Summer services begin at 10:00 and run from Sunday, June 19, through
Sunday, September 4.
This year your Worship Associates have organized a series of summer worship services designed to highlight that we are a diverse and welcoming religious community, free of creed and dogma, and open to people of all background and beliefs. The Summer services are designed to INSPIRE spiritual growth, to CONNECT through worship and motivate us to ACT in the service of peace and justice.
Non-perishable foods will be collected for the Connecticut Food Bank each Sunday in the foyer.
Childcare is Available at All Services.
June 26 – Looking East: The Impact of the Bhagvad Gita on Unitarians,
Transcendentalists and You. – Ravi Sankar
Ravi will talk about the Holy Gita that inspires millions of Hindus the world over.
Why did it also INSPIRE radical thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau? How do you CONNECT
with it and heed its call to ACTION?
Usha Vasanth Kumar will present through classical Bharathanatyam dance her interpretation
of the divine messages of Hindi philosophy.
Presenter: Ravi Sankar is a long time member of TUCW.
Usha Vasanth Kumar is visiting from India is a dancer, music composer and choreographer
for over forty years.
Worship Associate: Sudha Sankar
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Berta Russel
July 3 – After Trauma: The Time For Spiritual Growth – Rev. Jeff Grant
Rev. Jeff Grant will talk of how trauma, whether through divorce, death, career transitions, substance abuse, incarceration or any number of personal challenges can bring life as we know it to an end. We suffer and are frozen in our tracks. Rev. Jeff Grant will explore if this time can be an impetus for spiritual growth. He will speak to how mourning the past and fearing the future can stifle us and ask us to consider how spirituality can give us the power and free-will to make it absolutely the greatest period of our lives.
Presenter: Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div., is the Minister/Director of the Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project, the first ministry in the United States created to provide confidential support and counseling to individuals, families and organizations with white-collar and other nonviolent incarceration issues.
Worship Associate: Maria Mendoza Smith
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Linda Hennessy
July 10 – The Call Home – Tom Hearne
What is it about a personal journey or a faith community that leads to a real change of heart – not just personal growth, but transformation? Each faith tradition has answered this question. The Christian path is my path, because it was the first path to ‘call me home’. Now I call this community my spiritual home. How did this happen? How does a community become home, yet spur us on in our personal journey at the same time?
Presenter: Tom Hearne – Tom is a long time member of the Unitarian Church in Westport. He has been on a journey ‘home’ all his life, but woke up to this yearning shortly after 9/11 when he lost his home and family through divorce. His participation in the choir, small group ministry, pastoral care and the Committee on Ministry have formed and informed his journey with this beloved community.
Worship Associate: Cheryl Paul Dixon
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Kristi Harden
July 17 – Pet Zen – Tom Croarkin and Friends
Owning a Pet can help you to connect with nature, connect with your neighbors, and connect with yourself in unexpected ways.
Story Slam: several people talk about ways that having a pet has changed them.
Presenter: Tom Croarkin and Friends – Tom, the heart and soul of UGNO Nation, will offer what will certainly will be a unique perspective on the impact pets have had on his life.
Worship Associate: Doug Flam
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Chuck Harrington
July 24 – How To “BE” An Ally In The Ongoing Struggle For Racial Justice – Sonja Ahuja
Diversity Trainer Sonja Ahuja will explore the difference between ‘doing’ the work of racial justice and ‘being’ or ‘living’ a life of racial justice. We will look deeply at our own perceptions and perspectives and challenge what we think we know. Sonja Ahuja asks us to explore the question: “How can we be the best allies in this ongoing struggle.”
Presenter: Sonja Ahuja is a consultant and trainer with over 25 years of experience with non-profit organizations, specializing in organizational development, strategic planning and institutional change initiatives. As a Capacity Building and Training Partner for Co-creating Effective and Inclusive Organizations (CEIO) in New Haven, Sonja works with community based organizations to achieve their transformational goals.
