Our November ministry theme is nurturing gratitude , which aligns very obviously with the Thanksgiving holiday later this month; though for me, it’s not the holiday that gives us the theme. For me it’s all the features of autumn—changing, falling leaves, dropping temperatures, decreasing daylight hours, increasing darkness—and perhaps most importantly, the conclusion of the growing season in these northern latitudes—the harvest, the reaping, the preparations for winter—all of

Part I: “What a Free Faith Invites”           I began my October newsletter column with this question: “How do I engage in constructive dialogue with people who think, feel, believe and act radically differently than I do?” I’ve been encountering various versions of this question throughout my career; and as our nation’s cultural, political, economic and religious polarization continues to deepen, I seem to encounter it multiple times every day. So many unrelated conversation

The oak burl chalice on the world map table in the chapel at UUSE Over the last decade I’ve become a fan of the Drive-By Truckers , a...

UUSE's Oak Burl Chalice, on the globe table in the garden level chapel We are in the midst of launching our congregational year. I am...

It’s been over a month since more than 3,000 Unitarian Universalists from nearly 600 congregations, 48 states and a number of countries...

Nadia Sims is the Poet Laureate for the Town of Manchester. Currently, the poet is focused on spreading her message of grace across CT,...

Calliope the mouse, after speaking with Jaime the baby               Our ministry theme for May is imagination . I want to tell a story,...

The choir sang “In the Morning, Joy,” by the American composer Mark Hayes. This piece is an adaptation of Psalm 30 in the Hebrew...

Grace I begin with a heart felt thank you  to Mary Bopp and all the musicians who’ve brought us “Amazing Grace” in so many variations...

Rev. Josh's first drum kit (now collecting dust in the basement) Our March ministry theme is trust. This morning I want to share lessons...

There’s a reading in our hymnal by the Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed which tells us “the central task of the religious community is to unveil...

Over the last week of November, a story on social media caught my attention. The Rev. Ben Boswell, the white, senior minister of Myers...

“Welcome home, gather ‘round / All ye refugees, come in” – words from the Christian singer-songwriter, Sandra McCracken. I suspect she’s...

Our spiritual lives mirror the changing seasons.             Our spiritual lives take cues from the changes between seasons and the...

One Sunday morning in the early 1990s I sat in a pew at the (Unitarian Universalist) Arlington Street Church in Boston. I can still hear...

This past Tuesday our Policy Board held its regular monthly meeting. As we began, Peggy Webbe, our president, invited us into a guided...

For decades we’ve been singing “Dona Nobis Pacem” at the end of this annual midwinter holiday music service. I suspect we will continue...

First Reflection Finding a Balance: Dark and Light                         At our Thanksgiving Sunday service two weeks ago, Emmy...

After last Sunday’s sermon, a far-greater-than-usual number of you called or wrote or texted to thank me for my words and to say you felt...

I am going to speak about Tuesday’s election, but perhaps less about the election and more about what the United States of America means...