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Gathering Music (Jenn Richard, UUSE guest musician) Welcoming Centering Prelude Steve Winwood: Higher Love Jenn Richard, guitar Chalice Lighting and Opening Words - SLT #447 At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. Opening Hymn SLT #89 - "Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life" Words: George Herbert; Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams Jenn Richard, piano Come, my way, my truth, my life: such a way as gives us breath, such a truth as ends all strife, such a life as killeth death. Come, my light, my feast, my strength: such a light as shows a feast, such a feast as mends in length, such a strength as makes a guest. Come, my joy, my love, my heart: Such a joy as none can move, such a love as none can part, such a heart as joys in love. Time For All Ages "Love Finds a Way" by Susan Verde Hymn SLT #95 "There is More Love Somewhere" Words & Music: African American Hymn Jenn Richard, guitar There is more love somewhere. There is more love somewhere. I'm gonna keep on 'til I find it. There is more love somewhere. There is more hope somewhere ... There is more peace somewhere ... There is more joy somewhere ... Announcements Introduction to the Service "The Pulse of Love" Joys and Concerns Offering Each Sunday, we dedicate half of the unallocated collections from our offering to organizations that are working to improve the lives of residents in our greater community. The recipients of our July Community Outreach offering include the MACC Food Pantry, the Hockanum Valley Food Pantry, the CT Mutual Aid East of the River Food Pantry, and the TLC Foundation. Offering Music Ross Hogarth, Ziggy Marley: "Love is My Religion" Jenn Richard, guitar The Pulse of Love - Part 1 (Kate Kimmerle) Musical Interlude Joni Mitchell: "Both Sides Now" Jenn Richard, guitar The Pulse of Love - Part 2 (Kate Kimmerle) Closing Hymn SLT #18 "What Wondrous Love" Words: American Folk Hymn Music: Melody from The Southern Harmony, 1835 Jenn Richard, piano What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul? What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss, and takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul, and takes away the pain of my soul. When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down beneath my sorrows ground, friends to me gather'd round, O my soul, O my soul, friends to me gaassther'd round, O my soul. To love and to all friends I will sing, I will sing, to love and to all friends I will sing. To love and to all friends who pain and sorrow mend, with thanks unto the end I will sing, I will sing, with thanks unto the end I will sing. Extinguishing the Chalice - SLT #456 We extinguish this flame, but not / the light of truth / the warmth of community / or the fire of commitment. / These we carry in our hearts until / we are together again. 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.

Rob Napier UUSE - July 5, 2026 It’s hard, just now, to celebrate America. I know many of you feel that. I feel that. Maybe it was always hard. Or at least maybe it always should have been hard. But I want to raise up something else today. Something I think should be celebrated. And that’s the Idea of America. I know it sounds naive, maybe even blind, but I think the Idea of America has been a powerful thing and often a good thing. It belongs to us, all of us. And I won’t let anyone take that away, no matter how many times we fail at this idea. What idea? At its heart, that things can be better. That it’s possible for things to change. That we can govern ourselves without a king. That there is more to success than lineage and blood. I’m not saying we were the first to have the idea or even the first to put it in practice, but we really have inspired the world with it more than anyone. Tens of millions have come here because they believed in that idea, and even today they keep coming. I want to honor those people. I want to honor their choices. I think they were right to come. I think the idea is worth it. A lot of things can be true at the same time. America is built on colonialism and slavery. But it’s also built on principles. Principles the original writers didn’t fully understand, but planted as seeds that have grown generation by generation. When the Declaration of Independence says “all men are created equal,” what’s meant is even less inclusive than the language used. The signers meant white men, and beyond that, white men of property.1 But once you plant that seed, the idea of inalienable rights, rights no king or government bestows, but are an inherent part of human dignity, you can’t keep its logic and promise from growing, expanding, until it encompasses everyone. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century millions of Jews fled oppression in Eastern Europe. My mother’s family was among them. They came to New York, like so many others, and they passed by the Statue of Liberty. In 1903, a plaque was added with a mostly-forgotten poem written twenty years earlier by Emma Lazarus.2 It ends with the purest expression of the American Idea that I know. It’s what we chose to put on our greatest symbol. Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Not college graduates from Norway,3 though they’re welcome. Not even those “willing to work.” No. Those “yearning to breathe free.” We ask nothing else. The homeless, the wretched, the refuse cast aside, they are welcome. That’s the idea that inspired so many. And I honor that. But the Statue of Liberty wasn’t created to welcome immigrants. That was a reinterpretation. Liberty Enlightening the World is a statue that celebrates freeing the enslaved.4 Under her foot are the broken slavers’ chains. She was designed by French abolitionists after the Civil War who were so inspired by America that they hoped the statue might inspire France back to democratic ideals. For our whole history, others have been captivated by that idea. A nation, “conceived in Liberty.”5 In 1875, around the time when the Statue was conceived, there were already seven Black Representatives in Congress, and a Black Senator from Mississippi.6 Constitutional amendments had been ratified abolishing slavery, enshrining birthright citizenship and equal protections, protecting the right to vote. Two Civil Rights Acts had been passed. The delegates who created the South Carolina 1868 Constitution, were majority Black. Under the Ku Klux Klan Act, hundreds of Klansmen were fined or imprisoned, and the organization was arguably destroyed for decades, not to reform until the twentieth century.7 That’s the Idea of America that the Statue of Liberty was celebrating. That idea is a myth. I know. In an earlier design, the broken chains at her feet were in her hand, but they were made more subtle to not offend donors and politicians who wanted to put the Civil War behind them.8 The contested presidential election in the very next year led to a compromise where the Southern states allowed Hayes to be President in exchange for pulling the army out of the Southern states, backed with a promise that they absolutely wouldn’t oppress Black people any more.9 They immediately began oppressing Black people, both legally and extralegally. Within fifteen years, Mississippi, the one state with a Black Senator, had made it all but impossible for Blacks to vote. Within twenty-five years, there were no Black members of Congress. A series of Supreme Court rulings upheld this situation. Williams v. Mississippi, Giles v. Harris, the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson, and more. Sound a little familiar? This is not the first time America has made great strides forward, just to fall back hard. Twenty years ago, we were asking what we were going to do with our permanent Democratic majority. We had our first Black president. Then we had Obergefell. We were seriously talking about trans rights. When have trans rights ever been on the table? For those of you grayer than I am, could you even imagine that forty years ago? The progress was slow, but we came further than we’d ever come before. And then. ... I’m not here to tell you it’s ok. I’m not here to tell you to be grateful for what we’ve still got. I’m not even here to tell you it’ll get better. It won’t. Not by itself. Not without struggle. I’m here to tell you that we’ve backslid before. We had Black Senators before we had Jim Crow, but then we had Brown v. Board tearing down separate but equal, Loving v. Virginia legalizing interracial marriage, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act. We have our predecessors to look to, to know what we need to do to move forward again. And I believe the first thing we have to do is to hold onto our myths. The stories we tell ourselves to inspire ourselves to be who we want to be. I refuse to let petty would-be despots take away our most powerful possession, the idea, the belief, the faith that things can be better. The book of Hebrews calls faith “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”10 I call faith those things I would believe even if they were not true. And we need faith. But we don’t need faith alone to believe in the Idea of America. To believe that things can change for the better. We’ve seen it happen. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act passed in both the House and Senate by a 4-to-1 margin.11 It commanded strong majorities from both parties. It took Selma to get it introduced. It took struggle. But that struggle pushed, cajoled, finally shoved a Congress of 98% middle-aged white men to pass the most impactful civil rights act since Reconstruction. I'm sure many of you are very familiar with the events in Selma, Alabama in March, 1965 that culminated in a march to the capital in Montgomery, and President Johnson formally asking for the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which he then signed into law less than five months later. It's an incredible story. But I think the lessons for us today are in what came before. What made Selma so impactful. Selma wasn't an accident. It didn't come out of nowhere. It was part of a long line of action, struggle, and courage. And planning. Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, the Greensboro sit-ins. More than 70,000 people would participate in sit-ins across the South in 1960 alone.12 The Selma to Montgomery march was planned in response to the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson. It was hoped to channel the rage of the community. It was planned in a little over a week. The first two attempts were stopped by State Troopers. The third and successful march happened within a month of Jackson’s murder. One month. I want to remind you this was a 54 mile, four day march that involved hundreds of people getting fed, having a place to sleep. There were food trucks, first-aid stations, arrangements and permissions for places to camp. There were buses and cars shuttling people around. It wasn’t just folks setting off and seeing what happened. I just planned the choir’s potluck for 20 people and it took me almost as long as these folks had. Organization matters. Strong institutions matter. Strategy and discipline matter. Deep pools of volunteers matter. Building a community that can effectively and quickly respond. That's why it's so important that we provide the support we do to organizations that share our values, and that they know they can call on us. Good intentions aren't always enough. Sometimes, in order to have that historic speech, you need someone who can source a few hundred meals and some porta-johns on short notice. Visibility and repetition matter. No one thought Governor Wallace was going to change his mind just because a few thousand people show up outside his door. They weren’t there to speak to the Governor. They were there to speak to America. And America was paying attention. And America was paying attention because activists had been relentless. Highly publicized protests had been going on in Selma for months. Despite being told for years and years to just be patient. Despite being chastised for being too demanding, to be thankful for what they already had won. Despite being told they were doing it wrong. It bothers me when someone calls out an injustice, and someone else says "don't complain about that, there's all these other, worse things." We can be mad about more than one thing at a time. Spread the work. Let them go fix that problem. You go focus on fixing the one you think is important. Or even worse, someone hears about injustice and says “what, you're surprised?” Acting like it’s “uncool,” “unsavvy” to keep a spotlight on atrocity, because repetition never changes minds? In the Book of Luke, Jesus tells a story.13 In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my [adversary]14.” For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” The Book of Luke was written in Greek, and that’s the “scholarly” translation that likely captures the author’s meaning, but I prefer a bit more literal translation of the last verse, what the words actually say: Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice so that she may not finally come and punch me in the face.15 Sometimes, we need to be the widow. Now some of you might be counting on your fingers, thinking 1875 to 1965 is a long time. Decades, decades to crawl back. Most of a century. Is that what’s ahead of us? I don’t think it has to be. Even with our backsliding, we really are in a better place today than we were in 1965, let alone 1865. I don’t want to downplay the challenges we face, but it’s important to see clearly where we are. Same-sex marriage is popular.16 ICE is incredibly unpopular.17 At the end of Reconstruction, Northern whites were tired, and despite the Congressional gains for Blacks in Congress, they did not come from the North. Connecticut didn’t have its first Black Representative until 1991. The cause of abolition moved nineteenth century America, but equality did not. But today, more than a dozen states are Sanctuary States, and I’m proud that Connecticut is one of them.18 No Kings protests draw millions. Pride month is celebrated all over the country, and by so many companies that we worry it’s over-commercialized. I want you to sit with that. We’re worried that Pride may have become too popular. In every state, same sex marriage has majority support today.19 Yes, even whatever state you’re thinking of. That’s where we’re starting from. That’s where we are today. When the Voting Rights Act passed, about three-quarters of America was opposed to interracial marriage.20 Martin Luther King, Jr’s approval rate was net-negative, and by the next year it had cratered to about 60-30 disapproval.21 And still, the Voting Rights Act passed by overwhelming majorities. Think of how we can heal when justice is popular instead. And it is. I’m not saying that authoritarianism can’t break us. It can. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be scared. I’m not saying we aren’t falling backwards faster than many of us ever thought possible. It’s all true. But according to the polls, there are more than 100 million Americans who have your back. I want to honor that. There were more votes for Kamala Harris in Texas than in all New England combined. There were more Harris voters in South Carolina than in Connecticut. You’re not alone. We’re not alone. In city after city, tyranny has tried to crush the Idea of America. And the people have said no. In L.A., in Portland, in Minneapolis, and so many more, the people have said no. People have been harassed, arrested, killed. But the people have said no. Tyranny shall not have its way. We are not alone. I think our greatest risk is cynicism. Losing faith in others, and treating that as wisdom. Believing we lack strength, that we lack support, when we have so much. We are not alone. I still believe in the Idea of America. That the future can be better than the past. That we can make a difference. That justice will overcome tyranny. I believe that you are with me. I believe that Manchester is with me. And Connecticut. And 100 million Americans and more. The Idea of America belongs to us, it belongs to all of us. And we will not let the cynical and small take it away. The decades of rebuilding will be harder than this decade of destruction. It will take all our hope, and all our strength, our devotion to peace and our tenacity for justice. In 1962, at Zion Hill Baptist