Archives: Services

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Web of Life: The Interconnected Happiness of Humans & Other Animals

You don’t have to be an animal lover to appreciate that the happiness and well-being of humans and animals is deeply interconnected. Without a shift to a Gross National Happiness paradigm or something like it, many creatures – including giraffes and elephants – may be doomed to extinction. Without tending to the animal kingdom, we humans may also be doomed. Fortunately, there are some fine examples of how a GNH approach can help save the day.

Ginny Sassaman is a co-founder and past president of Gross National Happiness USA, & now serves on the GNHUSA advisory board. With a Certificate in Positive Psychology, Ginny’s specialty is the intersection between personal happiness and systems change to support wellbeing for all. Ginny is a member of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, where she delivered her first sermon in 2013. Since then, Ginny has led services in local UU churches as well as churches in South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. Over the last three summers, Ginny led 16 services at the summers-only Barnard, VT UU Church. Those sermons are being compiled into a book, Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just, Joyful World due out in spring 2020. Ginny is always grateful to share the wisdom of happiness with UU congregations.

Truth? Meaning? What’s the Difference?

Truth and Meaning: The fourth UU Principle is a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This service will explore the differences between truth and meaning, ask us to consider our responsibilities in the search, and celebrate our freedom.

Rev. Erica Baron was a member of MMUUF when she was in high school. After that, she went off to college and then seminary at Andover Newton Theological School and was ordained as a UU minister in 2008. She served congregations in Vermont and New York before becoming Congregational Life Field Staff for the UUA earlier this month.

Gathering the Waters

It hardly seems possible that it is September already, but it is, and it’s time for us to gather together again in friendship and exploration. This service will be our traditional Gathering the Waters, which will allow us to share a little about important and meaningful events that we experienced this past summer. We ask those who come to bring a small container of water to join with the water of others in a common vessel. It could be water from a trip, from a special body of water (lake, ocean, river, stream) or it could be water from your own tap. All water is sacred. If you forget the water, not to worry, we will have some on hand, and you can still share memories of the summer. We invite all our members and families from our communities to join us in beginning another year of sharing and fellowship!

Transitions

MMUUF Member and Vice President Kelly McCutcheon Adams will lead this Sunday’s service, Transitions. This is a return to a tradition of ours to use the final service to acknowledge transitions over the year past and look to the summer ahead. She will be assisted by Maura Collins, Dana Baron, and Jen Levine. Kelly lives in Essex Junction with her husband and their two children. She telecommutes to Boston as a Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Please join us for this special closing service for the year and then please join us for the cookout to celebrate our ten years of fellowship in the barn. The cookout is a potluck with burgers/hot dogs/veggie burgers and beverages provided.