Worship Associate: Ellie Grosso
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Sunny Khadjavi
July 31 – Lughnasadh – The Promise Fulfilled – William McEvoy
Lughnasadh is the Celtic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. It is the Summer’s fulfillment of the hope of Winter and the promise of Spring. In this service we will celebrate the hopes and promises fulfilled in our own lives, and reflect on those promises that we have left outstanding. “The great insight of Universalism is that you cannot coerce people into loving one another. No one has ever or will ever draw true love out of another with punishment…Behind this is a simple truth: in being loved we learn to love. Those who are loved will in turn love others.” ~ Rev.Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed
Presenter: William McEvoy has been a member of TUCW for over five years, and currently serves as the chair of the Committee on Ministry. He is also pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago.
Worship Associate: Carrie McEvoy
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Julia Wyant
August 7 – “Dancing Like Tony Manero: The Joy of the Spiritual life.” – Sophfronia Scott
Sophfronia Scott will explore how to partake of all the joy and abundance a spiritual life has to offer. She will include readings from her essays such as “Why I Must Dance Like Tony Manero,” published in Ruminate Magazine, and pop songs from The Passion, the retelling of the Biblical story that was performed and televised live this spring in New Orleans.
Presenter: Sophfronia Scott is the author of essays, short stories, and novels including the forthcoming The Light Lives Here. She serves as an acolyte, chalice minister, Sunday School teacher, and chairman of the Christian Formation Commission at Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, CT.
Worship Associate: Janet Luongo
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Jim Francek
August 14 – Mr. Dickens, Social Activist – Jennifer Munro
Jennifer Munro will explore the man behind the author, Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens sought to alleviate the effects of poverty the industrial revolution wrought upon the inhabitants of London, England. By taking action, and by writing novels, Charles Dickens put a face on human suffering, which awakened the sympathy of a largely indifferent population. Through her sermon, Jennifer Munro asks of us how do we as Unitarian Universalists respond to the suffering we see around us, and what can we learn from Mr. Dickens?
Presenter: Jennifer Munro, story teller. Originally a native of Great Britain, Jennifer Munro is a retired eighth grade English teacher, a professional storyteller, and published author. However, her greatest claim to fame is that she is a Unitarian Universalist and presently a member of the Shoreline UU Church in Madison, CT.
Worship Associate: Connie Rockman
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Mari-Claire Bue
August 21 – Abundance and Generosity – Sierra North
Sierra and Manjushri will lead the congregation through grounding experiences on Mother Earth, source of abundance. Through deep breathing, mantras, kirtan, and elevating song, they will clear blocks and generate positive energy that open our hearts.
Presenter: Sierra North, founder of Muktinath Holistic Center in Monroe, and Manjushri, an Ignite Your Spirit therapist with Shanti Mission. MHC takes an interfaith, eclectic approach to spirituality and offers presenters, retreats, and many healing modalities that honor all paths to the divine.
Worship Associate: Janet Luongo
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Mari-Claire Bue
August 28 – The Gift of Beardsley School
Since adopting Beardsley Elementary School in 2000, hundreds of TUCW congregants and friends have donated countless hours, skills, talents, and funds to make a difference in the lives of the students and the work of the teachers and staff. Yet what has been given has been returned in abundance. What are the impacts of our work at Beardsley? How does our program INSPIRE us to CONNECT and ACT?
Presenters include members of the TUCW Beardsley School Committee, tutors, readers, mentors, and library volunteers who will share their thoughts and reminiscences, hopes and dreams, for the students at Beardsley School.
Worship Associate: Anita Pfluger
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Stapley Emberling
September 4 – “Down By the Water” Rev. Dr. John Morehouse
Rev. John and Martha Constable invite us to worship by the water at Compo Beach on a service of sharing and celebration. This service will include a “water communion.” Please collect a little vial of water from your summer journeys (whether you went afar or stayed near home) and congregants will be invited to pour the water into a common vessel, explaining where it came from. That bowl of water will be blessed and returned to the ocean on its never ending journey.
Beach parking will be free — tell the attendant you are here for the service.
Presenter: Rev. John and Marth Constable
Worship Associate: Martha Constable
Pastoral Care Chaplain: Stapley Emberling