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(from Vecteezy.com ) Gathering Music Welcome Centering Prelude "A New Way" by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting and Opening Words Bearers of Hope & Resistance Rev. Michelle Collins Welcome to this place, a place where hope can be nourished. In a world that profits from despair, our gathering is a declaration of faith. We declare that joy still rises, that kindness still matters, that hope is not dead. We come to remember we are not alone. May our time together restore us to wonder, strengthen our resolve, and return us to the world as bearers of hope that sustains the work of resistance. Opening Hymn #126 "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" Words: v. 1 Robert Robinson, v. 2-3 Eugene B. Navias Music: John Wyeth Come, thou fount of ev'ry blessing, tune our ears to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. While the hope of life's perfection fills our hearts with joy and love, teach us ever to be faithful, may we still thy goodness prove. Come, thou fount of ev'ry vision, lift our eyes to what may come. See the lion and the young lamb dwell together in thy home. Hear the cries of war fall silent, feel our love glow like the sun. When we all serve one another, then our heaven is begun. Come, thou fount of inspiration, turn our lives to higher ways. Lift our gloom and desperation, show the promise of this day. Help us bind ourselves in union, help our hands tell of our love. With thine aid, O fount of justice, earth be fair as heav'n above. Time for All Ages I Am Today by Matt Forrest Esenwine Read by Sam Taylor Musical Interlude Announcements Joys and Concerns Musical Response Introduction to the Service Reflections from Janet Heller Offering Offering Music "Imagine" Words and Music by John Lennon, Arr. Mary Bopp Reflections from Maureen Flanagan Musical Interlude Reflections from Sam Taylor Closing Hymn #108 "My Life Goes On in Endless Song" Words: Traditional, v.3 Doris Plenn Music: Robert Lowry My life flows on in endless song above earth's lamentation. I hear the real though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing! What though the tempest 'round me roars, I know the truth, it liveth. What though the darkness 'round me close, songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I'm clinging. Since love prevails in heav'n and earth, how can I keep from singing! When tyrants tremble as they hear the bells of freedom ringing, when friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing! To prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them are winging; when friends by shame are undefiled, how can I keep from singing! Extinguishing the Chalice and Closing Words "May We Go Forth" by Rev. Ess Baumberger May we go forth to meet oppression with freeing justice, hatred with healing love, and despair with unfailing faith. May it be so. Amen. Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

An early lyric sheet for “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” published by Philadelphia: Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, c. 1863. We’ve sung through various iterations of the late 18 th -century American camp meeting song “Say, Brothers Will You Meet Us?” Just prior to the Civil War, federal soldiers in Massachusetts set the explicitly abolitionist lyrics of John Brown’s Body” to the same tune. Then, as the story goes the poet, author, abolitionist, prison reformer, women’s rights activist and campaigner for a “Mother’s Day for Peace,” Julia Ward Howe, on a visit to Washington, DC in 1861, heard troops singing “John Brown’s Body.” She found it crass—good for marching, not so good for moving the heart of a nation. A minister accompanying her suggested she write her own version of the song for the abolitionist cause, something more transcendent and scripturally-based to inspire not only the troops but the Union itself. Awakening from a dream the next morning she wrote down the lyrics to what became the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” [1]             It’s a call to arms, a spiritual rallying cry for civil war. The scriptural references come not from Jesus’ sermon on the mount, but from the apocalyptic books of Daniel and Revelation. They invoke themes of divine justice: “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” In her mind the nation’s great sin was slavery. War would end it. A line from a verse we didn’t sing says, “As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.” Please know I am not invoking Howe to suggest that we are on the verge of civil war today. I don’t believe that. But I recognize that in communities and cities where there has been state-sanctioned violence -- immigrant abductions, tear gas raids on apartment buildings, and the ICE murder of Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis last week and other recent ICE shootings -- something akin to war is happening. The reason I am invoking Julia Ward Howe is because it has always been my intention in this sermon, on the eve of the national Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration, to reflect on a few figures in our UU history who have worked for racial justice; and then to ask what lesson or wisdom from their lives speaks to our lives. Julia Ward Howe, though raised Episcopalian, became a Unitarian in her early forties. She was friends with a number of Boston-area Unitarian ministers, including Theodor Parker, as well as many of the Boston and Concord, Massachusetts Transcendentalists. She was a member of Boston’s Unitarian Church of the Disciples where, though not a minister herself, she occasionally delivered the Sunday sermon.   