Sunday, May 15, 2022: Annual Meeting

LdeG

This Sunday is our Annual Meeting. We will gather as usual at for coffee, check-ins and informal discussion, and the Annual Meeting will begin at 11:00. Everyone is invited to participate in the discussion; decisions are by consensus of members. If you’d like, bring a snack to share.

Annual Business Meeting. The annual business meeting shall be held each year on the third Sunday of May, to hear reports of officers and staff, to appoint new officers and committees, to adopt an annual budget, and to transact any other business that may properly come before the congregation.
(From the Bylaws)

Treasurer’s Report

Election of Officers (Until the beginning of the church year after the membership reaches 15, the officers shall be the President, the Moderator, the Chair of Ministry and Oversight, and a Secretary/Treasurer, who will serve as the Board and Nominating Committee. The congregation as a whole will carry out the functions of the Committee on Ministry and Oversight.)
The current officers , slated for re-election, are

  • Moderator – Lisa deGruyter
  • Committee on Ministry and Oversight Chair – John Hall
  • President – Patricia Dennison
  • Secretary/Treasurer – Robert Helfer

Annual Review of the Covenant of Right Relations.
https://westforkuu.org/about/covenant-of-right-relations

Planning and Budget for 2019-2020 Church Year (starts July 1)
Includes

  • outreach to the larger community and how we could accomplish that
    (including detailed planning for Clarksburg First Fridays, which we have decided to try)
  • whether we should resume an adult education session or structured discussion at 10
  • whether we should return to coffee hour after the service (which would mean starting the service earlier or renegotiating hours with PWA)
  • whether we should have one or more longer planning/visioning sessions, possibly not on Sunday morning

We have returned to meeting in person. Currently masks are not required and vaccinations are strongly encouraged.
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.

Classes and worship are replaced by Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer, with brief worship, a potluck picnic, and outdoor activities. The schedule is in the sidebar.

We would love to have you come worship with 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

Month of Nurturing Beauty

johnnyawwsome

Our theme for the month of May is Nurturing Beauty. We will be posting about it and incorporating it into our services.

May we all spend this month nurturing the beauty within ourselves and all around us.

Here are some songs to get us started.

Sunday, May 1, 2022: Valley Falls State Park

Robert
Tygart Valley River

Tygart Valley River at Valley Falls

We have Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer. For this year’s first outing, we will gather for a celebration of spring, flowers, and the challenges of labor history on Sunday, May 1, at Valley Falls State Park — picnic and hiking on the banks of the Tygart Valley River.

We will meet at 11 a.m. in the picnic area for a short service followed by a potluck picnic, conversation, and walking. Bring food to share if you are able and wish to share; otherwise, just bring food for yourself and share our company.

During this time of continuing covid-19 pandemic we are following current CDC guidelines (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/gatherings.html). Fully vaccinated people are safe without masks for themselves and for unvaccinated people.  If you are not vaccinated you should consider wearing a mask and practicing appropriate social distancing.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

For a map, please use this link: https://goo.gl/maps/CiiqyDAXiw42

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or to carpool, or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

 

A Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) came for the picnic

Sunday Service – April 24, 2022

johnnyawwsome

This week we are in person at the PWA in Clarksburg. John Hall is presenting the service with a focus on the dynamics of power in UU and society and how we might wield that power responsibly on behalf of those most vulnerable titled “With Great Power…”

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.

Classes and worship are replaced by Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer, with brief worship, a potluck picnic, and outdoor activities. The schedule is in the sidebar.

We would love to have you come worship with 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

Holy F*** | The VUU – S8 E362

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This week, we welcome Rev. Oscar Sinclair, Rev. Kimberley Debus, and Rev. Laura Kampa Thompson to explore where true vulgarity lies, not our language—profanity and curse words—rather in the inhumane actions of our nation—poverty, anti-black violence, and war.

The VUU is a weekly Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective, The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at  Noon ET. Participate live or view the archives below. Each episode is entertaining and newsworthy! It’s a can’t miss, especially if you travel in UU circles. For more about The VUU

UU Lent 2022 – Day 46 – Hope

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Hope for the Heartbroken by Sean Parker Dennison

Fear Can’t Last Forever by Robin Tanner

17. Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat by Caitlin Seida

Hope is not the thing with feathers
That comes home to roost
When you need it most.
Hope is an ugly thing
With teeth and claws and
Patchy fur that’s seen some shit.
It’s what thrives in the discards
And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,
Able to find a way to go on
When nothing else can even find a way in.
It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such diseases as
Optimism, persistence
Perseverance and joy,
Transmissible as it drags its tail across your path
and
bites you in the ass.
Hope is not some delicate, beautiful bird,
Emily,
It’s a lowly sewer rat
That snorts pesticides like they were
Lines of coke and still
Shows up on time for work the next day
Looking no worse for wear.