September Services – One Service at 10:00 a.m.
Sunday, September 3rd – A Cooperative Game – Rev. Craig Schwalenberg
Would you like to play a game? Which game? You choose. The game isn’t important to me. If we play together, then they’re all the same. And we’ll win or lose together, cooperatively.
Rev. Craig’s preferred pronouns are per/pers (short for person, first coined by Marge Piercy in the 1976 novel, “Woman on the Edge of Time”, but he/his are also acceptable. Rev. Craig Schwalenberg is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister raised in the Midwest, transplanted to New York (near the source of the Susquehanna.) After 15+ years serving as a parish minister and interim minister, per has started a new community ministry as Your Game Minister— sharing the fun and wisdom where spirituality and play cross paths. Pers ministry is one of connections, storytelling, hospitality, and games. Rev. Craig is an affiliated community minister with the Church of the Larger Fellowship. Per has also been a member of the UU Trauma Response Ministry team for over a decade. Rev. Craig lives in central, upstate New York with pers wife, Cheryl DeDecker, and their dog, Harmony. Cheryl practices her own ministry as a Consulting Hypnotist and Life Coach, with a focus on complementary medical hypnosis, pain management, and addressing anxiety. Together, they are geocachers and avid gamers.
Sunday, September 10th – Gaia, Earthsong and the Oneness of Everything – Jim Scott
Jim Scott is a composer, guitarist and singer whom Pete Seeger called “some kind of magician”. He creates and performs music for a just, peaceful and sustainable world. Jim was part of the Paul Winter Consort for decades, performing all over the world, including twice yearly summer and winter solstice concerts at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. HIs flamenco-style guitar playing is legendary among guitarists. “With virtuoso guitar work and an easy, honest presence, he delivers his musical message straight to minds and hearts.” — Nancy Hershatter, for Music at the Ridge. That same afternoon, Jim will open our second season of Music at the Ridge. For those new to UUCD, Music at the Ridge is our once-a-month Sunday afternoon live acoustic music series of concerts held here in Fellowship Hall (https://www.musicattheridge.org)
Sunday, September 17th – The Richmond Way: Wisdom from Ted Lasso on Welcoming, Team Building, and Living a Good Life – Rev. Tony Lorenzen
Rev. Tony Lorenzen leads our Ingathering service and reflects on improv, coaching, and working together as a team.
Please join us for a Homecoming Picnic immediately following the September 17th service. Bring a dish to share with the congregation and guests that might join us for the RE Informational Fair. Questions? Contact Heather Smith.
Sunday, September 24th – When Southbury said No to the Nazis – Ed Edelson
Ed Edelson, former First Selectman of Southbury, reflects on an event from local CT history when in November of 1937 the Rev. M.E.N. Lindsay organized local leaders and citizens to stop the German-American Bund from setting up a pro-nazi education and training camp in Southbury, CT. Mr. Edelson was instrumental in making a documentary about the event and his children’s book “Lois’s Story: A Young Girl’s Inspiration Helps Stop Hate and Fear” tells the story from the perspective of Rev. Lindsay’s daughter. Mr. Edelson remains a resident of Southbury, where he’s a member of the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society. For more background and history see: https://southbury-ct.org/1937 and https://www.amazon.com/Loiss-Story-Young-Girls-Inspiration-ebook/dp/B08QHC8VM2