In case you missed us on Sunday, the full service — words and music — has been posted. You can see it all at westforkuu.org/2019/08/19/sunday-august-25-2019-wealth-and-philanthropy/
Service for August 25, 2019, updated
Unitarian Universalist history
Sunday, August 25, 2019: Wealth and Philanthropy
This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of Wealth: … — the man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.
— from “The Gospel of Wealth”, 1889, by Andrew Carnegie.
Prelude: City of New Orleans — Steve Goodman
Sunday, June 30, 2019: Reason as a Spiritual Practice
Reasoning together about what we love, and about all the social implications and complexities of love, in continuous consultation, has been a built-in part from the very beginning of the free church tradition from which we Unitarian Universalists have come.
– Alice Blair Wesley, The Lay and Liberal Doctrine of the Church: The Spirit and the Promise of Our Covenant (Minns Lectures 2000-01)
Last week, one of the participants in our Dismas class Spirit in Practice asked if energy or belief was more important. We need both – we need to know how to direct our energy, and we need both compassion and reason to find that direction. Much of what we think of as spiritual practice is devoted to developing compassion or to seeing our interconnectedness. But developing reason so that we can judge causes and consequences is also vital. Lisa deGruyter will lead the service this week.
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.
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, June 23, 2019: The Song Remains the Same
Unitarian Universalists have from time to time found themselves at the center of political and social issues. Robert Helfer will share some thoughts on a piece of this history and how it affects our present.
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.
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 March 18, 2018: The Great Showman
Our forays into Unitarian and Universalist history normally focus on our heroes, the stars of social justice and liberal religion. But perhaps we need to be equally aware of our slightly less reputable past. This Sunday Robert Helfer will venture into the world of Phineas Taylor Barnum, Universalist, the master of “flimflam” behind the revelation that “there’s a sucker born every minute“.
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.
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 February 26 2017: Church! What Is It Good For?
Church! What Is It Good For?
Prelude: Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line…
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line…
Welcome
Let our church be a gift from each of us to the other.
But even more let it be a gift from each of us to our community.
Let us be a gathering place for the spirit, a refuge for hope, a beacon of inspiration, and a dynamo of life and justice for all.
Let faithful community be the ground of commitment and action to enrich the world.
Dennis McCarthy
Chalice Lighting
For me the essence of Unitarian Universalism is the responsible search for my personal spiritual truth in a loving and supportive community that values that search. The analogy I use is the campfire or hearth. When the cold, existential winds of the uncaring universe blew hard and bitter, it was all that was between our ancestors and the outer darkness. But it was enough, and they thrived. It was the center of life. Children heard the stories of the people from the elders. How to find food was discussed. Strangers were welcomed around the flame. We learned to take care of the weak and infirm, the young and helpless, but also that if everyone did not tend the fire and fetch the wood, that there was no survival. For me our Chalice symbolizes that flame that was the center of community. Today, it is the center of where I find, explore and celebrate my own spiritual truth and continue to grow as a person of faith.
From Bob Hurst, First Unitarian Church of Oklahoma City Continue reading
Sunday January 22 2017: Our UU Presidents
Prelude: America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) – Aretha Franklin 2009
A hymn from the first Unitarian hymnbook published in the brand new United States, in 1789, and noted as
Thanks for National Protection
O Come, let us sing to the Lord a new song,
And praise him to whom all our praises belong !
While we enter his temple with gladness and joy,
Let a psalm of thanksgiving our voices employ !
O come, to his name let us joyfully sing !
For the Lord is a great and omnipotent King ;
By his word were the heavens and the host of them made,
And of the round world the foundation he laid.
He stilleth the waves of the boisterous sea,
And the tumults of men, more outrageous than they :
Thy goodness, O Lord! let the people confess,
Whom wars do not waste, nor proud tyrants oppress,
And devoutly contemplate thy wonderful ways,
Thou who turnest the fierceness of men to thy praise !
Then our lands in due season shall yield their increase,
And the Lord give his people the blessings of peace.
Chalice Lighting: A Community of Faith by Judith L. Quarles
At this hour, in small towns and big cities, in single rooms and ornate sanctuaries, many of our sister Unitarian Universalist congregations are also lighting a flaming chalice.
As we light our chalice today, let us remember that we are part of a great community of faith.
May this dancing flame inspire us to fill our lives with the Unitarian Universalist ideals of love, justice and truth. Continue reading
Sunday, October 4, 2016: Defying the Nazis
Welcome: To Remind Ourselves What Is Real, By Elena Westbrook
In a world ravaged by violence, by hatred,
by conflicts that seem eternal and insoluble,
sometimes the only thing we can do
is be still for a moment
to remind ourselves what is real:
the sun that rose this morning,
the dirt under our feet,
the air whispering in and out of our lungs.This hour, try just to be present in each moment as it unfolds.
Your simple attention is what makes these moments holy.
Chalice lighting: Embrace The Night, By 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.
Sunday, May 22, 2016: Dissent, Heresy, and Innovation
Prelude Galileo – Indigo Girls
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 In memory of all the flames – Amarette Callaway
In memory of all the flames that didn’t die—
in the midst of darkness,
in spite of the darkness,
we light this flame today.
“The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5 NRSV)
Sunday November 22, 2015: The ‘Miracle’ of Good Luck, New Jersey
Welcome: Welcome to this Place, by Cathy Rion Starr
Welcome to this place of peace;
May we find some moments of quiet contemplation.
Welcome to this place of celebration;
May our hearts soar with gratitude for the gift of life.
Welcome to this place of sacred love;
May we gently hold all that is broken here.
Welcome to this place of inquiry;
Here, may we be challenged to open our minds and hearts ever wider.
Come into this place of community;
May we, together, draw the circle of love and justice ever wider.
Welcome to this sacred place;
Come, let us worship, celebrate, grieve, and love together
Chalice Lighting: Legacy Chalice Lighting, by Paul Sprecher
We light this chalice to honor the memory of those who have come before us,
kindling flames of wisdom in dark times,
willing to challenge orthodoxy even at great personal risk,
giving us a legacy of freedom and a love of truth,
A legacy that warms our hearts and lights our paths.
West Fork Unitarian Universalists 