Sunday Service: In-person and Online Sunday at 10:30am
Natural Harmony
Our Worship Leader will be Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk and our Worship Associate will be John LaPlante.
Hopes and Fears from the “Promise and Practice” Service
The Promise and the Practice of Our Faith Campaign is described on the UUA website as “our opportunity to take the lead as a faith denomination in addressing our history of upholding white supremacy. Together, we can collectively work to dismantle it and amend a long broken promise to the Black Lives within our Association.” The service at UCE on June 3 addressed this possibility, giving congregants a chance to commit to writing, during a ritual of lamentation, their hopes and fears about assuming a leadership role in righting the wrongs of the past in our denomination.
Hopes were expressed by some in terms of individual aspirations, such as for greater understanding, the wisdom to come up with the right words and actions when they are needed, the ability to overcome fear of mistakes in speaking up, better listening, letting go, being more fearless, having more insight. One person hoped to go beyond being open to the “other” and actually seeking out people of different backgrounds and experience. Others yearned for more peace, love, kindness, comfort, joy, and dignity and respect for all people.
Some writers hoped that UCE and UUA will lead the way in acknowledging past failures and in finally dismantling white supremacy. There was also hope that the community, the nation, and the world will work for greater love, honesty, and understanding and an end to policies that increase income inequality.
Fears also ranged from the personal to the general: “I fear being ridiculed by my neighbor, that I will not contribute all I can, that I’ll hurt someone, that I will close my heart to others.” More broadly, that we at UCE will not realize our white supremacy and the hurt it causes, that we as Americans are stalled by apathy and comfort with things as they are, that we will repeat the same mistakes, and that the current divisiveness and hate in the country will get worse before it gets better
There is much work to be done, but it seems clear that people were deeply moved by this service, and that many have been wrestling with these concerns and want to learn how to be part of the solution.
Queer(ing) Theology
After the celebrations of Pride month in June, we will come together to reflect on the gifts offered by a queer theology. We will also reflect together on what happens when we use “queer” as a verb – queering church, queering faith, queering theology. As we build new understandings about what is required of us to create radically welcoming spaces such as challenging gender binaries, celebrating new expressions of gender and sexuality we may never have known before, and understanding LGBT struggles beyond marriage, let us worship together.
Our Worship Leader will be Rev. Jason Lydon and our Worship Associate is Heike Eghardt.