While there are many dimensions to Julia Ward Howe’s life and activism I could explore this morning, mindful of last week’s service on art as resistance , I lift up what is perhaps her most enduring contribution to American culture, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” While I don’t resonate with its apocalyptic Bible references, and while it is certainly not a song designed to de-escalate tension, I do find in her Abolitionist lyrics a kindred spirit, naming injustice with searing moral clarity and reminding us we are called from the depths of our faith to confront it. I proudly claim her as a spiritual ancestor. Next, let's turn to late 18 th -century Philadelphia where, in the fall of 1793, the mosquito-born yellow fever caused the deaths of 10% of the population. After yellow fever subsided, Richard Allen (who at this same time founded the first Black Methodist Church in the nation, and eventually became the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church) and Absalom Jones (who, a few years earlier, had founded the first Black Episcopal Church in the nation, the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas) published an article defending Philadelphia’s free black community for its heroic response to the yellow fever. They wrote the article to counter criticisms white journalists were leveling against the black community. One paragraph in the article has always made me proud.  They wrote: “When the sickness became general, and several of the physicians died, and most of the survivors were exhausted by sickness or fatigue, that good man, Dr. Rush, called us more immediately to attend to the sick.” [2] That "good" man was Dr. Benjamin Rush, perhaps most well-known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was an avowed abolitionist long before the Abolitionist movement coalesced in the 1830s, and a committed Universalist. Though not trained as a minister, he was an avid reader of Universalist theology; he was close with Philadelphia’s leading Universalist minister, the Rev. Elhanan Winchester; and he was present in 1790 at the founding of the Philadelphia Convention of Universalists, the first attempt at creating a national Universalist denomination. That Convention drafted “Articles of Faith and a “Plan of Government” which, according to the Universalist historian Russell Miller, “were submitted to Dr. Benjamin Rush … for correction and arrangement.” [3] Miller also says that Rush was gifted at translating Universalist ideas into action. “Almost every Universalist social reform impulse,” he writes, “from anti-slavery, temperance, and prison reform in the pre-Civil War era to participation in the Social Gospel movement of the late nineteenth century can be traced to Rush’s influence.” [4] Rush was relentless in his opposition to slavery. In 1773, at age 27, he wrote a tract entitled “ An address to the inhabitants of the British settlements, on the slavery of the Negroes in America, ” in which he systematically dismantled the popular pro-slavery arguments of the day. He called for an end to the slave trade, for the dissolution of the African Committee of Merchants who were chiefly responsible for carrying out the trade, for the shunning of those involved in the trade, for the education of African Americans in reading, writing, business and religion, and for giving to African Americans all the privileges of free-born British subjects. He called on magistrates, legislators and advocates to use their offices to suppress this evil. To clergy he said “Ye who estimate the worth of your fellow creatures by their Immortality and therefore must look upon all [hu]mankind as equal,—let your zeal keep pace with your opportunities to put a stop to slavery.” [5]             I mentioned Rush’s work with Allen and Jones in confronting the yellow fever crisis of 1793 for a very specific reason. They likely didn’t think of it this way, and I don’t want to overstate what was happening between them, but from my vantage point 230 years later, I see a multi-racial, multi-faith effort to organize a public health response to a pandemic. I want to repeat those words: I see a multi-racial, multi-faith effort to organize a public health response to a pandemic. I stress this because, given efforts today to disrupt, disable and create mistrust in the American public health system, and given a multitude of efforts to sow racial and religious discord throughout the United States, I cling to this story. I cling to this story of these relgious leaders--each of them in