Sunday September 1 Multi- Platform worship at 10:30
Bless the World
Rev. J. Mark Worth, Guest Worship Leader Kay Wilkins, Worship Associate
When Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker retired from her position as president of Starr King School for the ministry, her charge to the students and faculty was that they should bless the world. This sounds like a difficult challenge, but is it really? We don’t have to be saints. It merely requires mindfulness, going about our daily lives while paying attention. It means not being wrapped up in ourselves and our own desires all the time. All we really need to do is to be considerate, be faithful, and have a little less ego.
Rev. Mark Worth is one of our two Emeritus Ministers; he served our church from 1991-2006, and also currently serves in the Maine Legislature as a State Representative.
9/1 Worship Service Zoom Meeting:
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 515 795 9121
Phone: 646-558-8656
Sally Gervais donated today’s flowers in memory of her daughter Liz’s 66th birthday on September 5th
Sunday August 4 Multi- Platform worship at 10:30
All real living is meeting…
Rev. Sara Hayman, Worship Leader
Plate Split Sunday to benefit the Land Peace Foundation
UUCE Annual Picnic at Lamoine Beach today, 1-4pm!
Drawing inspiration from Jewish theologian Martin Buber’s quote, “All real living is meeting,” in this worship service, Rev. Sara reflects on the power of truly meeting and seeing one another. How do we strengthen that muscle of seeing one another with love and compassion? What gets in our way? What helps us to do it more readily and why does it matter? Come, reflect on these questions in community and make a commitment to be an active part of creating the world you want to live in.
8/4 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/
Meeting ID: 944 3509 3804
Passcode: 600740
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers are provided by Susan Opdycke. Thank you Susan.
JULY 2024 WORSHIP SERVICES:
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Sunday, July 7th “Weaving Our Lives” Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, Worship Leader
2024 General Assembly Sunday Worship Service Rev. Sara Hayman, Hosting
Come to church today and experience this year’s General Assembly Worship Service that was led by UU Minister, Rev. Molly Housh Gordon with support from several of her UU colleagues serving congregations across the county. In this spirited service, we’re reminded that we’re all tangled up together in a great web of life that’s woven with beauty and hardship, love and loss, thriving and struggle. Given this reality, how do we tend well to the weaving so that all of us are held in care?
Following this worship service, Rev. Sara invites folks attending in person to stay and participate in a Congregation Conversation about this year’s General Assembly, particularly the passing of proposed changes to Article Two of our UUA Bylaws that expresses our faith’s purpose and values and inspirations. All are welcome!
7/7 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/94613997641?pwd=1pcoqWFr5N6TL48drX8aa8D0sIEORb.1
Meeting ID: 946 1399 7641
Password: 055531
Phone: 646-558-8656
Multi-Platform Worship at 10::30am
Sunday, July 14th The Most Important Thing Rev. Jacquie Robb, Guest Worship Leader
Kay Wilkins, Worship Associate
7/14 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/95220505577?pwd=ju3wzxLLpv0PyoGrl79bakgFKDvo04.1
Meeting ID: 952 2050 5577
Password: 199952
Phone: 646-558-8656
Storytelling began long ago, with our ancestors sitting around the safety of an open fire on moonlit nights, recalling the events of the day or the year. We still tell stories to one another and in our own minds. And if we are paying attention, we’ll notice that some of our life stories contain moments of grace where we are gifted with wisdom or love and understanding. What themes do you see emerging from your life stories? What do your stories convey about what is most important in your life?
Rev. Jacquie Robb, BCC, grew up in New England, mostly outdoors. In her early 20s, she moved to downeast Maine, her first “chosen home,” where the land became a primary relationship. Visiting friends in California, she ended up staying of many decades in various roles including life partner, nonprofit administrator, bookstore owner, hospice volunteer and retirement community chaplain. She returned to Maine in 2020 and makes her home in Belfast cohousing with two cats and a large garden. She is a member of the UUCBelfast.
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Sunday, July 21st Empty bowl Jeff Jeude, Guest Worship Leader
Kathy Hall, Worship Associate
Singer/ songwriter Jenny Van West remembers a large wooden bowl that rested near the door in her childhood home, a receptacle and depository for life’s tidbits that are parts of our busy lives. Maybe you, too, have such a bowl. Bowls, and all they contain and disperse, can be metaphorical of a well lived life. What do we put in, what do we share with others, what remains in the bowl at the end of a day? Jenny’s lyrics suggest, “Just be an empty bowl, let life fill you up, No need to overthink it, because life is enough.” Come join us as we explore our life’s “bowls”.
