< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled Heart of the Arts Friday, May 22nd at 7:00 P.M. UUSE will host an unforgettable evening of music and poetry featuring Christian Loftus, Manchester's own troubadour, and Nadia Sims, the town's celebrated Poet Laureate. This unique collaboration brings together two of Manchester's most gifted artists for a night of soul-stirring songs and evocative spoken word. Loftus's heartfelt melodies and rich storytelling will intertwine with Sims's powerful poetry, offering a performance that is both moving and inspiring. The event is open to the public and all are welcome to attend. Admission is free but donations to UUSE are welcome. #MayNewsletter Friday, May 22nd at 7:00 P.M. UUSE will host an unforgettable evening of music and poetry featuring Christian Loftus, Manchester's own troubadour, and Nadia Sims, the town's celebrated Poet Laureate. This unique collaboration brings together two of Manchester's most gifted artists for a night of soul-stirring songs and evocative spoken word. Loftus's heartfelt melodies and rich storytelling will intertwine with Sims's powerful poetry, offering a performance that is both moving and inspiring. The event is open to the public and all are welcome to attend. Admission is free but donations to UUSE are welcome. #MayNewsletter OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Jan 30, 2027 Wait? What? The 2027 Goods & Services Auction Live Event Saturday, January 30, 2027 at 5 PM at the Meetinghouse #AugustNewsletter Live Event Saturday, January 30, 2027 at 5 PM at the Meetinghouse #AugustNewsletter OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled The UUSE Artisan Holiday Market UUSE Artisan Holiday Market 📅 Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 • 6–8:30 PM Friday Night Sneak Peek – $5 admission includes mulled apple cider and dessert. 📅 Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 • 9 AM–3 PM Free Admission! UUSE Artisan Holiday Market 📅 Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 • 6–8:30 PM Friday Night Sneak Peek – $5 admission includes mulled apple cider and dessert. 📅 Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 • 9 AM–3 PM Free Admission! OOS Sermon YouTube

ce1fb5b6-be6f-453c-a3bb-765c9ec2c44c < Back to Newsletter September Newsletter Article < Previous Article Next Article > Community Outreach Ministry Charitable Giving for September As always, thank you for your generosity. We do not gather our gifts only for ourselves, but to share with the larger community. Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts with the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month will be shared with: Manchester Latino Affairs Council SheLeadsJustice Please contact Louisa Graver at uuseoffice@uuse.org , David Lacoss, or Nancy Madar at uuseoffice@uuse.org. Make checks out to UUSE. If the memo line: ✓ is blank or “pledge” - all will go toward your pledge. ✓ has “COM” or the name of the charity - all will go to the charity. ✓ has “1/2 pledge, 1/2 COM” - it will be divided equally. #SeptemberNewsletter Contact Information modified in accordance with UUSE Privacy Policies.