the midst of founding new chuches--working together to bring healing to a devastated city. As we engage in social justice work in multiracial, interfaith coalitions, especially when we work on health care justice, I proudly claim Benjamin Rush as a spiritual ancestor. [6]             A third person I’d like to hold up is the Rev. Ephraim Nute. There’s actually way too much to his story to adequately tell it in a few paragraphs. He really deserves an entire sermon, or maybe a book group. [7] But briefly, an entry in the online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography  describes Nute as “an outspoken and aggressive abolitionist [who] was the American Unitarian Association … missionary to the Kansas territory during the “Bleeding Kansas” years prior to the Civil War. A conductor on the Underground Railroad, he was a key figure in the free state cause. He lost family and friends to the violence there and had to fight to save his own life.” [8] He was clearly heroic, clearly passionate about ending slavery. [9] And a number of sources say that because the denomination was divided over how best to address slavery, Nute was also “frustrated at being ignored, denied, and underfunded in his mission” [10] by denominational leaders in Boston. In February of 1859 he wrote a letter to an unidentified friend thanking him for a $10 donation, and describing a recent failed attempt to help eleven escaped slaves and two free blacks travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa. The party was captured. Nute wrote to his friend: “The great trouble was the want of funds. This hindered us from sending them forward as fast as they arrived, as before has been done, & so permitted such a large number to accumulate here.” [11] They had to wait for sufficient funding; when they were finally able to leave, the group was too large and thus too obvious to their pursuers. Nute’s concern about funding resonates with me precisely because, as I’ve named a number of times, I am encountering increasing requests to raise money for people who are directly impacted by authoritarian policies, specifically immigrant families who have seen a primary breadwinner abducted, detained or deported; and transgender people or families with transgender members who are leaving states with anti-trans laws, hoping to resettle in safer states. I am not trying to equate the challenges escaped slaves and their supporters faced with the challenges facing immigrants and transgender people today. But to the extent people working directly with these groups are in touch with me, there is enormous financial need, and there is understandable frustration. I am hopeful we can respond with generous spirits. I won’t say more about this here, except to note that our Social Justice / Anti-Oppression Committee is weighing some proposals for how we can invite the members and friends of this congregation to support specific individuals and families that our partners identify to us. Those conversations will unfold in the coming months. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the ICE murder of Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis on January 7 th . It was an excessive and unjustified use of force by an officer of the state. The Department of Justice’s decision not to open a civil rights investigation is yet more evidence of authoritarianism. There is a historical echo for Unitarian Universalists in Good's murder. I lift up the name of Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a white woman, mother of five, who was murdered for her involvement in the Civil Rights movement.  In March of 1965, as a relatively new member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit, she heard Martin Luther King, Jr’s call for religious leaders to come to Selma, AL to support the voting rights march. Though not a member of the clergy, as a 2006 article in the UU World  reports it, “Liuzzo took the call to heart. She drove … to Selma, intending t o stay a week. She volunteered at the … Brown [Chapel] African Methodist Episcopal Church and used her car to drive protesters back and forth from Selma and Montgomery. On March 25, Liuzzo was giving a ride to fellow civil rights worker Leroy Moton when four Klansmen pulled their car alongside hers and shot her. Liuzzo was killed instantly while Moton was able to escape.” [12] About her murder, Martin Luther King is reported to have said: “If physical death is the price some must pay to save us and our white brothers from eternal death of the spirit, then no sacrifice could be more redemptive.” [13] [14] [15] I am not trying to draw too close a comparison between these two murders separated by 60 years. The immediate circumstances are not the same. But both happened in the context of a larger struggle for racial justice in the United States. Both remind us, sadly, that there is no way for anyone of any identity to engage in this struggle, or even be simply adjacent to it, with complete safety. These are hard, frightening, enraging times. These are also sad times. So much is being lost. But not our spirits. I turn to people like