Archives: Services

Our Journey: Where Our Head and Our Hearts Have Led MMUUF

In his February 9 message to MMUUF, member Dana Baron gave an inspired history of Unitarian Universalism. He explained how, when the two “U” faiths combined their organizations some 60 years ago, Unitarians brought a focus on reason and Universalists contributed the belief of a loving God they held in their hearts. In her talk, Beth Esmond will discuss how the “head” and the “heart” of MMUUF (and a little bit of muscle, too) have contributed to our journey. The service will recount our early days and some key themes prevalent in our nearly 30-year journey. We’ll also share memories—happy, sad and some truly funny—about the rag-tag group of dedicated people who built the sometimes-nomadic faith community that ended up in a barn.

Beth first attended MMUUF in the fall of 1996; she joined as a member the following spring. Throughout the years, Beth has served on many committees, including the steering committee, the RE committee, the nominating committee, the Sunday Service committee and, for many years, the music committee. With her husband Scott, she owns a communications consultancy serving clients throughout Vermont and specializing in health care, education and energy.

Creativity: Save the Planet, Produce a Masterpiece, or Just Have Fun

Elizabeth Gilbert defines creativity as the relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration. Others say, it is just making stuff. However it is defined, creativity is a vital aspect in every part of all our lives, from painting rocks on camping trips to parenting to designing transportation systems for the 21st century.  Being creative is one of the most fundamental needs of human life. No wonder it is good for our health and happiness, and is key to building a more just and joyful world.

Ginny created the Happiness Paradigm Store and Experience, and is immediate past president of Gross National Happiness USA. She travels widely to present on the interconnection between personal happiness and systems change for well-being, including recently addressing the Gross Global Happiness conference in Costa Rica, and city and state officials crafting a well-being index in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her book, Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just and Joyful World is due in book stores on July 25th. also works as a meditation teacher. She is a member of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, where she led her first service in 2013. Since then, Ginny has led services in local UU churches as well as churches in South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. She is always grateful to share the wisdom of happiness with UU congregations

The Head and Heart of Unitarian Universalism

Join us for a brief history of the U and the U that make us MMUUF. This service looks at the ways that the long theological traditions of the two U’s are reflected in our Unitarian Universalism of today.

Dana Baron is a long time member of Mount Mansfield UU Fellowship. He lives with his wife in Essex. He is recently retired and now enjoys hiking, biking and playing with his grandchildren, not necessarily in that order.

Taking Action Through Volunteering

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As our fellowship continues the exploration this year of the 4th UU Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning, two of our members will offer separate reflections on the intersection of this principle with the decision to serve as volunteers for various organizations including MMUUF.

Kelly McCutcheon Adams has been a member of MMUUF for the past eight years and currently serves as the Vice President and as the chair of the Welcoming and Membership Committee. She is a Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston and she and her family live in Essex Junction. She currently holds many different volunteer positions which have varying degrees of connection to her own search for truth and meaning.

Kristen Hayden-West joined MMUUF 2 years ago, in part because of the strong connection between the UU philosophy and volunteer engagement.  As a lifelong volunteer and the as the former director of Community Friend Mentoring program at Howard Center, she has a range of professional and personal experience with community service.  She is a Certified Volunteer Administrator and has taught workshops on the topic, as well as having trained and coached hundreds of volunteers. Her current community service activities include mentoring and participation on not-for-profit committees.  Kristen lives in Richmond with her husband, and works for the State of Vermont.

Soul Truth

There are but a few things we can ever really know to be true about this life. But we have, at least, unparalleled access to the truth of our own selves. Despite the age old wisdom of “know thyself,” however, this is still not something many of us learn to make a priority. And what seems to happen to the human spirit when the truth of one’s soul is not fully known, shared and appreciated, is atrophy at best. Indeed this particular brokenness of spirit is behind much of the pain that pervades our families, communities and world. What if we imagined, as many great souls have proclaimed, that there really is no greater cause for our hearts’ allegiance than giving our soul truth the chance to be known and experienced? How would that reshape our living?

My experience with the enlivening power of following soul truth, after the debilitation of giving other imperatives priority, has been shaping my life in ways I never would have imagined. I look forward to sharing a little of my journey with you and inviting us, anew, into deepening relationship with our soul truths as this New Year commences.

