Announcements

Faith Seeking Understanding: An Islamic-Christian Dialogue

Robert

This event has been cancelled because of this week’s anticipated major snow storm. It is expected to be rescheduled in April.

Faith Seeking Understanding: An Islamic-Christian Dialogue
A Public Forum, Sponsored by the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches

Saturday, January 23, 2016, 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
First Baptist Church, 901 Fairmont Ave., Fairmont, WV (across from McDonald’s)

The public is invited to attend this free event meant to create a foundation of mutual understanding and cooperation between these two historic religious traditions in a setting of genuine hospitality, a desire for learning and growth, and a context of peaceful cooperation.

Schedule:
From 10:00 a.m. to Noon a panel/public forum will discuss these items.
The panelists will include: Rev. Elise Neal (PCUSA/Reformed Tradition), Rev. Val Gittings (Baptist Tradition), Rev. Maria Wiblin (University Chaplain/Pastor), Dr. Michael Richards (United Methodist/Inter-Faith Traditions), and representatives from the Morgantown Islamic Center (Muslim). Mrs. Cathy Reed will be Forum Facilitator.

From noon to 1:00 p.m. lunch will be on a person’s own.

At 1:00 p.m. the 2014 PBS documentary “The Life of Muhammad” will be shown

For more information contact:
Dr. Michael Richards, President Greater Fairmont Council of Churches: 304-366-7288
Or Mrs. Cathy Reed, Outreach coordinator: Greater Fairmont Council of Churches: 304-363-5205

“Fides quaerens intellectum (Faith seeking understanding).” St. Anselm

Building Your Own Theology Class

LdeG

Schedule, Readings, and Worksheets

“And to use the classic UU Building Your Own Theology curriculum as an example, the starting point is not studying traditional theologies from the past (that comes at the midpoint). The starting point is autobiography: owning more fully how your life story and your firsthand experience affects, shapes, and informs how you construct theology. And perhaps I should also clarify that Building Your Own Theology — at least as far as Unitarian Universalism is concerned — does not require theism, a belief in God. In contrast, there is much potential benefit for both theists and atheists, Buddhists and Pagans, Christians and Jews in doing the hard work of articulating what you do (and don’t) believe about God (or reality), human nature, religious community, ethics, and the future of our species and the universe — and doing all of that in conversation with your religious community.”

From a post by The Rev. Dr. J. Carl Gregg (D.Min., D.A.S.D., M.Div., B.A.), minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, Maryland.

Starting November 1 we will have a Building Your Own Theology class at 10 am, before coffee and the worship service.  The class will probably run through March, depending on how long we take for discussions each week.

The class won’t teach you what to believe, but to think about what you already believe in a systematic way, how your beliefs have changed, learn what others believe and why, and build our community.

There is homework! Brief (two or three pages) readings every week or two and some exercises to do on your own to prepare for discussion.  By the end of the class, you will have written your own creed.

The discussion is a lot of the learning, so being there for most of the classes is good, but the readings and worksheets will be available online so you can keep up when you can’t be there.

Lisa deGruyter is facilitating; she took the class, and then taught it twice, at First UU Austin years ago. She’s looking forward to seeing how her beliefs have evolved since then (and hopes they have!)

Schedule and materials

New Adventures … Coming Soon!

CZ

After much deliberation, we have come to the decision to hold services every Sunday. This will start on November 1, 2015. We believe that we have enough people coming regularly to make this leap. We will continue to have guests as often as we can. Thinking ahead, here is our service calendar for the next couple of months with service leaders and some topics. The details of the services will be posted on the blog the Sunday evening before the service.

  • October 18 – Rev. James Reeb, UUs and Equality – John
  • November 1 – Day of the Dead – Lisa
  • November 8 – Reconciliation and Forgiveness– Cricket
  • November 15 – Visiting Guest Rev. Donald Rollins – look for Music and Fun
  • November 22 – UU History – Robert
  • November 29 – Finding Your Tribe – Cricket
  • December 6 – Living UU Principles –  Lisa
  • December 13 – Children/ Youth – John and Kids
  • December 20 – Seasonal – Robert and Lisa
  • December 27th We will not be having a service on this Sunday. We do invite you all to join us as we travel to Marietta OH on Christmas Eve.

Also we will be starting a religious education program. The adults will be working on Building Your Theology and the children will be working on What do You Stand For?  We will be doing Religious Education from 10 to 10:45 on Sunday Mornings Starting November 1st. We will have time for coffee and sharing at 10:45 am and then the worship service will begin at 11am.  We will still be in the PWA Uptown event center at 305 Washington Ave. in Clarksburg, WV.

Hope to see you there.

~Namaste

Cricket

Stone Touchin’

Robert

October 15-18 and 22-25, 2015, The ACT 2 Theatre Company will present Stone Touchin’, a new play by Donald Fidler, featuring members of West Fork Unitarian Universalists’ own Hall family.

Show dates:
October 15-18, 22-25, 2015
Thursday – Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday 2:00pm

at the
Friedlander’s Center (home of Starving Artists Studio)
354 West Main St
Clarksburg WV

Stone Touchin'

Stone Touchin’

For more information, visit ACT 2 Theatre’s web site at act2theatre.org

Growing our leadership and advocacy for immigrant justice

CZ

Together, we will walk a trail used by people migrating with volunteers with No More Deaths, a ministry of the UU Church of Tucson. We will witness the militarization of the border itself, observe “Operation Streamline” hearings designed to criminalize immigrants, and travel into Mexico to visit with people who have been recently deported and hear their stories. We will worship together, and help each other discern how our ministries and our movement can respond to the need for immigrant justice within broader movements to end the criminalization of communities of Color.

http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/ourstories/2015/8/21/growing-our-leadership-and-advocacy-for-immigrant-justice-join-a-border-trip

~Namaste,

Cricket

Sunday August 16, 2025

CZ

The third Sunday of the month is this Sunday August 16th.

We will be meeting at the Uptown Event Center in Clarksburg, WV at 11am.

Our service with be about community with a message about “Transcending Individualism”.

image

We hope that you can join us for this service and the coffee hour afterward.

~Namaste
Cricket

Taking Care of our World

CZ

There is a difference between environmentalism and environmental justice. Check out this video from Alex Kapitan, the UUA’s Commit2Respond

What is Commit2Respond?

Commit2Respond is a coalition of Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith and conscience working for climate justice.

Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith and conscience have been on the frontlines of environmental justice for decades. United in collective action, connected through partnership, we will change the world.

We are diverse in spiritual belief, yet united in faith that a better world is possible and that our collective power can create change.

~Namaste

Cricket

Common Reads aren’t just for Colleges anymore

CZ

A Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. A Common Read can build community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience, shared language, and a basis for deep, meaningful conversations. The Unitarian Universalist Association has a special committee to help chose the common read for the year: This year’s book.

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I personally am looking forward to reading this book. What do you think?

~Namaste

Cricket

Week of Righteous Resistance

CZ

Black Lives Matter is both an organic, creative, and vibrant ever-evolving movement and it’s a bold strategy that is actually quite simple: center the worth and dignity of all Black people, all Black lives. Every. Single. One. It’s a strategy that centers everyday Black people as leaders, not just the respectable, educated ones.

Check out more.
http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/ourstories/2015/7/8/this-is-worr-a-week-of-righteous-resistance

~Namaste
Cricket