Benjamin Rush, Ephraim Nute, Julia Ward Howe, Viola Gregg Liuzzo, as well as Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many more, as reminders that though the times are hard, frightening, enraging and sad, we inherit a historical legacy that strengthens and inspires us. We claim Unitarian Universalist principles and values that center us. We work in solidarity with partners in the wider community who guide us. And we have this Unitarian Universalist congregation for support, comfort, care, love and a vision of the beloved community. In all of this, our eyes see the glory and our spirits are renewed. Amen and blessed be. [1]  See “The Battle Hymn of the Republic: The Story Behind the Song” and the Trump ( sic ) Kennedy Center Website: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/the-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/#:~:text=Howe's%20new%20words%20also%20angered,was%20on%20the%20North's%20side . For more information on Julia Ward Howe, see: https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/cambridge-harvard/julia-ward-howe/ . [2]  Allen, Richard and Jones, Absalom, “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Colored People During the Awful Calamity in Philadelphia, in the Year 1793; and a Refutation of Some Censures Thrown Upon Them in Some Publications,” in Miller, Ruth, ed., Blackamerican Literature: 1760 – Present  (New York: Macmillan Publishing co., 1971) p. 65. [3]  Miller, Russell E., The Larger Hope: The First Century of the Universalist Church in America, 1770-1870 (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 1979) p. 77. [4]  Ibid., p. 39. [5]  Rush, Benjamin, “An address to the inhabitants of the British settlements, on the slavery of the Negroes in America. To which is added, A vindication of the address, in answer to a pamphlet entitled, "Slavery not forbidden in Scripture; or, A defence of the West India planters." / By a Pennsylvanian. ; [Fifteen lines of verse, signed Proteus] (Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1773) pp. see: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=evans;idno=N10229.0001.001;node=N10229.0001.001:2;rgn=div1;view=text . [6]  In proudly claiming Rush as a spiritual ancestor, I don’t want to suggest that he was free from the racist assumptions of his day despite his belief in the equality of all people. For example, like many white residents of Philadelphia, Rush assumed that people of African descent had greater immunity to the yellow fever virus. This assumption was false. I guess I should also point out that Rush’s approach to treating the virus included bleeding. This treatment had no impact on the virus whatsoever. [7]  Groth, Bobbie, the Incredible Story of Ephraim Nute: Scandal, Bloodshed and Unitarianism on the American Frontier (Boston: Skinner House, 2011). Currently available at: https://www.abebooks.com/9781558966093/Incredible-Story-Ephraim-Nute-Scandal-1558966099/plp . [8]  Groth, Bobbie, “Nute, Ephraim” Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography , 2009. See: https://www.uudb.org/nute-ephraim/ . Also check out “Ephraim Nute, Free State Minister,” in the Unitarian Universalist World , March 17, 2015 at https://www.uuworld.org/articles/ephraim-nute-free-state-minister . [9]  This is yet another instance where proudly claiming someone as a spiritual ancestor shouldn’t prevent us from naming the ways they participated in racism even as they advocated against slavery. While it is beyond the scope of this sermon, I feel it is important to note that the abolitionist New Englanders who travelled to Kansas in the 1850s often framed their activities in the language of settler colonialism, claiming a right to the land that was God-given—a species of Manifest Destiny that ignored the indigenous people of the region. [10]  Groth, “Nute,” Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. [11]  Nute, Ephraim, “Ephraim Nute to unidentified, February 14, 1859” posted at “Slave Stampedes on the Southern Borderlands. See: https://stampedes.dickinson.edu/document/ephraim-nute-unidentified-february-14-1859 . [12]  Greer, Jane, “UU civil rights martyr posthumously honored: Viola Liuzzo inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame,” UU World , November 19, 2006. See: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/uu-civil-rights-martyr-posthumously-hono . [13]  This quote appears in the entry for Viola Gregg Liuzzo at the online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. See: https://www.uudb.org/liuzzo-viola/ . [14]  A personal note: My father joined the voting rights march for its final leg into Montgomery. He was in the area at the time of Liuzzo’s murder. We once determined he would have been somewhere between downtown Montgomery and the airport at that time, and thus he was no more than 14 miles away from murder when it happened. [15]  Learn more about Liuzzo, including the aftermath of her murder, at the Jim Crow Museum website at https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/witnesses/violaliuzzo.htm#:~:text=He%20eventually%20flagged%20down%20a,The%20murder%20of .

