Summer Service Series at UCMH

SunflowersUCMH has quite a line-up this summer, featuring graduates from our Preaching for Parishioners program as well as Safari Sundays, where we travel and share spiritual adventures with area UU churches!

Below is a glimpse of our inspiring speakers and their sermons. Please visit UCMH’s Facebook page for full descriptions of each event.

Coffee, tea, and refreshments are served after each service in our Worship Cafe.

Bring a friend ~ everyone is welcome to participate.

Wishing you a joyful, blessed, and healthy summer!
~ From All of Us at UCMH


SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 10:30AM
BELLY DANCE MINISTRY ~
A Spiritual Journey of Community, Generosity, and Radical Self-Appreciation
WITH GUEST SPEAKER, NANCY ROGERS

We’re kicking off our summer services with a shimmy!  Please join UCMH’s “Preaching for Parishioners” graduate, Nancy Rogers (aka Aurora), as she shares her journey of spiritual growth through her experiences as a belly dance teacher and performer. This service is an illustration on the value of being Awake and Present to opportunities to engage with our best selves. Enjoy an experience bedazzled with touches of belly dance goodness!


SUNDAY, JULY 7, 10:30AM
THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-COMPASSION
WITH GUEST SPEAKER, JEN MARCH

Compassion is a feeling of concern and sympathy for the misfortunes of others. It ties us together. It allows us to care for each other. It is a component of all major faiths and ethical traditions. While many of us strive to show compassion to others, showing ourselves compassion can be difficult.


SUNDAY, JULY 14, 10:30AM
SUMMER SERVICE SERIES ~
NICE V. GOOD
WITH GUEST SPEAKER, EDWARD GAULT

The choice isn’t always between good and evil. Sometimes it’s between good and nice. And sometimes, ‘nice’ might not be good. This morning Edward Gault will explore the nuances of what it means to be “good.”


SUNDAY, JULY 21, 10:30AM
STAND AND BE COUNTED
WITH GUEST SPEAKER, DAN STACK

When we think of large-scale social changes, we often think of major figures in history. Yet those figures were not always “major” and those changes required countless people, most of them forever lost to history, all making the individual choice to stand and be counted. We’ll walk through various periods in American history and look at the stands people have made. We’ll reflect on how those people inform us today.


SUNDAY, JULY 28, 10AM
SUMMER SAFARI ~ FIRST PARISH UU of NORTHBOROUGH
“PLAYING TOGETHER”
WITH REV. LYNDA SUTHERLAND

Please join us for a spiritual adventure with our Summer Safari Series, where we travel and share Sunday services with area UU churches!  Our first destination is the First Parish UU of Northborough, located at 40 Church Street. Rev. Lynda Sutherland presents “Playing Together.”

Musicians in a jam session play, and keep playing, because they are desperately in love with their instruments; with the sound; with the people they are playing with; with the fact that they are on this planet and able to create. How might we bring such joyous commitment into our lives together as Unitarian Universalists? If you have a favorite percussion instrument you are invited to bring it along.


SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 10AM
SUMMER SAFARI ~ FIRST CHURCH UNITARIAN, LITTLETON
“WE SHALL LEARN TO LEAD IN LOVE”
WITH REV. LARA HOKE

Please join us for a spiritual adventure with our Summer Safari Series! Our second destination in this series is the First Church Unitarian, Littleton, located at 19 Foster Street where Rev. Lara Hoke presents “We Shall Learn to Lead in Love.” This service also is the 16th Annual Joint Summer Service of the Harvard, Littleton, Marlborough/Hudson, and Stow/Acton UU churches.

At the UU General Assembly (GA) this past June in Spokane, the theme was “The Power of We.” We were asked, “Who are Unitarian Universalists called to be in this moment? How can we show up as our best selves?” And we thought deeply about the “we”; just who is this “we”? Rev. Lara Hoke is continuing to process the deep learnings from GA. In her sermon, “We Shall Learn to Lead in Love” (a title inspired by the song “We Shall Be Known” by Karisha Longaker”), Rev. Lara will share some of her hopes for our collective future.


SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 10:30AM
SUMMER SAFARI ~ UCMH HOSTS IN HUDSON
“TRANSFORMATIVE MINISTRY MOMENTS”
WITH REV. ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN

Please join us for a spiritual adventure with our Summer Safari Series, where we travel and share Sunday services with area UU churches. This Sunday, UCMH hosts fellow churches and Rev. Alice presents “Transformative Ministry Moments.”

The Rev. Gordon B. McKeeman wrote, “Ministry is all that we do—Together. Ministry is that quality of being in community that affirms human dignity—beckons forth hidden possibilities, invites us into deeper, more constant, reverent relationships, and carries forward our heritage of hope and liberation.”

Rev. Alice will share true stories of transformative ministry moments when congregants of all ages have acted with Love and Compassion to build the sort of community McKeeman describes.


SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 10:30AM
SUMMER SERVICE SERIES ~
OPEN-HEARTEDNESS — NOW IS THE TIME!

WITH GUEST SPEAKER, LINDA MILLER

On Sunday, August 18, UCMH welcomes Preaching for Parishioners Graduate, Linda Miller, who presents “Open-Heartedness — Now is the Time!” as part of our Summer Service Series.

What is meant by an “open heart”? How can we cultivate an open heart and sustain it in tough times? Difficult though it may be at times, it is that loving, open heart that will sustain us if we choose to sustain it.


SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 10:30AM
SUMMER SERVICE SERIES ~
BECOME UNSTOPPABLE:
Forgive Yourself, Let Go, and Set Yourself Free to Live the Life of Your Dreams
WITH GUEST SPEAKER, KAREN SZKLANY

As the summer winds down for the season, UCMH welcomes Preaching for Parishioners Graduate, Karen Szklany, who presents “Become Unstoppable” on Sunday, August 25, our last service in our Summer Service Series.

We all have emotional baggage that we must let go in order to become unstuck and move our lives in the direction of our biggest dreams. Isn’t it about time we free ourselves to enjoy our lives in the present? Now is the time to forgive ourselves for the ways we’ve let ourselves and others down, manage how we think about ourselves and trust ourselves more deeply. Now is the time to appreciate all the ways our lives are blessed and take the steps needed to place us on the road toward fulfilling our dreams. You deserve to be happy, and our time together will create the space for you to shine brightly!