Sermons & Newsletter – UU Church of Rutland

Where do we, in a world that sometimes feels very dark, find the light that cultivates life?  As spring begins to brighten the world around us, let’s explore some ideas of adaptive and sustainable leadership, so that we, too, can shine with the nourishing warmth our world so desperately needs.

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What are our roots, as a faith and especially, as individuals? How do people celebrate, address, ignore or flat-out deny their cultural or ethnic or religious roots, and what difference does it make? Our Heritage Potluck on February 10th, described elsewhere in this newsletter, will give us a chance to share some of our roots through food!

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The Rutland Unitarian Universalist Church has a Mission Statement that was adopted many years ago. Although the statement expresses much of what we strive for, there is no expression of inclusion of all people, other than “all ages”. Is it time to update our statement? The statement can be found in the church directory. A work session on our mission statement will follow the service.

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Our natural tendency to group objects, people, and ideas into more easily manageable categories often prohibits us from recognizing their unique qualities. Dick Weis, a visual artist, will use the quote from Paul Valery to examine ways we can understand our world through a clearer vision.

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In the late 1960s and early 70s, our country was rocked by many aspects of racism and responses to racism, and our UU faith experienced its share of that angst and upheaval. We’ll look back at that time and try to understand a bit more of how our UUA addressed that time (or didn’t), and what some of the ramifications have been.

“Civil Civics” Justin Classen

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James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, has argued that the 2016 presidential elections both contributed to and underlined one of the major problems facing American politics today: a collective inability to engage in civil civic discourse. Indeed, the mutual and increasingly vocal distrust and contempt between various factions of “liberals” and “conservatives” has helped to polarize our political system to the point of paralysis. In this talk, Justin puts our current moment in both global and American historical context and discusses both the need for and avenues toward restoring civil civic discourse.

December 3 2017 – “Cultural Diversity: A Personal Journey” – Morgan Denehy

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The experience of living in a different culture for a period of time can affect the way we view our life and the world. Being the outsider in a different culture can lead to expanded perspectives. Morgan relates his experiences in Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa and how his life has changed as a result.

November 26 – “Being Polite To Children” – Nancy Weis

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Nov. 19 – Michelle Galo- Living Tradition November – All Saints’ Day.
This sermon explores our relationship to the past, to our own messy histories both personal and ecumenical, and how we must change and adapt both as individuals and as a faith in order to survive.

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