Gathering Music Welcome and Announcements Centering Prelude "Mine Eyes Have Seen" by Mary Bopp Chalice Lighting and Opening Words excerpt from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eulogy for the Rev. James Reeb (March 15, 1965) Opening Hymn Mashup "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us" and "John Brown's Body" lyrics by various authors, adapted by Rev. Josh Pawelek traditional American hymn tune Say, brothers, will you meet us, Say, brothers, will you meet us, Say, brothers, will you meet us, On Canaan's happy shore? By the grace of God I'll meet you, By the grace of God I'll meet you, By the grace of God I'll meet you, On Canaan's happy shore. Say, sisters, will you meet us, Say, sisters, will you meet us, Say, sisters, will you meet us, On Canaan's happy shore? By the grace of God I'll meet you, By the grace of God I'll meet you, By the grace of God I'll meet you, On Canaan's happy shore. John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave His soul goes marching on. Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on. John Brown died that the slave might be free John Brown died that the slave might be free John Brown died that the slave might be free But his soul is marching on! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on. The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down On the grave of old John Brown. Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on. Time for All Ages Song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe Music: traditional American hymn tune, mid-19th century Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Refrain: Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read the righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. [Refrain] He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of all before His judgement seat; O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. [Refrain] Joys and Concerns Musical Meditation Offering The recipients of our Community Outreach offering for the month of January are Moral Monday CT and Power Up CT. Both organizations have been leaders in Connecticut's Black Lives Matter movement and a variety of social justice campaigns and initiatives. Offering Music "Glory" by Mary Bopp Sermon "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" Rev. Josh Pawelek Closing Hymn #201 "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" Words: traditional Music: tradition, arranged by Mary Allen Walden (The tune is named for Sojourner Truth, the 19th century African American evangelist, abolitionist, reformer and women's rights activist.) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Feel like shouting, "Hallelujah!" ... Life is sweeter, so much sweeter ... Feel like dancing, hallelujah!... Love is shining all around me, ... Extinguishing the Chalice Closing Circle May faith in the spirit of life And hope for the community of earth And love of the light in each other Be ours now, and in all the days to come.

< Back < Latest eBlast eBlast Article < Previous Article Next Article > Pastoral Friends Pastoral Friends The Pastoral Friends Committee has a rotating chair throughout the year. Should you need pastoral care during the months of January and February , contact Sid Soderholm . #eBlast -01-21

What's happening at UUSE? Lots of things. So many events here to keep your mind occupied and your hands busy. eBlast for January 21st Contact the office for details - email: info@uuse.org phone : 860.646.5151 Sign up here to receive the full eBlast by email Weekly News January 21, 2026 ------------------------------ Welcome to Unitarian Universalist Society East Email our office t o receive a visitor packet or to find out more. We schedule several newcomer events throughout the year after Sunday services. ------------------------------ Sunday Service: "I Am Today" Being a changemaker can start today, which causes close to our heart and thoughtful advocacy. UUSE members will speak about actions they've taken to instigate positive change in our communities. Coordinators : Sam Taylor & Martha Larson Services at 9:00 and 11:00 A.M. Sunday, January 25, 2026 Gathering music starts at 8:50 and 10:50 A.M. Join the virtual service at 11:00 A.M. via our Zoom link: Contact the Office for Zoom Link . Or join by phone. Call 1-860-646-5151 Meeting ID 357 815 420#. ------------------------------ CYM News Children & Youth Ministry caregivers, extended family, volunteers and all stakeholders (that means "anyone" interested in keeping up with the CYM news or who feels invested in its future): The email distribution program I (Emmy) have been using for my weekly Friday Update has locked us out of our account which expired without proper notice. I am unable to access the email distribution list I used on that platform. So, I am going to create a new account and distribution list! Please email if you would like to receive my weekly Friday Update which