Donne Hayden, newly retired minister of the Cincinnati Friends, joins us to speak about longing for a super hero. She says, “wouldn’t it be great if someone could stop the         madness—stop the sequence of wars we find ourselves stomping into in the Middle East; stop the brutality of our police forces and the … Continue reading Sunday Service, January 3 January 3: “Longing for a Super Savior, or What To Do Until the Messiah Shows Up.”

Join us for singing, Reader’s Theater of a Mummer’s play, merriment, and victuals.  All are welcome to join in the action.  Let Susan Thrasher or Linda Amspaugh know if you wish to participate.

December 24:  Intergenerational Christmas Eve Service at 6:30 p.m. Come celebrate Christmas with songs, readings, and more songs.  This is an intergenerational service. Service Leaders: Genevieve O’Malley Knight and Jennifer Blue. All are welcome to bring cookies to share afterward.

Join in an intergenerational celebration of all the symbols of the season from cultures past and present.  Throughout the ages people have responded to the withdrawal of the light and also have nurtured a desire to share and give gifts to others.  Could it be that the world in its diversity has always been celebrating … Continue reading Sunday Service, December 20: “Winter Solstice: Symbols of the Season.”

On this day, people who call themselves “Cajuns” pause to remember their exile from Acadia, and their harrowing migration to other parts of the world.  Almost one third of Acadians died along the journey.  This chapter in history continues to resonate for those everywhere who are displaced, and those who yearn to re-connect with the … Continue reading Sunday Service December 13: “Evangeline Follows Her Heart: Reflections on Acadian Remembrance Day.”

This past summer Aaron Kawamura quickly took the opportunity to travel to the capital of Mongolia for two months, only knowing that he would be there for two months and would volunteer for Amnesty International. During that time he lived with a host family and explored the country. He joins us this Sunday to to … Continue reading Sunday Service December 6: “ Human Rights Halfway Around the World .”

We shall explore Gratitude as a religious practice—as both a discipline and as an ethic.  Come to ponder thoughts and feelings from our experience, poems, photos, and readings.  Service Leaders:  Linda Amspaugh and Sallie Killian.

November 22:  “Giving Thanks, Practicing Gratitude.”  Hopedale members Celia Ellison and Genevieve O’Malley Knight will present our intergenerational Thanksgiving service.  We’ll distribute Guest at Our Table boxes, share our traditional Thanksgiving web, and reflect on what happens when gratitude becomes a daily spiritual practice.  Service leader: Genevieve O’Malley Knight.

Source musician Ralph Stanley from Coeburn, Virginia in the heart of the Clinch Mountains has performed some 150 shows annually since 1946. He holds honorary doctorates from two universities, received the National Medal of the Arts, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and belongs to the Primitive Baptist Universalist Church. … Continue reading Sunday Service November 15: “Circuit Rider of the Past.”

In the first of two services exploring Appalachian lives, music and religion, Curt Ellison considers a two-week 1927 Victor field recording session in Bristol, Tennessee that produced the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, reshaped the direction of recorded popular music, and gave Bristol its designation as the “Birthplace of Country Music.”  Service leader: Celia Ellison. … Continue reading Sunday Service November 8: “Orthophonic Joy.”