March 8th is International Women’s Day, a day of commemoration and celebration that was born in the USA and is celebrated in many countries with big parades and rallies. It began in New York City on March 8, 1857, when female garment workers protested unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women. News of the
Read More →Rev. Clyde came to know and respect the work of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute through my own engagement with them. For nearly 18 years, I led an urban youth ministry program known as Stand High/Stand United with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry in Boston. I was a young white adult, only age 29,
Read More →It’s hard to believe, but this upcoming month marks exactly three-quarters of the way through my time with you all in Canton. (But don’t get ready to say goodbye just yet! I’ll still be here through the summer, and I’m really looking forward to it!) As I move into this final period of my internship,
Read More →A congregation is a voluntary organization; that is the employed staff function to facilitate the work of the organization, yet most of the activity and functions are performed by member volunteers. Ideally the members and staff are guided by a common mission and vision. In the middle of the last century there were more members
Read More →I am very excited to report that our OWL program has officially taken flight! Our Whole Lives, as you’ve probably heard me say many times throughout my internship, is, as the UUA puts it, “sexuality education that fosters informed, responsible, and values-based decisions about sexual health and behavior.” Unitarian Universalists have been at the forefront
Read More →A great many more than just one person has shared recently with me how disturbed they are by larger world events and how hard it is even to watch the news. Some of you tell me that the state of our larger shared world is making it difficult even to function at times, let alone
Read More →If we were to get our ideas from Hallmark Greeting Cards, we might think Love was a sentiment, something we could have and to hold. But Unitarian Universalists have taught us that “Love” is something we do. And we get better at it by doing it. We love by remembering we must be peacemakers as
Read More →Unitarian Universalists often ask me, “How can we celebrate Christmas when we’re not Christians?” Or for those who went to catechism, “How can we commemorate the birth of God’s Son when we doubt the Holy Trinity?” Last year I preached a sermon called Have a Merry UU Christmas in which we explored the contemporary meaning
Read More →The holidays often can bring a range of mixed feelings for an equally broad range of reasons. This quote, attributed to a female author named Francis Ward Weller, floated through Facebook recently and struck a chord with me: “The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the
Read More →Every year we Unitarian Universalists designate a book as our Common Read. In a Common Read, individuals and book reading groups read that book over the course of the year. This allows for conversation and the hearing of different points of view, which is the best way to learn new ideas. Here is some information
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