includes all the details of what each age group is doing the following Sunday, news on upcoming events, as well as reflections and spiritual care. Kindly send your request to dcym@uuse.org to be added to the new distribution list. Caregivers of children and youth registered for CYM do NOT need to email me. Thank you, Emmy. Also: We are looking for help in the Elementary (grades 2-5) class this winter! Please reach out to Emmy at dcym@uuse.org if you can help on any of these dates: (Lesson from the "Signs of Our Faith" Curriculum"). January 25: Signs of Welcome continued (need assistant) February 1: Imbolc/St. Brigid Activity (beeswax candle making) (need assistant)) February 15: Worshipping Together (need lead and assistant) March 1: Finding Beauty in Uniqueness (need lead and assistant) March 29: Fair Group Decisions (need assistant) ------------------------------ 2026 Goods & Services Auction Phase I of the 2026 Goods & Services has begun, so don't let the snow this past Sunday put you off. We'll reveal the 10 fabulous baskets for this year's teacup raffle on Sunday, January 25th! Tickets will be sold before/after both services on January 25 , and also during the January 31 party. Will you snag UConn women’s basketball tickets, a romantic Valentine’s meal, an evening in Italy or a visit to KidCity? YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!!! **** The silent auction catalog opened on Monday morning January 19 . What treasures will you find? So many talented UUs have donated artwork, scrumptious food, household assistance and more! NOW IS THE TIME to log in at uubid.fundraiser.bid to browse, register and place a bid. **** KEEP READING! A few more spaces remain in the Get Saucy Cook-off. The competition is stiff for a prized Championship Apron! If you make a mean marinara or a boffo basil pesto, please let us know at auction@uuse.org Of course, the ‘Main Event’ is Saturday January 31 from 5-8 pm . Enjoy the free dinner with old and new friends - pasta, salad and dessert. Sign-up for meals in members’ homes, bid on premium items, while the kids enjoy their own activities. Click here for the full flyer. If you have any questions, write to auction@uuse.org . Come for the pasta, stay for the party! ------------------------------ Looking for Stewards! Annual Appeal 2026 - 2027 We are looking for people to canvass members & friends. Being a steward is an opportunity to get to know new people, share your passion and commitment for UUSE and help make our Annual Appeal a success. The commitment time is short with one training session and a couple of weeks to contact 2 - 4 members or friends. The stewardship conversations are a time of fellowship and sharing our dreams and aspirations. Talking about financial commitment is a small part of a much larger conversation about generosity and community. So please consider volunteering to be a steward this year. We especially want people who have never been stewards before, especially parents! The steward will use a personal visit (if both feel comfortable), email, phone calls, texts, etc. to get in touch with people to answer any questions and remind them to fill out their pledge form and return it to Annie. Personal canvassing will be from March 18 - April 6, 2026. We will provide training on Thursday evening, March 5 or Saturday morning, March 7, 2026 . Specific times will follow. Please email Phil Sawyer at uuseoffice@uuse.org or call 860-646-5151 if you are willing to help or have any questions. ------------------------------ UUSE Choir coming back Rehearsals start on Wednesday, January 21st at 7:00 P.M. Do you love to sing? You don't have to audition. Whether you sing in your car or with the Metropolitan Opera, if you like to have fun, you can sing in the UUSE Choir! Weekly rehearsals start on Wednesday, January 21st in the Meeting Room at 7:00 P.M. in preparation for the Holiday Music Services on April 5th. For more information, contact Jenn Richard at uuseoffice@uuse.org . ------------------------------ Hope in Hard Times In these troubling times, many of us feel anxious, despondent, or alone. On Tuesday, February 3 at 3:00 P.M., Rev. Josh Pawelek and members of the Pastoral Friends Committee will host a gathering for anyone who is looking for camaraderie and conversation geared towards finding hope in hard times. Our ministry theme for February is resilience. Let's cultivate resilience together. ------------------------------ Coffeehouse and Open Mic February 7th - 6:00 P.M. in the Meeting Room The Coffeehouse and Open Mic is held monthly on first Saturdays October through May. Musicians, Poets, and Storytellers share their talents. Performer signups start at 6:00 P.M. with 12 slots of 10 minutes each. Performances start at 6:30 P.M. Bring your dinner. Bring your friends. Bring your favorite beverage. We'll provide the coffee. A $5 suggested donation goes directly to UUSE. Coffeehouse is sponsored by the Music