UUFSMA: “Voices From the Fellowship:”

UU Service

Voices From the Fellowship:
(Some Favorite?) Guiding Words and Principles

Sunday, December 15, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

by Jon Sievert

This Sunday’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service will be a departure from the customary format with one featured speaker. Instead, input from a number of our own members will shape a unique service of responses to the question “what are significant guiding words or principles which have served you well in your life.” For this service the interesting, curious and adventurous members of the Fellowship share inspirations which have guided and sustained them through the tricky mazes of life.

During times of despair, success, heartbreak and joy – words and principles can resonate deeply with us and help guide us through a myriad of times. These words can provide a precious revelation during crisis and even sustain through decades. Sharing some of those heartfelt guiding principles is the focus of this service. Interwoven between shared words and principles from our own members will be music from the heart and hymns of community celebration.

Cherished guiding words will address a wide range of topics – from achieving personal happiness to enduring global angst, and from gearing up to control all we can and accepting what seems impossibly out of reach. We can aspire to forgive oneself, to try to keep life simple, or to just do it! The UU principles of “respect for the interdependent web of existence” and the “free and responsible search for truth and meaning” are tried and true jewels of guiding words for a number of members. And some of us credit inspiring guidance from world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, from Tikkun Olam – the Jewish tradition of shared social responsibility to heal a broken world, from Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, and from scientist Carl Sagan’s awestruck view of the tiny blue earth.

Coordinating members’ contributed guiding words into a message for all is member Paula Peace, familiar as frequent pianist at the UUFSMA. Paula also co-chairs the Sunday Service Committee, which plans the 51 services each year of the Fellowship, and she has been an active Unitarian Universalist for five decades. In her previous life in the US, she was the pianist and artistic director of the acclaimed Atlanta Chamber Players, with whom she performed hundreds of concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs for children and underserved audiences.

Join us after the service for our Fourth Annual Holiday Bazaar. Last year we had over 20 booths offering a wide selection of articles, such as books, crafts, chocolates, stained glass and more, all created by members of the UU Fellowship.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program, Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or check out our website at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

To join our Yahoo group site click on this link:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

Click on “membership”and follow the directions.

Posting a notice on the Yahoo site is easy. Just go to your regular mail browser, type in the address line: uufsma@yahoogroups.com , type your message and hit send!

We encourage you to use this site to communicate with other local UUs.