"Our Daily Bread: Its Blessings and Bindings"
10 AM Traditional Service
Many of us enjoy bountiful food choices while some among us feel hungry or are dependent on handouts. UU's have no dietary code and ORUUC has no 'food' agenda, but this year, our church will see four groups that focus on eating and serving food. Come hear about our long-term work with "Tabitha's Table", our "Locavore" successes, the launch of "Stone Soup" and a UU initiative called "Ethical Eating."
Wednesday, June 30 2010 @ 11:21 AM EDT
Contributed by: Kimberly
Views: 100
"Does that Star-Spangled Banner Yet Wave?"
Rev. Jake Bohstedt Morrill, leading worship
10:00 AM Summer Service
Throughout our nation's history, our forebears sacrificed much to leave us the conditions of freedom. What sacrifices would we make, for those who come after? What is worth more to us than our comfort?
Friday, June 11 2010 @ 09:58 AM EDT
Contributed by: Kimberly
Views: 98
10:00 AM Single Traditional Service
“Governance and Covenant in an Age of Terror”
Rev. Jake Bohstedt Morrill, leading worship
Not so long ago, the world appeared to have been tamed into some kind of rational order. Authority was clear, if often unfair. War and peace, if unsettling, was conducted between state powers. The media formed a unified narrative of what was the truth. The twenty-first century has brought with it a new and open-ended dynamic. This is not necessarily good nor bad. It can look like creativity, on blogs and online self-sustaining communities. And it can look like a car-bomb in a market-place. As people who place faith in the enduring worth of certain qualities of community—agreement, accountability, and appreciation—how can we make decisions in this dynamic new world? What does democracy look like? Or, for that matter, covenant?
June 13, 10:00 a.m. Single Traditional Service
"Shelter From, For, Of, and In God"
Rev. Jake Bohstedt Morrill, preaching
Homelessness in Oak Ridge is a symptom of suffering: the suffering of those who need homes and the suffering of those who have housing who forget those who don't. Our consideration of social sickness is an invitation to theological reflection. How can we keep our hearts open? How can we allow our hearts to expand to encompass the fullness of Universalism itself? Today, as we hear stories of our Universalist forebears, John Murray and Clara Barton, we'll ponder how our lives might live up to the challenge of a love wide enough to provide everyone shelter.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
“The Least, The Last, The Lost”
10:00 Single Summer Service
Flower Communion Sunday
Jake Bohstedt Morrill, leading worship
Flower Communion is a Unitarian ritual inviting us to affirm our covenantal inter-relationship. Each of us brings a different flower to this Sunday, and leaves with another. It is a simple and profound statement of our diversity and our loving exchange. On this Sunday, as we affirm our relationship with one another, we will explore our relationship with suffering—in particular those who suffer from illegal immigration. After the service, there will be a discussion on our relationship to undocumented people in our country, to those who are threatened by them, and to any possible comprehensive reform.
Next Sunday, May 30, 2010
“Place, Perspective, Proverbs, and Psalms”
Single Service, Traditional Worship at 11 AM
Rev. Dr. Barry Whittemore, preaching
What is our place in the Universe? Are we at the top of the evolutionary pyramid? Are we in charge? Or, do we have a charge from that which is greater than us? It's good to have some perspective on these issues. We can rely solely on our own devices or we can supplement them with millennia of perspective from our liberal religious heritage, scripture, and tradition. Suggested reading: Psalms 8 and Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31.
Tuesday, May 18 2010 @ 10:14 AM EDT
Contributed by: Kimberly
Views: 157
Sunday, May 23, 2010
"To Learn, To Serve, To Care"
9:30 a.m. Celebration Service
11:00 a.m. Traditional Service
Rev. Jake Bohstedt Morrill, leading worship
To be known and to know others: this is the invitation of congregational life. It sounds so plain and simple, and yet over time, to be revealed in our wholeness is truly profound. And to know others in their wholeness is a lesson in love. We receive the gifts of deep relationships not through one-off sessions, but through showing up, again and again. This Sunday, we'll appreciate our religious education teachers and we'll look ahead to the emergence of "home groups" in our community--in which each of us has the chance to be known and to know others.
9:30 AM Jake Morrill and Tandy Scheffler
11:00 AM Sidney Sherrill, Susannah Shissler, and Anna Sullivan
When in our lives have we crossed over to safety? How do we mark the transitions in our lives, the comings and the goings? What would it look like, what would it mean, if ORUUC were a “bridge building community?” As you anticipate this Sunday’s Bridging Ceremony, consider the bridges you have crossed over and the bridges you are now facing in your life. Our annual Bridging Ceremony for high school seniors will take place in the 11 am service. Also, we will recognize all Religious Education Leaders that morning during the service.
Tuesday, April 27 2010 @ 09:28 AM EDT
Contributed by: Kimberly
Views: 154
Next Sunday, May 2, 2010
“No One is an Island”
Celebration at 9:30 and Traditional at 11:00
No man, woman, or child is an island. As John Donne said, ‘every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’ At times this connection seems clearly evident, at times only our differences can be seen. When and where these connections and separations are experienced can, sometimes, be quite surprising. We will explore these apparently conflicting experiences, both within and between ourselves, in the hopes of bridging, through enhanced understanding, some of the gaps.
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