Jeff Jeude first came to UUCE to serve 3 years as Church Administrator. We’re fortunate he continues to be a friend and active and loving volunteer in our community in lots of ways. Jeff is a gifted preacher and served as a licensed preacher at the United Methodist Church in Winter Harbor. Before moving to Maine with his wife Jill, Jeff was an active lay leader in their church in Missouri.
7/21 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/92966274893?pwd=1PXfTanxT5xKIWQphuFmCDxaOVsA38.1
Meeting ID: 929 6627 4893
Password: 141220
Phone: 646-558-8656
Multi-Platform Sunday Morning Worship at 10:30am
Sunday, July 28th Vade Mecum: Rev. Sara Hayman, Worship Leader
A Pilgrim’s Spiritual Practice Karen Volckhausen, Worship Associate
In our UU faith tradition, there is no single sacred text from which we draw inspiration and wisdom as we aspire to faithfully live our values and principles. Drawing inspiration from an ancient spiritual practice called vade mecum, in this service worship leaders will share the meaning of particular sacred texts or other spiritual sources in their lives. What sacred texts most deeply speak to and nurture your soul’s longings?
7/28 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/96736111004?pwd=f8njbsydg7wCsu2laMgjajWry4sm02.1
Meeting ID: 967 3611 1004
Password: 232444
Phone: 646-558-8656
WORSHIP
June 2024 The Gift of Renewal
Sunday June 30
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Be still and know…
Rev. Sara Hayman, Worship Leader Marta Rieman, Worship Associate
Choir practice at 9am & singing in worship!
Vanessa Titang’s Ordination is at 4pm today!
In his work, A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew, Stephen Mitchell writes about psalms, poetry and God: “The Psalms speak as both poetry and prayer. Some of them are very great poems. But as prayer, even the greatest poems are inadequate. Pure prayer begins at the threshold of silence. It says nothing. Asks for nothing. It is a kind of listening. The deeper the listening, the less we listen for, until silence itself becomes the voice of God.”
In this service, Rev. Sara shares some of the questions, wonderings and burgeoning insights at work in her about her need and longing to connect with God.
6/30 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/
92487404514?pwd= TzM4MUNGS2xLZXEzYnptZks2b2I5QT 09 Meeting ID: 924 8740 4514
Password: 742757
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers in the Sanctuary are provided by Jana Robinson. Thanks Jana!
Sunday June 23
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
A Gorgeous and Messy Bouquet
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Rev. Sara Hayman, Worship Leader. Karen Volckhausen, Worship Associate
Choir practice at 9am
Mediation at 9:30 amUUCE’s Annual Flower CommunionDrawing from our Unitarian roots and the prophetic ministry of Rev. Dr. Norbert C?pek, this Sunday all are invited to create and share together in our annual Flower Communion ritual. Please bring a flower of your choosing to church and place it in the vase when you enter the sanctuary. If you’re worshipping with us on line, please email a photo (JPEG file) of you and a flower, or just a flower, to Suzanne Aubrey at suzanneaubrey57@gmail.com by Friday, June 20th at 5pm.
6/23 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/91652979053?pwd=Vzc5YXM1VGV5c29oNGRwMTg0UWs1dz09
Meeting ID: 916 5297 9053
Password: 532281
Phone: 646-558-8656
Sunday June 16
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Rest is the Medicine
Re. Sara Hayman, Worship Leader Jill Jeude, Worship Associate
Happy Father’s Day!
Choir Practice at 9am!R.E. today!
Special Music: SATB quartet sings!
The root word of sabbatical is sabbath – time set aside to refrain from working and open oneself to experiencing the Sacred that grounds and nourishes us and helps us connect again to Source, the Holy, God as you understand God. In this service, Rev. Sara begins sharing how her recent sabbatical time helped her remember again to value rest and sabbath-taking more regularly and intentionally. How does resting help us to live differently and with more clarity? Rest is the medicine.
6/16 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/
j/98235146113?pwd= UmxvNDZmWld4Z3g3WGJqdkVvMzBrQT 09 Meeting ID: 982 3514 6113
Password: 341567
Phone: 646-558-8656
Sunday June 9Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Glimmers Calling Back SpiritVanessa Titang, Worship Leader Karen Volckhausen, Worship Associate
“Amidst life’s trials we may at times forget nuggets of wisdom and previous moments of peace and joy that call us to center. To counter times of forgotten self may we experience “glimmers” that inspire and reorient. Perhaps these small, yet significant positive experiences are from a song, sight of a friendly face, of touching grass, or a fond remembrance. Regardless of the source, these moments are each of significance—ways our spirits tell us to simply be, and be restored.”
