Summer Services 2022

All of the Murray Unitarian Universalist Church’s summer services are produced by the Religious Services Committee. Please note that all of the services except for 3 will be conducted on ZOOM only.

Sunday, June 26

Unitarian Universalist General Assembly Sunday Worship

LIVE-STREAMED 12:30-2 pm from Portland, Oregon

Join us online virtually for the largest annual gathering of UUs joining in worship. The service will be live streamed on the General Assembly’s web site:  General Assembly 2022 Public Video | UUA.org

Sunday, July 3

Harriet TubmanThe Underground Railroad Revisited

This Summer Service is by Monica Staaf            

Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery and risked her life and liberty multiple times to lead other enslaved people to freedom.   How can her courage inspire us to act today?

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, July 10

Kermit the FrogThe Wisdom of Kermit the Frog

This Summer Service is by Donna Seagrave and Heidi Ferreira     

There’s more to Kermit the frog than just his cute greenness, wry sense of humor and singing and acting abilities. Kermit was a believer in his dreams and worked hard to achieve them, despite some considerable obstacles. He never stopped following his dreams for himself and for all the friends he brought along with him on the journey. Let us consider how important the belief in the dream is, by listening to the words of the frog himself!

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, July 17

The 8th PrincipalSummer Service on the 8th Principle

This Summer Service is by Colleen DeGroot and Bruce Field

We Believe in the Beloved Community!

  • The proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism encourages us to fulfill the promise of building a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community.
  • How can we do this and more fully live into all that we believe?

Come hear about the 8th Principle, and why it is such an inspiration!

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, July 24

Adventures in Genealogy

This Summer Service is by Charlie Adler

Charlie will share stories that he has uncovered about his ancestors, how genealogy has enriched his life, and tips about how to explore your own family history.

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, July 31

Recognizing and Creating Moments

This Summer Service is by Marguerite MacLean

We all know there are moments – both good and bad — that happen in our lives that we remember for the rest of our lives and, in some cases, change the direction of our lives. Think graduations, weddings, birth of a child, divorce, loss of a loved one, retirement. This service will share ideas from the book, The Power of Moments, by Chip and Dan Heath, to help you explore how to recognize and create powerful moments in your own life.

Worship is 10 am, In-Person Only, in the sanctuary

Sunday, August 7

Willful Forgetting

This Summer Service is by Len Yutkins

Does remembering too much of the past prevent us from living in the present?

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, August 14

Why I Joined Murray UU Church

This Summer Service is by Liz Kenyon and others

Many of us were raised with spiritual practices other than Universal Unitarianism.

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, August 21

Heaven it is!

This Summer Service is by Heidi Ferreira and Monica Staaf

There are so many questions about what heaven is. What does it look like? Some might not believe there is a heaven at all. Others need to believe heaven exists. The truth is, we really don’t know. This service explores heaven and the various beliefs that surround it.

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, August 28

Blessing of the Animals

This Summer Service is by Ruth Debrot and Randy Larrivee 

Join us for a live, outdoor ceremony to give thanks and bless the companions in our lives—leashed or crated cats and dogs, birds and chickens, turtles and fish, horses, and so much more! We will acknowledge the ways that human lives are made fuller and richer by the creatures that inhabit the Earth with us. Feel free to bring your pets, photos of pets, and stuffed animals.

Worship is at 10 am, In-Person Only, Outside

Sunday, September 4

Back to School: Teachers

This Summer Service is by David Calusdian and Sheila Jacobs

The start of the new school year brings hope, excitement, and perhaps some jitters.  Members of the congregation, youth, and children will be invited to share back-to-school rituals, advice, and memories of favorite and/or influential teachers.   School teachers, including retirees, will be recognized at this service.

Worship is at 10 am Zoom only.

Sunday, September 12  

Regular worship resumes with the Water Communion Ingathering by Rev. Gretchen Weis.

Collect water from your summer adventures and bring it with you to share.

Worship is at 10 am in the sanctuary

If you prefer — or if you are feeling sick — please log on to Zoom from the comfort and safety of your own home to be a part of our worship experience.

