Thanks for taking a moment to check us out. Our Sunday morning worship service starts at 11:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. during the summer). Many of our members gather in the sanctuary at 10:45 a.m. to partake in Morning Song – a lovely way to get those vocal chords limbered up.
You will find our congregation to be on the casual side of things. We are very child friendly, with an extensive religious education program and a nursery for toddlers during our services.
We have been welcoming visitors through our doorways since 1630 and we have found we always have room for a few more. We are also a very social-minded and community-oriented congregation. We warmly invite you to browse around our website. It has been designed with you in mind.
Come join us every Sunday this summer at 10:00 a.m.
| Sunday Summer Services, 10:00 a.m. | ||
| June 27 | Colleen Squires | Blessing of the Animals |
| July 4 | Steve Schmidt | Independence Day |
| July 11 | Jim Kennedy | Endurance |
| July 18 | Mary Stevenson | Where is God |
| July 25 | Daryl Bridges | A Time to Steal : How do we respond when law and love conflict? |
| August 1 | David Concepción | Seeing God As a Verb |
| August 8 | Susan Jhirad | Dickens the Unitarian |
| August 15 | Dan McKanan | Unitarian Universalists and Roman Catholics |
| August 22 | Jim Kennedy | A Child’s Tale (BBQ potluck following the service) |
| August 29 | Rev. Hank Peirce | Summer Re-Run |
| September 5 | Rev. Hank Peirce | Labor Day Hymn Sing |
| September 12 (11:00 a.m.) | Rev. Hank Peirce | Homecoming / Water Communion |
Events and Announcements
Wednesdays, 1:00 p.m. : Yoga at UUCM. Community member Karen Lean Boyd, RYT, is offering a Kripalu yoga class Wednesday afternoons. Enjoy an hour of gentle yoga – no experience required. Bring your yoga mat if you have one, wear comfortable clothing and bring a blanket to keep warm. You may also participate in a chair. For more information please email Karen at presentjoy@gmail.com.
What We Believe / The Living Tradition Which We Share
Rev. David O. Rankin wrote a summary of what he thought were ten essential UU beliefs, which are presented by the Unitarian Universalist Association:
- We believe in the freedom of religious expression. All individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theology, and to present openly their religious opinions without fear of censure or reprisal.
- We believe in the toleration of religious ideas. All religions, in every age and culture, possess not only an intrinsic merit, but also a potential value for those who have learned the art of listening.
- We believe in the authority of reason and conscience. The ultimate arbiter in religion is not a church, or a document, or an official, but the personal choice and decision of the individual.
- We believe in the never-ending search for Truth. If the mind and heart are truly free and open, the revelations which appear to the human spirit are infinitely numerous, eternally fruitful, and wondrously exciting.
- We believe in the unity of experience. There is no fundamental conflict between faith and knowledge, religion and the world, the sacred and the secular, since they all have their own source in the same reality.
- We believe in the worth and dignity of each human being. All people on earth have an equal claim to life, liberty, and justice - and no idea, ideal, or philosophy is superior to a single human life.
- We believe in the ethical application of religion. Good works are the natural product of a good faith, the evidence of an inner grace that finds completion in social and community involvement.
- We believe in the motive force of love. The governing principle in human relationships is the principle of love, which always seeks the welfare of others and never seeks to hurt or destroy.
- We believe in the necessity of the democratic process. Records are open to scrutiny, elections are open to members, and ideas are open to criticism – so that people might govern themselves.
- We believe in the importance of a religious community. The validation of experience requires the confirmation of peers, who provide a critical platform along with a network of mutual support.
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
- Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
More information on Unitarian Universalism may be found here.
A brief history of our Medford UU church may be found here.
