SUNDAY SERVICE at 10:00 AM

Begin your Sunday morning with an 8:30 MULTIPLATFORM

Meditation session until 9:20

Multiplatform service begins at 10:00 each Sunday

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For more information about our services, check out our website.

Masks are required

Widening Our Sense of Belonging

Belonging is a strong human need driven by the deeply social nature of human biology. To survive and thrive, we need one another.

There are many ways we satisfy that need for belonging. I had a strong sense of belonging to a place growing up on Dallas Avenue in Newark, Delaware from kindergarten until my junior year of college at the University of Delaware. Throughout my childhood I played in a park behind our house, making trails and forts in the wooded sections. The boys my age who lived on Dallas Avenue fought our arch enemies, the Apple Road “gang,” in mock battles in those woods. I played in the concrete lined drainage ditch that ran next to our house building dams and looking for tadpoles. I grew up with a sense of belonging to that plot of land, a feeling of place I haven’t had since, after many moves, living in many different places.

Many people experience a larger sense of belonging to a place through their city or town, their local sports teams, their state, or their nation. One of the great joys of doing my internship in New York in 1988-89 was feeling at homeness as a New Yorker the way I never felt at home being a Californian. Oh, I loved the weather in the San Francisco Bay Area when I lived there and enjoyed the warm winters in Florida during my first ministerial settlement in Port Charlotte, but I felt so much more at home with the four seasons of upstate New York. More than the weather, the people I met living in Rochester, Buffalo and now Albany felt and feel more like “my people” than many of the Californians or Floridians ever did – though most of the people I knew in both places were transplants from somewhere else.

International travel diminishes those regional differences when one is surrounded by people speaking languages other than English. Traveling in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, Ireland and Romania helped me recognize differences in me from the indigenous population that I might not have noticed otherwise. I knew I didn’t belong in those countries even though I was welcomed.

Beyond geography, people might share the same locality but still maintain distinct identities through their religion and politics. Many of us may not remember the pre-Vatican Two boundaries between Catholics and Protestant. For Catholics setting foot, let alone worshipping in a Protestant space was forbidden. Protestants are notorious for fracturing their institutions over theological differences. Some religious traditions like sects of Islam and Judaism require special head or body coverings, rules about hair display and trimming and dietary restrictions and practices to separate themselves from others.

Thanks to the aggressive politics of our former President, the polarization between Democrats and Republicans has gotten much more extreme. And within each of these parties there are factions that compete with the other factions. All kinds of attitudes and beliefs follow each identification and drive a sense of belonging. As a lifelong Democrat, it would be a major betrayal of my sense of belonging to become a Republican, especially now – though a moderate Republican made that recommendation to me to counter the populist takeover of the party.

What I find quite remarkable about Unitarian Universalism (as guiding lights of our faith are striving to practice it today) is the effort to create a different kind of belonging than these familiar ones.

Belonging can be a challenge for us. We do not have a holy land. We do not have a Mecca we must visit at least once in a lifetime. We have no sacred shrines, though Boston and Beacon Hill may hold a sense of reverence in the hearts of Northeastern Unitarians. We have no nationality that is uniquely Unitarian or Universalist as these traditions have grown up in England, Europe and in the Kashi Hills of India. There is no place on Earth where Unitarians, Universalists or Unitarian Universalists outnumber everyone else. We have no homeland to retreat to if we are persecuted.

Unlike many other religions, adherence to a sanctioned system of belief or unbelief to belong to one of our congregations is not required. Some congregations lean more humanist or theist depending on the people in the congregation and the heritage of that congregation. Yet freedom of belief or unbelief is a bedrock principle of just about every Unitarian Universalist congregation that is part of the Unitarian Universalist Association that protects that freedom in Article II of its bylaws.

While that freedom of belief and unbelief is a defining aspect of our identity, we also have a cultural and spiritual history that has defined us. This freedom would not have been thought of the same way in the early 1800’s when Unitarianism and Universalism were defining their theological differences from their Calvinist Puritan origins. That freedom has evolved and widened into our third and fourth principles: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning and the right of conscience.

So has the Universalist value of God’s Universal Love for all humanity without exception. This Christian centric view has evolved significantly into the statement today of our first principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Rather than a place or a belief, what creates the sense of belonging in our congregations are the values that align with these principles. These values find support in many different beliefs and political affiliations. They are not bound to a geography or a cultural identity or an ethnic heritage.

Our congregation is deeply committed to welcoming everyone. Yet extending that kind of welcome is anything but easy as we all suffer from biases. The test of that effort is whether new people coming to our congregation can experience that welcome that creates a sense of belonging.

And we will fail sometimes. What matters is our commitment to that wide welcome. We must commit to learn from those failures, uncover our biases, challenge them, and strive to open our hearts a little wider. We must commit to open to that Universalist Spirit of Love that is the beautiful complement to the Unitarian free search for truth and meaning.

PSST- Plans for Fall 2022 are posted here and registration is open here! Take a look and if you have any questions please contact Elizabeth at dre@albanyuu.org. Pass this info on to anyone you think might be interested in all we have to offer!

Homecoming Sunday - September 11th will be a special multi-generational service including a photo montage of our congregants' summer activities. If you'd like to contribute a picture, send it to office@albanyuu.org by Tuesday, Sept 6. Water will also be gathered, it can be from your home, back yard, or from your summer adventures. Bring your water to Community Hall or to Zoom for service and when it is time to share you will have the opportunity to share your water and a sentence about why that water is meaningful to you.

