Work In Progress - Message Neal Richardson Sr - facilities@springfielduu.org for support.
Betty Ridge and Susanne Bounds offer a message observing and celebrating the spring equinox. Moment of Perspective – Spring is like a perhaps hand Persephone, our AV Coordinator, shares a few thoughts about Spring followed by a Spring poem by E.E. Cummings. The opening words are a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh. Your mind is … Continue reading Spring Spirit
by Rev Michelle Scott-Huffman
I am only one; but still I am one.
I cannot do everything; but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
May it be so for us today!
Our opening words are “Many Paths” by Martha Kirby Capo. As we enter this sacred, silent space,Let us renew both our commitment and our covenant:There are those among us who have endured a loss in the past week;May their hope be uplifted again in this community of faith.There are those among us who have struggled … Continue reading Committed to Change
by Rev Michelle Scott-Huffman Rev. Jan Christian, Congregational Life Staff for the Pacific Western Region of the UUA wrote: “Establishing and maintaining Beloved Community depends on establishing and maintaining covenantal relationships. The covenant is our sacred promise of meaningful relationship, which we mutually develop by inquiring into our deeply held values as a community. We … Continue reading The Building Blocks of Beloved Community
by Jaimee McGuire Dust of Snow by AJ Fox Our opening words today are Do Not Be Alone Right Now, by Rev Karen G Johnston. Do not be alone right now. Gather together. Gathering together grows courage: in ourselves and in others who see the numbers swelling. It is a small thing, but right now … Continue reading Loving Our Enemies
by Rev Michelle Scott-Huffman An exploration of the many ways we practice love, especially those that build Beloved Community. As Love Moves Outward Activity Our Director of Religious Education, AJ Fox, shared this meditation on love as part of the Valentine’s Day service on February 14th, 2021. It was partially inspired by a meditation that … Continue reading To Be Loved
The Beloved Community [is] not a goal or destination, and it was not any kind of idealistic, Christian utopian dream, but instead a way of being – spiritually, politically, economically, emotionally, intellectually. Beloved Community is an attitude, an orientation of the heart; it’s a disciplined understanding of your own relationship to other people, to everyone else on the planet, to every living thing. If you are religious, this is a religious discipline, and it goes by many names. If you are seeking spiritual wholeness, spiritual balance, it is a spiritual discipline. If you are an ethical humanist, it is a deliberate moral stance. It is a daily practice, a spiritual politics, that requires inclusivity, nonviolence, and the hard discipline of radical hospitality. It requires love, agape…
by Michael Rodrigues Jr, Mike Brown, Monica McNeal, and Susanne Bounds Our Chalice Lighting words are from Fulgence Ndagijamana in Lifting Our Voices: Readings in the Living Tradition: When strangers meet, endless possibilities emerge…Each is called to serve something larger than the self.Today, this morning, let’s light the chalice:for opennessesfor willingness to grow,for rich curiosity,and … Continue reading Imagine Beloved Community
by Rev Michelle Scott-Huffman Our opening words are “It begins now in the imagination” by Rev. Gretchen Haley. It starts hereIn this momentIn this breathYou feel risingIn your chestThis beat building between usThe healing, the hunger, the hopeThe courage, the calling, the commitment The drawing outof a new dayIt begins nowIn the imaginationIn this story … Continue reading Imagine Equity and Justice
The Welcoming Renewal Committee encourages every member and friend of the congregation to complete the “Trans Inclusion in Congregations” course. The six session self-paced online video and reading series is completed individually. This course is one of the ways that we can center and enact culture change, starting in our own congregation. Standard individual access … Continue reading A Culture of Inclusion
