Yesterday morning I joined with a group of people in a park in downtown Charlottesville. The park has been getting a lot of attention lately, both locally and in the national media, because of an effort to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee which stands so prominently in its...
Ringing the Chime Greetings Good morning, and welcome to Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church Unitarian Universalist. Ours is a congregation in the liberal religious tradition, and we welcome all who would work together to make this a world in which all are welcome. As a part of that welcome I would...
For my non-Unitarian Universalist friends (whom I still love anyway!), the faith tradition I serve is currently embroiled in what I’m calling a struggle for the soul of our faith. I don’t think that that’s hyperbole. I think at question is no less that whether we are truly the people...
The theme of our worship reflection this month is Transformation. So, I picked the poem about the spider weaving its web because it has many images of transformation. Erik read the poem to the children, and it is also printed in your order of service so you can post it...
This month’s theme is “transformation,” and as I sat to write I found myself curious about the difference between change and transformation. The word change means, “to make or become different,” and it comes from the Old French changier, which means essentially the same thing. Transformation is defined as, “a...
Read the Order of Service. As I said earlier, this month we’re looking at “risk,” which is something we have to deal with every day, whether we’re conscious of it or not. There are the big risks of course – telling someone you love them, or that you no longer do. ...
We’ve been saying the same words of welcome to and with one another for several years now. “Whoever you are, whomever you love, however you express your identity … you have a place here. We all have a place here. We all are welcome here.” At the end of this...
Showing Up: A Racial Justice Conference for Youth and Adults March 10-12, 2017 at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church Join us in taking the next steps in showing up for racial justice. We are excited about this upcoming training event sponsored by the Tidewater and Blue Ridge cluster of Unitarian Universalist...
Identity “Do you know who I am? Do you know who you are? See we one another clearly – do you know who we are?” These questions are from Harry Belafonte’s lively song “Turn the World Around” (#1074 in Singing the Journey). When he was the guest star on a...
Have you noticed it? Have you seen all of the new faces, Sunday after Sunday, filling the sanctuary? “I came because I’d heard about the Circle of Community you all had the night after the election,” one person has said. “I find myself needing a community of people with whom...