What a wonderful year it has been celebrating Unitarian Universalism and the 125th anniversary of this congregation through a Launch Lunch and a MayFest CommUUnity Celebration! So many of you have whole-heartedly engaged in the shared ministry of UUSS and we are grateful to be in the work of the UUSS mission with you: Connecting in spiritual community, we celebrate life with joy, grow in compassion, and create justice! We did a lot of thanking in the service on June 14 but in case you weren’t there – Thank you if you have been showing up, participating, pledging, and/or volunteering! It matters. YOU matter.
Each year the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) chooses a book called The Common Read. UUs all over engage in reading and with the resources/curriculum generated by the UUA. Recent common reads have been: On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg; Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families interviews by Peggy Gillespie; Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection by Deepa Iyer. And the UUA has announced the Common Read for 2026-27 as Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies with Sofía Betancourt as the editor of this series of essays.
The UUA has its own publishing, too. Beacon Press books “seek to change the way readers think about fundamental issues…” Beacon Press has published several national bestsellers over the years. Skinner House Books publishes titles specifically for the “spiritual needs of Unitarian Universalists, seekers, and others who share the values of liberal religion.”
If you are looking for a good book this summer (or several), you might find just what you are looking for in the library at Waters House or at the UUA bookstore! There are books for all ages there!
According to the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, Margaret Fuller, born to Unitarian parents, “possessed more influence on the thought of American women than any previous to her time.” So wrote Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in their 1881 History of Woman Suffrage. … A brilliant and highly educated member of the Transcendentalist group, she challenged Ralph Waldo Emerson both intellectually and emotionally.” Many found her work and her thoughts life-changing. She is quoted as having once said, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
As we consider reading an important part of Unitarian Universalism and an informed electorate, may reading (or listening to stories if that is more your jam) bring you meaning and strength and joy for the journey ahead.
Summer blessings!
Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn