We can carry the gifts of our elders forward. Our elders both respect individuality and carry the history of who we have been together. Jesse will share his journey from disconnection with his Native American heritage to blessing and inspiring community as an elder.
Start time 11:00, may also be accessed through RVUUF Youtube live stream)
A very nuanced question for a covenant-based faith built to be expansive, living, and adaptable. What are our shared goals? How will we know we have arrived… in the liberal world we aspire to create? When will we know that work of collective liberation is done? What does it mean if we never arrive? This service will explore what it means to arrive in the shifting intersections of faith, fellowship, and freedom.
The people of Oregon passed a referendum that allows psilocybin mushrooms to be used for treatment and spiritual purposes in Oregon. Psychedelic mushrooms will be highly regulated and yet will soon be fairly available. What does that have to do with you? For one thing, UU ministers such as our visiting minister, Rev. Katie Larsell, are training to become licensed guides. Why would a minister want to guide people on trips? Come and find out how mushrooms and religion go together.
UU is a living tradition that thrives on being in conversation with itself; aspiring to be present, active, and alive in the NOW of our humanity. As we celebrate Black History Month, let’s explore UU Black History and just as importantly, how we can manifest our collective liberation through the lens of Black Liberation.
If we’re lucky, at some point in our lives we have places where we feel deeply welcome, we feel like we belong. And likely we’ve experienced other places where our belonging feels. . . not quite there. How would a newcomer know they belong at First Parish Framingham? Or in Unitarian Universalism? Using the Buddhist concept of the near enemy, we explore what sneaky, hard-to-recognize obstacles can undermine not only an authentic sense of belonging in our congregations and faith tradition, but can undermine Unitarian Universalism itself.
Charles Darwin’s maternal grandfather was Josiah Wedgwood, a man from a poor family of religious dissenters whose education was cut short at age seven by his father’s death. Nevertheless, Wedgwood became a renowned and innovative manufacturer of elegant pottery. He and Charles’s other grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, were not only friends but leading lights of the English Enlightenment.
Do you despise the question “What do you believe?” JD Stillwater gets real about his own personal beliefs, and discovers a scientific approach towards a New Agnosticism, one that fully embraces the mysteries and ambiguities inherent in natural reality. Along the way we meet a cryptic cat, a famous psychic, a woman with a problem, and a religious organization for atheists. The exclamation “Poppycock!” also makes a cameo appearance.
After seeing the musical “Hamilton” in Eugene in September and listening to the Hamilton soundtrack nonstop (!) ever since, and now watching documentaries and reading books of the Revolutionary War and founding of the USA, Rev. Stephen Landale will offer reflections on what all this can mean for us today.
UU is a liberal faith that seeks to offer a radical welcome to all who enter. What a poetic idea but what does that mean? Radical welcome is more than opening the doors, it’s a way of relating that affirms our UU Principles. Let’s explore and imagine how radical welcome can be a part of UUGP’s 2023 journey.
Taylor Stewart, executive director of the Oregon Remembrance Project, will share what he’s learned about courage, unwavering belief, and the power of ordinary people.He will share his story of how an inconspicuous college student found the inspiration, courage, and belief necessary to make an extraordinary difference. Taylor invites his audience to ask the question, “Why not me?”
