Welcome to Fall and Homecoming at First Unitarian! Here are some of the things to anticipate in our community in the coming weeks:
We will be kicking off our annual spiritual theme, “Catch the Spark!” this weekend in a worship for all ages and on a day filled with hospitality, including a Pancake Breakfast and Souper Sunday (lunch). It’s a great day to bring a friend with you.
It is also a day of connections in smaller groups, including the first re-gathering our monthly BIPOC affinity group for our members who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color and our twice-a-month T-Time affinity group for members who identify as Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive.
At First Unitarian, we hope that each of you will catch the spark of faith and the resilience to counter fear, as well as spark of hope that keeps the flame of love burning bright.
Throughout the 2026-2027 program year, we will be exploring how to catch the spark through the monthly topics below –
September: Catch the Spark!
October: Listening
November: Tending
December: Hope
January: Imagination
February: Purpose
March: Healing
April: Freedom
May: Renewal
June: Joy
July-August: Wonder and Awe
Speaking of catching the spark – It has been a joy to light our chalice together on Sundays as a full community of children, youth, and adults together in-person and online. We heard positive feedback about the whole community beginning together every Sunday morning as we did for the first time last year. We will continue this practice for the year ahead. Our Learning Community children and youth begin with us in the sanctuary for the first fifteen minutes every week, before heading to their separate classes and youth group. This offers all of us a chance to be together as a fuller community and to build bridges across the generations.
The entire service on this Homecoming Sunday kick-off will be multigenerational – and we’ll have a few other All-Ages services throughout the year.
Catch the spark also references the energy and engagement we aim to build with one another as we engage in our strategic planning process this fall. We have hired Larry Peers as our overall facilitator for the process. He has worked with many congregations from different traditions as a consultant with decades of experience. He worked at the UUA, then at Alban Consulting, then as part of a consortium, and recently he served as a minister in one of our congregations in Delaware. The strategic plan steering team who will function as assistant facilitators with Larry leading at the Summits in October met with him in the last weekend of August, and we look forward to sharing more soon.
Here are some upcoming events after Homecoming that you will want to know about:
1.) September 20 – Learning Community Classes begin! Arrive at Main Sanctuary at 10:15 A.M.
2.) September 20 – 12:00 P.M. Social Justice and UU the Vote Kick-Off! Opportunity to collaborate and to begin to learn how to counter Christian Nationalism.
3.) September 20 – 7:00 P.M. Evening Service for Yom Kippur (Jewish High Holiday)
4.) September 25 – 10:00 A.M. Loving Kindness Gathering: Welcoming Party and Meditation in Buchan Reception Hall. You can also learn about on our online practice, Monday evenings at 8 P.M.
… And don’t forget about the weekly Friday, Vespers Service on Zoom beginning at 5:00 P.M. and lasts about 40 – 45 minutes: https://tinyurl.com/Vespers-1stU
If you haven’t done so already, soon you will get to meet our new Music Director, Dr. Daniel Bassin, our acting Assistant Minister, Rev. Ken Jones, and our interim Managing Director, David Leslie. All are contributing new ideas and energy to our staff team. It has been a revitalizing time on our staff team.
I can’t wait to see all of you on Sunday in person or online! (Many thanks to Crystal who has been serving as our new online host – be sure to say hello if you’re viewing from there.)
May it be a year of catching the spark in ways that allow us to rekindle our spirits, our imagination, and our commitment to all that our community makes possible.
In faith,
Rev. Alison