Church, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr concluded with these words:22 And with this faith we will go out and adjourn the counsels of despair and bring new light into the dark chambers of pessimism and we will be able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. And this will be a great America! We will be the participants in making it so. And so, as I leave you this evening I say, Walk together children! Don’t you get weary! Amen and Blessed Be. 1 Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence included the passage: “[King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's [sic] most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people [i.e. Africans] who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.” He explicitly includes at least Black men as having the inalienable rights of life and liberty. This section even made it through Committee review, but was stripped out during the Congressional revisions. It wasn’t that no one of the time could imagine Blacks as having rights. People thought of it, wrote it down, and then chose to remove it. It seems unlikely that Jefferson really meant to include Black men in “all men are created equal,” but Jefferson contradicted himself a lot, and often failed to consider the wider implications of what he said, so it’s always difficult to say what Jefferson “means.” 2 “The New Colossus” See “The Immigrant’s Statue” at the NPS Statue of Liberty site for a brief intro. Georgina Schuyler, a friend of Lazarus’s, started a campaign in 1901 to get the poem added to the pedestal. Lazarus was a well-known poet in 1883, and was asked to donate a poem to be auctioned to help raise money to construct the pedestal. She initially refused. But she was very active in helping Jewish refugees from eastern Europe, and was eventually convinced to write a poem that centered on the statue’s impact on those new arrivals. 3 “Trump bemoans lack of immigrants from majority-white countries to the US.” The Guardian. April 8, 2024. 4 For a quick overview, see the “Abolition” page from the NPS’s site on the Statue of Liberty. 5 Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 1863. 6 For this and much more, see “Black Americans in Congress” at the US House’s History site. 7 Wikipedia’s several Klan-related pages are quite disjointed, but the “First Klan” section of the main Ku Klux Klan page is a reasonable overview of this period. 8 “The Original Lady Liberty,” Library of Congress Blogs, November 2020. Includes early drawing. 9 The broad term for this movement is “Redemption” and marked the end of Reconstruction. Much of its argument and strategy is continued today in the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act and other anti-discrimination laws, and the results so far have been the same. Southern states have immediately (within the same week as Louisiana v. Callais) started implementing policies explicitly designed to make it harder for Blacks to vote. During Redemption it took years to do the same. 10 Hebrews 11:1. (NRSVue) 11 S. 1564: 77-19. H.R. 6400: 333-85. 12 The Civil Rights Movement Archive is an incredible source of information on this era. See the 1960 page for information on the Sit-In movement. 13 Luke 18:1-5. (NRSVue) 14 Greek: ἀντιδίκου (antidikou). NRSVue translates this as “accuser” but that translation annoys me, so I’m not using it here. It’s referring to the other party in a lawsuit, not specifically the plaintiff (the widow is clearly the one seeking justice). The translation is distinguishing the technical word for “other party in a lawsuit” from a more general “person opposing me” (ἀντικείμενος). But I think it muddies the point of this passage. Yes, I know this is way too much detail about a one-word, trivial translation choice, but you’re clearly the kind of person who likes to read the footnotes. 15 Greek: ὑπωπιάζω (hupópiazó). A boxing term that means to strike beneath the eye and create a bruise (i.e. give a black eye). NRSVue offers “slap me in the face” as an alternate translation for this verse. It’s a metaphor for “harass” or “wear down” as a boxer might with jabbing punches. The author of Luke was not actually suggesting the judge was afraid the widow would beat him up. Sorry. Some suggest that “give a black eye” had the same metaphorical sense we use today, as in “publically shame,” but I haven’t seen much evidence supporting that. 16 Gallup: “Same-Sex Relations, Marriage Still Supported by Most in U.S.” June 24, 2024. 17 NPR/PBS/Marist: “Two-thirds of Americans say ICE has 'gone too far' in immigration enforcement.” Feb 5, 2026. 18 Center for Immigration Studies. June 29, 2026. 19 PRRI: LGBTQ Rights Across All 50 States. March 4, 2025. 20 Gallup: “U.S. Approval of Interracial Marriage at New High of 94%.” Sept 10, 2021. 21 Pew: “How public attitudes toward Martin Luther King Jr. have changed since the 1960s.” Aug 10, 2023. 22 “The Dilemma and the Challenge Facing the Negro Today,” June 17, 1962 (conjectured). Note that accurately citing MLK speeches is extremely challenging. King recycled a lot of stock passages, sometimes at length, so you can’t just look for “adjourn the councils of despair” and think you have the right speech. He used that phrase in at least three speeches. Do not trust the sourcing from random YouTube videos. They’re usually wrong. The best source I’ve found is the Stanford King Institute site (kinginstitute.stanford.edu), but its search is very poor. It’s best to use a search engine with “site:kinginstitute.stanford.edu”.

