Sunday, August 28, at 10:00 am
“Animal Blessing Service”
Rev. Nicki Peet, Guest Worship Leader
Rev. Nicki Peet will lead an intergenerational service to bless our pets (who can be with us in the sanctuary for this service if they are well-behaved). Liz Wiley will lead us in singing some of the most beloved songs about animal friends, and several WUU families will present “From the Heart” statements about their own pets.
Rev. Nicki Peet is a lifelong spiritual seeker studying all religions. She studied religion at the College of William and Mary and received a MDiv from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Ordained in the Baptist Church she currently serves as a Wedding Officiant and Spiritual Counselor. She has also studied Spiritual Direction at The Well, an ecumenical retreat center in Smithfield, VA. She is a member of WUU. For over 20 years she worked in the nonprofit sector, largely on behalf of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as on behalf of the working uninsured poor in the free clinic world. As an author she published two books, You Don’t Need to Have a Repeat Cesarean, and more recently, The Shaman’s Daughter, among other publications.
Sunday, September 4, at 10:00 am
“What Does Inclusion Really Mean?”
Rev. Viola Abbitt, Guest Worship Leader
As Unitarian Universalists, we often talk about the importance of including others. But, what is really involved in saying that we are a welcoming and inclusive faith?
Rev. Viola Abbitt has been the settled minister of the Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalists, located in Virginia Beach, since August 2020. She entered professional ministry after working as an attorney for over twenty-five years, the last ten of which she was Director of the Office of the Ombudsman for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, supporting the legal rights of youth in the juvenile justice system. She has also served as a member of the Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association and she currently sits on the board of UU Wellspring.