2012-2013 CANVASS
To Re-imagine Our Future:
First Unitarian Church Parish Pledge Campaign 2012
Each church year, we are invited to walk a path towards the center of our spiritual lives and values. We revisit our greatest hopes and dreams for ourselves, our families, and our community. We are called to reflect on the ways in which our collective generosity has built – and continues to build – this spiritual community and the greater community in which we are located.
Our stated mission and vision for our faith community calls us to constantly re-examine and re-imagine the work of this urban, liberal religious institution we call the First Unitarian Church in New Bedford:
Mission: Our mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance, and to work for positive change in ourselves and in our community.
Vision: The First Unitarian Church in New Bedford is inspired by a long history of tolerance, social responsibility, and spiritual exploration. We envision a congregation in which we practice the principles of our faith. We seek to enjoy peaceful reflection and inspiration in intellectually and spiritually satisfying church services. We aim to embrace the people and efforts of our church community by supporting our children and their programs, our committees and their goals, our staff and their efforts on our behalf, and each other.
We aim to help address the larger community’s challenges in such areas as racial, social, and economic justice; ecological sustainability; education; and support of the arts.
We endeavor to reflect in our own growing numbers the cultural and ethnic diversity of our area. We commit to enhancing our understanding and acceptance of the diverse religious expression present in our greater community, including reaching out to other faiths in mutual respect and with shared goals.
We cannot live out our mission and vision under our current financial situation. For many years, we have operated at a deficit, relying too much on a shrinking endowment to make ends meet. We need a financial commitment from every member and friend in order to sustain and grow our ministry.
The work of the First Unitarian Church Parish Pledge Campaign 2012 will be focused on equipping our community to “re-imagine our future” and embrace our mission and vision. The Stewardship Committee will support this work by encouraging and strengthening the culture of generosity and stewardship that has been the hallmark of this parish. In the weeks ahead, the Stewardship Committee will initiate a series of parish events and presentations to lead our community through the process of reflecting on the ways in which every member can support our mission and vision with their time, talent, and treasure. We are excited to be working with you as we re-imagine the future of the First Unitarian Church in New Bedford.
Calendar of Events:
January 29 – Initial “Letter to Every Member and Friend” announcing the campaign, its goals, and its events.
February 5 through April 29– Each Sunday, members of the Stewardship Committee and various parishioners will briefly reflect on what this parish means to them and why they pledge to support our parish.
February 5 – Introduction of Stewardship Committee at Sunday service.
February 19 – Kick-off Dinner and release of New Bedford’s Church: The First Unitarian Church in New Bedford: three hundred years of leadership and transformation, by Fred Gifun.
February through April – Visits and calls to every member and friend.
May – Campaign Celebration Dinner and Annual Meeting.
Fair Share Giving Guide
This chart will help you find the percentage of your weekly income that you could pledge to the work of the First Unitarian Church in New Bedford.
| WeeklyIncome | 1% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 5% |
| $50 | $.50 | $1.00 | $1.50 | $2.00 | $2.50 |
| $100 | $1.00 | $2.00 | $3.00 | $4.00 | $5.00 |
| $200 | $2.00 | $4.00 | $6.00 | $8.00 | $10.00 |
| $300 | $3.00 | $6.00 | $9.00 | $12.00 | $15.00 |
| $400 | $4.00 | $8.00 | $12.0 | $16.00 | $20.00 |
| $500 | $5.00 | $10.00 | $15.00 | $20.00 | $25.00 |
| $600 | $6.00 | $12.00 | $18.00 | $24.00 | $30.00 |
| $700 | $7.00 | $14.00 | $21.00 | $28.00 | $35.00 |
| $800 | $8.00 | $16.00 | $24.00 | $2.00 | $40.00 |
| $900 | $9.00 | $18.00 | $27.00 | $36.00 | $45.00 |
| $1000 | $10.00 | $20.00 | $30.00 | $40.00 | $50.00 |
| $1500 | $15.00 | $30.00 | $45.00 | $60.00 | $75.00 |
| $2000 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $60.00 | $80.00 | $100.00 |
| WeeklyIncome | 6% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 10% |
| $50 | $3.00 | $3.50 | $4.00 | $4.50 | $5.00 |
| $100 | $6.00 | $7.00 | $8.00 | $9.00 | $10.00 |
| $200 | $12.00 | $14.00 | $16.00 | $18.00 | $20.00 |
| $300 | $18.00 | $21.00 | $24.00 | $27.00 | $30.00 |
| $400 | $24.00 | $28.00 | $32.00 | $36.00 | $40.00 |
| $500 | $30.00 | $35.00 | $40.00 | $45.00 | $50.00 |
| $600 | $36.00 | $42.00 | $48.00 | $54.00 | $60.00 |
| $700 | $42.00 | $49.00 | $56.00 | $63.00 | $70.00 |
| $800 | $48.00 | $56.00 | $64.00 | $72.00 | $80.00 |
| $900 | $54.00 | $63.00 | $72.00 | $81.00 | $90.00 |
| $1000 | $60.00 | $70.00 | $80.00 | $90.00 | $100.00 |
| $1500 | $90.00 | $105.00 | $120.00 | $135.00 | $150.00 |
| $2000 | $120.00 | $140.00 | $160.00 | $180.00 | $200.00 |
Where does your pledge money go?