Gathering Music (Dorothy Bognar, guest musician) Welcome Centering Prelude Ernesto Nazareth: Odeon Chalice Lighting and Opening Words Opening Hymn #360 "Here We Have Gathered" Words: Alicia S. Carpenter; Music: Genevan Psalter Dorothy Bognar, piano Here we have gathered side by side; circle of kinship, come and step inside! May all who seek here find a kindly word; may all who speak here feel they have been heard. Sing now together this, our hearts' own song. Here we have gathered, called to celebrate days of our lifetime, matters small and great: we of all ages, women, children, men, infants and sages, sharing what we can. Sing now together this, our hearts' own song. Life has its battles, sorrows, and regret: but in the shadows, let us not forget: we who now gather know each other's pain; kindness can heal us: as we give, we gain. Sing now in friendship this, our hearts' own song. Time For All Ages "I am Me" by Susan Verde Hymn #1057 "Go Lifted Up" Words & Music by Mortimer Barron (repeat 2x) Go lifted up, Love bless your way, moonlight, starlight guide your journey into peace and the brightness of day. Announcements Introduction to the Service The Smokey Mirror Joys and Concerns Musical Interlude Offering Each Sunday, we dedicate half of the unallocated collections from our offertory to organizations that are working to improve people's lives in the Manchester area. The recipients of our July Community Outreach offering are the MACC Food Pantry, the Hockanum Valley Food Pantry, the CT Mutual Aid East of the River Food Pantry, and the TLC Foundation. Offering Music Federico Mompou: Cancion y Danza 6 Homily Be Impeccable With Your Word Sam Taylor Musical Interlude Homily Don't Take Things Personally Liz Garmise Closing Hymn #1008 "When Our Heart is in a Holy Place" Words & Music by Joyce Poley Dorothy Bognar, piano Chorus: When our heart is in a holy place, When our heart is in a holy place, We are bless'd with love and amazing grace, When our heart is in a holy place. When we trust the wisdom in each of us, Ev'ry color ev'ry creed and kind, And we see our faces in each other's eyes, Then our heart is in a holy place. Chorus When we tell our story from deep inside, And we listen with a loving mind, And we hear our voices in each other's words, Then our heart is in a holy place. Chorus When we share the silence of sacred space, And the God of our Heart stirs within, And we feel the power of each other's faith, Then our heart is in a holy place. Chorus 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.

Child programs, kids, toddlers, sunday school, youth programs, adult education. Children & Youth Ministry The Children & Youth Ministry (CYM) at UUSE offers a thriving program for all young people from infancy through senior high and more! Classes are held on the Garden Level at UUSE, concurrently with the second (11am) service from September through June. In the summer months, we offer a lighter schedule which runs concurrent with the 10am service. About Children & Youth Ministry Our Children and Youth Ministry (CYM) offers a thriving program for all young people from infancy through senior high and more! The CYM program is a cooperative effort; we utilize a team approach, with one adult from each family volunteering in some capacity in CYM. We urge families to become informed about UUSE philosophy, themes, and activities by attending services, participating in parent meetings, engaging in discussions with the Director of Children and Youth Ministry, Minister, CYM committee members, classroom volunteers, and other families. The CYM Committee also sponsors many multi-generational events, including winter holiday celebrations, Trunk-or-Treat, game nights, movie nights and more. UU Principles, Children’s Version: • Every person is important. • Be kind in all you do. • We’re free to learn together. • We can search for what is true. • All people need a voice. • Build a fair and peaceful world. • We care for the earth. Sources We Draw From: The living tradition we share draws from many sources, including: • Direct experience of mystery and wonder; • Words and deeds of prophetic women and men; • Wisdom from the world’s religions; • Jewish and Christian teachings; • Humanist teachings using reason and science; • Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions. Program Goals: • Continue to make community and connection the primary focus of our ministry, in order to build a strong support system for our children, youth, and families. • Foster UU identity formation by providing opportunities for children and adults of all ages to engage in fun and meaningful activities together. • Strengthen our commitment to dismantling systemic racism by selecting curricula, books, music, and movies with an anti-racist lens. • Build a community that cultivates