Upcoming Worship Services
HOMECOMING SUNDAY
September 10, 2017
Intergenerational Services at 9:30am and 11:15am
Rev Joel Miller, preaching
Rev. Tina Simson and Sheila Schuh, co-leading
Our plate collection will help support the UUSC program at aid victims of Hurricane Harvey.
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As UUs, how can we build spiritual connection through our Radical Hospitality?
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“Do not take advantage of strangers in your land; do not wrong them. They must be treated like any other citizen; love them as yourself, for remember that you too were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”
~Leviticus 19, v. 33 & 34. of The Hebrew Bible
Welcome home to another church year of exploring worship themes together. We begin this year with the practice of Radical Hospitality.
As humans, we have a built-in and often unconscious tribalism. It is natural for us to gather and connect to people who are like us. But this inherently excludes others. In order to break from this unconscious tendency, we need to recognize this in ourselves and in our church community. We need to challenge ourselves and others to pay attention to the ways we perpetuate this tendency, and we need to view radical hospitality as a spiritual practice and moral concern.
Radical hospitality calls us to step beyond the ordinary and extend ourselves to others in a way that breaks down the barriers between us. It calls us to connect on the level of the heart, where humility and openness direct our interaction. This is not an easy practice. It also calls us to examine our relationships with others, and even our relationship with ourselves.
What will it take? How can we change so significantly that, as a church community, we become that diverse and inclusive haven of connection so desperately needed in society today? How can we embrace the parts of ourselves that cause us shame or repulse? These are the questions we wrestle with this month, as we embrace our worship theme of Radical Hospitality.
This isn’t social justice work, although that is often the outcome, this is internal work of the heart. It requires that we open our minds and our hearts and extend our hands in connection and solidarity to those who are not like us. From this we will be changed as individuals and as a church community.
Let’s do this together.
In faith,
Rev. Tina
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Happening This Week at First Unitarian
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HOMECOMING IS THIS SUNDAY!
Please join us this Sunday, September 10, when we return to two Worship Services on Sundays at
9:30am and 11:15am.
Remember to bring a stone -
click here
to review our summer spiritual assignment.
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Gratitude, Joys and Sorrows
Many thanks to the K-5th graders who, on Sunday of Labor Day weekend, CHOSE to help sort out our RE supply room!
We are grateful to Meg Gillio, Ahlia Kitwana, Wayne Holt, and Karin Kacprzynski for spending a weekend of their summer to become Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education facilitators for our children and youth.
If you have a concern
about a member of our congregation, please don't hesitate to contact Rev. Tina at 585-271-9070 x104.
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The newest exhibit in our Williams Gallery
"Facing Racism"
holds an opening reception
this
Friday, 6:00-8:00pm.
For more info,
click here
.
Bagels and Bagels!
Support our church's partnership with Schools #22 and #15 and buy a fresh bagel
this Sunday
in the Susan B. Anthony Lounge.
Bookstore Opens this Sunday.
For more info,
click here
.
A Uke Jam will be held
this Sunday, 1:00-3:00pm
in the Williams Gallery. If interested,
click here
.
Board of Trustees will meet on
Tuesday, September 12 at 6:30pm
. Visitors are welcome.
Click here
for
the agenda for the next The agenda and minutes of past Board meetings are available on our
website
.
Currents
discussion group resumes
Wednesday, September 13, at 12:15pm
. The topic will be "What Will a Post-Trump USA Look Like?" For more info,
click here
.
Aging Gratefully
meets
Thursday, September 14
to discuss "Our Parents." For more info,
click here
.
In association with the "Facing Racism" exhibit, a
Racial Justice Presentation
will be held on
Thursday, September 14, 7:00-9:00pm.
For more info
click here
.
A few spaces are left for
Meditation Classes with Jan Cook
. For more info,
click here
.
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Calls to Action
Have you registered your children for RE yet? You can do it
online here
.
Are you RE Curious?
Want to shine some light into the future of UUism? There are a multitude of ways to be part of educating our children and youth. Please call or text Sheila, our Director of Religious Education at 585-743-0425 to find a way for you.
Brighton Food Cupboard
serves the needy in zip codes 14607, 14610, 14618, and 14620. For questions, contact
Alison Wilder
.
We have several Pledge Payment Options to choose from, contact
Al Gundlach
to find one that works for you.
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Other News and Reminders
First Muse Chamber Music opens the season
Sunday, September 24 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets for their first concert will be available after services this Sunday. For more info,
click here
.
Roof construction is underway, so until further notice, the south parking lot is unavailable for church use. Also note that the back door is to be used as an emergency exit only.
A new
Soul Matters Group
will form this fall based on Stephen Mitchell's translations of
The Enlightened Heart,
click here
for more info.
Our Social Justice Council is bringing to town Debby Irving, author of the 2014 award-winning book
Waking Up White
on
Sunday, October 8 at 7:00pm.
For more info,
click here
.
For tips from your
Environmental Climate Climate Task Force,
click here.
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First Unitarian Church
220 Winton Road South
Rochester, NY 14610
Church Office is open
Monday-Friday, 10:00am-2:00pm
585-271-9070
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All entries are subject to editorial approval.
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