7th principle

Sunday 3 May 2026: But How Do We Fit In?

Robert

We hear much about the importance of preserving the environment, preserving the natural world in contrast to the world that has been created by human actions. But aren’t people part of the natural world, too? How do we fit in?

This Sunday Robert Helfer will contemplate the idea of “nature” and consider our place in it.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Google Meet and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse. A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including Google Meet participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.

If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate online, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using Google Meet.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

Children are welcome.

The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom. You may park on the south side of the building, which is marked reserved for the PWA, or the north, where the reserved spaces are available on Sundays.

Map

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

Sunday 14 May 2023: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

LdeG

From ancient times – the Buddha, Greek philosophy, Jesus, modern philosophers and psychologists, and current happiness research, we have been told that pursuing happiness doesn’t work.

This Sunday Lisa deGruyter will talk about how pursuing happiness causes suffering, and what works instead.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse.

Children are welcome. The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom. You may park in the lot on the west side of the building; DO NOT PARK in the Washington Avenue pay lot. Please enter through the door on the west side of the building.

Map

If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

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

Sunday 30 April 2023: But How Do We Fit In?

Robert

We hear much about the importance of preserving the environment, preserving the natural world in contrast to the world that has been created by human actions. But aren’t people part of the natural world, too?

This Sunday Robert Helfer will contemplate the idea of “nature” and consider our place in it.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse.

Children are welcome. The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom. You may park in the lot on the west side of the building; DO NOT PARK in the Washington Avenue pay lot. Please enter through the door on the west side of the building.

Map

If you wish to join on ZOOM, please contact us for logon information. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing (including ZOOM participants), follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

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

Sunday, December 13, 2020

johnnyawwsome

“The culture is telling us to go faster and faster, cram more and more into less and less time. One of the main benefits of slowing down is we start to get to know ourselves better; we find and forge the right path for us through life.” – Carl Honoré

This Sunday, Cricket Hall will give a lesson titled “Chalica: Seeking Joy and Stillness in the Principles”


We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic, meeting instead through the magic of ZOOM. We share music, readings, and hymns on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

Please Join us for Worship.


If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

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

Sunday, January 27, 2019: In Praise of Rot

Robert
Rotting Pumpkin

All human things are subject to decay,
And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey.

― John Dryden, “Mac Flecknoe”

This Sunday we will celebrate decomposition, that bit of magic that, by stages, transforms death into life. Robert Helfer will lead the service.

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

From 10 to 10:45 a.m. we will be discussing “The Religious Educator of Color” and the “Response to Natalie Maxwell Fenimore and Aisha Hauser” from the book Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry.

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. You may park on the south side of the building, which is marked reserved for the PWA.

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

Sunday, September 9, 2018: Hearing Nature’s Call

Robert
The Scream, Edvard Munch

I WaS WaLKING ALONG THE ROAD
WITH TWO FRIENDS WHEN
THE SUN WENT DOWN. THE SKY
SUdDENLY TURNED
TO BLOOD AND I FELT
A GREAT SCREAM IN
NATuRE

 – Edvard Munch, from his portfolio “The Tree of Knowledge” (translated by Francesca M. Nichols, https://www.emunch.no/TRANS_HYBRIDMM_T2547.xhtml)

Is nature calling to us? What should we do about that? Robert Helfer will share some thoughts on our conflicted relationship with nature.

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.

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.

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

Sunday, July 22, 2018: Affluence and Environment

Robert
"Figural vessels", 500 BCE-400 CE

“Researchers have found that concern for the environment rises with wealth, but so does one’s ecological footprint. This leads to a truth that some environmentalists might find inconvenient …: The greater your concern for the environment, the more likely you are to be destroying it.”
— Tom Culman, “Are environmentalists hypocrites?”

We would love to have you come worship with us.

The “Seventh Principle” of Unitarian Universalism, “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part“, can be seen as a call to protect the environment. This Sunday we’ll discuss how our thoughts on ecological issues might be affected by our relative affluence.

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.

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

Sunday April 29, 2018: But How Do We Fit In?

Robert
Storm Damage

We hear much about the importance of preserving the environment, preserving the natural world in contrast to the world that has been created by human artifice. But aren’t people part of the natural world, too? This Sunday Robert Helfer will contemplate the idea of “nature” and consider our place in it.

Our services are Sundays at 11 a.m. at the Progressive Women’s Association Uptown 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.

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. You may park on the south side of the building, which is marked reserved for the PWA.

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

Chalica 2017 Day 7

CZ

For each day of Chalica we will offer activities, some are fun and some are more reflecting, a chalice lighting, and a meditation. Gather everyone together, light the chalice, and breathe into the principles with us each day.

Activities:

  • Identify ways your family can be more green. Start a compost, recycle, bike more? As a family, choose one and commit!
  • Clean up trash at a park or in your neighborhood.
  • Advocate that your workplace, or your school, be more eco-friendly. Ask for recycle bins and reuse as much as possible.
  • Volunteer at a local animal shelter.
  • Shop your local farmer’s market for local and organic fruits and veggies.
  • If you aren’t already vegetarian or vegan, plan to make a vegetarian or vegan meal.
  • As the saying goes, “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle.” Today, recycle something from your house that would have been trash and create something with it: art, a gift, or a handy item.
  • Write a journal entry about how the world is connected together.
  • Rescue an animal.

Chalice Lighting: (If you don’t have a chalice at home, remember that the point of a chalice is that it is a symbol so any candle will work.) Since it is the last day there are two.

For the Web of Life By Paul Sprecher

We light this chalice for the web of life which sustains us,
For the sacred circle of life in which we have our being,
For the Earth, the Sky, Above and Below, and
For our Mother Earth, and for the Mystery.

 

All Animal Chalice By Mark Causey
We light this chalice, spark of the original fire of creation, to remind us that we all on this planet—the furred, the feathered, the finned, and the scaled, along with us featherless bipeds—we are all made of the same star-stuff and all share a common destiny. We all share the same hopes of a life free from harm and suffering and the same aspirations of happiness, love, and flourishing—being able to express our own unique natures and capacities as best we may. We are just that many diverse perspectives from which the whole is seen and experienced. We are inextricably intertwined, interconnected and interdependent. And it is good.

Blessed be.

 

Meditation: 
There are two meditations.

Blessing of the Water by Ranwa Hammamy

Bring us Close to Earth by Lyn Cox

Here is a musical meditation as well. This is Peter Mayer’s “Blue Boat Home”.

 

Season’s Blessings,
Cricket