Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA

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October 2009 Blog Posts (33)

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Soulful Voices for Marriage Equality: DC Clergy United

DC Clergy from every ward in the city were joined by hundreds of District residents to celebrate God's love for all God's children. We stood on the side of love and called for marriage equality in the District of Columbia. (Note: the choir is from All Souls, Unitarian.)



My friends, this event was so great. I never imagined how thirsty I was for this powerful spiritual affirmation until I experienced such a fountain of it at Asbury United Methodist Church Thursday… Continue

Added by Becca Lovelace on October 31, 2009 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment

Cologne: Prisons and Stumbling Stones

Cologne is a large, beautiful city in western Germany with the Rhine River running through it. I enjoyed wandering through the ancient historic area and the impressive cathedral, but it was two other sites, not on many tourists lists, that deeply moved me.



The first was the "Gestapo Museum," which documents the brutal persecution and murder of Jews, communists, gypsies, Catholics, and religious and political liberals in Cologne and Europe… Continue

Added by Rev. Michael McGee on October 31, 2009 at 10:04am — 2 Comments

I'm here in Vietnam...and it's even more incredible than I thought it would be!

I've spent too much time at the Internet cafe, so this post will be brief, but I just wanted to share that I'm having a wonderful time in this beautiful, exotic country. The people are so welcoming and happy...they truly seem to love Americans. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop: that they actually wish we'd all drop dead...but no...they seem to have a genuine love for us and our country. I went to "Hanoi Hilton" yesterday, where John McCain was a prisoner of war for so many years, and… Continue

Added by Deborah Davidson on October 29, 2009 at 10:45am — No Comments

Aleph, Open Mouths, and Community

Rev. Mary's homily this past Sunday (the sound of not quite speaking) brought me a profound revelation that shakes my foundations--in a positive way. I can't yet speak all the words for what I see, but ---

Listening to Rev. Mary I find that I have opened my mouth in silent aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, what G-d did not quite speak aloud as commandments at Sinai --- I experience the sensation of my infant self opening her mouth towards the breast, towards nourishment,… Continue

Added by Cynthia Adcock on October 28, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Flu

We're all worried about flu now, aren't we? I've been hearing from friends who have kids who have the H1N1 flu, and others who have kids who have colds, strep infections, and all the other illnesses that come with back-to-school. And now I've heard that the church grapevine says I have H1N1. I want to assure you that I do not. I did have a virus last week that knocked me out, but it was not any kind of flu.



So many of us depend on the church for our social needs as well as our… Continue

Added by Sarah Masters on October 27, 2009 at 11:15am — 1 Comment

Why does this congregation exist?

My November Arlingtarian column:



In my nine years at UUCA, I’ve observed that people here seek to fulfill one or more of three needs: to heal, to serve, or to expose their children to religious ethics. More generally, they seek community.



Little is required for membership. In fact, our only obligation is to make an annual pledge of financial support. No minimum amount.



Unitarian Universalism has a low-obligation culture, perhaps a concomitant… Continue

Added by Bennett Minton on October 26, 2009 at 12:52pm — 2 Comments

The Call of Cathedrals

What is it about cathedrals that is so mystifying? On my recent sabbatical journey to Europe I visited cathedrals in several cities, including one of the most impressive of all, Notre Dame in Paris. Each time I walk into a cathedral I find myself challenged to answer the question, "Am I here as a tourist or a pilgrim?" Like the other tourists around me, I'm snapping pictures and listening to guides and tryng to comprehend the rich… Continue

Added by Rev. Michael McGee on October 24, 2009 at 2:36pm — 3 Comments

Off On A Journey

I leave for Vietnam on Sunday morning and I find myself feeling sad that I'll miss church! I guess at least that part of my journey is over...I finally found a church home, after seven years of wandering in a spiritual wood. I look forward to taking the new UU class in January and becoming a full-fledged member after that.



So what's up with Vietnam? It's a funny confluence of circumstances that has led me to this exotic place. I was really trying to get to Ireland (a lifelong dream)… Continue

Added by Deborah Davidson on October 23, 2009 at 11:52pm — 3 Comments

VOICE action in Woodbridge warrants reflection.

Thirty-five of us from UUCA attended a 500-strong VOICE action in Woodbridge on Sunday, October 18. This was an internal VOICE action, not a public action. As such, it constituted a test to determine whether VOICE has the power to turn out significant numbers of people persistently and consistently to demonstrate publicly that we are a permanent power player in the political governance of Northern Virginia.