(These are not exact totals but examples of budgeted expenses.)
Salaries & Benefits: $ 130,000
Utilities: $22,000
Maintenance: $20,300
Administration: $12,000
Community Outreach: $4200
Pledge income vs. Church expenses
(Expenses over the pledge income amount are paid from various Fundraisers, income from the Thrift Shop, Building Rentals, Parking Lot rentals, and the remainder is taken from the endowment.)
2010/2011 Pledge Income: $45,000
2010/2011 Other Income: 20,000
2010/2011 Expenses: $217,000
Help us bridge the gap between income and expenses by pledging your
fair share.
A Liturgical Year
2011 – 2012
First Unitarian in New Bedford
Rev. Dr. Robert R.N. Ross
A Liturgical Year
2011 – 2012
Introduction
Development of a Liturgical Year calendar for First Unitarian inNew Bedfordrepresents a structure in which a number of elements of worship, social justice and outreach, and activities with children of RE age can be meaningfully integrated. In addition, there are several more specific goals:
- To ensure that in each month there is at least one significant worship celebration or event in which all members of the congregation across all generations can participate
- To attend to the feel and affect associated with each season and with seasonal change as a basis for spiritual reflection, and to connect more strongly with those in the congregation for whom a response to the natural world is an especially important part of their religious and personal life
- To more directly connect individual and group social justice and outreach activities with which members of the congregation are involved with their worship experience
- To establish more common ground among members through which their individual and congregational religious experiences can be shared
For the year 2011 – 2012, there is an additional goal:
- To introduce new members and re-introduce existing members of the congregation to the broad sweep of Unitarian Universalist history. Beginning with its earliest manifestations in Western philosophical and religious thought, with some attention to parallels within the faith traditions of South Asia and theFar East, one Sunday each month will be devoted to exploring what lies behind the unique theologies and spiritual practices of contemporary Unitarian Universalism.
Worship and Social Justice/Outreach
The need to more strongly integrate the First Unitarian worship experience with social justice and outreach efforts was one of the conclusions that resulted from analysis of the survey of current activities in these areas by various individuals and members of the congregation. Analysis showed seven identifiable kinds of social justice and outreach activities with which members are currently involved:
1. Activities with cultural institutions, such as supporting art museums and
organization, historical societies, local festivals, singing in a choral society
2. Environmental work, such as improving the carbon footprint of buildings, land
preservation, serving on a conservation commission, involvement with the
Coalition forBuzzards Bay
3. Education and learning work, such as tutoring, serving as a classroom
volunteer, teaching English as a second language
4. Responding to neighborhood and community needs, such as volunteer work
with the Thrift Shop or a soup kitchen, serving on the racial justice
commission, work with the New Bedford Women’s Center or Coalition
for Social Justice
5. Providing direct medical care assistance and supporting public health issues,
including drug and alcoholism outreach, shopping and care for the disabled
6. Participating in government and with business organizations
7. Supporting global social justice organizations such as Oxfam or Amnesty Intl.
Each month, members of the congregation are asked to assess what they are doing, as an individual, in one or more of these areas in the context of broader spiritual reflections connected with each season of the year. Several times throughout the year, after worship service, we will hold a discussion of what social justice and outreach activities seem to be most shared by members of the congregation. The goal is to define – by what we actually do – some special social justice and outreach projects with which First Unitarian can be associated. This is one way of building the identity of First Unitarian from the ground up – an identity that can more easily be communicated to any stranger on the street who is inquiring about what First Unitarian stands for, what it believes in.
The liturgical calendar notes when a given month contains a second UU worship event of significance. The calendar also notes when secular festivals or religious events from other faith traditions fall within a given month or season; at times elements of these may be incorporated within our own worship services. The content and dates of worship services, particularly those addressing Unitarian Universalist history in the second half of the liturgical year, are subject to revision and change.
Worship and RE
The liturgical calendar identifies activities and interchanges the minister will have with children of RE age in the context of the adult worship service. These activities are related to the season, primary worship celebrations, and associated spiritual reflection, and will occur on the first Sunday of the month (excepting September and January).
Month September
Season End of Summer, Winds of Change (Fall Equinox)
Primary Worship
Celebration Ingathering – Water Communion (9/11/11)
Picnic in the Garden after the service
Spiritual
Reflection Identity: Who am I, Who are we
At Ingathering, we welcome one another back to the formal
worship services of First Unitarian, pour a vial of water that symbolizes something of significance to us individually into
a common bowl, and share with one another what it means to be a member of this spiritual body, this congregation, and this ocean-dependent community ofNew Bedford. This year, the Water Communion will also represent a statement of solidarity with the USCC and in support of those who fight for universal
water rights to ensure access to safe, affordable, and sufficient water for all human beings.
A time of seasonal change, as the fall equinox passes, we savor the last days of summer. But then we must gear ourselves for the labors of the harvest, for the work of our secular lives, and make the preparations necessary to ensure survival in the coming dark days of winter.
