119 Kenyon Ave
East Greenwich, RI 02818
401-884-5933
Scott Taylor writes “Just saying the word ‘belonging’ conjures it up: The hunger to be included; the longing to be let in. […] It’s the hoped for Holy Grail at the end of our journeys…. Or is it just the beginning?” Congregational life is a place to belong, to feel at home, to know you’re … Continue reading Creating Home
From the time we are born we are defining who we are – I like sushi, but not broccoli. I prefer tennis to ice hockey. I want to go into politics or absolutely not. And from the time we are born our identity impacts “whose” we are – I’m a girl/boyscout and here is my troop, I’m a sports fan like the rest of my family, I’m a Republican/Democrat/Independent just like (or not like) the rest of my neighborhood. How does our identity – the one we create or the one we are given, shape our sense of where we belong? How might we expand our feeling of being at home in the world?
The Rev. Douglas Wilson was born in Vancouver, grew up in Santa Barbara, and fell in love with the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan in the mid-sixties. He graduated from UCSB in religion and philosophy and from Starr King School for the Ministry and was ordained in Brooklyn in 1971. After hiking the Appalachian … Continue reading Movies and Living Our Real Lives
So many people report feeling out of place in the world, without a sense of deep belonging. As we approach the end of the Jewish High Holy Days, let’s take inspiration from this time of turning and returning to find our way back. How might this holiday help us reconnect to our sense of belonging to ourselves, to each other and to the world?
Introductory Reflection by Rev. Ellen Quaadgras In part 1 of this sermon I preached about some of the challenges that face us. Like, climate change. That’s a big one. Even if we ourselves do not feel it, other people do – people in power who are making decisions that impact us. And people in our … Continue reading Expectations of Our Faith Part II
Like most UUs, for some time now I’ve carried around a basic understanding of what I thought got our species into the religion business in the first place. But two books–Jaynes’ The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind and David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce’s Inside the Neolithic Mind–turned my assumptions upside down. Well, not … Continue reading How did we get involved in this god-business, anyway?
As we begin our new congregational year, what are our expectations of this faith? Of ourselves? Sometimes, we don’t even notice we’ve gotten stuck in a limited view of what’s possible. What if we expected our participation in life to actually change things, or change us? What might happen then?
As we anticipate the twists and turns of another chapter of our lives, may we remember we are not alone in it. In this opening service of the congregational year, please bring a sample of water from a place that has meaning for you (a local stream, your grandmother’s kitchen, your own backyard). Today we … Continue reading Water Communion
Hosted by Lady Estelle and Deb Weaver Sunday, September 1st, will be your last opportunity to attend a 2019 Summer Service. Lady Estelle Barada will capture your imagination with a lesson on the Origins of Labor Day. Do you have a favorite poem? Pick one verse that moves or charms you most. At this picnic, … Continue reading A Labor Day Picnic in Verse
Presented by Mort White and Sandy Norris One Service at 10AM Download QR
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