Committee. ------------------------------ Time to Clean Up While we greatly appreciate the goodies members and friends have made for the Holiday Fair and other events here at UUSE, we really don't have the space to store empty containers and other miscellaneous items. It's time to clean house! Empty containers and various other items have been moved to the kitchen for members and friends to easily access. If you're not sure what happened to your old Tupperware type containers, chances are it's in the collection. Please take a look at what's there and take home what is yours. Items not claimed shortly will go to Goodwill. And while we have your attention ... A lot of groups and individuals use our kitchen, and sometimes things don't always get cleaned up as well as they should be. That can make things especially difficult for our faithful hospitality helpers who arrive early to make the coffee each Sunday morning. Please help them out by cleaning up before you leave - coffee pot, dishes, spills, cleaning the sink area and wiping down the counters or whatever it is that happened or was used on your watch. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated! ------------------------------ GHIAA Winter 2026 Organizing Leadership Training In Person - Tuesday evenings 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. - 2/10/26 - 3/10/26 at Temple Sinai in Newington Join us to explore the fundamentals of faith-based organizing, practice the tools of relational culture (individual meetings and house meetings), consider how we build and wield power, share our process of identifying issues and developing campaigns, and build our skills for action. For more detailed info and to register, click here . ------------------------------ Ladies at Lunch Friday, February 13 at 110 Grill Join us for lunch on Friday, February 13th at the 110 Grill, 1127 Tolland Turnpike in the Plaza at Burr Corners in Manchester. We meet at noon. Everyone is welcome. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Sharon Huber by Thursday afternoon, February 12: uuseoffice@uuse.org or 860-646-5151. ------------------------------ Pastoral Friends The Pastoral Friends Committee has a rotating chair throughout the year. Should you need pastoral care during the months of January and February , contact Sid Soderholm . ------------------------------ Ongoing Happenings at UUSE! There’s Always Something Good Going On Stop & Shop Gift Card sales after services on 1st Sundays Fair Trade Coffee/Tea/Chocolate sales after services on 2nd Sundays Yoga , every Wednesday at 10 A.M. All welcome! Manchester Women's Singing Circle , every Thursday at 7 P.M. Book Lovers , 2nd Tuesdays at 3:30 P.M. in person and on Zoom. February 10th: The Correspondent - A Novel by Virginia Evans. Discussion leader: Carolyn Gimbrone. Women's Circle , 3rd Tuesdays at 7:00 P.M. (Zoom only December through March) Email Nora Alpers-Leon at uuseoffice@uuse.org for the Zoom link. Romeos , a monthly lunch for retired men on second Tuesdays - contact the UUSE office to be put on the email list. Ladies at Lunch , a monthly women's lunch typically on second Thursdays - advertised in the weekly eblasts. Buddhist Group , 1st Tuesdays at 7 P.M. NEW! Meditation Group , 3rd Mondays, 3:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. God Talk , 4th Tuesdays at 4:30 P.M. Humanist Group , 3rd Tuesdays at 4:30 P.M. Science and Religion Discussion Group , 4th Thursdays at 4:30 P.M. January's topic: Sound Therapy with Heli Roy. ------------------------------ Our Mission  Unitarian Universalist Society East is a welcoming, open-minded spiritual community seeking truth and meaning in its many forms. We share responsibility for building a more equitable, peaceful, and sustainable world. ------------------------------ UUSE Links and Information • Monthly Newsletter • Website • Previous Sunday Services • Children & Youth Ministry • Facebook • New England Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association uuse.org • 860-646-5151 ------------------------------

< To Upcoming Services Feb 3, 2026 Hope in Hard Times Hope in Hard Times In these troubling times, many of us feel anxious, despondent, or alone. On Tuesday, February 3 at 3:00 P.M., Rev. Josh Pawelek and members of the Pastoral Friends Committee will host a gathering for anyone who is looking for camaraderie and conversation geared towards finding hope in hard times. Our ministry theme for February is resilience. Let's cultivate resilience together. #eBlast-01-21 Hope in Hard Times In these troubling times, many of us feel anxious, despondent, or alone. On Tuesday, February 3 at 3:00 P.M., Rev. Josh Pawelek and members of the Pastoral Friends Committee will host a gathering for anyone who is looking for camaraderie and conversation geared towards finding hope in hard times. Our ministry theme for February is resilience. Let's cultivate resilience together. #eBlast -01-21 OOS Sermon YouTube