January 2015 Blog Posts (4)

We talk a lot in our church about doing things “together,” about being “in community” with each other. We celebrate those who join, and we honor those who have stayed. We are a community, a congregation, and we make shared decisions based on our shared values in our shared home.

We don’t talk as much about what it really means to belong on a day-to-day, person-to-person basis. Belonging to this Unitarian Universalist church isn’t like belonging anywhere else—because of the…

In case you missed picking up a copy of the print edition of the Beacon for February, you can view it here:   FebruaryBeacon_2015.pdf

Just as a reminder - if you're interested in submitting articles for March's Beacon - please send all material to Julia at communications@philauu.org by February 15. 

Thanks!

“God doesn’t need our prayers. We need our prayers.” It may seem like an obvious observation, but this statement from my one of my professors moved me to some further reflection. Who do we believe receives our prayers? How do we pray? What is the expected outcome of our prayers? Why do we pray?

The specific answers to these questions will be different for every single one of us. The rich diversity of belief within our tradition surrounding the nature of God or…

The theme for ministry and worship in this first month of the New Year is "hope".

“Hope is

folding paper cranes

even when your hands get cramped

and your eyes tired,

working past blisters and

paper cuts ….” (from Origami Emotion, by Elizabeth Barrette) 

Hope has so many meanings... some grounded in our everyday existence, and others as…