Welcome

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Our church celebrates freedom of belief and welcomes individuals and families of all backgrounds and faiths. Unitarian Universalism does not advocate a particular creed. We come together because of our shared commitment to values and to ways of living, not to religious dogma. See “What Is UU?” for more about the long history and tradition of Unitarian Universalism. The Strafford Universalist Society is the second oldest in Vermont and fourth oldest in the nation. We hope you will join us.

Happenings

Annual Gathering of Upper Valley UUs – August 25th at 10:30 a.m. in Barnard

The service will be held at the First Universalist Church of Barnard at 6211 VT Route 12. Bring your own picnic and fellowship at Silver Lake State Park afterwards. All are welcome! Just a reminder that the church is not fully accessible and does not have restrooms.

The Sound of Silence

Tuesday Silent Meditation in the stunningly beautiful space within the Universalist Church. Meditations starting June 4 and continuing every Tuesday till October 1.  20-minute silent mediation followed by a time of sharing and then a final 5-minute silent meditation.  Bring your own meditative practice or just sit and enjoy a silent time of peace and reflection with others

Some Highlights of the Past Year

Celebration and Rededication

Many years ago Fred Wolfe connected with Greg Gorman to explore an ambitious project to clean, restore, and repair the stained glass windows in the church. The first step was to identify which windows were in the worst repair and what efforts would need to be taken to ensure their beauty would last for future generations. Over the past decade plus, the members of our church have fundraised and shepherded this project to fruition. We have even replaced the “Jesus” window at the front of the sanctuary with a new flaming chalice that speaks to our spiritual tradition and values. On July 16, 2023 Upper Valley UUs gathered with us for a celebration and rededication service for our sanctuary and its marvelous windows led by Re. Paul Sawyer.

 

Book Discussion – Braiding Sweetgrass

An Evening with Jim Rooney – Full Set

An Evening with Gus Speth – A Life of Service

Staying Connected

Daily Inspiration

Strafford UU member John Freitag sends out a daily inspiration often with poems or readings from our UU hymnal or collections such as Life Prayers and The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness and Joy, as well as poets that speak to our New England weather and heritage like Robert Frost, David Budbill, and Emily Dickinson, and Native American poets like Joy Harjo and Joseph Bruchac. If you are interested in starting your days with something other than the news, send him an email at jfreitag7 at hotmail.com

On-line Services

There are many on-line options for connecting with the UU community, including this one where several of our members participate:

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley – Worship service every Sunday at 10 via Zoom.

There are many more to check out in this list provided by the UUA.

For those looking for UU resources for quiet individual reflection, the UU website offers many resources to explore such as this searchable on-line library.