Because this Sunday falls on the 10th anniversary of the attack on
Americaof 9/11/01, the worship service will include an appropriate time for remembrance and reflection.
Secondary Worship
Event Service about Consulting Ministry (9/18/11)
Afternoon: Conclusion of Board of Trustees Retreat
By mutual agreement with the Board of Trustees, this year will define a somewhat different role for the Minister in relation to the needs and strategic goals for First Unitarian than that of Interim
Ministry. This service will explain the major elements of a Consulting Ministry, and the importance of four areas needing
attention as determined by the Board of Trustees and the Minister: to build a more active and robust committee structure within the congregation; to develop a congregation-wide initiative to increase church membership from across the full spectrum of racial, ethnic, economic, and LGBT segments of the New Bedford population, including families seeking a religious education program for their children; to define a congregational mission in the context of shared faith in a sacred universe that has content expressible to non-UUs and potential UUs, and that derives from a
profound belief in religious freedom; to build a flourishing Religious Education program.
Worship Service (9/25/11)
on UU History UUs at the Dawn of Time: Socrates, Jesus, and Other Dudes
What are the ancient sources of Unitarian and Universalist religious and philosophical ideas? Where can they be found in classical and Hellenistic thought, in other faith traditions, and in early Christian theological controversies involving figures such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Arius?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Judaism: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (9/28-29; 10/7-8)
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Jewish New Year – the anniversary of the world (now 5762 years old) and begins a ten day period of repentance and introspection. The worship service is highlighted by blowing the Shofar (Ram’s Horn). During the two days of Rosh Hashanah, most types of work are prohibited, except for food preparation and transferring or increasing fire. Obligations include bathing, haircuts, new clothing, cleaning the house, jewelry for the wife, and treats for the children. The festival is sanctified in words (Kiddush) over wine at night and also during the day, before the meals that include fish heads, carrots, pomegranate, lettuce, raisins, and celery. The new year begins 10 days of repentance that concludes with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During those 10 days, Jews believe that their deeds of the past year are reviewed by God. If the balance of their good deeds outweighs the wrongs they have done, their names will be written in the Book of Life for the coming year. It is a time of deep reflection and somber introspection.
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How has social justice/outreach work changed me (my family)?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Conversations with Calvin: (9/11/11)
Calvin the Crow will ask children: What made you think of the needs of others and doing something about it? How did doing something (or not doing something) for others make you feel?
Month October
Season Harvest: Our Work
Honoring our Ancestors (Halloween/Samhaim)
Primary Worship
Celebration Halloween/Samhain – All Souls (10/30/11)
Post-service pot luck to speak with and about our ancestors.
Spiritual
Reflection Purpose: What is the spiritual dimension of what I do
Temporal Meaning – the Past: Where do I come from
During the harvest season, we reflect on the spiritual dimension of the work we do to support ourselves and our family. At the same time, we also take the opportunity to carve out moments from our
work to observe and enjoy the beauty around us. The red and yellow leaves falling amidst fading green strike our hearts with
wonder. The freshening, salt laden winds off the ocean signal hurricanes and coming nor’easters.
In preparation for our Halloween/Samhain worship service, we recognize this as a ‘spirit time’ in which the veil between the living and the dead is briefly lifted. We feel especially close to our ancestors and departed loved ones, and seek ways of both communicating to them and of hearing the messages they bring to us from the past to shape our future. In our homes, we place pictures and tokens of loved ones on a table in a special place in the house, so that we may feel their presence, their closeness. Some pagans light candles in a window to guide the spirits of ancestors home. Others place apples along paths or roadsides for spirits who are lost, or who have no descendents, or who are in need of sustenance on their journey into this world. On Halloween
Eve itself, many people enjoy interacting with tiny spirit folk that
inhabit the world. Timorous adults bring with them their children, now dressed as fantastic beings or ghosts, for protection. The children play pranks on non-believers and are rewarded with treats. In the Halloween/Samhain service itself, we focus on honoring our ancestors and framing their messages to us, the living, in ways that can be communicated with one another. After the service, we hold a special pot luck meal in which we symbolically leave several chairs empty, holding a place in our midst for those who are departed. During the meal, individuals stand and share stories of their ancestors, reflecting on the meaning of past lives and their influence on life in the present.
Worship Service (10/23/11)
on UU History Renaissance Humanism and Human UUs
What humanist values of modern liberal religion had their origins in the Renaissance? What key events, and historical individuals from this period of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries informed subsequent Unitarian and Universalist theologies?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Judaism: Sukkot – Feast of Booths (10/13-19/11)
Sukkot (booths) refers to the type of fragile dwellings in which the ancient Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Throughout the seven day holiday the sukkah becomes the living area of the house, and all meals are eaten in it. On each day of the holiday, members of the household recite blessings over the food. Sukkot was agricultural in origin, derived from ceremonies accompanying the harvest when families gathered in the fruits of their labors in the field. (Ex. 23:16). Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the agricultural year that had passed.
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
What is the spiritual dimension of my labors?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Parsing with Portia: (10/1/11)
Portia the Pig will share a story such as one of Aesop’s fables where the question of the ‘right thing to do’ is raised. Then
she will engage the children are engaged in an exploration about what they would in fact do, and how what they are learning in RE is helping them to know what seems right and good to them.
