“Everything we do should be worthy of our undivided attention.” These are the words of one of Matt’s spiritual teachers. Only by being focused and attentive can we really see what is around us and make sense of the world.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Matt Alspaugh and Karen Schubert
Honoring the legacy of Mother’s Day, we will explore the spiritual tasks facing us as individuals and as a progressive religious movement to help bring to birth justice and compassion.
Worship Leader: Mary Grigolia
Worship Associate: Audra Carlson
Rev. Mary Grigolia serves as a consultant to congregations, facilitating workshops and retreats focusing on team building, goal setting, and change work, as well as programs specific to pastoral care, social justice, and adult spiritual development programs. She was ordained a UU minister in 1992 and has served for 16 years as parish minister in Northeast Ohio and in Durham, NC.
This is a pulpit exchange between Youngstown and Canton UU Fellowship. Pulpit exchanges are an old part of our religious tradition dating back to the earliest churches in America.
Dogs and children and fun galore on Sunday, April 29, when Matt blessed a multitude of canine friends. The meditation was noisy and joyful, with babies, children and pups of all sizes.
As we come to better understand the nature of other species, we find greater commonality in makeup and behavior than we previously imagined. How does this change how we relate to animals? This is our annual (at least, second year in a row) Animal Blessing Service. You are invited to bring your well-behaved pets, or pictures of your pets, to the service. This is a multigenerational service.
We live on a world made unique by the thin layer of life on its surface. Yet it is so easy, in our culture, to lose touch with the grandeur of that reality. How do we remain awake to that awareness? What yearnings, emotions, arise within us, when we abide in this understanding?
Our Sunday Worship Service will include a New Member Welcome Ceremony. We’ll include all people who’ve joined since the last such ceremony was held. This is an important and meaningful welcome ritual, not only for new members, but for the entire congregation. If you have joined in the last two years, and haven’t participated in this ceremony, we hope you will come and be part of it.
As a kindness for planning, please email Diane in the office to let her know if you plan to be a part of this ceremony.
Who gave Columbus the right to conquer and enslave the humans he encountered in the Western Hemisphere? What papal bull still informs American law and policy on immigration, including Arizona’s SB1070? We’ll explore this complicated history and ponder how we respond.
Worship Leader: Rev. Matt Alspaugh
Worship Associate: Patricia Natali
Jesus is not the only deity who died and was resurrected or was born again as a god. This was a common theme in the ancient world. What makes this theme so compelling? What might stories of resurrection and hope have to say to us today? This is a multigenerational service.
In Tarot, the Fool is the card numbered zero, often depicting a distracted wanderer about to step off a cliff. The Fool’s Journey is a metaphor for a person’s journey through all the phases of life. What fool’s journeys are we on? What diversions, distractions, and chasms complicate our journeys? How do we get back on track?
We celebrate diversity, yet often have diverse strong and well-researched opinions. How do we practice the art of ‘beloved community’? Both in the microcosm among us and in the macrocosm around us, this spiritual discipline may well be our greatest resource for life in the 21st century.
Worship Leader: Rev. V. Elaine Strawn
Worship Associate: Karen Stangl
This is Pulpit Exchange Sunday, Pulpit exchanges are an old tradition in our movement, allowing congregations to hear from different ministers. Matt will be speaking at the UU Fellowship of Wayne County, OH; and the minister there, Rev. Elaine Strawn, will speak here at UUYO.
Claude Debussy said that “music is the space between the notes.” In music, in worship, and in life, the silence is often as important as the sound. We’ll explore the space between the notes of our lives. This is a multigenerational service.
How we give our money both in life and at death says a lot about who we really are. Dan Betts, a Certified Financial Planner who has guided the UUYO Endowment Investments for the past eight years, will speak on the power of giving to cure our “not enough” malady, and provide a way to leave a positive legacy to others.
Though the camp-outs are large over, the Occupy movement still lives on in rich variety in many cities including Youngstown. We’ll examine the influence the movement has had, the moral foundation of its actions, and prospects for the future.
We are said to be defined by our times. Do we approach the world differently from someone born a quarter century earlier, or later? Are generational labels — X, Y, boomers, millennials — just another way to stereotype people? This is a multigenerational service.
C.S. Lewis and others identify four types of love: affection, friendship, romance and unconditional love. On the eve of Valentine’s Day, we will explore a different perspective on love. Here we find on Valentine’s Day everyone has a sweetheart.
Worship Leader: Sarah Lown
Worship Associate: Sarah Jordan
“You will be cared for, and will be called upon to care for others” is the mission of a church in Minnesota. How do we care for one another here at UUYO? What kinds of care are needed? How do we care for the caregivers? We’ll look at these questions as we consider the changing nature of care in this congregation.
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” And what if they are not?” What if they reject the process and wisdom of science and reason, in areas like evolution, climate change, and healthcare? How can we reverse this trend (and I’m assuming we should)?
