Love Unites, Stories Ignite

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Religious Education for children and youth will experience and explore on summer Sundays at East Shore in June, July, and August. We take a break from our classroom activities and dive into creativity; you’ll explore the arts and outdoor activities designed just for kids. Learn more here!

If you don’t have a chalice, but want to light one, check out our Making a Chalice at Home page.

In person services are followed by coffee hour.

Sermon Audio

Sermon Text

In June of every year the largest gathering of UU’s worldwide occurs, planned by the Unitarian Univeralist Association. It is called General Assembly or (GA) for short. Thousands attend from fifty states; Washington, D.C.; Canada; and this year, the U.S. Virgin Islands; Mexico, France, and the Philippines.

Official business is done and UU’s join in community, explore the faith’s theology, and our communal mission, values, and principles. GA was done virtually only this year, and next year it is both in person and virtual. The group of people on this chancel with me plus our staff leadership team attended GA this year. There may have been others I’m not aware of.

The impact of love as a binding force that transcends boundaries and divisions was very apparent to all of us while attending. GA often offers opportunities to practice at talking about difficult topics and supporting those who are hurting. This year was no exception. There were many presentations on a wide range of topics needing love to be centered: two, a new UU faith statement and the Gaza/Israel war will be focused on this morning. We will be sharing with you our individual journeys with putting love at the center.

I mentioned the Unitarian Universalist Association earlier. We want to let you know that there has and continues to be a significant updating and new resources offered by the UUA. A Leader Lab and the UU Institute for growing church leaders offers training for anyone, as well as opportunities for UU’s across the country to share experiences. The UUA Common Read gives people a chance to discuss ideas and experience spiritual growth as a community. The Mosaic is an online hub of connection, resources, and support for Unitarian Universalists dismantling racism and oppression. Worship resources have been refreshed. Check out the worship web. An online hymnal meant to supplement what we have, is being developed. There’s a website full of up to date information on being a lay leader, your spiritual development, and RExploration curriculum for all ages. All of it available to professionals and congregants to use. uua.org is your gateway!

David Baumgart

War is Hell!

Both the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli population living along the border with the Gaza Strip have been subjected to unspeakable tragedies of war. Thousands of citizens have lost their lives while countless others have lost loved ones. Entire populations have been displaced and are now refugees within the region.

The following  may be helpful for its list of General Assembly events related to the Middle East; from an excerpt from a UU World article on GA by Elaine McAardle.

The tragedy of the ongoing war in the Middle East loomed large over the General Assembly, from the president’s report by UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, who expressed “the profound horror and loss of these latest rounds of violence in the Middle East,” to a Q&A with renowned Beacon Press author and Middle East expert Rashid Khalidi, whose latest book is The Hundred Years’ War on Palestinians.

An Action of Immediate Witness, “Solidarity with Palestinians,” passed with a 73.5 percent vote.

A Responsive Resolution, “UUA General Assembly Support for October 7 Hostages,” offered in response to the UUA President’s Report, called for the immediate release of all Hamas-held hostages and acknowledged “the real suffering of Jews within our Association and beyond.” It passed with 77 percent of votes in favor.

I am ¼ Jewish, but nevertheless, my heart opens wide to both civilian populations. My hear bleeds for both populations.

As I said before, War is Hell!

This ongoing tragedy must be stopped, now, and all hostages released without further delay. This is clearly expressed by our General Assembly.

Grace Colton

The most impactful part of General Assembly for me was the new statement of shared Unitarian Universalist values. The cover of your order of service shows a flower with each petal labeled with a value. The insert gives a description of each value.

This statement places love at the center of UUism in these words: Love is the power that holds us
together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love. Inseparable from one another, these shared values are:

Justice, Pluralism, Interdependence, Generosity, Equity, and Transformation. (J.PIGLET)

These values centered around love are a new expression of UUism and what we covenant. To me they are a poetic expression of what it means to be UU. Technically, the new statement of faith is part of the UUA’s Bylaws – Article 2 specifically, you will hear it called Article 2. It is a description of the UUA’s Purpose for existing, the nature of its relationship with its member congregations. Over decades, Article 2 has become to many people, including me, a statement of UU faith; a description of our ideals and core to RE curriculum. It is where the 8 principles shown on the banners in our foyer officially lived until this June’s GA when they were replaced by values.

