Sunday Reflection with Rev. Aaron Payson @ The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, MA

Writing for Religionnews.com last August, Phyllis Zagano quipped, “As several mainline faith leaders and the U.S. Catholic bishops have pointed out, the derisive oppression of poor immigrants by members of the current administration is sickening. That some administration officials continue to publicly espouse Christian ethics is mind-boggling.” Unitarian Universalism has a long history of arguing...

Sometimes, we feel as though we are fully authentic, entirely ourselves. Sometimes we feel just the opposite—lost, confused, as if we do not know who we are. Today, Rev. Michael F. Hall returns to UUCW to talk about the trouble we sometimes have reconciling the experience of Being with the notion of Self. Rev. Michael F. Hall has been an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister since 2012. After a...

Rev. Dr. David Breeden, in a piece entitled “Compassion Needs Weather,” writes, “Compassion loves rough soil, the stones, weeds, the cracks between our best intentions.” This Sunday, we explore the place of intention and how, sometimes, intention can get in the way of healing, compassion, and progress toward peace. Join us for this important exploration! The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worces...

In his song “Holy Now,” UU Musician Peter Mayer sings, “It used to be a world half there, Heaven’s second-rate hand me down, Now I’m walking with a reverent air, ‘Cause ev’rything is holy now.” We pause this morning to consider what it might mean to give up the sacred/profane binary that has been the mark of many religions and ponder how our presence in it might shift if we lived as though we were...

Eileen Workman writes: You are not weak for trembling in the face of cruelty. You are not naïve for hoping when the sky darkens. You are not failing because you cannot fix it all. You are part of something ancient and emergent: a slow, deep evolution of consciousness that transcends the need for violent revolution. You are part of the sacred turning. This Sunday, we consider how this “sacred turni...

Join us this Sunday as we explore the complexities of history and memory and the ongoing impact that the creation of our origin story as a nation has on all of us. As we honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we strive to face the legacy of our founding with humility and courage. During this service, we also honored Domestic Violence Month with an exhibit on the chancel from the YWCA of Central MA entitle...

We honor the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur this week as we explore the essential nature of Tikkun "repair" in Hebrew. What might we learn about the current state of the world and our place in it by honoring this ancient Jewish time of turning inward and outward toward others, and the Master of the Universe, to discover how we might be in this moment of trial and tribulation in our world. The U...

This week we continue exploring the parables of Jesus, asking if the message is about despising wealth or the obligations we have toward each other. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewin...

The reflection this Sunday takes up one of the most difficult and misunderstood parables of Jesus, which asks us to consider if the story is about despising wealth, or choosing compassion. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our websit...

We return this Sunday to a favorite story, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Only we discover that the newest edition of the book contains an additional 4th section, which addresses the evolution of the flock in the afterlife of Jonathan. What does this addition to the original story tell us about ourselves, religion, and the world in which we live? The Unitarian Universalist Church of...

As we return again to a new season of worship and opportunities for religious exploration, service, and fellowship this Sunday, we ask what it means to return home. We’ll explore this theme by looking at the hymn, which repeats our service title refrain, noting the changes in phrasing from the original and pondering what it might mean for those of us who yearn for our place in the world. The Unita...