Month November
Season Thanksgiving
Honoring those who serve
Primary Worship
Celebration Thanksgiving Sunday (11/20/11)
Post-service pot luck to assess our efforts through the fall in
social justice and outreach activities, using suitable visual
displays or pictures.
Spiritual
Reflection Caring and thanking those who have served
The cold rains and winds that plague the coastal Northeast at this
time of year invite a retreat into the warmth of our abodes – to light
a fire, to be close to loved ones. In those moments before the
flickering light of the fire, we are soon compelled to think of those things in our lives for which we should be thankful. We also reflect on how we must give thanks to all of those in our society who perform the difficult tasks for which few have the stomach – our police and fire andEMSpersonnel, and those who have served in defense of the freedoms we enjoy. Veterans Day (11/11) is one
occasion to express our thanks. It is also an opportunity in which
adults can instruct or mentor the younger members of our congregation in how we see the role of persons of our faith and
convictions to work to make our society, our country, our city a
better place for all citizens, especially those of more modest
economic means or those who have experienced discrimination or
other forms of unfairness based on race, ethnicity, life partner
choices, or other consequences of circumstances into which one is
born.
The Thanksgiving Sunday service, and following meal, is an
occasion to reflect on what First Unitarian is as a family, as we
share a meal across generations. Have we been doing a good job
in introducing our youngest members to our faith and to the values
we want them to have to guide their lives as they grow older. If
there are children who are being formally mentored by adult members of the congregation, both can speak to this experience during the meal.
Worship Service (11/13/11)
on UU History Dissenting and Reforming UUs in the Sixteenth Century
How did Unitarian, Anabaptist, and Universalist thinking emerge within radical debates about religious reform that shaped political and social life in sixteenth centuryEurope? What were the contributions of the Polish Brethren and anti-Trinitarians such as Michael Servetus?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Buddhism: The Elephant Festival (Thailand) (11/19/11)
The Buddha used an example of a wild elephant that was harnessed to a tame elephant in order to be trained. The idea was for a person who new to Buddhism to have a special mentoring relationship with an older, wiser Buddhist. As our children are exploring other faith traditions in RE, this can be an occasion for a skit or a play that acts out some of what they have been learning.
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Eid al-Adha (11/6/11)
Eid al-Adha. or Greater Eid, is celebrated at the end of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage toMecca inSaudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide (the pilgrimage being one of the Five Pillars of Muslim faith). The date is approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan. This ‘Festival of Sacrifice’ commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God; instead, by God’s command, Abraham is able to sacrifice a ram. For Muslims, Eid is about spending time with family and friends, sacrifice, and thanksgiving for being able to afford food and housing. In traditional or agrarian settings, each family would sacrifice a domestic animal, such as a sheep, goat, cow, or camel, by slaughter. The meat is then divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family eats one third, another third is given to relatives, friends or neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor as a gift. Contemporary Muslims generally do not sacrifice an animal as part of their observance.
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How can I serve those who are in need in my community?
Do I participate in the ‘Guest at Your Table’ program?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Gabbing with Gaston: (11/6/11)
Gaston the Gator will ask: What is something special you remember about a relative – grandparent, uncle, older brother or sister – who is no longer alive?
Month December
Season Winter Solstice
Anticipation
Primary Worship
Celebration Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (12/24/11)
Regardless of where individuals in the First Unitarian
congregation are – theologically – on Christmas Eve, we open
our doors to theNew Bedfordcommunity, and invite everyone
in to share the warmth of our candlelight ritual and the beauty
of the music through which we celebrate the birth of one whose
mission was a world of radical egalitarianism – a kingdom in
which discrimination and prejudice has finally ended.
The Christmas Fair is held this year on 12/3.
Spiritual
Reflection From darkness into light.
The myth of the dying and rising sun that Winter Solstice
celebrates is a universal transition. It is especially meaningful in lands whose agricultural cycles depend on a deep understanding of nature and the rhythms it imposes. Through the month of December, days have been getting shorter and shorter. Eventually, it grows dark when barely mid-afternoon. In pagan cultures, Yule marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, the pivot point after which the sun is reborn and days gradually become longer. There are many ways in which peoples of the world celebrate the rebirth of the sun. Almost all involve the giving of gifts, meeting with friends, sharing a special feast with family and relatives, singing songs of the season, trimming a tree, lighting a Yule Log in the fireplace to symbolically call back the light. In these songs and exchanges of gifts, there is passed down to the next generation the lore of natural cycles, and faith in anticipating the rebirth of light from the darkest days of the year. The Christmas Eve candlelight service is also the culmination of anticipation – the night of nights before the day on which so many believe the rebirth of human hope depends – renewal of the possibility of love and of caring in the world.
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Judaism: Hanukkah begins at sundown (12/20/11)
Related Secular or
Religious Fest African Origins: Kwanzaa (12/26 – 30/11)
Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration honoring African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a kinara (candle holder), culminating in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga in 1967. The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest. It was established to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of African traditions and Nguzu Saba, the “seven principles of blackness”. Each of the seven days is dedicated to one of the following principles:
- Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
- Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together, make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and to solve them together.
