Sunday Services and Sermons – Page 44 – Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville

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UU COMMUNITY WORSHIP

February’s Ministry Theme:
The Practice of Inclusion

11 a.m. Sunday, February 23 , 2025

Rev. Tim Temerson & Greg Townsend
“Why Unitarian Universalism is a DEI Religion”

Few things have been more maligned than programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Today’s service will deepen our understanding of the importance of DEI and explore why Unitarian Universalism is committed to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rev. Tim will be joined by Greg Townsend, who has served as the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the UVA Medical School.

Sharing Joys and Sorrows
If you would like to have a joy or sorrow shared aloud during the worship service, please complete this form by 9AM Sunday morning.

LINK TO ZOOM SERVICE

Sustainable Eating Potluck
Bring a veggie or vegan dish to share.

Children & Youth

11:00 AM

Children’s Program
Celebrating Me & My World (infant through 4 years-old)
Our lesson is “My World Has Fish.” We’ll be going magnet fishing and celebrating the beauty and wonder of our finned friends and our wonderful world.Spirit Play (4 years-old through Kindergarten)
Our story this Sunday is The Empty Pot which reinforces the values of honesty and truthfulness. In our story a young boy named Ping is given a seed by the Emperor to grow as part of a competition to choose his successor; despite tending to his plant carefully, nothing grows, forcing Ping to present an empty pot to the Emperor, ultimately being rewarded for his honesty and integrity.Moral Tales (1st-3rd grades)
This Sunday we’ll be exploring how we each can make choices that help us tread more lightly on the earth. Our theme is “interconnections.” With an emphasis on living in balance and harmony with nature and being mindful — even shrinking — the footprint we humans leave on planet Earth, “Balance” will be added to our Moral Compass poster.

UU Lego Values (4th & 5th grades)
We’ll be continuing our exploration of the value of equity, an ever more relevant topic in these challenging times! Through games, stories, and Lego building, we’ll find concrete ways to bring this concept to participants.

Neighboring Faiths (6th &7th grades)
This Sunday is our final field trip to a Christian faith community. The class will visit Unity church. See emails from class leaders to parents for the details.

Youth Program

Coming of Age (8th-10th grades) 12:15 AM
This Sunday our Coming-of-Age youth will be exploring God questions and the nature of life. We’ll have our usual fun with a yummy snack (thanks parents!) and our “rose, bud, and thorn” check-in. Don’t miss!

Young Religious Unitarian Universalists YRUU (11th-12th grades)
Our YRUU will continue to explore this month’s ministry theme by looking at why and how do we practice inclusion. There will be games, snacks, good conversation and fun.

Please register all children (infant through high school seniors) to participate in religious education for the 2024-2025 RE year.

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July 31, 2016: Becoming Wise

Posted on July 31, 2016 | Pastor: Guest Speaker

Our fourth principle states that we affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Is that the same as becoming wise? How do we distinguish wisdom from knowledge? Join us this morning as we explore how this spiritual community supports us in becoming wise. Rev. Jamie McReynolds was our preacher.

July 24, 2016: This Is Because That Is

Posted on July 24, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of Service One of the essential teachings of the Buddhist tradition(s) is “dependent co-origination” (Pratītyasamutpāda in Sanscrit). This grows out of, and forms the basis of, Buddhism’s assertion that the fundamental nature of things is “emptiness.” What does it mean to say that everything depends on everything else for its existence? And what […]

July 17, 2016: A Part of or Apart From?

Posted on July 17, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of service Our seventh principle states that we, as Unitarian Universalists, affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Yet we humans tend to talk (and think!) as though we are apart from the rest of the natural world rather than recognizing ourselves as […]

July 10, 2016: The Road More Travelled

Posted on July 10, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Alex McGee

Read the Order of Service Thanks to Christine Gresser for brainstorming and reflecting together and contributing metaphors and phrases for this sermon. THE ROAD MORE TRAVELLED The poet Robert Frost wrote a poem called The Road Less Taken about a traveller who comes upon a fork in a road. The traveller considers options for a […]

July 3, 2016: Celebrating In(ter)dependence Day

Posted on July 3, 2016 | Pastor: Guest Speaker

Read the Order of Service. As we prepared to celebrate our nation’s birth, we considered what it meant to be independent—as individuals, as a denomination, and as a country. How might our legacy of independence be keeping us from reaching our full potential? Is it time to move beyond independence to interdependence, and if so, what […]

June 26, 2016: What’s so great about simplicity?

Posted on June 26, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of Service We began the month by looking at some of the “gifts” of simplicity, but why do people make such a big deal about it? Why do we put such a high value on living “simple” lives while actually living lives that are just about anything but? Let’s explore this together […]

June 19, 2016: Juneteenth

Posted on June 19, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of service. I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of “Juneteenth” until relatively recently. I keep discovering just how much American history I never learned and, perhaps even more disturbingly, that no one ever thought important enough to try to teach me – all that history that gets lifted up each […]

June 12, 2016: Moses’ first trip up the mountain

Posted on June 12, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the order of service. There is a midrash on the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai which tells of two trips up the mountain. First, it is said, Moses’ sister Miriam went up to receive God’s command, after which Moses re-made the trek. Why? (Hint: It has to do with simplicity.) […]

June 5, 2016: ‘Tis a gift to be simple

Posted on June 5, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of service. Worship for June 2016: “What does it mean to be a people of simplicity?” The well-known Shaker hymn tells us that it’s “a gift to be simple, a gift to be free.” Just what is the gift of simplicity? What does it have to do with freedom? And how does any […]

May 29, 2016: What’s a Blessing?

Posted on May 29, 2016 | Pastor: Rev. Erik Wikstrom

Read the Order of Service. Monthly Theme: What does it mean to be a people of blessing? Having spent a month exploring what it means to say that we are “a people of blessing,” some of us may still be wondering about this concept of “blessing.” What is it? What isn’t it? How do we recognize […]