You might be surprised by what I’ve just said or wondering “What does it mean that the principles were replaced by values in Article 2?”

Article 2 is a general description of the relationship between the UUA and its member congregations and between congregations. We are a living tradition that periodically revisits its statement of faith. How we define our faith is not permanent in stone or ink. We evolve and see things we haven’t seen before as they are revealed. The principles that we know and love and refer to still exist. Their evolution to values means congregations need to go through their own discernment about the new faith statement in their community. Here at East Shore, we can hold the 8 principles and a new faith statement side by side; both; and; while we discern. Individuals develop their own UU spirituality.

Beth Wilson, a former Board President and David Langrock, our current President are going to share
with you their curiosity about the new faith statement, and go deeper into their personal reflections about it.

After worship, here in the Sanctuary, Beth and I will host an hour Q&A session for folx wanting to ask
questions and go deeper. In the future, other ways of exploring the new faith statement will be offered.

David Langrock

Coming soon!

Beth Wilson

I was introduced to Unitarian Universalism by a boyfriend in grad school. I had studied comparative religion in undergrad, hoping to understand what all this religious stuff from my Episcopalian upbringing was about, and I was fascinated by the ways that people create meaning in their lives.

After the first UU service I attended, I remember saying “this is a religion for religion majors” and I felt like I’d found a spiritual home. I perceived Unitarian Universalism to fit with my academic, intellectual, and reasoned approach to life – it spoke my language. That was over 30 years ago and I’m still deeply committed to our faith.

I’ve recently been challenging myself to embrace less intellectual ways of knowing, exploring more mystical and intuitive paths. I’ve been engaging my heart more, learning to listen to experiences different than my own and see them as equally valid. I’ve been fascinated by magic, and wonder – things that I consider a bit “woo woo”, like energy medicine and Tarot cards. I can’t wrap my scientific mind around these things, but they feel meaningful and very real to me in some way.

When I encountered Article 2 last year, I was intrigued and excited. Seeing the colorful flower imagery awoke a creative, intuitive response within me. Here was a representation of our faith that spoke to the many ways of knowing that I was seeking to embrace. I loved the wholeness, the color, the words, the flow of the lines, the non-hierarchical presentation of our values. And when I read the verbiage of the statement of faith, I felt the poetic nature of it, the way it sparks something relational and emotional in me as well as something principled and logical. I’m struck by the way that the content doesn’t seem all that different from what it was before, but the way it is put together feels more holistic to me.

From the start of this year’s General Assembly, something felt different to me. I’d been a delegate about 10 years ago, and I remember the business meetings as being rather dry, and, dare I say, a bit boring. In this year’s session, though, I felt invited into a sacred space, and I was challenged to listen – really listen – and respond with my heart, not just my head. We had the familiar discussions about word smithing – UUs are very good at word smithing – but I felt challenged to make important decisions, some quite difficult and painful, by means of emotional discernment in addition to logic and reason. I “felt” my way through the meetings, and found support from my East Shore peers also attending the meetings. As we proceeded, I felt more confident in my decisions. Not that they were the “correct” answers, but that they were made in an authentic way. My decisions were informed by reason, but they were born from feeling and openly listening to the lived experience of other delegates, other UUs.

For me, our revised statement of faith retains all of what I love about Unitarian Universalism, while bringing more spirituality, a soaring transcendence, and wonder – helping me find a better balance between mind, heart, and soul.

What I experienced at General Assembly was a powerful confirmation that we are building a Beloved Community and wrestling with difficult questions. I have a renewed hope and inspiration in being a Unitarian Universalist, and I’m looking forward to further growing into our values at East Shore.

Thank you