< To Upcoming Services May 25, 2025 Imagination As a Sacred Tool. Sunday, May 25th: Imagination As a Sacred Tool. Our UU faith asks us to work for a more just and equitable world. In the words of Rev. Heather Concannon, “one of the sacred tools we must draw on is imagination. The tool of not just denouncing the world as it is, but of announcing: here’s what I imagine a better world to look like.” This service explores the ways that members of our UUSE community use imagination to conjure “the world our hearts know is possible”. Coordinators: Sandy Karosi & Paula Baker. Sunday, May 25th: Imagination As a Sacred Tool. Our UU faith asks us to work for a more just and equitable world. In the words of Rev. Heather Concannon, “one of the sacred tools we must draw on is imagination. The tool of not just denouncing the world as it is, but of announcing: here’s what I imagine a better world to look like.” This service explores the ways that members of our UUSE community use imagination to conjure “the world our hearts know is possible”. Coordinators: Sandy Karosi & Paula Baker. #JuneNewsletter OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled NLDC Annual Recruitment The Nominating and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC) is starting our annual recruitment effort for the July 2025 - June 2026 term. On March 2nd after the 11:00 A.M. service, the NLDC will be recruiting for new chairs and committee members. We will have handouts outlining committee charters and chair responsibilities available for review and posted on the bulletin board in the Program Room. What we have learned from our conversations with chairs and members serving on UUSE committees is that congregants rarely reach out on their own to volunteer. However, when someone takes the initiative to reach out to an individual and discusses committee opportunities, then congregants are more likely to be open to serve. It is our hope that these recruiting sessions will provide an opportunity to reach out to more congregants and extend a personal invitation to serve the UUSE community. Please join us and consider volunteering for a committee. This congregation cannot continue to sustain itself without volunteers. We desperately need more volunteers, and we need them now. Please consider making time in your busy schedules usually just a few hours a month to give back to a community that enriches our lives and community in so many ways. We hope to see you there, but if you can't make it, please reach out to one of the NLDC members. Our contact information will be on the bulletin board in the program room soon. Sincerely, the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee #FebruaryNewsletter The Nominating and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC) is starting our annual recruitment effort for the July 2025 - June 2026 term. On March 2nd after the 11:00 A.M. service, the NLDC will be recruiting for new chairs and committee members. We will have handouts outlining committee charters and chair responsibilities available for review and posted on the bulletin board in the Program Room. What we have learned from our conversations with chairs and members serving on UUSE committees is that congregants rarely reach out on their own to volunteer. However, when someone takes the initiative to reach out to an individual and discusses committee opportunities, then congregants are more likely to be open to serve. It is our hope that these recruiting sessions will provide an opportunity to reach out to more congregants and extend a personal invitation to serve the UUSE community. Please join us and consider volunteering for a committee. This congregation cannot continue to sustain itself without volunteers. We desperately need more volunteers, and we need them now. Please consider making time in your busy schedules usually just a few hours a month to give back to a community that enriches our lives and community in so many ways. We hope to see you there, but if you can't make it, please reach out to one of the NLDC members. Our contact information will be on the bulletin board in the program room soon. Sincerely, the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee #FebruaryNewsletter OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled Program Your Mind to Achieve Your Goals Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00:00 PM Join UUSE and Skip Gatting for a presentation of Program Your Mind to Achieve Your Goals. With discoveries in neuroscience, we know how to program our mind. By understanding the process, we can take control of our thoughts and emotions and create a more fulfilling life. In this presentation, you will learn the skills needed to start rewiring your subconscious mind to send you ideas throughout the day that lead you to achieving your goals. Learn more at Happiness-Success.com. Sponsored by the Adult Religious Education Committee. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00:00 PM Join UUSE and Skip Gatting for a presentation of Program Your Mind to Achieve Your Goals . With discoveries in neuroscience, we know how to program our mind. By understanding the process, we can take control of our thoughts and emotions and create a more fulfilling life. In this presentation, you will learn the skills needed to start rewiring your subconscious mind to send you ideas throughout the day that lead you to achieving your goals. Learn more at Happiness-Success.com . Sponsored by the Adult Religious Education Committee. OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled Women's History Month Celebration Women's History Month Celebration Monday, March 31, 2025 - 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Location: Work Space, 903 Main Street, Manchester, CT All are welcome to join the African American and Black Affairs Council as it presents Unshaken: Black Women, Leadership, Power and Progress in a Changing America. Networking and a meal at 5:00 P.M. with a panel discussion at 6:00 P.M. Panelists include Shanda Comeaux, LCSW - founder of Catherine's Heart Counseling Services, Tracy Patterson, MBA - Chair of the Manchester Board of Education and Event Moderator; Rhonda Philbert, MPH - Retired Race and Equity Coordinator, Manchester Public Schools; UUSE's Rev. Josh Pawelek; Pam Floyd-Cranford, MSW, LCSW, SSW - owner of Elite Tertiary Education Consulting and member of the Manchester Board of Directors; Nadia Sims - Manchester's Poet Laureate, and Ohanna Boahen - President of the Black Student Union at Manchester High School. #eBlast-03-26 Women's History Month Celebration Monday, March 31, 2025 - 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Location: Work Space, 903 Main Street, Manchester, CT All are welcome to join the African American and Black Affairs Council as it presents Unshaken: Black Women, Leadership, Power and Progress in a Changing America. Networking and a meal at 5:00 P.M. with a panel discussion at 6:00 P.M. Panelists include Shanda Comeaux, LCSW - founder of Catherine's Heart Counseling Services, Tracy Patterson, MBA - Chair of the Manchester Board of Education and Event Moderator; Rhonda Philbert, MPH - Retired Race and Equity Coordinator, Manchester Public Schools; UUSE's Rev. Josh Pawelek; Pam Floyd-Cranford, MSW, LCSW, SSW - owner of Elite Tertiary Education Consulting and member of the Manchester Board of Directors; Nadia Sims - Manchester's Poet Laureate, and Ohanna Boahen - President of the Black Student Union at Manchester High School. #eBlast -03-26 OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Aug 30, 2026 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. Summer Schedule #eBlast-08-26 Sunday Service: "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. Summer Schedule Sunday, August 30 at 10:00 A.M. In Case You Missed It #eBlast -08-26 OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Watch the eBlast for the next scheduled Amuse Blues Jazz Trio Enjoy an afternoon with our very own beloved Amuse Blues Jazz trio. as Paul Shumsky, Zack Bates, and Steve Dauphinais turn out tasty tunes with an eclectic mix of jazz standards and original compositions by Paul Shumsky. Sunday, November 2nd at 3:00PM. $20 Freewill Donation, no one turned away. Enjoy an afternoon with our very own beloved Amuse Blues Jazz trio. as Paul Shumsky, Zack Bates, and Steve Dauphinais turn out tasty tunes with an eclectic mix of jazz standards and original compositions by Paul Shumsky. Sunday, November 2nd at 3:00PM. $20 Freewill Donation, no one turned away. OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Aug 4, 2024 Sacred Words. August 4: “Sacred Words.”This Sunday we reflect on how poetry serves as an essential conduit to spirituality, featuring original poems and music from members of UUSE.Coordinator(s): Gianna DiMaiolo #AugustNewsletter OOS Sermon YouTube

< To Upcoming Services Jul 28, 2024 Spinoza's God: Wisdom from the 1600s July 28: “Spinoza's God: Wisdom from the 1600s.” Spinoza wrote that God is the world and the entire world is in God. He used a rationalistic perspective to show that human life is subject to the universal laws of nature. Learn about the remarkable ways in which this early philosophy mirrors the fundamental principles of Unitarian Universalism. Guest Presenter: Malcolm Barlow Coordinator(s): Vivian Carlson OOS Sermon YouTube