Being Well in Beloved Community, Board President Tom Ott

The concept of community can become so well worn that it is taken for granted as a social phenomenon and, perhaps, hardly considered spiritually. Recently, as the result of much work and discussion, USG was presented with an elegantly written statement of what community can mean to our religious Society. The document combined with a recent illness encouraged me to think deeply about the nature of a religious community and the place of faith in my USG membership. Tom Ott is privileged to serve as president of the Unitarian Society of Germantown and teaches English at Community College of Philadelphia.

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Remember Trayvon Martin: Dr. King Sunday, Rev. Kent Matthies

It was less than one year ago when 17 year old Trayvon Martin was tragically and fatally shot dead. This violence happened within a landscape author Michelle Alexander has prophetically labeled “The New Jim Crow”. We have a raging
prison-industrial complex, public school systems like ours in Philadelphia gasping for breath, and a multitude of other policy challenges for disenfranchised folks. Within this context how do we say “No more Jim Crow, Remember Trayvon Martin, Remember Dr. King!”

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Be Still and Know Compassion, Joan Javier-Duval, Intern Minister

The practice of mindfulness calls us to pay attention to and embrace what is and who we are now. Self-acceptance, however, does not come easily for most of us. As we begin again a new year, how can we mindfully cultivate deeper compassion for self and for the world?

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New Orleans Jazz Funeral, The Barbone Street Jazz Band and Rev. Kent Matthies

Come celebrate with the energy of this six-piece Dixieland jazz group. In the New Orleans tradition, we will have a wake for the Old Year, lay down our burdens and lift our possibilities for the New Year. The spirit will be alive with great music
including “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In.” The spiritual theme of the month is mindfulness. How can we mindfully let
go of the old and embrace the new?

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Beloved Community: 2012 in Review, Anaiis Salles

Anaiis will explore Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s definition of beloved community and events in 2012 in which this beloved community perspective may be a deepening call and response process for UUs.

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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, Rev. Kent Matthies, Joan Javier-Duval , Mark Daugherty and USG Choir

Making Room for the Holy
Finally, the sacred child was born. As we know the stories leading up to the birth weren’t that easy. It rarely ever is. Every night a child is born is a holy night. Every day we have a chance to make space for the holy in our lives.

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Christmas Eve Family Service, Rev. Kent Matthies, Jody Whelden, Joan Javier-Duval, Mark Daugherty and USG Choir

“No Room at All” by Bernice Webb
The innkeeper’s children, Aaron and Sarah, are curious about the guests that have arrived at their family’s inn. Do they have enough light in the stable? Will the baby get cold? The unexpected arrival of these guests challenge Aaron, Sarah, and their family to show true hospitality and welcome.

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Kwanzaa with Rev. Kent Matthies, Queen Nur, & Abayomi Awodesu

We will have a joyous time lighting candles, telling stories, and moving to the beats of African drumming. Queen Nur and Abayomi Awodesu, two superb story tellers will bring us on journeys not to be missed! We will celebrate the principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

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A Ceremony of Carols performed by the USG Choir, directed by Mark Daugherty with Kimberly Rowe, harpist

Come hear a holiday musical classic – Benjamin Britten’s charming “A Ceremony of Carols.” Written in the darkest year of World War II, somehow Britten managed to find joy and beauty during that time and he produced a classic Christmas choral work of unparalleled sophistication and craft. It’s wonderful music that engages the mind as well as the heart. Kimberly Rowe will be our harpist accompanying the chorus.