If the purpose of education is that of creating situations of dependency, in which people are made consumers and left without the where-with-all and without the initiative or power to create change in their own lives, we’ve made the right schools for it. Put 30 or more students in a classroom, stuffed to the point that teachers have no choice but to invest the greater part of their attention in maintaining control, rather than in the delivery of meaningful content, and you’ve placed both the teachers and students in an untenable situation.

— Doug Stowe, “The Child as Craftsman: A Metaphor”, Doug’s Substack, 2 October 2026

We currently conduct a full worship service, normally on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 1 November, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. This week we’ll be discussing some aspects of the child in education: Doug Stowe, “The Child as Craftsman: A Metaphor”, Doug’s Substack, 2 October 2026.

The article, “The Child as Craftsman: A Metaphor”, by Doug Stowe, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

According to the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of Americans say that they have a soul. They really do believe they have a mystical, immaterial, spooky, ghostlike thing at the center of who they are. And I have a confession to make: I’m one of those people. Furthermore, this metaphorical and spiritual meaning of the word soul is pretty central to the way I see the world. Long before I ever believed in God, I was firmly convinced that each person you meet has some piece of themselves that has no size, weight, color, or shape, but gives them infinite value and dignity.

— David Brooks, “Do Human Beings Have Souls?”, The Atlantic, October 11, 2026

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 25 October, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. In recognition of the “Spooky Season” of the end of October, which includes Halloween and Día de los Muertos and the end of Daylight Saving Time, we’ll be discussing souls: David Brooks with Shelly Kagan, “Do Human Beings Have Souls?”, The Atlantic, October 11, 2026.

The article, “Do Human Beings Have Souls?”, by David Brooks with Shelly Kagan, can be found here. This is a gift article and does not require a subscription.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

In 1992, a group of rebel doctors published a radical idea in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association. They argued that the practice of medicine needed to be transformed so that doctors didn’t rely on intuition and conventional wisdom, but on evidence from science – such as clinical trials showing whether a drug really worked. This was called “evidence-based medicine”, and the backlash against it was fierce.

— Helen Pearson, “If it feels like the world is rejecting science and truth, here are five ways to fight back”

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 18 October, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. We will be discussing evidence-based science, “If it feels like the world is rejecting science and truth, here are five ways to fight back” by Helen Pearson, The Guardian, 28 April 2026.

The article, “If it feels like the world is rejecting science and truth, here are five ways to fight back”, by Helen Pearson, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

As for why retainer sacrifice emerged in the first place, “When you establish a new form of government, especially one that relies on a single divine or semi-divine ruler, you have to convince a huge population that you’re in power, and control over life or death is one of the best ways to do that,” said Campbell. “And it seems likely that there was already belief in an afterlife. Why else would you need objects in your tomb? Why else would you need to take your officials and servants into the afterlife? This suggests they’re going to have a function after death. If you just want to kill people to display your power, you could pick a bunch of poor farmers and nobody would necessarily care.”

— Jennifer Ouellette, “New forensic evidence supports Egyptian “retainer sacrifice””

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 11 October, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. We will be exploring a bit of ancient religious practices through our discussion of “New forensic evidence supports Egyptian “retainer sacrifice” by Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 5 October 2026.

The article, “New forensic evidence supports Egyptian “retainer sacrifice””, by Jennifer Ouellette, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

Today, we live in a world in which many, or even most, people no longer have a sense that there is a permanent moral order to the universe. More than that, many have come to regard the traditions of moral practice that were so central to the ancient worldview as too inhibiting — they get in the way of maximum individual freedom. As MacIntyre put it in his most famous book, After Virtue, “Each moral agent now spoke unconstrained by the externalities of divine law, natural teleology, or hierarchical authority.” Individuals get to make lots of choices, but they lack the coherent moral criteria required to make these choices well.

— David Brooks, “Why Do So Many People Think Trump Is Good?”

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 4 October, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. We will be discussing “Why Do So Many People Think Trump Is Good?”, by David Brooks, The Atlantic, 8 July 2025.

The article, “Why Do So Many People Think Trump Is Good?”, by David Brooks, can be found here. This is a gift article.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

On a small scale, reciprocal cooperation between two individuals (for example, keeping track of who picks up the check when you and a friend dine out) is fairly straightforward. When you scale up that dynamic to include a circle of friends, a classroom, a university campus, etc., things get murikier. For instance, who deserves being helped?

— Jake Currie, “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 20 September, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. Because of a scheduling error last week, we will be discussing the article originally planned for last Sunday: “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”, by Jake Currie, Nautilus, 26 August 2026.

The article, “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”, by Jake Currie, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

On a small scale, reciprocal cooperation between two individuals (for example, keeping track of who picks up the check when you and a friend dine out) is fairly straightforward. When you scale up that dynamic to include a circle of friends, a classroom, a university campus, etc., things get murikier. For instance, who deserves being helped?

— Jake Currie, “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 20 September, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. This week’s reading is “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”, by Jake Currie, Nautilus, 26 August 2026.

The article, “How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help: Cooperation is a double-edged sword”, by Jake Currie, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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

Ritual is not unique to religion. From athletes who repeat the same pregame routines before every competition to families who gather around holiday traditions year after year, ritual provides structure, continuity, and meaning. While there is little evidence that a particular ritual improves athletic performance, psychologists have long recognized that ritual behavior can reduce anxiety, focus attention, reinforce identity, and create a sense of belonging. On a cultural level, rituals help communities mark transitions, remember the past, transmit values across generations, and reaffirm who they are.

— Manny Tejeda y Moreno, “More Than Ceremony: New Study Explores Ritual’s Transformative Power”

We currently conduct a full worship service on the first Sunday of each month, and discuss a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, 13 September, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, followed by our discussion. Robert Helfer will lead the service and discussion. This week’s reading is “More Than Ceremony: New Study Explores Ritual’s Transformative Power”, by Manny Tejeda y Moreno, The Wild Hunt, 7 August 2026.

The article, “More Than Ceremony: New Study Explores Ritual’s Transformative Power”, by Manny Tejeda y Moreno, can be found here.

Please Join us for Worship.

Our services are Sundays at 6:00 p.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 8:00 p.m. 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