Sunday Service: In-person and Online Sunday at 10:30am

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June 22, 2025

2025 UUA General Assembly Livestreamed Sunday Worship Service

Embrace the electrifying spirit of the year’s largest UU gathering, where we come together in unity for an awe-inspiring Sunday worship celebration like no other! Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk will lead this vibrant, communal worship experience that promises to uplift your soul and ignite your passion. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary gathering of hearts and minds! 

Join Rev. Susan Frances and the UCE Denominational Affairs Team at UCE from 10-11:30 am (note time change) to watch the livestream of this worship service. This Sunday we will be creating community space inclusive of our immunocompromised members & friends by requiring all attendees to be masked on the main floor from 10 am – 1 pm. Please take your Kinship Time food and beverages onto the South Lawn to enjoy unmasked. Gatherings in the Lower Level rooms may be unmasked.

Join the Services Livestream button in the newsletter and the Worship Livestream button on the Home page will connect directly to this General Assembly Livestreamed Sunday Worship Service.

Today’s offering will be shared with the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), which is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism.

Upcoming Services:

June 29 – Exploring AI (Pt. 1) – Dr. Emma

July 6 – World Refugee Day – Rev. Eileen with Immigrant Solidarity Team

July 13 – On Humility – Rev. Eileen

July 20 – Exploring AI (Pt. 2) – Dr. Emma

June 22, 20252025-06-13T18:46:49+00:00

TIME CHANGE for Sunday Worship on June 22, 2025

UCE will join attendees at the UUA General Assembly in Baltimore via livestream for a powerful and communal experience – the largest annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists in worship. Plan to attend in-person or via live-stream for Sunday Worship from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CT. Please note the time change and that Masks are required for this service

Embrace the electrifying spirit of the year’s largest UU gathering, where we come together in unity for an awe-inspiring Sunday worship celebration like no other! It’s a vibrant, communal worship experience that promises to uplift your soul and ignite your passion. Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk will lead the service. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary gathering of hearts and minds!

Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk (she/her) is the Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School and a historian of American religious history. She has served UU congregations in Ohio and New Jersey and is currently the Program Minister (part-time) at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She joined the Meadville Lombard faculty in 2012 after serving eight years in the parish and earning her Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include religion, business, mobility, and material culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dr. Kirk’s publications include Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (New York University Press, 2018, 2023) and chapters in several edited volumes.

Dr. Kirk enjoys advising students and assisting them on their formational path(s). Over the years, she has met and worked with many of Meadville Lombard’s international partners in the Czech Republic, Japan, and Transylvania. In 2023, the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians gave Dr. Kirk the Award for Supporting Czech Unitarianism. 

 

TIME CHANGE for Sunday Worship on June 22, 20252025-06-11T16:32:20+00:00

DLFF Newsletter – June 2025

Summertime Freedom Ramblings

You might know that our Soul Matters theme this summer is Freedom. While sometimes
I don’t connect as much to a theme, this is one of those months where I feel a
resonance with it.
We have the more obvious connections to freedom this month with Juneteenth on June
19, which commemorates when the news of the emancipation of enslaved people finally
reached Galveston, Texas in 1865, over two years after President Lincoln’s
proclamation. And in July, we have Independence Day, of course.
Less obvious perhaps is the freedom to get outdoors more and enjoy the warmth of the
sun and the beauty of Mother Nature. With daylight lasting until at least 9p, it feels like
there is more time in a day to enjoy it, even if you had to work for most of the day.
Our Unitarian history for many congregations was to not have worship services during
the summer, a tradition that many still hold onto, especially smaller congregations.
Since many Unitarians were fairly wealthy, they had the means to take time off and
travel or spend the summer at vacation homes. I feel torn about this part of our history,
with its classism and white privilege. And yet I wish that we could enjoy a longer stretch
of time off to relax and renew our spirits, which would then lead us to determine how our
many ministries will work together in our struggle and hope to help make the world
whole.
Perhaps one solution to this is to carve out times throughout the year for reflection that
lead into further planning and collaboration. What if we, the whole congregation, took
one week or weekend off every quarter from church responsibilities and challenged
ourselves to deep introspection about our work – whatever that may be – and then
reconvened in a festive way to share our insights and determine our course for the next
three months? I wonder how, or if, this would change our ministry to each other and the
world at large.
One could also argue that we should take time for this every day, even if for just 10
minutes. Having a spiritual practice helps with making time for reflection and
introspection. Life often gets in the way though, especially if it is on our own time with no
obligation to others to do so.
In two weeks, I’ll be heading to the United Kingdom with my husband, Todd, as a
celebration of our 40 years of marriage. While we have a lot planned to see and do and
want to take advantage of finally going overseas, I know that taking time to simply sit
still will be even more necessary.
I endeavor to do so, and hope this for you as well.

In Faith,

Kathy

DLFF Newsletter – June 20252025-06-13T15:29:44+00:00

June 15, 2025

The Truth About Freedom

Considering positive and negative freedom, as  author Timothy Snyder explores, and what it means to be free from bodily harm vs. free to be our authentic selves. Rev. Eileen leads the service with Lynn Kendall as Worship Associate. Charles M. Anderson is our hymn leader and Gregory Shifrin is our pianist.

Today’s offering will be shared with the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), which is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism.

Upcoming Services

June 22 – General Assembly service live streamed (10-11:30 am) – MASK Required

June 29 – Exploring AI (Pt. 1) – Dr. Emma

July 6 – World Refugee Day – Rev. Eileen with Immigrant Solidarity Team

July 13 – On Humility – Rev. Eileen

 

June 15, 20252025-06-08T15:58:50+00:00

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Glitter, Grief, and Grace: Radical Welcome in a Time of Harm

 This vibrant, all-ages Pride service will celebrate the power of radical welcome at UCE. Through heartfelt contributions from newcomers to long-time members, we’ll explore how radical welcome creates transformative spaces of belonging, particularly in times when queer identities are under attack. We will reaffirm our commitment to inclusivity, love, and resilience. Everyone is welcome—come exactly as you are!

Dr. Emma Farrell, ministerial intern, leads this service with contributions from Nellie Eastman and Renée Gatsis. Special music provided by Chester Beck, and Jean Durkin with the rest of the Lesbian Posse. Gregory Shifrin shares his talents on piano. 

Today’s offering will be shared with the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), which is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism.

Upcoming Services

June 15 – The Truth about Freedom – Rev. Eileen

June 22 – General Assembly service live streamed (10-11:30 am) – MASK Required

June 29 – Exploring AI Part 1: Navigating Change with Courage and Compassion – Dr. Emma

Sunday, June 8, 20252025-06-04T17:05:37+00:00

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Blooms from the Breakdown

We celebrate our annual flower communion ceremony, created by Unitarian Minister Norbert Čapek in Prague in 1923. We carry on this sacred tradition to remember the beauty and strength of our pluralism and interdependence. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Worship Associate Janelle Brittain. We are blessed by our UCE Choir, under the direction of Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano. This is a worship service for all ages.

Today’s offering will be shared with the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), which is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism.

Upcoming Services:

June 8 – Pride Service – Rainbow Alliance and Dr. Emma

June 15 – The Truth about Freedom – Rev. Eileen

June 22 – General Assembly service live streamed (10-11:30 am) – MASK Required

June 29 – Exploring AI (Pt. 1) – Dr. Emma

Sunday, June 1, 20252025-05-25T15:37:19+00:00
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