Archives: Services

Final Service and Flower Ceremony

Join us for our annual Flower Ceremony and the Final Service of the current fellowship year until we meet again in September. This will be a time to share and reflect upon the year we’ve spent together.

“Mama, why are the flags down again?” Reflections on Activism and Motherhood

Please join us on Mother’s Day as Kelly McCutcheon Adams shares reflections and questions that have come up for her over the past 18 months as her peak in activism has coincided with her children’s increasing awareness of the news of the world. She has been grappling with how to engage them without crossing a line. Kelly is a member of MMUUF and serves as the Vice President and chair of the Welcoming & Membership Committee. She is a clinical social worker and telecommutes to Boston as a Senior Director for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Loving Someone with a Disability

The first principle of Unitarian Universalism affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person.  Loving a person with a disability and experiencing the daily joys and challenges that comes along with that is an opportunity to put that principle into action. She urges us to rejoice in the spectrum of differences surrounding us.  Not just the diversity of race, color or creed, but of thought, mental health and ability as well.  As a Unitarian Universalist, long time MMUUF member and parent of 4 very unique children, Amy enjoys celebrating the diversity of the entire human spirit.

Who Am I, Where Am I, What Do I Want To Do?

This service is about our individual responsibility to form intention and carry out action to move UU Principles forward in the world.  Each of us needs to understand who we are, where we are, and what we want to do to.  In Steve’s case, the Mission Statement of the Montpelier Unitarian Church elegantly defines those principles and forms the basis, along with his intellectual commitment to scientific materialism, for his intentions and actions.

Steve is retired and lives in Montpelier with his wife, has two grown children, and has been a member of the Montpelier Unitarian Church for more than 30 years.

A Service of Poetry

We are building the service around several of Scudder’s poems, with Scudder reading his poems and inviting discussion after each one. He will introduce each poem with a few thoughts about the spiritual questions or challenges reflected in the poem.

Scudder Parker grew up on a family farm in North Danville Vt.  He has been a Protestant minister (20 years), a state senator, a utility regulator, a candidate for Governor, a consultant on energy efficiency and renewable energy. At 74 Scudder is settling into his new and ongoing work as a poet. He is a passionate gardener and a proud grandfather of four.  He and his wife, Susan Sussman, live in Middlesex Vermont..

Honoring the Generosity of Spirit of Those Who Came Before

A sense of community is one of the compelling reasons people love living in the Jericho-Underhill area, or just in small town Vermont.  This service will be a time for us to verbally remember some of those recent (or not so recent) ancestors that had an impact on our communities.  People can speak for three or four minutes about someone they remember. You may prepare a little something before hand or be moved by the moment in the service.  This is a time to celebrate the lives of those that came before us.  What is remembered, lives!

Restorative Responses to Harm

In this service, we will discuss how we deal with wrongdoing or harm in our society, and how our traditional system affects people. We will then describe an alternative approach called Restorative Justice. This alternative deals with wrongdoing from a perspective that focuses on people and relationships, and works on repair rather than punishment.

Susanna was born and raised in New Jersey, but hopes you don’t hold that against her because she got here as soon as she could.  She has always had a strong interest in Social Justice, and is drawn to work and conversations that aim to address oppression and disparities.  She has a Master of Public Health, and the first 2 decades of her career was in this field.  In 2016 she made a change and now works in Restorative Justice, which she loves.  Susanna Weller is employed at the Essex Community Justice Center, which serves Jericho, Underhill, Essex, Colchester, Milton and Westford.  She works with people who commit crimes and people who are affected by crime, in order to help facilitate the repair of harm.  Susanna lives in Starksboro with her wife, Ellen, and their cat, Idgie.

Healing and History: Preparing to Share Privilege

Who is the “real” Vermonter?  A descendant of an 18th century European, a new American immigrant,
or the Abenaki people of the First Nation?  In attempting to exercise our collective responsibility of 
justice, equity and compassion, we would be remiss to exclude the Abenaki who live largely
unseen and unheard in the Champlain Valley — and other minorities in the United States.
 
Where and how do we begin setting a chair for the disenfranchised at the table?  Who is the host, and
who is the guest?  What reparative justice may we be called to upon to pay?  Do contemporary virtues serve to heal historical vices?
 
Indigenous peoples, descendants of slaves, undocumented immigrants…let’s discuss how unpacking privilege
here in Vermont means surrendering power to other populations.
 
Rev. Jennifer Pader, M.Div., S.T.M., LMSW, is a New York City native who moved to Burlington with
her husband Joe four years ago.  She is a graduate of McGill University, Union Theological Seminary, the
William Alanson White Institute, and the Hunter College School of Social Work.  Jennifer has enjoyed

coming to MMUUF as a guest speaker on multiple occasions.  

Finding the Better Angels Within

Sometimes we find ourselves needing to make a choice about whether to speak up and risk offending another person who holds a different belief than our own.  Finding compassion towards others who appear to be selfish, or dismissive can be a challenge. Better Angels is an organization attempting to help bridge the communication gap between the red and blue party lines that are often drawn on current issues.  We will explore their method of building bridges in a workshop format during the sermon.  Come prepared to take a stand and learn ways to engage someone with a different view point than your own.