it could be like if we could deepen our empathy and compassion in this new year.
January 10 – Imagine if We Could Work Together
Rev. Alvin Edwards joins Rev. Linda to talk about imagining a larger ministry, and considering the power of interfaith partnerships. The UUC’Ville Virtual Choir debuts another anthem for us all to enjoy.
January 17 – Imagine if Dreams Came True
What if we really could continue the work of community organizers of old, like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and support the work of others today? Rev. Linda explains why she has made community organizing a spiritual practice in her ministry, encouraging putting relationships at the center of all we do to help our dreams be realized, within our families, our congregations, our neighborhoods, even our world!
January 24 – Imagine if We Were Willing and Strong
— led by Rev. Leia Durland-Jones
Community Worship this month has explored the power of our imagination for healing, working together and for making our dreams come true. What might happen if we imagine ourselves in the coming days as both willing and strong? Where can we find support and sustenance as we take up the work before us? Come and explore these questions and more with Rev. Leia Durland-Jones.
January 31 – Imagining from New Generations
UUC’ville Worship Weavers present a worship that focuses on what it could be like to truly listen to voices of younger people. Their imaginations might inspire those of all the generations!
Theme for December — Stillness
December 6. Waiting in the Dark
In this season of preparation for winter holidays, Rev Linda invites us to consider asking ourselves what it is we can wait for, hope for, during the long dark nights. The choir offers a new anthem, and we celebrate this year’s recipient of the Connie Cheetham Award.
December 13. Giving Tree and “Sabbath-ical”
Rev. Leia will share the celebration in the annual “Giving Tree” touchstone service. Rev. Alex will preach about the meaning of sabbatical and rest.
December 20. Winter Solstice
We celebrate the longest night and the shortest day, sharing the meaning of this time. Special music, readings, and reflections for all to enjoy.
December 24. 7pm Silent Night, Holy Night
With carols, reflections, and the traditional birth story, we invite you to take time out from the holiday festivities to light candles in the stillness, and bring forth memories of the deep meanings held in this night.
December 27. Say Good-bye to 2020
It’s been a year of remarkable difficulties, challenges, learnings, and stories. Rev. Linda offers a chance for us to remember and release the events of 2020.
Theme for November — Healing
Nov 1. Honoring the Ancestors
This Touchstone service will bring our entire community together to remember our ancestors, and also to honor the life cycles of generations helping the next generation. Everyone is invited to see our altar on-line, and also to contribute to real altars at home and church, using ancestor pictures, meaningful objects, stones you have painted. We will also dedicate the congregation’s newest baby! Revs. Leia, Alex and Linda will be co-leading the worship.
Nov 8. Healing in the Nation – “America in Line”
We waited in lines, we worried about mailed-in ballots being counted. We have been filled with such anxiety and pain in our nation, it is hard to wait and to worry to find out what is in our future. Rev. Linda will preach, and whether or not we know the winners five days after the election, we will be ready to ponder how to begin the healing of so many wounds felt by so many.
Nov 15. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
This is an age-old question. The hurt of a personal pain, one that has touched the heart, is the hardest damage to repair. Rev. Linda will share reflections, and there will be poetry, music, and art to hold us in a healing hour. This Sunday the Social Action Collection is designated to be given to our Hospital Meal Packet Program.
Nov 22. Bread Communion – Healing through Sharing
As we approach a Thanksgiving that may be different from others we know, due to worry about getting together during the pandemic – our congregation will invite young and old to gather on-line for a celebration. This is the annual Touchstone Service of sharing bread. Let us together make it special!
Nov 29. How Do You Give Thanks in Hard Times?
On this Sunday after Thanksgiving, we will explore the nature of gratitude as we experience it in these unsettled times. Worship Weavers Laura Horn and Hayley Owens offer an hour of community wisdom, featuring the voices from our congregation, sharing their insights.
Theme for October — Deep Listening
October 4. Listening to Creation
Our service invites us to be aware of all the ways we can listen to those who share this planet Earth with us. We will open with a Blessing of the Pets, and a reflection on the meaning of the Jewish Sukkot, making shelter for each other. We are honored to include a sermon from the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association – the Rev. Susan Frederick Gray. She will speak on the importance of supporting UU the Vote, so that we can hear the voices of all people in our nation.
October 11. Tao of Inner Listening
Just as the symbol of yin and yang balances two energies, so, too we need to balance inner listening with outer listening. When we tend to our inner voice, we find more wholeness. Come join Rev. Alex as she reflects on tools and stories for this dance.
October 18. Listening to Our History
“Into a Time Such as This”
We are pleased that the Rev. Dr. Randolph Becker – friend and colleague of Leia and Linda – will be preaching, considering that “as much as our present situation feels unique to us – full of political, physical, and spiritual peril – we gain perspective, maybe understanding, perhaps even meaning by remembering other times such as this. To live historically informed is to both reclaim hopes and construct our own dreams.”
Rev. Becker, raised in the Universalist Unitarian congregation in Utica, NY, has served Unitarian Universalist congregations for over 50 years in both Parish and Religious Education ministries. He has also served on and chaired the Religious Education Credentialing Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Now, in semi-retirement in Key West, Florida, Randy preaches virtually to a variety of congregations and is a published author of mystery novels and travel books.
October 25. Listening to Our Future
On this Sunday when we formally welcome 20 new members to our congregation, Rev. Linda will reflect on the importance of keeping our hearts and ears open to the new visions and imagination which call us forward. We are the dreams of our ancestors. What dreams do we have that others will fulfill?