We had committed ourselves to assemble on relatively short notice at the… Continue

Added by VOICE on October 22, 2009 at 9:00pm — 2 Comments

Bill Fogarty's letter to the editor

Bill Fogarty wrote a great letter to the editor, published in the WashPost Oct. 19. As Unitarian Universalists, we are always working on getting out the message. How to speak from our highest values on issues that are important to our collective future? This is an important conversation for any faith community, but especially for people who make no claim to… Continue

Added by Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz on October 22, 2009 at 2:57pm — 1 Comment

Training for Relational Meetings: Wednesday, October 28th, 7:30 pm

Many of us have been developing a habit, a practice, of intentionally asking someone to meet with us for 45-minutes to an hour for the sole purpose of getting to know each other better. We are finding that relationships of trust form when we share and listen to each other’s stories of who we are and who we want to be, and what we want our church to be. We are finding too that such relational work is a craft that requires training to become comfortable and proficient.



Kathleen O'Toole… Continue

Added by David McTaggart on October 22, 2009 at 1:38pm — No Comments

Regarding "Heaven on Earth - Where the heck is it? Sept 13, 2009 Rev Mary

The heart of the confusion is that man has a sense of self

which seems to him to be continuous and solid. When a thought or

emotion or event occurs, there is a sense of someone being conscious

of what is happening. You sense that you are reading these words.

This sense of self is actually a transitory, discontinuous event,

which in our confusion seems to be quite solid and continuous.

Since we take our confused view as being real, we struggle to

maintain and… Continue

Added by Todd Parola on October 21, 2009 at 1:00am — 7 Comments

Community Organizing Bridges Marriage Equality False Divides

Rob Hardies and Dennis Wiley would possibly never have met, much less become friends. Rob is a white gay Unitarian Universalist minister, serving a well-to-do congregation in NW DC. Pastor Wiley is a black straight Baptist pastor serving an Anacostia congregation (across-the-river SE DC). But they did meet, and they did get to know and trust one another, because they are both leaders in the IAF congregationally-based community organization (like UUCA's VOICE) called WIN - Washington Interfaith… Continue

Added by Rev. Linda Olson Peebles on October 19, 2009 at 2:17pm — No Comments

Marriage Equality's False Divides, By Dennis W. Wiley and Robert M. Hardies

Washington Post.



As the struggle for marriage equality moves to the nation's capital, the District of Columbia is debunking many of the myths surrounding this important human rights issue.



For instance, few would expect the two of us -- a straight, black Baptist minister from east of the Anacostia River, and a gay, white Unitarian minister from Columbia Heights -- to share the same position on same-sex marriage. Our solidarity exposes two of the myths perpetuated by… Continue

Added by Becca Lovelace on October 17, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

The Wondrous, Wet, Whirling City of Amsterdam



I've long dreamed of visiting Amsterdam, and my dream came true last month. Although not as "daring" as some of my other sabbaticals, this month-long European pilgrimage filled important cultural holes in my travel journal, three countries I'd somehow never visited, and one I'd only seen for a weekend.



I was not disappointed in Amsterdam, nor anywhere I visited, for that matter. Amsterdam is a wondrous city on a spacious bay,… Continue

Added by Rev. Michael McGee on October 17, 2009 at 1:30pm — 2 Comments

The Apology of Socrates

I have been excited to participate in the production of "The Apology of Socrates" which will be performed by Daniel Lyons tonight and tomorrow night in the Fellowship Hall (Oct. 16 & 17 at 7:30). It has been fascinating to watch him put together this project, a dream of his since he was in high school. I hope we have a great turnout!

Added by Trudi Olivetti on October 16, 2009 at 12:36pm — No Comments

Talk About Race with Children - We're a Multicultural World

"Not mentioning racism doesn't make it go away -- nor does it make our nation's conversations any more honest."

That's how Petula Dvorak summarizes a column she wrote in the Washington Post in September entitled "Too Often, We're Mute on Race." I recommend everyone reading this whole column.



White parents - in an effort to raise their… Continue

Added by Rev. Linda Olson Peebles on October 12, 2009 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

Staceyann Chin said it best ...

Added by Becca Lovelace on October 12, 2009 at 10:28am — No Comments

Course Outline - Darwin Then and Now

Below is the course outline for the RE Class "Darwin's Theory of Evolution Then and Now". The first class is this Wednesday October 14 at 7:30. Subsequent classes will be the 2nd Wednesday of each month.



Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Then and Now

Course Outline



1. Introduction

a. Why study Darwin

b. Overview of Darwin’s Theory

c. Outline for class, additions?



2. The cultural, religious, scientific setting within which Darwin developed his… Continue

Added by Don Leverenz on October 12, 2009 at 9:55am — No Comments

Memory

"Manilatown Is in the Heart" was shown today at the Freer Gallery on the last day of the Asian-American Film Festival. It's a film by Curtis Choy, who also did a documentary about the International Hotel in San Francisco. I told part of the I-Hotel story in my Sept. 27 sermon, "Finding Home."



"Manilatown Is in the Heart" tells the… Continue

Added by Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz on October 10, 2009 at 8:27pm — 2 Comments

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