6/9/9 Worship Service Zoom Meetinghttps://uuma.zoom.us/j/
91626569079 Meeting ID: 916 2656 9079
Passcode: 560763
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers in the Sanctuary are provided by Evelyn Foster Thank you Evelyn!
Sunday June 2
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
UUCE Sabbatical Committee, Worship Leaders
Tobias Betancourt, Worship Associate
Today we welcome back our beloved minister Rev. Sara Hayman from her well-deserved sabbatical, just in time for June’s theme of Renewal! The Sabbatical Committee will lead the service of welcome and share what we have learned as a community during the sabbatical. Members of the Sabbatical Committee are: Helen Kazura, chair, David Dietrich, Liz True, Bronwen Day, Christine Bowman, Mary Haynes, and Beth Pepper. Rev. Sara will share reflections about her experiences and her visions for UUCE.
Plate Split Sunday to benefit NextStep Domestic Violence Project!
Special Music: Jim Fisher & Abby Tadenev with a woodwind duet!
R.E. today!
Finger food refreshments after church!
6/2 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/
Meeting ID: 951 6725 3613
Password: 470336
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers in the Sanctuary are provided by Bron Day. Thank you Bron!
Sunday May 26
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
The Best and the Worst
Rev. Amy McCormick, Worship Leader Kathy Hall, Worship Associate
Choir Practice at 9am & singing in worship!
R.E. today!
This is the final Sunday of Rev. Sara’s 5-month sabbatical. I am so happy to be with you as you joyfully prepare for her return. I’m not entirely sure what direction this service will go in just yet. But I hope to invite us into an exploration of what it means to welcome in all that is true, the good and the bad, the hard and the hopeful. Using the work of Richard Schwartz and Internal Family Systems perhaps we can celebrate the messy and the organized, the struggle and the joy of what it means to share ministry, to lead and follow with grace and competence sometimes, and with exhaustion and impatience at others. What is the best and the worst of this beautiful life, how can we hold it all in love?
5/26 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/
Meeting ID: 925 1942 9944
Password: 507344
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers in the Sanctuary are provided by Kay Hansen. Thank you Kay!
Sunday May 19
Multi-Platform Worship at 10:30am
Choir Practice at 9am!
R.E. today!
UUCE Annual Meeting is today!
5/19 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 972 6048 4743
Password: 399489
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers are provided by Jana Robinson. Thank you Jana!
Sunday May 12
IN BELFAST OR ON ZOOM at 10 am
Rev. Amy McCormick, Worship Leader Marsha Donahue, Worship Associate
The Soul Matters theme for the month of May is “Pluralism”. This is the idea that there are many stories, many perspectives in this life. It touches on the belief that there are so many ways to tell the truth, to know the truth; That it is possible to hold multitudes without fear or struggle, without the need to make anyone else wrong, or convert them to our particular view. As I reflect on this Mother’s Day, and what it means to love our children I am moved by the teachings of pluralism and this quote by psychotherapist Carl Rogers:
People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be. In fact, perhaps the reason we can truly appreciate a sunset is that we cannot control it. When I look at a sunset as I did the other evening, I don’t find myself saying, ‘Soften the orange a little on the right-hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color.’ I don’t do that. I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds. I like myself best when I can appreciate my staff member, my son, my daughter, my grandchildren, in this same way.
Join us this Sunday as we dive into the truth of what it means to let peace attend thee and all others through the practice of awe, witness and letting be.
Worship Service Zoom Meeting: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 875 2103 4152
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Sunday May 5 Multi-Platform at 10:30 am
With Love, Curiosity, and Respect
Rev. Margaret Beckman, Guest Worship Leader
Kay Wilkins, Worship Associate
Plate Split Sunday to benefit NextStep Domestic Violence Project!
Much can be and has been said about pluralism in this age of division and separation. The UUA proposed new values include “Pluralism” as one of the six values with Love at the center of all. In this framework, about pluralism, we say,
“We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology. We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.”
Efforts to achieve greater Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality are pursued by many and rejected by a few others. As Unitarian Universalists, we continually ask ourselves, in light of all that both confronts us and graces us, “How then shall I live?” Ours is an evolving faith and an aspirational faith. ….. we too are evolving and aspirational we as we each seek to continually become the next best version of our sacred selves.
This week, we will explore the ways in which love, curiosity, and respect may give us welcome guidance as we seek to live faithfully and fully in this world giving meaning and some purpose to our one wild and precious life.
