17 August 2014 Water Communion Worship Service

WaterCommunionPlease join us on Sunday (17 August 2014) at 10:30 AM for “Is the Flow Downhill?” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.

This is our annual “Water Communion” worship service —  an annual tradition in ours and many other Unitarian  Universalist congregations.

Water Communion allows us an opportunity to reunite after the summer and tell each other something of our experiences as we bring a small gift of water (whether from the source of our experience or symbolically so) and to blend our waters as we blend our stories.

This is not just a travelogue.  The water might be from Tanganyika, or it might be from the tap in your new apartment or a puddle where you watched tadpoles with a small child.

The water is added to water from previous Water Communions, then boiled, filtered and frozen to be saved for rituals involving water such as child dedications, and of course, future water communions.

Join us after the service for the Swim Party at the home of Laurie Lyons and Henry Walker.

New Worship / Religious Education Schedule Starting 24 August 2014

Next Sunday (24 August 2014) — big changes for our Sunday morning schedule.

Worship will start at 11:00 AM.  On most Sundays, children and youth will stay in worship for the first 15 to 20 minutes before departing to their religious education classes.

On selected Sundays, we will have all-ages worship where the children and youth remain in the service.  When we have all-ages worship, there will be no religious education classes for children and youth.

Adult religious education classes will start back in the Fall after Labor Day — please check our website announcements for these details as they become available.

10 August 2014 Worship and Religious Education

New Orleans Standing on the Side of Love
Members and friends of First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans in a peaceful protest of the actions of Operation Save America.

Please join us on Sunday (10 August 2014) at 10:30 AM for “When Love is Not the Message Received” by Susan Caldwell (All Souls Director of Religious Education).

We speak often of “Standing on the Side of Love,” but how do we do that when our faith is challenged and called into question — sometimes quite harshly — by those with no interest in a civil dialogue on spiritual matters?

Models abound to teach us, whether we look to our contemporaries in New Orleans, to the prophetic women and men who have come before us, or to the firm foundation of our Living Tradition, a theology grounded in love and hope.

Mystery of the 3D Hand Revealed this Sunday
Children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service before we sing them out to their summer activities.

As Unitarian Universalists, we look to our own Direct Experience of Mystery and Wonder as a lens for exploring the world around us and our own spiritual nature.

ThirdHand

This Sunday, we reaffirm that Mystery and Wonder are no farther away than our very own hands, and that even the closest, most familiar things we see are not always what they seem.  Alice, Neill and Samantha Normand will be with the children and youth again this morning.

3 August 2014 Worship and Religious Education

Please join us on Sunday (3 August 2014) at 10:30 AM for “Gifts of the Elders” by Pamela Carlisle with Worship Associate Sarah Boswell.

Information is not wisdom and often — in this “information age” — we are in danger of losing the wisdom of those who may feel left out by current prevailing modes of communication.

zentanglesZentangles in the Religious Education Wing
Children and youth will attend the first 15 to 20 minutes of the worship service before we sing them out to their summer activities.

On this Sunday they’ll be trying their hands at an art form known as Zentangles with Alice and Neill Normand.

It can be as simple or as complex as they like, and it works for a variety of ages.  For the artists who are willing, we’ll display the finished products in the Social Hall.

If you have some empty cereal boxes or other thin cardboard boxes in your recycling bin (Ritz Cracker boxes would work great too), bring them, although we will try and have some on hand.

27 July 2014 Worship and Religious Education

LotusFlowerPlease join us on Sunday (27 July 2014) at 10:30 AM Sunday Worship — “The Modern Mantra, Part II” by Ron Hagar

Ron Hagar presides over Part II of this participatory worship experience exploring the definition and purpose of a mantra and the idea of creating one’s own mantra.
This week, we will delve more deeply into the topic and feature congregational sharing of personal mantras as participants are willing and time allows.

Children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service before we sing them out to their summer activities.  On this Sunday, they will be making their own variations on these two shirts:

GalaxyShirts

They need to bring a black or dark-colored t-shirt for the project. We will have a few extras on hand, available for a donation if they need one, but as with tie-dye a few weeks ago, bringing their own guarantees the fit and style they’ll prefer.

20 July 2014 Worship and Religious Education

LotusFlowerPlease joins us on Sunday (20 July 2014) for our 10:30 AM worship and religious education time.

“The Modern Mantra, Part I” by Ron Hagar — Ron Hagar is back and presiding over, not one but two worship services on this Sunday and the following Sunday (27 July 2014).

Part I of this participatory worship experience will explore the definition and purpose of a mantra and the idea of creating one’s own mantra.

Next week, Part II will delve more deeply into the topic and feature congregational sharing of personal mantras as participants are willing and time allows.

Community Building Games — In the Religious Education Wing, Steve Caldwell will lead the children and youth in some fun community-building games. The children and youth will join us in the sanctuary for the first 15-20 minutes and then we will sing them out to their activities.

13 July 2014 Worship for All Ages

OldTurtleBrokenTruthPlease join us on Sunday (13 July 2014) at 10:30 AM for our all-ages worship service — “Old Turtle and the Broken Truth”

“In a time when every stone is a teacher and every tree is a ladder to the stars, the people live in peace.”

Then the people discover a powerful truth that brings them strength and happiness, but they cannot see that their truth is broken and incomplete, and they suffer needlessly.  Can a child help Old Turtle to remind them of the Truth they have lost?

Join John Allen, Megan Bennett, Phil Boswell, and Sarah Allen for this dramatic presentation of the inspiring story by Douglas Wood featuring the beautiful watercolor illustrations of Jon J. Muth.

6 July 2014 Worship and Religious Education

NelsonMandelaFreedomQuotePlease joins on Sunday (7 July 2014) at 10:30 AM for “Affinity or Affliction?” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.  This is Barbara’s last time in our pulpit for the Summer — she will be back for our Water Communion service on 10 August 2014.

OrigamiDragon

 

In the Religious Education Wing, the children and youth will have Origami lessons with Richard Denton and Noah Wagstaff — variations from super-simple to fancy for all ages and abilities.

29 June 2014 Worship and Religious Education

WomenInProfilePlease joins us on Sunday (29 June 2014) at 10:30 AM for “The Gentle Fierceness of a Hard-Won Wisdom” by Carol Graywing.

Carol knows from experience that the personal is political is spiritual. This morning, she shares insights from her forty-six years as a Unitarian Universalist activist; local, regional and national board member; worship, workshop, and ritual leader.

KidsYogaIn the Religious Education Wing, the children and youth will have a yoga class with Robin Drury.

22 June 2014 Artist Sunday Worship for All Ages

Please join us at 10:30 AM for our annual Artists Sunday Worship.  All generations will worship together in the sanctuary for this special service. Nursery care for children 3 and under will be provided beginning at 9:30 AM.

ArtistSunday

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