The Compass, October 15, 2025
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
Sunday Service
Did you miss Sunday service last week? Watch it here!
Committee Chair Fair on Sunday, October 19 & A Goodbye to Eileen
Committee Chairs will be available after service on Sunday, October 19, to discuss what their committees are up to and plans for the future. This is a great opportunity to mee the Chairs and sign up for volunteer opportunities that may interest you.
We will also be saying farewell to Eileen Sorrentino before she moves away.
Social Justice Committee Meetings
Join the SJC virtually on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Be part of the change you would like to see in your community and beyond.
From UU World: Organizing as a Spiritual Practice, by ANTOINETTE SCULLY
‘Organizers have never changed the world without groups of people who trusted them to hold that future imagining.’
“Organizers are very necessary, but that isn’t and can’t be the only role in the movement.”—adrienne maree brown, Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation
Like many congregations, mine believed you could hand its social justice work to one committed person. As strange as that seemed to me, I would end up being that default “justice human,” a proxy for good deeds in the world. As social justice chair at my congregation, I’d try to convince people—often, with frustration—that it was our collective duty to work for a better future.
A cluster of Black volunteers, wearing matching blue T-shirts, talk and smile outdoors. Similarly dressed volunteers chat in the background, implying a large group event.
I’d been a Unitarian Universalist for ten years before I connected my activism and my faith. I believed that working for justice was my responsibility and would bristle when others didn’t take the same approach. When a group of my UU friends came together to worship outside of my congregation, though, I figured out that we approached our spiritual needs in very different ways—and that didn’t have to be on the front line.
Today I approach organizing as my primary spiritual practice. My prayers are the emails I send to start a relationship with someone. My meditations are the calls I receive from community members about how they can show up better, or at all. The sacred flame that I carry illuminates the world so many of us dream of: a sanctuary for everyone.
Organizing as a UU is not my only spiritual practice, but it soothes my soul in a way that no walk in a labyrinth ever has. It cannot be separated from how I worship, both as an individual and in my community/congregation.
The work of justice can’t be carried out by one person—or even a few diverse people. Organizers have never changed the world without groups of people who trusted them to hold that future imagining. When we do social justice work, we’re always a team. Democracy is all of us, together.
I don’t believe that only a few people make real change, and the rest of us (of you maybe?) are sitting on the sidelines, in the next pew over. We all have a place within our movement of Love at the center.
I believe that the act of entering a congregation is its own form of justice. Organizers need people who can bring snacks, give rides, build spreadsheets, volunteer songleading, and much more. Your gifts are what bring about our collective liberation; your voice, big or small, is how we grow democracy together.
Prayer
We are bound to each other, and to this great earth. May you be held in the caress of your community, and may your flame illuminate the path for justice.
Reprinted with permission from Braver/Wiser, a weekly inspirational series published by the UUA. uua.org/braverwiser
What does it mean to be a people of Cultivating Compassion?
October 19: Compassion’s Call to Move Outside Our Comfort Zone
Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield by Tamara Hollingsworth
October 26: Compassion’s Call to Not Single Anyone Out
Jack 'O Lantern Jubilee/Costumes Encouraged: Pumpkin Donations Needed {12}
All children are encouraged to come in costume. Bring pictures of loved ones for our Altar as we celebrate Samhain, Halloween, and Dia de Los Muertos! Autumn Equinox for ALL!
Please drop off pumpkins at the Parish House. Thank you in advance.
Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler
October 30: YWCA Women of Distinction Awards: Minister Karen LeBlanc, 5:30 pm
Rachel’s Lakeside, 950 State Road, Dartmouth, MA
Check out this month's Sould Matters Spotify playlist below.
Please share these events with your family and friends, and consider attending yourself. We would love to see you!
FREE Events Happening at UUNB
Being Human takes place every Friday at 11 AM. Please use the parking lot door.
There is also an open AA meeting, led by Walter Silvia, that takes place each Saturday at noon in the Parish House.
Ticketed Events: A portion of the sales from these events will benefit the restoration of the Tryworks Auditorium
In collaboration with Infinity Productions, we are excited to present a monthly concert series. Please check the events page on our website for updates. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
Tickets to all of our shows can be purchased in the office with cash or check during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 1 PM, or online with a credit card.
The calendar on our website shows everything happening at UUNB. Updates are displayed immediately, so you will always know what is planned.
Click the image for more info.
Our Mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance and work for positive change in ourselves and our community.
"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."
Our Promises
Each person is important.
Be kind in all you do.
We help each other learn.
We search for what is true.
Each person has a say.
Work for a peaceful world.
The web of life’s the way.
Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.
First Unitarian Church in New Bedford
71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 994-9686
Administrator ext. 10
Minister ext. 13
Karen cell: (508) 441-9344
Thrift Shop ext. 12
Board Members & Officers
Steve Carmel, President
Charles Morgan, Vice President
Deborah Carmel, Treasurer
Trustees
Committee Chairs
Staff
The Thrift Shop is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
(508)994-9686 ext.12
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