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our stores, shops, and businesses and to profit from them together.
- Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
- Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. A service relating to Kwanzaa could compare one of its principles with one of the UU Seven Principles. Alternatively, a service could relate one of these principles to the beliefs and practices associated with one of the African Orishas.
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
As the new year approaches, am I prepared to renew my life
in a meaningful way?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Meeting Moses: (12/4/11)
Old Moses will engage the children in discussion of one of the 10 Commandments – its meaning and whether or not it is followed in their experience.
Month January
Season The silence of deep winter reflection.
(Meditation/Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony)
Creation – a New Year in the West and in the East
(Imbolc/Chinese New Year/Tet)
Primary Worship
Celebration 1 A Deep Winter Meditation (1/1/12)
This service, conducted in a darkened sanctuary, lit only by
candles, will provide an opportunity for a shared deep meditation.
It’s focus may be on one of the values of the UU Seven Principles
or on competing natural and human forces drawn from Native
American traditions such as the Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony).
Music will be contemplative, and include Native American
flute. After the service, the minister will hold an informal discussion of how one incorporates the concepts of virtues or
social values – which, in the case of UUs, are often expressed
in abstract form – into one’s day-to-day life. The post-service
discussion will be an intentional “talk back.”
Primary Worship
Celebration 2 A New Year Fire Festival/Imbolc (2/2) (1/29/12)
Many earth-focused cultures, East and West, recognize the significance of this time when the senses are quickened in
response to the first discernible light of longer days and very
early spring. In European countries, for example, Imbolc
(referring to the pregnancy of ewes or ewe’s milk) celebrates
the early signs of spring with hearth fires or a bonfire, special foods, and the discerning of omens or signs, often connected with
predicting the weather (groundhogs or serpents coming out of their
holes). The fire is also a symbol of purification, and is associated with Brigid, the Gaelic goddess of poetry and healing. In the East,
Chinese New Year falls during this time. The service, therefore,
becomes an occasion to think about – and experience – the impact
of Eastern and Western cultures on our psyches. A demonstration
of the Lion Dance is presented to the RE age children. The sermon
carefully examines aspects of the Taoist tradition from Lao Tzu – the most deeply embedded layer of spirituality in Chinese culture.
During the service, as a form of introspection, members of the congregation are asked to write on a piece of white paper what each wants to bring into his or her life during the spring, and on a piece of black paper what each wants to release. At the close of the service, all slips of paper are collected and burned.
Spiritual
Reflection Deep winter introspection.
Creation in the signs of early spring.
This season spans two rather different moods. The darkness of
the depths of mid-winter is a time for introspection and reflection
on shared family, social, and religious values. Then, as the earliest hints of spring manifest themselves with the approach of February, each must prepare for the work of becoming creative again.
In agricultural settings, this may involve the birthing of farm animals or early planting in protected beds. In ocean-dependent communities, it may mean longer voyages on the sea for
commercial fishermen. For ordinary working folk, it may simply be perceived as a sense that lengthening days provide more time to perform creative and productive work. In all these cases, there is the need to develop a concrete plan of action for the days ahead.
Worship Service (1/8/12)
on UU History Religious Freedom and UU’s Eastern European Roots:
Socinianism and Arminianism
What Unitarian communities emerged in late sixteenth century Eastern Europe, and how did these ideas spread west to Englandin the early seventeenth century? What was the role of the Polish Minor Church (the Socinians) and the Transylvanian Unitarians, and what was the significance of Jacobus Arminius?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (1/16/12)
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
What in my life needs to be swept away and discarded or burned?
What needs to be firmly put in place as a plan guiding my
commitment to do things for others in the community?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc The Lion Dance (1/8/12)
A demonstration of the Lion Dance, celebrating Chinese
New Year (1/23), is provided for the children. The children participate in the story and the dance as well, and are asked to share their feelings in doing this.
Month February
Season The season of love and fantasy, but especially of community
Primary Worship
Celebration The Many Forms of Love – St. Valentine’s Day (2/12/12)
This service celebrates the multiple ways in which people
express love and caring for one another, those within the family
and those outside the family. Within the Western religious
tradition, it is common to distinguish among three major forms
of love: eros, philia, agape. The first, romantic or erotic love
is first experienced as young people grow into their teens. Philia
represents the friendship and caring that enrich our sense of brotherhood and sisterhood with others in the community and in the world; it expresses what we, as humans, have in common with one another, regardless of race or gender or beliefs or social status. Agape is that special expression of love and caring in which we
willingly sacrifice something of ourselves for the sake of another.
It may be as simple as an act of charity, in which we provide for
the health and safety of those in need – supporting a homeless
shelter, working in a soup kitchen. But it may also be a much
greater sense of self-sacrifice in which we must give up something
of ourselves for the sake of another. The extreme example of this
occurs in battle when one soldier exposes himself to enemy fire
to save his comrade. Love also finds expression in how we think
about our relationship to the natural world, and to the creatures
who inhabit it. We know that feeling most directly in our relationship with a pet or other domestic animal, but we also feel
it as we think of ourselves in community with the natural world,
rather than as a unique species free to use and abuse the natural
environment at will for personal gain or profit. This service
explores one or more forms of love in a way that makes use of
‘sound and light’ – visible displays showing how love is expressed,
and the music through which love is communicated.