5/5 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/
Meeting ID: 979 0303 7126
Password: 890871
Phone: 646-558-8656
The flowers this week are provided by Bron Day. Thank you Bron!
Plate Split to benefit NextStep Domestic Violence Project!
CORRECTION there is NOT a Potluck after church this week
April 2024 The Gift of Interdependence
Sunday April 28 Multi-Platform at 10:30 am
Beyond Every Door
Rev. Amy McCormick, Worship Leader Karen Volckhausen, Worship Associate
~ Choir Practice and Sing In Worship
~ RE Today
When worship was cancelled in March, I was very disappointed to not be with you all. I am looking forward to this opportunity to try again and to share the message of this service with you all in April instead. The title of this service is based on a time for all ages designed by UU Minister the Rev. Molly Housh Gordon. Real and lasting change is often as simple as moving through a door just opened, one you’ve never seen before or one you use each day. What new threshold do you find yourself on? Will you go through the beckoning doorway or turn away?
4/28 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/93673095492?pwd=a0o3NHBVQ3AreE5XNDMyekJlSjNIUT09
Meeting ID: 936 7309 5492
Password: 058012
Phone: 646-558-8656
Rev. Amy McCormick, who serves as settled minister to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, Maine, is also now serving as UUCE’s sabbatical minister while our beloved Sara rests and rejuvenates. Amy’s ministry had its beginnings at UUCE, when she began attending in February of 2014, realized ministry was her calling, and was then ordained at UUCE in June of 2019
The flowers this week are provided by Linda Tarlow. Thank you Linda!
UUCE CHOIR PRACTICE THIS SUNDAY AND SING IN WORSHIP
Rehearsal 9-10:15
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WORSHIP
Sunday April 21 Multi-Platform at 10:30 am
![4 Ways to Turn Hope Into Reality | ? Best Selling Author ? Coach ? Speaker ?](https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NbjrEg1XJH8h19QBE2j42gT6brvTdlzewmxLBkd_QKjViqYG5rcPUiG1BQyZmlQYGza6Y1UBQd8Me-4YCizYJcn0YwZdAgKouX5AxhkWmAPHpuYY6tujaQYNSNLPujgnLv9PZbGN-vqYbIW5Vd93qCK=s0-d-e1-ft#https://robliano.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/tumblr_mc86drmjze1qjam55o1_500_large.jpg?w=584)
Rev. Dr. Linda Barnes, Guest Worship Leader Marta Rieman, Worship Associate
On this Earth Day we might be struggling to have hope. When we are hopeless, we narrow our vision to see only the worse. To be hopeless means we are free to give up. Sounds easy, right? Maybe not so much. For this service, we’ll defend the power and purpose of hope to bring about the world as we dream of it.
4/21 Worship Service Zoom Meeting:
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 918 8313 1366
Password: 868537
Phone: 646-558-8656
Rev. Dr. Linda Barnes came to New Hampshire from the Midwest in 2016. Her life has been a rich tapestry of experience that includes nearly twenty years as a community college biology professor and organic farmer. Linda received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 1996 from Iowa State University and a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago in 2015. Her studies included a two-year internship at First Unitarian Church of Des Moines. She also served as a chaplain at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. She was ordained in April 2016. She currently serves as minister at Starr King UU Fellowship in Temple, NH.
Jana Robinson provided flowers this week. Thank you Jana!
Sunday April 14 ZOOM Worship or In-Person
UU Church of Belfast 10 am
The Department of the Interior
Rev. Amy McCormick, Worship Leader
Margi Pulkingham, Worship Associate
A little over a year later the time to deliver that sermon has arrived.submitted a basket that included one sermon on the topic of the auction winner’s choice. A and committees submitted beautiful baskets full of goodies that folks then bid on. I In December of 2022 UUCB’s Andrea Butler organized a silent auction where individuals
We’ll explore the nature and importance of caring for, getting right with, listening to, and
trusting our own “department of the interior”, as a profound tool for good works in the
world. As Rumi once said, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” How does growing our self-awareness and centering ourselves, focusing on the practices of inner healing, connection to spirit and removing the barriers of love we have within ourselves actually make us better and more effective at everything else the world calls us to? This is not a service offering permission to naval gaze self-indulgently, this is a perspective on justice that requires bravery, honesty, and a willingness to look at the deepest parts of who we are and how we are connected.
4/14 Worship Service Zoom Meeting: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 875 2103 4152
One tap mobile
+16469313860,,87521034152# US
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