“We Gather Together”
with Rev. Stephen Shick, Minister Emeritus
Sunday, November 24, 10:30am
American culture holds up individual rights above the common good. From the accumulation of wealth to the right to bare arms, individual rights prevail over collective needs.
The ideals behind the Thanksgiving holiday, while severely compromised by the later genocide of indigenous peoples, call us back to these words by John Winthrop (1587-1649), Leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony:
“We must delight in each other, make the condition of others our own. . .
Always keeping before our eyes our commission and common work,
a community where each is the member of the same body.”
In worship this Sunday, we will explore how our gathering together can help heal the tattered and torn fabric of society.
ABOUT REV. STEPHEN SHICK ~
Rev. Stephen Shick is Minister Emeritus at UCMH and an honors graduate of Crozer-Colgate Rochester Theological Seminary. Between 2000 and 2003, he was an Urban Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. He has served congregations in Portland, ME and Haverhill, MA. Before UCMH, Rev. Shick practiced a national ministry as U.S. Program Director for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Director of the Unitarian Universalist Peace Network, and founder and host of Consider the Alternatives, a nationally syndicated radio program.
Rev. Stephen is the author of Be the Change: Poems, Prayers and Meditations for Peacemakers and Justice Seekers, Consider the Lilies, a book of meditations, and Just Congregations, a guide to congregational justice making practices. His writings have appeared in numerous national and local publications. Rev. Stephen also leads seminars on “embodied preaching,” the art of preaching and public speaking without notes or manuscript.
He is married to Dr. JoAnn Mulready-Shick, who is on the nursing faculty at the University of Massachusetts Boston. They have three grown children: Dora, Michael, and Sarah.
Please join us after the service for coffee, tea, refreshments, and fellowship in our Worship Cafe ~
Everyone is welcome at UCMH!
Artwork:
“The First Thanksgiving,1621” by Jean-Léon Gérôme Ferris (1863-1930).