Spiritual
Reflection Community is each other and the natural environment we share.
This season looks at the boundaries of our world – human and natural. It is by examining those boundaries that we find what
truly holds the world together. Within society, we must play a role
by participating in those supports that make a society a just society, a fair playing field for all economic levels. We identify those areas of need and ask how we may respond to those needs in personal acts of charity. But it is at the boundaries of human
experience – birth, growth, disease, old age, death – that we
discover deeper and more intense ways by which we are bound
together as humans and the forms of love available to connect
ourselves to one another, especially those who are suffering and
in need. It is as the boundaries of human experience that we learn compassion. There are also boundaries that define our relationship to the natural environment – the edges of our world where sea meets land, as inNew Bedford, or the dividing formations of mountain ranges. We exist in community not only with other
humans, but with the natural world. Thus we must ask ourselves,
what is it like to care for the natural world – not just because it is
a resource for human consumption and survival, but because it
is a creation of absolute value in its own right.
Worship Service (2/26/12)
on UU History Separatists and Puritans: U go one way, U go another
How was the influence of the Enlightenment and the thought of Joseph Priestley important for liberal theology? What factors informed English Separatists, New England Pilgrims, Puritans, and the evolution into Congregationalist, Unitarian, and Universalist churches of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest The impact of Sufi practices and music.
on other faith traditions (date tbd)
The Sufi practice of muraqaba is similar to the practices of meditation performed in many faith communities and in the
secular world. The word muraqaba is derived from the same root (r-q-b) occurring as one of the 99 Names of God in the Qur’an, al-Raqîb, meaning “the Vigilant.” Through muraqaba, a person watches over and takes care of the ‘spiritual heart’, acquires knowledge about it, and becomes attuned to the Divine Presence, which is ever vigilant. Sufi music and dance also has had an impact on Western culture. This season gives particular attention to the affective and emotional side of religion, and it would therefore be appropriate to explore how a number of Western spiritual practices have been influenced by Sufi mystical
knowledge (gnosis) of the heart – to purify it of baser instincts and
approach God through a hierarchy of enduring spiritual stations (maqâmât) and transient spiritual states (ahwâl). Examination of
Sufi manuals – Kashf al-Mahjûb of Hujwiri, Risâla of Qushayri. Treatises of Imam Al Ghazali, eg “Revival of Religious Sciences” and “Alchemy of Happiness” argue Sufism originated from the Qur’an and is thus compatible with mainstream Islamic thought.
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Presidents Day (2/20/12)
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Ash Wednesday (2/22/12)
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
Do I know someone who is in need of love and caring and who would welcome contact from me?
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Rapping with Robert (2/5/12)
Robert the Rabbit engages the children about their hopes for
spring and what they are learning in school
Month March
Season The season of hope (Spring Equinox)
Primary Worship
Celebration Spring Awakening (3/18/12)
This service engages the basis for hope and new life for the future of First Unitarian. It is an appropriate time for the children of the RE program to conduct part of the worship
service in which they talk about what they are looking forward
to in the coming spring. This can be done through a skit, or by
having the children do a visual display for the congregation of some of what they have been learning in RE. The service can
also include musical performances or readings by adult members
of the congregation, in which they express their hopes for the
future of First Unitarian. The overall feeling of the service is
for it to be an occasion in which as many people – young and old – participate as possible, and share their thoughts and talents. This is
also an appropriate time for an assessment of accomplishments and
future plans in the Green Sanctuary program. That could be done
immediately after the service during coffee hour.
Spiritual
Reflection How do we realize the things we hope for.
In the Northeast, March is often a particularly frustrating month.
We know spring arrives mid-month, but the weather is often cold,
rainy, and blustery. Some days may hint of bright sun and the
coming spring, but many are too unpleasant to want to get outside
to do things. Light has barely begun to equal darkness. It is also tax season. Therefore, we need ways to orient ourselves to the future and to the renewal of life we hope for in the spring. It is natural to look to our children as one source of that hope, but we must find other things in our lives as well – remembering that we are the captains of our ship and ultimately responsible for what we become, both as individuals, and as members of a religious
community. Reassessing the standard roles that exist within
society – such as occurs in the celebration of Mardi Gras when there is, for that day, an upheaval or reversal of stereotypic
social status – can be an important part of looking to the future of
a society we want to renew and rebuild. There are also mythic expressions that cause us to question how certain roles in society
are defined. For example, in pagan practices, the spring equinox
marks the beginning of the ‘Lady’s time’ of the year (fall equinox
the ‘Lord’s time’), echoing the myth of the goddess Persephone who goes underground for half the year to live with her husband
in Hades but returns each spring to bring hope of new life
for a fertile season and all the colors of spring to her people.
The equinox, then, can be understood as a time to reflect on how
social roles are passed to one another, and an occasion for us to look for ways to make them less a battle or competition, but rather something cooperative and productive.
