Our Beloved Community Online

Please note: Rev. Ganz moved to the First Parish of Brewster Mass., and is no longer with our church but her thoughts about online community and ministry continue to help us understand the possibilities of our online church.

Welcome! Whether you’re a newcomer visiting our new website or a member who’s received your keys and walked inside to join the conversation in our Beloved Community Online, I hope you like it here!

A philosopher once said that all of human life is like a neverending conversation. You walk into a room where people are already talking to one another. After a while you catch a thread and join in. You stake out a position and hold it; you follow others, you draw followers yourself; you are changed by the words and the presence of those around you. When the time comes you drift away. You leave the room, but the conversation, which began long before you arrived – and which has been changed by your presence in it -- continues.

The Internet has altered the nature of the conversation – or at least, it’s altered the numbers of people with whom we can be in conversation. We are no longer limited by time and space. We can show up in a virtual world that connects us to one another and to people across the globe. Nobody knows yet exactly how this new way of being in the world will change us.

As Unitarian Universalists, we have faith in the conversation. We believe that no one of us knows the whole story, but that each one of us – each person made in the image of God, or, if you prefer, each person possessing inherent worth and dignity – each one has a piece of the truth. In committed dialogue with one another, we believe, we all get closer to the truth.

This new website is another way for us to be in relationship with one another – a new way to know one another and be known, a new way to engage in the deep conversations which our hearts are longing for. This new capability will build our Beloved Community, and help us build the Relational Church, by weaving the fabric of our community in new and exciting ways. It’s not the same as being physically present together in community, in worship together, in Covenant Group meetings, or in heartfelt one-on-one conversations – but for times when some among us can’t get to church for one reason or another, this is a way to walk in and join the conversation.

All our ways of being together enrich us, weaving our conversation with deep color and shining threads. Our expectation is that newcomers and those who are hungry for our message and our community will be drawn to us by the vigor and the sparkle of the conversation they glimpse when they visit this new online home – and that every one of us will be enlivened by it. So welcome! Come right on in, right to the center of things, and join the conversation. This is a congregation that’s always making room.

Getting Started Activities

Get your keys, or sign on credentials, on Sundays after each service or contact Sarah Masters, for them.

Please read all of the following:

• The Getting Started blog

• For Parents & Families

• Our Congregational Covenant: We embrace a diversity of opinions, viewpoints, and beliefs. By participating here, you agree to uphold our covenant. Continue reading...

Questions or Comments?

• Contact Administrator