Following service on September 11th:

• Classrooms for kids' programming will be open for you to identify which rooms your children and youth will be in, and take a look around.
• 8th/9th Parent/Guardian OWL Orientation will take place from 12-2pm in B3/B4.
• Guide Development Session for all volunteers in Programs for Children and Youth will be on Zoom from 6-7:30pm.

Elizabeth Baldes

Director of Religious Education

dre@albanyuu.org

Choir Rehearsal is back! 

After a long summer of spending time enjoying upstate New York's wonderful summer weather, Autumn calls us back to sing! We will be meeting at 7:00pm in Community hall, Masks required. I look forward to seeing everyone and making beautiful music. 

See we one another clearly, Do we know who we are? - Harry Belafonte

-Olga

omartinez@albanyuu.org

Welcome to our new Congregational Life Coordinator!

The Congregational Life Coordinator works closely with ministry teams to reach out to diverse people and communities beyond the congregational walls and to welcome visitors, engage members and increase community awareness of Albany UU, developing and nurturing a culture of welcome and participation within the congregation. 

Sherese Linnen and her family (two adult children and her mother) have transplanted to Albany and are happy to be here where there are a lot more opportunities. She works at Catholic Charities Housing Office as well as some other areas and enjoys reading in her spare time and riding her motorcycle when the weather allows. Sherese looks forward to being apart of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany where she can grow spiritually and assist the congregation to grow exponentially by welcoming diverse seekers.

Welcome Sherese!

Sherese can be reached at slinnen@albanyuu.org

Albany UU COVID update

With summer ending, AUU’s COVID Response Team met this week to review the state of the pandemic and update guidelines related to worship services and other congregational functions.  

Our guiding principles include: 

• Keeping each other as safe as possible from COVID, including members of the congregation, staff, volunteers, and visitors.  
• Remembering the needs of people with special vulnerabilities and helping them feel safe and welcome.
• Recognizing that we owe staff special deference since they spend many hours every week interacting with the rest of us, putting themselves at risk for getting sick.
• And from a 17th Century Latin text: “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas” or “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberality; and in all things, love.”

VACCINATION:

For the protection of ourselves and each other, all those without contraindications are encouraged to be as fully vaccinated as possible.  It was recently announced that  an updated booster targeting new variants of the virus is expected in September for individuals age 12 and up. 

MASKS:

We will continue to require masks during activities that are core to the congregation’s mission:  Sunday Services and Programs for Children and Youth.

In non-core functions, such as coffee hour or memorial services, masks are encouraged, but optional. 

CHOIR:  

Consistent with standard practices at UU congregations nationwide, masks continue to be required during rehearsals.  During rehearsal, the music director has extensive exposure to many people’s breath and can’t wear a mask to lead the rehearsal effectively.

During performances, choir members may remove their masks temporarily.   

If a service includes wind musicians, they may also remove their masks while performing.

Seating arrangements will ensure ample space between performers and congregation, with seating available on the balcony and in Channing Hall for those with special concerns.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH:

Masks will be worn by all throughout indoor, in-person classes and groups.

No snack during class time; parents and caregivers can choose to attend Coffee Hour for refreshments if they wish. 

COFFEE HOUR:

Coffee hour will be held outside for as long as weather permits. 

OTHER EVENTS: 

Indoor coffee hour, memorial service receptions, and other events where eating is not the primary focus: masks are encouraged, but optional. 

Small dinners (under 20 participants), space tables as far apart as possible; masks encouraged, but optional.

Large dinners, such as Thanksgiving Potluck, will be handled on case-by-case basis, considering current pandemic situation. 

PERIODIC REASSESSMENT:

The COVID Response Team will touch base monthly to determine if policy changes are needed.  If you have concerns to share with the group, please send a note to Tammy Goddard at admin@albanyuu.org.  

A Rich and Rewarding Experience Awaits You at UU Weekend at

Silver Bay

Join us at the UU Weekend at Silver Bay from October 14-16, 2022.

Here are some highlights from the schedule of events for the weekend:

• Keynote speaker, Pastor David Trayham, leading a discussion on building better racial and community relationships
• Workshop topics including a proposal to bring the Hudson River into Albany, getting off fossil fuels, book discussions, and an opportunity to create art
• Several hikes, a bird walk, a presentation by a wildlife rehabilitator including her five live raptors, a discussion of the islands and bays of Lake George, a presentation about a trek across Northern Spain, and boat tours
• A full children’s program including movies, kite and bead making and games
• Several live musical events
• The annual auction (Bring and purchase gently used items.)

Remember – the cost is all-inclusive for room and board, activities and entertainment - including all meals from Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch. Children under 6 are free, with substantial discounts for older children and youth. 

Access additional information about Silver Bay and the UU weekend, including a preliminary schedule of events and a registration form at http://albanyuu.org/uu-weekend-at-silver-bay/

Note: Adaptions will be made to accommodate the status of the pandemic, if needed.

Find Sunday service recordings here.

Learn about submitting announcements to for Sunday service and how to reserve a Zoom room for meetings and events here.

All information about regular occurring events and meetings, including Zoom links can be found here.



Other important resources, our file cabinet, archives, guidelines and information can be found on the Resource Page of our website, here.



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