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Unitarian Universalist Programs

In addition to being a professional folk duo, the members of February Sky  present UU services as we travel with our music.  We have been on the UU circuit riding path since 1998.  We are full-service presenters, providing all the music, leading of hymns and/or congregational songs, Intergenerational Moment, etc.  We also make and print our own orders of service based on the standard OOS of the hosting church.  It is nice to have someone introduce us, and/or do the "home church" elements, e.g. Joys and Concerns, announcements, etc. but we can handle those too if necessary. Services are all music-based, but are very much services, and NOT concerts.  A sampling of titles and topics is below.  We also have services for most Earth-Based holiday celebrations, the homecoming/water communion that many UU churches have the Sunday after Labor Day, Easter (for UUs!), Thanksgiving and other holidays.  If your church has a need for a particular theme or topic, we can craft a service for it.

 

Building a Cathedral or Cutting Up a Stone”
It has been truly said that “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”  When things don’t work out in the ways we thought we wanted, it can be easy to become angry, bitter and perpetually unhappy.  But often what is needed is a simple shift in perspective – it really is all in the way we look at it.
 
“When You Were Me and I Was You – Dismantling Gender Stereotypes”
Unitarian Universalism supports the right of LGBT folks to be who they are.  But we also need to be mindful of female or male heterosexuals whose tastes, talents, or behaviors do not fit the outline of what is considered appropriate for their gender.  This service will encourage compassion, sensitivity and support for these individuals (and, yes, Phil and Susan are two of them).
 
“The Sacred Path of the Long-Lived”
In our current culture, people who have lived past a certain number of years are often made to feel not only that they are inferior to younger people, but that they MUST lose their health, mental capacity and joy in living as they add years to their lifespan.  We believe that this “ain’t necessarily so.”  We’ll explore the wonder and joy, as well as the responsibility, of being among the long-lived.
 
“The Greatest Wisdom Is Kindness”
As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person.  This principle forms a shared commitment to be kind to everyone we meet, and especially to those with whom we share our beloved UU community.  We believe that simple mindfulness is the key to living up to this principle as consistently as is humanly possible.  This service will encourage that mindfulness.

“Humans Wrote the Bible, God Wrote Life - The Teachings of John Shelby Spong”
The word “God” can be a hot-button for many Unitarian Universalists.  But maverick retired Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, whose best known book is “Why Christianity Must Change or Die,” gives us some new ways of looking at the concept.  He says, “I can tell no one who God is or what God is.  Neither can anyone else – from the Pope to Pat Robertson to the Dalai Lama.  That is simply an aspect of human pretending.”  We will explore the ideas of this courageous and far-sighted man as expressed by him, and by others, in speech and in song.

 

"Everything Is Holy Now"

Religious Evolution from the Age of Dualiy to the Age of Unity

A lighthearted but meaningful service with a message of hope for Unitarian Universalists

 

"I Will Come Back Again - Reflections on the Possibility of an Afterlife"

We will share our thoughts on one of religion's "big questions," and hopefully encourage the congregation to consider their own answers.

 

"All the Stories Are True" - A service exploring the idea that the non-literal truth in stories, tall tales and myths can be just as important - or even more important - in shaping our lives as the literal truth of consensual reality.

 

"Gone, Gonna Rise Again"

Many spiritual paths contain stories of gods who die and are born again, especially in earlier religions whose main form of worship centered on the cycles and seasons of the Earth.  We will look at some of these traditions, and explore what meaning this orientation to spirituality might have for our own lives.

 

"Trouble and Joy:  Staying Open to the Full Range of Life Experience"

A condition of living life on this plane is that it is a greatly varied experience.  We believe that in order to participate fully in life, it is necessary to embrace all of it, the sad and tragic along with the joyful and pleasant.  This service will explore this paradoxical concept.

 

“The Last of the Old-Fashioned Winter Lovers”

At Solstice we celebrate the beauty of Winter, but come January 1st the lights go out, the tinsel is in the garbage and the parties are over.  But we who dwell in Northern climes still have three months (at the very least) of cold and darkness to live through.  This service will explore the possibility of finding a way to enjoy this time rather than simply enduring it.

 

"Bring Back the Snakes! An Alternative Look At St. Patrick's Day"

The "snakes" that St. Patrick drove out of Ireland were actually the Druidic, Pagan and Celtic ways that the people there had followed for centuries.  Whether he drove them out by violence or assimilation, St. Patrick destroyed religious practices and beliefs that were very much life-affirming - among other things, the idea of living in harmony with the natural world and thinking for oneself instead of following authority!  Hmmm.....sounds kinda Unitarian, doesn't it...  Let's bring back the snakes!

 

"Reverence and Glory:  The Songs of Dave Carter"

Dave Carter (1952-2002) was an American folk singerand songwriter who self-described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music."  Many of his songs speak of things that UUs like to think and talk about.  This service will consist of some of our favorite Dave Carter songs interspersed with reflections on why we like them. .

 

"Every Day We Will Remember - Reflections on The Burning Time"

During what has come to be known as "The Burning Time" in Europe and Amenca, which included the Inquisition, it's estimated that as many as 9 million innocent women, men and children were persecuted under the varying official definitions of "witchcraft."  Of course, this type of persecution is as antithetical to Unitarian Universalist beliefs as could possibly be imagined.  In these enlightened times, no such horrors could possibly happen again - or could they?  This service will be a reminder that UUs must continue to stand against intolerance and hatred based on "differences" between people.

 

"Respected Elders, Not Old Bags - Upgrading the Image of Older Women in Our Culture"

Older women are the last social group that it is socially acceptable to disrepect and make fun of.  This service will discuss the need for Unitarian Universalists, male and female, to resist this cultural bias and to begin to move the rest of the world in the same direction.