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world

Desmond Tutu

What We Can Do
How We Take Action to Lessen Our Impact

Massachusett Climate Solutions Forum

Jan 15, 2022 | , ,

We want to alert you to the Massachusetts Climate Solutions Forum, Tuesday, January 25, at 5:30 p.m. sponsored by Murray Church, State Representative Jim Hawkins’ office, and UU Mass Action.

Please register for this Zoom forum.

Download this PDF, it has the information about the forum and a list of the 6 bills that will be discussed with links to fact sheets.

These bills are recommended by a coalition of over 200 environmental agencies (Mass Power Forward). Included is the “100% Clean Act” which speeds up the targets dates and mechanisms for the transition of our energy grid, heat, transportation, and housing efficiencies. These are the biggest fossil fuel contributors in Massachusetts. Other bills focus on Climate justice initiatives for underserved communities.

The timing of this event is important because bills must be passed out of committees by Feb 2nd, per House rules, otherwise, they die there.

Showing up is important because we need to demonstrate community support for climate action. Knowing they have our backing is useful as our Reps fight against paid lobbies and opposition from leadership and others who prefer the status quo.

Green Sanctuary logo

We are a Green Sanctuary

Murray Unitarian Universalist Church is a Green Sanctuary accredited by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The Green Sanctuary Program provides a path for congregational study, reflection, and action in response to environmental challenges. It provides a structure for congregations to examine their current environmental impacts and move towards more sustainable practices in ways grounded in Unitarian Universalism.

In May 2017, we submitted a proposal, with 12 projects in four focus areas: Worship and Celebration, Religious Education, Sustainable Living, and Environmental Justice. Once our projects were completed, we submitted our evaluation and were awarded accreditation in June 2020.

Recent Climate Actions by Our Team

Our team meets on the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. via zoom. Anyone is welcome to join us. Use the contact form below if you have any questions or would like to be part of the team.

Find out how we are taking action

We have a page called Take Action where our members and friends share the actions that they take, large or small, that are intentionally done to help lessen their impact on the Earth.

Green Heating and Cooling for Our Homes

A virtual event hosted by the Murray UU Church Climate Action committee

An Introduction to Heat Pumps, Tuesday, May 31, 7 p.m.

An introduction to heat pumps, with Jim Nail, from HeatSmart Alliance, a volunteer organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of energy-efficient heat pumps in Massachusetts’ homes and buildings. “Heat pumps” may sound like an exotic new technology, but they are already widely used in Europe, Asia, and increasingly the United States. And here in Massachusetts, they are the preferred form of heating and cooling to help the state fight climate change — and for homeowners burning oil, propane, or using electric resistance heaters to save money.

That said, replacing an existing heating/cooling system or water heater can be a time-consuming and confusing process, especially if you aren’t familiar with heat pumps. Jim will bring you up to speed on what heat pumps are, why they are the best choice, the incentives available through MassSave to lower their cost, and the steps to take to upgrade your home to them. In addition, he will describe the HeatSmart Alliance whose volunteer coaches can guide homeowners through this process.

Massachusetts Climate Solutions, a Virtual Legislative Climate Justice Forum

On January 25, 2022. Our Murray Climate Action Team co-hosted this event, in collaboration with Attleboro’s State Representative Jim Hawkins and our UU Mass Action advocacy program. Four state legislators were on the panel, including Representative Jim Hawkins, Senator Paul Feeney, Representative Adam Scanlon, and Representative Joan Meschino, who authored one of the bills that we reviewed. We educated the community about legislative solutions for climate change and environmental justice, via a platform of six bills that are supported by a large coalition of organizations: Mass Power Forward.

Murray Climate Change Café

This was via zoom on Nov. 8, 2021. Co-led by Robi Rose, Barbara Clark, and Judy DePue. Climate Cafés are safe spaces for people to get together to talk and act on climate change, to share our concerns and our hopes, along with options for action and sharing of actions others are already taking.

Field Trip

We went to the “Revive the Roots” farm in Smithfield, RI to learn about their use of regenerative agriculture practices on September 27, 2021.

Here are some regional resources for climate action

Have a question? or want to be part of the Climate Action team?

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