Worship Service (3/25/12)
on UU History This is my brother(sister) U; this is my other brother(sister) U
In placing how Universalism emerged in eighteenth and early nineteenth century America, what occurred within the Great Awakening, and the theology of Jonathan Edwards, as well as the theology of universal salvation proclaimed by John Murray and Hosea Ballou? Then, what events led up to the final split between the liberals and orthodox ofNew Englandin “the Unitarian Controversy”? In addition to the role of important leaders of institutional Unitarianism eg Henry Ware and William Ellery Channing, what was the impact of Charles Darwin?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Vasant Navratri (3/23-4/1/12)
Navratri is the Hindu festival of worship and dance; the term in
Sanskrit literally means ‘nine nights’. During this festival, the
multiple forms of Shakti are worshipped, especially Durga,
Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Apart from an occasion to learn about
Hindu ritual, this event could be an opportunity for UUs to explore the various forms in which they personally think about the source
of goodness, beauty, meaning, etc. in the universe. The Hindu
tradition invites believers to connect with a multiplicity of deities
that serve, in different ways, to establish a spiritual relationship between the individual and Brahman (being-itself).
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How can I work cooperatively with others in this congregation
and in the wider community ofNew Bedfordto help realize a
better future.
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc A Spring Surprise (3/4/12)
Children will participate in a skit about the life that awakens
each spring.
Month April
Season The season of nurturing and mortality
Primary Worship
Celebration Easter Sunday (4/8/12)
Easter Sunday as a significant day of worship is a cultural
phenomenon in which First Unitarian participates, regardless of the theology or beliefs of its members, because it is a highly visible church in downtownNew Bedford, and its doors are open to
everyone. On Easter, many UU churches tend to throw up their hands and construct a service that consists of little more than vague musings about a set of rather ambiguous questions. Other UU churches retreat into children’s stories about bunnies in the woods and frogs in the pond. I would like to see First Unitarian meet the theological challenges of Easter Sunday head on, and find a response appropriate to its own religious values. The service this year will address the concept of ‘resurrection’ – not simply as a paradoxical religious claim, but also as an expression of confrontation with death that affects every individual.
Spiritual
Reflection How do we nurture future generations.
How do we confront our own mortality.
In the rains of April, we experience one of the dualities of life.
Rain is necessary to make our early plantings grow; it is necessary
for nurturing. But rain also closes us inside, makes us feel claustrophobic, perhaps too close to our own bodies, leading to
speculation about what our bodies will become as the years of our
life pass. Thus, we look to our children as a symbol of future
generations, and one way to think about our own mortality, since
we have the responsibility to nurture our children, to help them to
grow in body, mind, and spirit. But we also face the reality of
our own mortality as well, and must seek answers that apply
directly to ourselves, rather than vicariously, through the present
and future lives of others.
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Passover (4/7 – 4/13/12)
First Unitarian might celebrate Passover as a festival that has historical significance it can relate to, possibly with members of one ofNew Bedford’s synagogues.
Pesach is an annual event in each Jewish household, but its origin ultimately from a spring fertility festival in which the blossoming of nature symbolizes renewal and awakening. The term ‘passover’ comes from a verb meaning ‘to pass or spring over’, but can also mean ‘to limp or make lame.’ This latter meaning occurs in the limping dance of the prophets of Baal in I Kings 18:26, which may suggest the festival had non-Israelite origins. The ‘festival of the passover’ also appears in Joshua 5:10 when Israel kept the ` passover at Gilgal, possibly the first amphictyonic shrine during the conquest of Canaan before Shiloh. ‘Amphictyony’ here refers to the loose religious organization of migrating tribal groups as the Israelites entered Canaan. Gilgal, “on the eastern border of Jericho” (Joshua 4:19), was the first encampment after crossing the Jordan River, where all male persons were circumcised because this had not been done in the wilderness. The verb form of ‘passover’ also suggests ‘to jump’ as the angel of destruction ‘jumped’ the houses of the Israelites on the night of the Exodus. Still another view holds that it is related to the Akkadian pasahu (‘to appease’) in which the rite may have been a custom in the migration of nomadic shepherds to their spring grazings. As this spring fertility festival became historicized in the context of ancient Israel’s captivity in Egypt, it was used to commemorate the warding off of plagues and the deliverance and Exodus of the children of Israel from the dominion of Pharaoh as slaves in Egypt, around 1250 BC. From its multiple ritual origins, Pesach is a festival noted for its diversity of symbolic meanings. It functions as a national unity festival for the Jewish people in their dispersed lives in the world. It is a festival proclaiming the importance of the Jewish family, and it is a festival of the freedom of the Jewish people. Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and is celebrated for seven or eight days. Jewish identity is reaffirmed, and the story of the origins of Israel is recounted to children during the seder meal. .
Worship Service (4/22/12)
on UU History Transcendentalism
In what way was Transcendentalism one of our movement’s most important contributions to theology, philosophy, and literature? Who were the Transcendentalists? What was their dispute with more traditional Unitarianism? What beliefs did they share?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) (4/19/12)
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How can I help nurture the young members of this congregation.
How can I perform nurturing work in the wider community ofNew Bedfordto help realize a better future for all of its citizens.
