Please note these upcoming special events and one-service Sundays. All of our other Sundays will have two services as usual (9:00 and 11:15 am). We hope to see you there! By the Soul Matters Sharing Circle Team Alice Walker famously wrote, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” Walker’s words are a great reminder that attention and gratitude go hand in hand. Indeed they are a perfect embodiment of the dominant message about attention: that it’s here to wake us up to life’s many gifts. But it’s also important to remember that attention has a few ulterior motives up its sleeve. So some fair warning is required this month. Because attention won’t just make you grateful,… By Helen Hansen On September 28, WUU Social Justice sponsored a bus trip to the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville. A multi-age group of 45 WUU, All Together, and NAACP folks were fascinated by exhibits in the actual black high school building. Cainan Townsend, our museum guide, enhanced our experience with many personal stories that enhanced our understanding of the inequities of separate but NOT equal. Museum displays and a re-enactment movie depict the courage of Barbara Johns and her classmates who protested the unequal facilities at the segregated school. Built in 1939 as the “black” school for Prince Edward… Dear WUU community, Welcome to this month of Belonging! In the spirit of helping each of us find ways to belong and connect here, I’m excited to tell you about three new opportunities available at WUU this fall. Sunday morning classes for adults: Last spring, many of our adults told us you’d love to have opportunities to learn and connect with others on Sunday mornings. We’re now starting to roll out new programs for adults in the Middle Hour in between services. This Sunday, Oct. 6, I invite you to join me in a drop-in conversation this Sunday, 10:15-11 a.m…. By the Soul Matters Sharing Circle Team You hardly knew how hungry you were to be gathered in, to receive the welcome that invited you to enter entirely… Tentative steps became settling in… You began to breathe again… You learned to sing. But the deal with this blessing is that it will not leave you alone, will not let you linger… this blessing will ask you to leave, not because it has tired of you but because it desires for you to become the sanctuary that you have found… – Jan Richardson Jan Richardson starts off her poem by mentioning… By Anne Stevens Circle Dinners are dinner parties of WUU friends and acquaintances of all ages, single or with partners, with or without children, who gather for small potlucks. They are an understated small ministry in our congregation. I signed up as a single mother at 50 and expanded my circle of WUU congregants ever since. New people, new ideas, new recipes, new decorating discoveries, and a mutual respect for individuality in spiritual thought bring me to sign up each year. I gratefully acknowledge the many years of service from Dave and Virginia Banks in organizing Circle Dinners and look… Dear WUU community, Welcome to a new year! For many of us, this is back-to-school time, with all the excitement of new classes, new friends, and new challenges. Here at WUU, we are in back-to-school mode too, with religious education classes starting up again on Sept. 15 and our annual Ingathering/Water Communion service even sooner, this coming Sunday. By now you’ve heard a ton of reminders about our new service times, at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. We hope to see you at either service, and don’t forget about the pancake breakfast during the Middle Hour on Sept. 8! This… By the Soul Matters Sharing Circle Team God give us rain when we expect sun. Give us music when we expect trouble. Give us tears when we expect breakfast. Give us dreams when we expect a storm. Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations. God play with us, turn us sideways and around. — Michael Leunig We’ve all heard the line: “You get what you expect.” It’s very UU. Liberal religion has always emphasized the tremendous power human beings have to shape their reality. And not just with our actions, but also with our expectations. We know that… What’s happening when? The new Sunday schedule will launch on Sunday, September 8, with all-ages Water Communion services, special music, and a pancake breakfast in between the services. Don’t miss it! First service: 9-10 a.m., featuring music from our WUU solo performers of all ages. Middle Hour: 10-11:15 a.m., with religious education classes for children & youth. We’ll also be developing programs for adults during this time. Second service: 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., featuring our WUU choir. Occasionally, we’ll have one-service Sundays—for example, St. Cecilia Sunday (November 17 this year) and the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Those services will be at… We are honored to welcome and introduce our newest members who signed the membership book on July 7. Here’s a little more about Molly & Dave Swetnam-Burland and Molly & Larry Henry. Molly and Dave Swetnam-Burland have lived many places – California, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, and are now in Virginia to stay. Molly is a professor of Classical Studies at W&M and Dave is a lawyer specializing in business litigation. They enjoy gardening, biking, hiking, and watching science fiction shows on tv. Molly and Larry Henry returned to Williamsburg again and for the last time when they retired in 2005, Molly from…
Mark Your Calendar–WUU Holiday Schedule
What Does It Mean To Be A People of Attention?
Moton Museum Field Trip
A Note from Your Minister: Opportunities for Belonging
What Does It Mean to Be a People of Belonging?
Sign Up for Circle Dinners Today!
Expectation: A Note from Your Minister
What Does It Mean To Be A People of Expectation?
Coming Soon: New Sunday Schedule
Welcome, Newest WUU Members!