David Ruffin is a Unitarian Universalist minister, artist and educator who came to Vermont for a sabbatical two and a half years ago and hasn’t been able to leave. Early in his ministry he founded the alternative community, The Sanctuary Boston, a spiritual home for young adults and other seekers not finding a fit in more traditional church environments. He then served as Assistant Minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK. Prior to ministry, David worked as an actor and singer based in New York City and still takes great joy in music and the arts. Since coming to Vermont, David has dived into sustainable agriculture and outdoor education, working with the Metta Earth Institute in Lincoln, VT, Crows Path’s Field School in Burlington, and the Walden Project, an alternative outdoor school program of Vergennes Union High School.

Christmas Eve Service – Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace

At 4pm on December 24th, friends and family of the Mount Mansfield Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will gather for a service of story, poetry, candlelight and song centered on Hope, Love, Joy and Peace, universal themes we bring with us to our diverse celebrations of holy days and the coming of a new year. Visiting family and friends, as well as newcomers – all are welcome.

 

Christmas Eve Order of Service

Ceremony: Where Meaning meets Magic

Where in our lives do we encounter ceremony? What ceremonies have left a lifetime impression on us and why? What’s the relationship between who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going? How can a well-done ceremony affect a life transition, whether we chose it or not? These questions and more inspire this service, where Martha will explore the changing cultural landscape and the role of ceremony for individuals and groups; for UUs and for Vermonters, the “least religious” (but among the most spiritual!) in America.
Martha Dallas is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant who provides personalized ceremonies marking major life transitions such as weddings and memorials for (often) secular and (typically) spiritual people through her Burlington-based business, Vermont Celebrants (vermontcelebrants.com), which she launched in early 2019. Prior to this, she was a UU Director of Religious Education for over fifteen years, eleven of which were served at the First UU Society of Burlington, where she earned the status of Credentialed DRE. Martha holds a BA in Anthropology from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s in Theology and Education from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She’s excited to return to MMUUF, where she preached about a decade ago!

Hope in Action

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This service presents a hopeful outlook on mitigating climate change. Betsy was a founding member of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light (VTIPL) and currently serves as the organization’s coordinator. Lance is a member of MMUUF and a founding member of Elder for Climate Change, a group that recognizes the special responsibility of elders to serve as earth stewards to leave a sustainable and healthy planet for those who follow. Both Lance and Betsy have found ways to walk the talk on climate change. They’ll share some of the steps you can take as well.

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Engaging in a Free and Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning

Earlier this fall Erica Baron spoke about the connection between truth and meaning, the key elements of the fourth Unitarian Universalist principle. On November 10th Gaye will explore some of the untruths imbedded in the stories she’s relied on to make sense of the world, and how she is rethinking those stories in her search for truth and meaning.

Also during this service, MMUUF will host a Service of Dedication and Welcome, celebrating the Fink and Greenblott families’ presence in our fellowship. During or after the service I hope you’ll take a moment to sign the certificates of dedication for each of the four children, Isla and Tahlia Greenblott and Sutton and Greyson Fink.

If other families would like to participate in the service, please contact Gaye at gsym@together.net.

During the dedication portion of the service Gaye will ask the fellowship, “Do you agree to dedicate MMUUF to support Kevin and Tresa and Dusty and Jenn, to honor and recognize their children, entrusted to the care of both family and community, and covenant to provide their children with a community of warmth and affection, equity and compassion and dedication to the creation of a world worthy of coming generations?”

It’s probably pretty obvious, but the answer she’s looking for is, “Yes” or “We do”.

Gaye lives in Jericho with her husband, Chuck Lacy, with visits from their three children who attended MMUUF in the 1990’s. She works in Burlington at the High Meadows Fund which provides grants and mission investments to promote sustainable farm, food and forest enterprises, reduce the use of fossil fuels in buildings, and improve Vermont’s resilience to climate change.

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Finding Your Way Home

Are you directionally challenged? (In the interest of full disclosure, I am.)  Do you find it hard to ask for directions? Unitarian Universalists are all about questions. What does home mean to you? Where and when do you feel most at home?

Roddy O’Neil Cleary is a retired Emerita UU minister who is a religious hybrid, a catholic unitarian.  She was a member of a religious community of sisters for almost 15 years, a campus minister at UVM for 15 years, and served at 1st UU in Burlington for 11 years. She is working at present in Hospice and prison ministry.

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