Sunday, April 24, 2016: Frontier Faith and a God of Love

LdeG

Prelude: Morning Prayer by Hosea Ballou Sung by Second Ireland Sacred Harp Singers

Welcome
Hosea Ballou said “Man, being not only a religious, but also a social being, requires for the promotion of his rational happiness religious institutions, which, while they give a proper direction to devotion, at the same time make a wise, and profitable improvement of his social feelings.” And so we gather here, not only to practice our religion, but to support each other.

Chalice Lighting Drawn Together – Jennifer Leota Gray
We come together every week bound not by a creed,
Or a mutual desire to please one God or many Gods
Yet we are drawn together by a belief, that how we are in the world,
Who we are together matters.
We light this chalice, together in the knowledge
That love, not fear, can change this world Continue reading →

Sunday, April 17, 2016: The Power of Touch

Robert

The Creation of Man by Michelangelo Sistine Chapel

The Power of Touch, with service leader John Hall

We would love to have you come worship with us.

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m. at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. There are classes for children and adults 10 to 10:45 am, and a coffee gathering before the service. More about us.

Children are welcome. There is childcare and an activity for young children during the service.

The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom.

Map

The schedule for the current adult religious education class is here.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information

or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

A Meditation on the Ecological Catastrophe & What to Do About It, Even if it is Too Late

LdeG

In my view the critical work of religion is fostering the quest for meaning in the face of our fragile lives caught up in forces greater than any of us. This world we live in is filled with hurt and violence and every imaginable cruelty. It breaks the heart. And. This world is also so astonishingly beautiful and precious and run through with the mysteries of love and compassion, that it can take our breath away. This strange mix is what we actually encounter in the world. The work of religion is squaring that circle, finding our place in the great mess. And it is unspeakably important.

Another fine sermon from James Ishmael Ford

MISTAKES WERE MADE A Meditation on the Ecological Catastrophe & What to Do About It, Even if it is Too Late

The Rustic Mechanicals present William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Robert

The Rustic Mechanicals are taking William Shakespeare’s The Tempest on the road in their “Folly of the Island” tour of northern West Virginia.

The Rustic Mechanicals, under the direction of Celi Oliveto, is the state’s only professional Shakepeare troupe. Touring three shows annually, their 2016 season begins on April 15 with a dinner theatre “Bard & BBQ” performance of The Tempest at The VTC Cabaret inside the Uptown Event Center in downtown Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Schedule:

  • Friday, April 15, Clarksburg
  • Saturday-Sunday, April 16-17, Morgantown
  • Friday, April 22, Fairmont
  • Saturday, April 23, Clarksburg
  • Sunday, April 24, Weirton
  • Friday, April 29, Fairmont High School (for local student audiences)

There will also be a special “pay-what-you-can” preview performance on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at The VTC Cabaret as part of Clarksburg’s “Downtown Date Night.”

For more information — prices, times, locations, reservations — see the Vintage Theatre Company’s announcement (CLICK HERE).

The “Trinsics”: Where are You Coming From?

LdeG

Arriving at “truth” merely means you’ve given up the search. Science is open-ended; philosophy is open-ended; all the fine arts are open-ended—this is what creativity is, when every new thing is new. As in art and science and philosophy, stopping the search in religious thinking means you’ve given up any hope of renewal, or creativity.

Religious thinking—thinking about the ultimate meaning and purpose of human life on this planet—must involve both the chance to continuously evolve with time and must offer some hope for the human condition—our condition—itself.

The “Trinsics”: Where are You Coming From? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/uucollective/2015/11/the-trinsics-where-are-you-coming-from/

Sunday April 10, 2016: Our Quests and Spiritual Journeys

Robert
Mounted Knight

Prelude Tri Martolod – Alan Stivell

Welcome The beauty of the whole – Meg Barnhouse

We gather to worship, our hearts alive with hope that here we will be truly seen, that here we will be welcomed into the garden of this community, where the simple and the elegant, the fluted and frilled, the shy and the dramatic complement one another and are treasured. May we know that here, each contributes in their way to the beauty of the whole. Come, let us worship together, all genders, sexualities, politics, clappers and non-clappers, progressive or conservative, may we root ourselves in the values of this faith: compassion and courage, transcendence, justice and transformation.

Chalice lighting Embrace The Night – Jennifer Leota Gray

Universal mystery,
Guide us away from the desire to
Shine light in all the corners.
Teach us to embrace the night,
For without the darkness,
We never see the stars.
Continue reading →