“Where there is no risk,” author Diane Ackerman writes, “life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography” – the ups and downs, beautiful surprises and unexpected challenges of life are all absent without taking some risk. What can we learn about ourselves from looking at how we risk? What can we learn about changing the world?

We all yearn to make a difference to the people and work that matters most in our lives. As we mark what would have been the 201st birthday of former congregant, activist, and author Frances Ellen Watkins Harper this week, what can we learn from “one of the most prominent African Americans” in the mid-1800s about how to use our lives to make change in the world?

What would atonement look like if we worked together as a congregation? The Japaneze tradition of Senbazuru, or folding 1,000 origami paper cranes, offers us the invitation to create a symbolic gesture of repairation, a symbol of world peace. If we listen deeply, where else do we see invitations for repair in our lives?

Join us as we regather our community and recommit to nourishing our beautiful and hurting world with our annual multigenerational water ceremony. Bring some water from a special place with you to the Sanctuary, or have some with you at home!

Kids learn about themselves and others through play until they reach a certain age, then they are told to abandon such childish pursuits. But in doing so, they cut themselves off from precious paths of growth, understanding, and empathy. Let’s rediscover those paths together and remember how to play!

In this service, we celebrate the gifts of our interconnectedness with the animal world. Bring your well-behaved or crated pets to the sanctuary or to your zoom camera to receive a blessing in this intergenerational service. Pictures of shy or departed pets, stuffed animals, or other symbolic animals are invited to receive a blessing too!

Are you starting something new this fall? Does it involve a notebook, a backpack, a briefcase, or a lunch box? Perhaps you’d like to bless your laptop bag or carry-on suitcase for your upcoming travel? Let us join together in worship to support these folks, making bold choices, with a deep, heartfelt call to carry our love alongside them on these new adventures.

Growing up as a pastor’s kid in the Methodist Church, Luke (he/him) fondly remembers helping his mother with her sermons. He’s excited to be involved with First UU in this way! Like many others in the congregation, Luke values community and coalition building as a means of activism and care. He is currently a graduate student in social work and education, which he uses as a means to connect others and platform voices that don’t often get listened to.

This Sunday, we reflect on the power of questions in our lives, and take time in service to offer our questions on matters of spirituality and social justice to Rev. Abbey and our new Faith Formation Leader, Mark Caswell, to answer in this spontaneous, unscripted service!

Mark Twain once said “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time”. This service will explore the diverse beliefs Unitarian Universalists have on death and the afterlife while challenging us to live fully in the now. We will also hold space for those who we love who have passed away.

How can we even talk about abolishing prisons? First because prisons don’t work. This service will focus on the failures of the current prison system: it does not rehabilitate people in prison to prevent further crime or keep others in the community safe. Second, because we are true to our roots. Our UU ancestors called for abolition, and we are following in that tradition. Third, we also need to talk more about possible alternatives to prison.

Unitarian Universalism’s 7th principle invites us to respect the interdependent web of which we are a part. While we may long for more connection and mutual support in our lives, living interdependently can be hard in today’s society. What makes interdependence challenging? And how can we work towards more interdependent living within our communities?
*Title drawn from Gwendolyn Brooks’s 1970 poem Paul Robeson