The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport
10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - Ph: (203)227-7205 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die…a time to keep silence and a time to speak…” The book of Ecclesiastes is also called ‘the teacher,’ and it is attributed to King Solomon, the wise. It’s included in that […]
Opening words from The Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of the ten thousand things. Ever desireless, one can see […]
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as ‘the high holy days.’ Rosh Hashanah is, of course, the Jewish New year: literally ‘head of the year.’ But it means more. It is the anniversary of the creation of the world. The Jewish legend says that God created the world 5773 years ago, as a […]
Dear Friends, In 1984, from March 25 to April 1, I came to Westport as a candidate for the position of senior minister. It was an intense time. I had reservations about coming to Westport – in part, because I didn’t want to leave Attleboro, and in part because it would take me away from […]
The New England Transcendentalist, Margaret Fuller, liked to summarize her religious philosophy by declaring, “I accept the Universe.” Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish friend of Emerson, had a reputation for irascibility, combined with a well-honed sense of humor, was told of Margaret Fuller’s declaration, “I accept the Universe,” and responded, “Ye, gads, she’d better.” […]
The word congregation is from the Latin congregatio, from the verb congregare, ‘to herd together…to collect into a flock.’ That sounds dangerously like a herd of sheep, which any self-respecting Unitarian Universalist rejects out of hand. Our Congregation is more like a gathering of shepherds, not sheep! Like our U.S. declaration of independence we […]
Dear Friends, The highlight of summer was our trip to Switzerland where I officiated at the wedding of Laura Macdonald, who grew up in our congregation. Her husband, Eric, is from Lausanne, where they had their ceremony, outside, overlooking Lake Geneva with the Jura mountains in the distance.
Dear Friends, In early July I got a message from Jorge’s daughter, Raquel, telling me about her father’s illness. Jorge and I have been very close friends for nearly 40 years. Though I hadn’t heard from him for about six years – he, living in Puerto Rico, and me in Connecticut – it wasn’t unusual.
Dear Friends, Yesterday, Father’s Day, was my final sermon for this church year. It was a rich, full service, in every way. We had a dedication service for Ellery Price and she melted my heart. My emotional response was heightened by the fact that I officiated at Lauren and Aaron’s wedding, Ellery’s parents, four years […]
First, a brief history of Father’s Day: It was founded on June 19, 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington. Her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, was a single parent who raised his six children. It had a rocky start – Congress turned down several attempts to formalize it, fearing that […]
