Upcoming Events
Upcoming Services
Join us on Sunday, August 2, at 10:00 AM at the historic Universalist Church in South Strafford for a special joint UU-UCS service exploring our deep local heritage of spiritual seeking. As the second oldest Universalist society in the nation, the Strafford UU congregation has spent centuries spreading a vital message of love and inclusion, a legacy that will be the central focus of this morning. The service will feature beautiful music by Annemieke McLane, and all local singers are warmly invited to join the community choir. The choir will perform the anthem "If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking" by Emily Dickinson (music by Mary and Peter Amidon; practice tracks can be found on YouTube under Amidon Community Music). Interested singers should arrive at the church by 9:15 AM for a pre-service rehearsal. Come experience a morning of community, history, and song in our beautiful, historic church—everyone is welcome!
Sunday, August 9th: Story Sunday Theme: The Fabric of Us (Sharing Our Stories). Every person is a living story. When we share our joys and our hardships, we weave a safer, stronger community. Weather permitting we will circle up outside in the back of the church for our service. Brooke Wilkinson will be joining us to lead our music.
Sunday, August 16th: Join us as we use zoom to hear our message from Ameera Rajabi a member of Community Peacemaker Teams in Al-Khalil/Hebron, Palestine. Worship led by Pastor Rachel Guaraldi; Music led by Hannah Jeffery.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, August 25th 7pm-8pm: Open Pages, Open Hearts Book Group meets at the Morrill Library to discuss See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur. (see more below)
Sunday, August 30th 2pm-3pm: Monthly Bible Study group meets in the Church’s library to discuss Rev. Dr. Caleb Line’s chapter on Questioning Beliefs. (see more below)
You are invited to explore the Bible’s connection to our modern lives through a new monthly study.
We will be walking together through Awakened: A 52-Week Progressive Christian Devotional by Rev. Dr. Caleb Lines.
This devotional explores 13 vital themes—including LGBTQ+ inclusion, eco-spirituality, and mental health—fusing scripture with social justice. We’ll kick off with April’s theme of eco-spirituality, meeting monthly to reflect, ask questions, and support one another.
When: 4th Sunday of every month, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Where: Hybrid (In-person at the church office or online via Zoom)
The themes for the year will be each chapter: If there are certain months you can join and not others, follow along as you are led. I had to change a few of the dates due to my family's travels, the rummage sale and holidays.
You are welcome whenever you can come. Please email pastor@unitedchurchofstrafford.com for more information or with questions.
April: Eco-Spirituality
May 24th: Mental Health
June 28th: LGBTQ+ Affirmation/Inclusion (June)
**July 19th: Reign of God
**August 30th: Questioning Beliefs
**September 20th: Faith in Science
October 25th: Embracing Change
November 22nd: Gratitude
**December 20th: Christmas/Incarnation
January: Renewal
February: Diversity
March: Biblical Women
**note change in regular scheduled Sunday
Open Pages, Open Hearts Book Group
Join us for Open Pages, Open Hearts a book group exploring diverse spiritual writings, meeting the last Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.
Our next meeting takes place Tuesday, August 25th, at 7:00 PM at the Morrill Memorial & Harris Library.
For our August and September meetings, we will read See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur.
August 25 Meeting: Discussing the first half of the book.
September 29 Meeting: Discussing the second half of the book.
Book Access: Interlibrary Loan (ILL) copies are available through the library at the beginning of August.
All perspectives and spiritual paths are welcome. Please come having read the first half of the book for our August session!
For questions email: pastor@unitedchurchofstrafford.com