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Where is Gomez? (4/1/12)
Children will engage an unusual fun character in recognition of
April Fool’s Day.
Month May
Season The season of growth (Beltane)
Our relationship with nature.
Primary Worship
Celebration 1 May Day/Beltane (5/1) (5/6/12)
Part of service outside
May Day inGermanyand the Gaelic Beltane are both rituals
that focus on fertility and growth. This is a worship service that,
weather permitting, could be held outside, and make use of
First Unitarian’s labyrinth (with Karen’s help). We could also set
up a May Pole with ribbons for the children to hold and dance.
May Day is in a number of ways a celebration, even a coronation
of the fire of Bel, the Sun God, in which the blossoming of
flowers, warmer days, and a mood of exuberance prevails. Hearkening back to Celtic customs in which young people
spend a night in the woods, collecting water from springs,
streams, and dew to use with bathing or to drink for health,
the ceremony recapitulates aspects of the fall Water Ceremony, now focused more specifically on our relationship with the natural environment. A lunch outside would be a fitting conclusion to
this worship service.
Primary Worship
Celebration 2 Memorial Day (5/27/12)
Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. It incidentally marks the beginning of summer. With this service, First Unitarian has the
opportunity to make its presence more visible in theNew Bedford
community by participating in local parades and events honoring those who served in the military. If the worship service itself does
not coincide with public events, First Unitarian might consider
inviting representatives from the military and local government
to come and speak to why this commemorative holiday is so
important in American society, and not simply a long weekend of
pleasure.
Spiritual
Reflection How do I get my hands dirty in nature.
What am I growing. What am I protecting.
May is perhaps the first opportunity in the Northeast to simply enjoy the blossoming of nature – its flowers, trees leafing out,
streams flowing with new energy from the winter runoff. It
is a month in which it is hard to be depressed – as long as we are
fully engaged with the growth taking place around us. Thus,
spiritual ‘reflection’ for this month should involve not only
introspection but also getting outside and doing things in nature’s
world, getting one’s hands dirty, so to speak. Of course, getting
one’s hands dirty need not be restricted to one’s own garden,
one’s own yard. This is a good opportunity to pitch in and help
clean up First Unitarian’s garden, and the yards of those members
of the congregation who find it difficult to do this work on
their own.
Worship Service (5/13/12)
on UU History Crisis of Liberalism, Merger, and Matters of Race
How did the growth of industrialism and World War I shake liberal religion in the early decades of the twentieth century, and provoke such diverse theological movements as the Social Gospel, Humanism, and Neo-orthodoxy? How did Unitarians and Universalists foster and respond to these movements in a way that
lead toward merger? How did the Civil Rights movement become a pivotal event in the institutional life of the young denomination?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Mother’s Day (5/13/12)
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How can I work cooperatively with others in this congregation
and in the wider community ofNew Bedfordto help realize a
better future.
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Children will participate in the May Pole dance. (5/2/12)
Month June
Season The season of a celebration and departures
Primary Worship
Celebration 1 Blessing of the Animals (outside and inside) (6/3/12)
The pets and animals with whom we share our lives make our
lives meaningful, because they symbolize how relations between humans and natural species can bring out the best in human qualities and values such as caring and protection. Pets
who are no longer with us remain the strongest of attachments.
In this worship service we will honor our pets and animals
in a blessing ceremony. Pictures of former pets will be brought
in as well, and people – young and old alike – will share stories
of the amusing and wonderful things their pets have done as
members of the family.
Primary Worship
Celebration 2 Flower Communion (6/17/12)
The Flower Communion is a traditional way for UU churches
to end their formal liturgical year before people disperse in
different directions for the summer. The exchange of flowers
with one another is a way to both honor the great individual
differences that exist within a congregation like ours, but also
to give someone a special token of affection through a flower
we have grown or have found in the field or at the beach.
Spiritual
Reflection Connecting with species other than our own; connecting with each other when we are not together as a worshipping community.
In the movement towards departure in our final formal service of the liturgical year, we become aware of the many kinds of linkages
we have with other living beings, and the various kinds of
community in which we participate. This month is a time to
bring individual Green Sanctuary projects to fruition. It is a
time to think about how we care for and protect the community
of animals with which we share this planet. And it is a time
to reflect on the strength of the connections we have with one
another in the community we call First Unitarian.
Worship Service (6/10/12)
on UU History Faith and Reason, Body and Soul:
From Late Nineteenth Century Progressives to Today:
How have late nineteenth century progressive philosophies – manifest in Spiritualism, Humanism, and an increased awareness of world religions – influenced our contemporary understanding of issues of ecology, gender, race, and the impact of a religiously plural world faced by Unitarian Universalists today?
Related Secular or
Religious Fest Father’s Day (6/17/12)
Social Justice and
Outreach Question for this month’s reflection:
How do we connect with species other than our own.
How do we remain connected with each other over the
summer months.
Children of RE age
in Worship Svc Petting Perry (6/3/12)
Perry the Pony will engage the children about their thoughts
on how they relate to various members of the animal kingdom.
Children will also assist with the Flower Communion on
6/17/12.
