Twenty years after the groundbreaking Unitarian Universalist book “Worship That Works” first shaped understanding of Unitarian Universalist liturgy, Seminarian, LaVonne Limpus, revisits its core principles with insights of evolving community needs. She will reflect on how the book’s call for authenticity, intentionality, and spiritual depth still resonates, but now, how we can challenge our congregations to move beyond inherited forms and into co-created ritual that honors pluralism, ecological urgency, and embodied presence. Drawing from her chaplaincy work and professional speaking, she invites worship leaders to see liturgy not as performance, but as communal transformation, where silence, story, and symbol are tools for resilience in a time when UU Values are needed more than ever.
Services
Unity Through Prayerfulness
Prayer brings us together. Different people call prayer by different names, yet it is the same unified feeling behind our activity of prayer. In the Native American tradition we immerse ourselves in prayer and gratitude every day. Today we honor Indigenous People’s Day, joining each other in circle in a prayerful way. Jesse invites and encourages all to come share in this practice of connectivity through prayer in circle.
Blessing of the Animals
We are very excited to offer a Blessing of the Animals officiated by Rev. Stephen Landale, a hospice chaplain from Eugene. If you plan to bring your companion animal, they need to be unaggressive and kept on a leash, or in a crate or cage, while in the building. Alternatively, you could also bring a photograph of your pet, or an image on your phone or tablet – or participate virtually with your pet, via Zoom.
Imagining a Post-Abolition World (zoom)
The UU Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) is a world wide internet community of people who do not live near a UU church, serve in the military or are incarcerated. At the UUA General Assembly this year CLF proposed the topic of “Abolition, Transformation, and Faith Formation” to be the 2025 Congregational Study Action Issue. The delegates at GA voted for this proposal. Rev. Dr. Michael Tino, a CLF Lead minister will join us via Zoom with a message about why abolition of our prison system is fundamentally a UU value.
Clean Energy SUN DAY
Sun Day – in the spirit of Earth Day – is a nationwide celebration of clean energy: a day of joyous action in support of solar and wind energy and a call to leave fossil fuels behind. On the eve of the autumn equinox, we’ll explore clean energy options for individuals, communities and the planet.
The Roots and the Seeds of Unitarian Thought
Many trace the emergence of American Unitarian thought to the work of a group of seekers called the Transcendentalists. The chief writer among them was Ralph Waldo Emerson. It seems, though, that the movement he helped launch was seeded earlier by his Aunt Mary. Let’s explore this amazing woman, her impact on our movement and the power of mentorship.
The Sanctity of Sex-Ed (zoom)
Unitarian Universalists are pioneers in comprehensive sexuality education, offering “Our Whole Lives” classes that flip shame-based messages about “sex ed” upside-down. Negative messages about sex have been used to consolidate power and control for millennia, and this active oppression continues in the highest levels of our government today. But our religion teaches that our bodies are good, science is real, and all people are equally deserving of love and respect; we can all be loud and proud to carry that faith with us in our work for justice.
Northwest Seasonal Workers Association NSWA
Northwest Seasonal Workers Association is an independent membership association of workers in the seasonal industries of agriculture, timber and tourism which has been active in Jackson County since 1976.
UUGP Sunday Service Committee: Gathering of the Waters
As the summer fades and we return from travels, visits with family and friends and the adventures of the hot summer months, UUs around the country return to the formal beginning of a new church year. We invite you to bring a memento of your adventures in the form of a sample of the waters from your summer days. For some this might be water from distant lands. For others it might be the life sustaining water from your backyard well, hillside spring, or the faucet in your kitchen that brings the water of the Rogue River and its headwater’s mountain streams to our community. Let these waters be a symbol of both the miraculous life-giving systems of mother earth, and the beloved community that is our UUGP congregation.
My Experiences as an RN in the Prison System
Kurt will talk about his healing work in prisons and how these experiences helped the Heart Based Institute in launching the recently released video program on the Spiritual Heart onto Endovo, an online platform that currently reaches 1,250 prisons and jails across America.