Our Feathered Friends
Lay Leader: Mary Ryan
May 14 is International Bird Migration Day and
this intergenerational service will be all about
our feathered friends. Everyone will get a
chance to tell their favorite bird stories and we’ll
see how many different types of birds we’ve
seen over the last month.
Flowers, Fires, and Fellowship: Ritual in Our lives
Rev Kerry Mueller
Once again, we look forward to celebrating our
flower ceremony saying a little about the value
of rituals large and small. Please bring a flower
or several, and plan to take one home.
If you plan to attend virtually, please send a
flower photo to Rick Duske at
webmaster@uupottstown.org
A Constellation of Lights
Emily Quarles-Mowrer
Devon Monk writes in Wayward Moon, “[Life] shines a light on what you think you know. If you’re lucky, you’ll answer with your heart, instead of with the stories people stuff in your heads. Kindness is powerful. Any man who abides by it changes the world.” Kindness is often hardest to hold on to when we need it the most. But just like one candle’s flame can kindle another, passing on the glow of kindness can shine a light on what we think we know.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Endurance: Part 2
Speaker: Mary Ryan
Part one of the story of the Endurance
expedition to Antarctica ended with the team on
the ice after their ship sank. This morning we
will continue the story. How will this chapter
end?
In February I wrote about the first “mark of the church” – kerygma, which I defined rather expansively beyond preaching, to include all the ways we share our stories and our ideas, including religious education.
The other four “marks” are equally important. Diakonia is defined as service – what the deacons do, from a literal sort of waiting on tables to taking care of the building and other tools of our congregation. This one I have expanded to include the great care takings of our lives – how we care for democracy, and the planet, how we combat racism, and how we work towards a world of social justice, what Christians call the Kingdom of God (or the Kin-dom), what we might call Beloved Community.
Third is Koinonia, literally commonality, fellowship, community, how we care for each other and enrich each other’s lives by our connections, by working together on great goals, or having fun together, by shared meals, and all the ways we strengthen our sense of connection with each other and the world.
Finally comes Leitorgia, literally the work of the people, translated as liturgy, which I see as the worship and rituals, the singing and art making by which we acknowledge the important events in our lives and the life of the world. This would include life rites of passage, joys and sorrows, solemn vigils and celebratory parties.
Of course, these four are not the only things a congregation does, but they are ways by which individuals come together in community to strengthen the spiritual lives of people so that they can bless the life of the world. Members and friends contribute in many ways, and in different ways at different times of their lives, depending on their circumstances and gifts – making coffee, providing leadership, teaching, singing, caring for the garden. Everyone needs to be financially generous to keep us going, though generosity may be a small or large amount of money.
But congregations don’t exist for themselves, or even primarily for the immediate lives of the members. People can do together what they cannot do on their own. You can join with others to strengthen democracy, buoyed by the fellowship and leadership of others. You can learn and find spiritual energy (and time and resources) to make a difference. Congregations exist to transform lives, so that people become the best that is in them. Together you can bless the world with your love.
Love, Kerry
Will Your Anchor Hold?
Speaker: Rev. Dave Hunter
How does our UU faith sustain us in times of trial, when, for example, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death?
Coffee Hour follows the Service
Endurance
Lay Speaker: Mary Ryan
107 years after being crushed in ice and sinking, the Endurance was found last month nearly 10,000 feet below the frozen Weddell Sea off the Antarctic Peninsula. Mary will share the inspiring and amazing story of teamwork, leadership, skill and human perseverance in the face of almost certain death in the world’s most hostile environment.
Coffee Hour follows the Service
Call and Commitment
Speaker: Rev. Kerry Mueller
Passover and Easter are different holidays for different faiths, but they have some themes in common. And this year they overlap on the calendar. Both challenge us to live up to our deepest values for ourselves and for the life of the world. Come and celebrate.
Coffee Hour follows the Service
Is There Such a Thing As an “Empathy Gene”?
Guest Speaker: Rev. Cheryl Meinschein
Lay Leader: Jon Dreazen
Are people born basically good or not? What does the animal kingdom tell us about such questions? Today we welcome back Rev. Meinschein. Pastor Cheryl Meinschein is a retired Lutheran pastor, with a Jewish mother and a Lutheran father. She is a Jersey Girl married to a Pennsylvania Dutchman. Her academic background includes a BA in Biology/Secondary Education, a Master’s of Divinity, and most recently, a certificate in Paralegal Studies. She believes that questions are often more interesting than answers.
Coffee Hour follows the Service