pre-emptive radical inclusivity. New or Visiting? Be sure to let a greeter know if you’re visiting a service and would like to know more about our program. They will be happy to put you in touch with our Director of Children and Youth Ministry, Emmy Galbraith, on the Garden Level. We are happy to welcome you into our program at any time! If you are able, we strongly encourage that you connect with Emmy prior to a first visit so your child can know what to expect. Her direct email is dcym@uuse.org . Additionally, the CYM Committee is always available for questions or comments at our dedicated email: uusecym@uuse.org . Contact Us Emmy, the Director of CYM, can be reached by email at dcym@uuse.org And the CYM Committee is available for questions or comments at uusecym@uuse.org

Music plays a key role in our services and in our congregational life. Worship Sunday Services Schedule July/August Ministry Theme: None Join us at 10 AM. The 10 AM Zoom service login and call-in information is shared through the congregational eblasts on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Subscribe to the eblast by sending a message to uuseoffice@uuse.org or call the UUSE office at 860-646-5151. Sunday Service: "Hymn Sing" Join us in person or online for our third hybrid hymn sing. Coordinators: Martha Larson and Stacey Musulin. Summer Schedule Sunday, June 28 at 10:00 A.M. - Updated #eBlast -06-24 Sunday Service: "The Idea of America" In its 250th year, it can be difficult to celebrate America. You only need look around to see how far America, the nation, is from America, the Idea. But that Idea lives on. We see it in every city that says no, not here. In every state that says, yes, you are welcome. In every community that offers safety for all. This is not the first time America has fallen back. We've been here before, and through struggle, we've arisen better than we were. We can still celebrate the Idea of America, and we can move towards it again. Coordinators: Rob Napier, Sandy Karosi, Paula Baker. Summer Schedule Sunday, July 5th at 10:00 A.M. - Updated #eBlast -07-01 Sunday Service: "The 4 Agreements Part I" The Four Agreements, a 1997 book by spiritual guide and author Don Miguel Ruiz, is often touted as "a roadmap to enlightenment and freedom." Please join Liz Garmise and Sam Tayor on July 12th for the first of our two-part series as we explore--and critique!--the first two agreements: Be Impeccable With Your Word and Don't Take Anything Personally. How do these agreements relate to our UU principles and values? Can any roadmap to enlightenment really be complete with just four agreements? The series will continue on August 9th with the last two agreements: Don't Make Assumptions and Always Do Your Best. Coordinators: Liz Garmise and Sam Taylor. Summer Schedule Sunday, July 12th at 10:00 A.M. - Updated #eBlast -07-08 Sunday, July 19th: The Pulse of Love. Join us this morning for a joyful, musical celebration of love in its many guises—love that grounds us, love that moves us, and love that pulses with a connection to our UU values and principles. Coordinator: Kate Kimmerle. Sunday, July 26th: Summering. Our spiritual lives mirror the seasons. Each season, along with each transition between seasons, is full of spiritual significance. This morning, Rev. Josh explores the essence of our spiritual summers. Are we summering yet? Special music by Andy Ricci. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek. Sunday, August 2nd: Coffee House. Join us for our annual coffee house service, at which many of our UUSE musicians and poets share their talents. This service has become a beloved end-of-summer tradition for us. Always fun, always meaningful, always a wonderful reflection of the diversity and passion within the UUSE community. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek. 7/19/26 The Pulse of Love. Sunday, July 19th: The Pulse of Love. Join us this morning for a joyful, musical celebration of love in its many guises—love that grounds us, love that moves us, and love that pulses with a connection to our UU values and principles. Coordinator: Kate Kimmerle. 7/26/26 Summering Sunday, July 26th: Summering. Our spiritual lives mirror the seasons. Each season, along with each transition between seasons, is full of spiritual significance. This morning, Rev. Josh explores the essence of our spiritual summers. Are we summering yet? Special music by Andy Ricci. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek. 8/2/26 TBD Sunday, August 2nd: TBD

Religious education is not just for kids. We have plenty of programs to keep adults busy too. Intro to UU The Intro to UU program is taught periodically by the minister. There's not one scheduled at the moment. Keep an eye on the Happenings section of the website to see when the next session might be coming.