Author: Jude Genereaux

The morning of December 22^nd will mark the return of our friend and fellow Unitarian-Universalist Arthur Thexton, to conduct our Sunday service at Blue Hills UU.  As the end of this year approaches, Arthur will reflect on one of our most relished obsessions:  the New Year’s Resolution. 

“Making promises to oneself at this transitional time in our secular year has become part of our culture. Are we making the right ones? Do our UU values help us in this process?”  How often do you take part in this ritual? And what success have you had in your promises to yourself?   Thexton always leads us to critique what we know of our beliefs, and ourselves, in brief discussion following his sermon.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings, 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake and on Zoom. The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Traveling chaplain Dennis Peters will host the Sunday Service at Blue Hills UU December 15^th,  sharing the importance of reading and his love of books.  He will  challenge the congregation to consider “How do we educate ourselves in religion?”

What methods have members taken to learn of the many paths offered by various religions?   The opinions of others?  Bible Study?  Independent study?  Have you checked out books from a church library?  Or perhaps accumulated your own private  collection. Growing up, did you attend a traditional Sunday School that informed your beliefs?  As an adult, what book clubs and adult education classes might have made an impression?  The endless ways we come to our religious beliefs should be a rich topic to explore.

Our “Third Sunday” Pot Luck will follow the service;  this month we expect a Christmas buffet will be evident, so be prepared to enjoy some favorite traditional  offerings;  bring a dish to pass and enjoy the camaraderie of members and neighbors.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship affirms and promotes the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. Our service on December 8 will celebrate the life and work of peace activist, former Beatle John Lennon, who was ironically killed on December 8^th, 1980.

As we enter a month celebrating “peace on earth”, Rev. Terry Cummings will lead our worship service in reflection of the depth of Lennon’s passing;  so deeply felt by many, we will consider how, and if, the world maintains the stand he took for peace

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Rev Shawn Gauthier of the Vancouver, British Columbia First Unitarian Church will present the service at Blue Hills UU via the magic of cyberspace.  This first Sunday in December, Rev Gauthier will explore  “The Things We Do for Love”, in which he attempts to engage our interest by describing his sermon as an “intelligent exploration of the concepts of love and community.”  Knowing Blue Hills UU members, there is little doubt he will be able to lead a spirited and enlightening discussion. 

Beginning his undergraduate studies at the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, Rev Gauthier eventually completed his bachelor degree in religious studies at Harvard, then earned a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School.  He previously served for sixteen years as minister at Toronto’s First Unitarian Church.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday morning, 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Sunday’s Service November 24^th at Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship  will be led by member Zarrin Reynolds, addressing the First Source of our spiritual life:  “Direct experience of the transcending mystery and wonder affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.” 

In considering the “Symphony of the IS”, Ms Reynolds explains that “We are often taught to stop and smell the roses, to take time out to notice the wonder around us – but how often do we actually pause to listen to nature’s voice?”  In the hustle and hustle of daily life it is far too easy to tune out, and let the voice of the digital age drown the voice of the “IS.”   Be with us as we explore the transcendent beauty that is our world through words, music, and imagery.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Chaplain Dennis Peters will be with us at Blue Hill Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Sunday November 11^th. to consider our  Third Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.  Offering an illustration of how this is perhaps  not supposed to work:    “After a long,  serious discussion with someone, laying out what I was thinking, I ended with the question “Are we good?” The response was: “I don’t know about you, but I am.” Peters suggests that this Principle is about a little more than that.

We expect a lively discussion period will follow, before our traditional “Third Sunday” Pot Luck following the service;  this month’s theme focuses on “Cranberries!”, so be prepared to enjoy some of our Wisconsin’s brightest, cheeriest offerings;  bring a dish to pass and enjoy camaraderie and nourishment with members and neighbors.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to be with us for our services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings in the fellowship hall at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

When we arrive at our Sunday Service next week, we shall have the Election of 2024 in our rear view mirror.  Blue Hills Unitarian Universalists will pause to reflect on the results, with Arthur Thexton to lead us in asking “Can we be both religiously liberal and politically conservative?” We have to live together — what shall be our covenant in working to make our nation function peacefully?  Our nation and state will continue to be politically polarized – how can religious liberals contribute to the political discussion without merely taking one side?  What kind of spiritual discipline will this take?” 

In the words of The Rev. Tom Schade: “Our religious commitments are challenges to what we believe and how we live. Our religious communities, both local and broader, are places where those challenges are brought home to us. I am regularly challenged by our religion about intimate details of my personal life. We are engaged, as a collective body, in thinking about how and what we eat, and whether our eating habits are consistent with our religious values.  Surely, our political loyalties deserve the same level of self-examination.” 

We are inextricably wedded to our fellow citizens in our large and diverse democracy, which is another way of saying that political conservativism is part of the interdependent web in which we all exist.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to be with us for our services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings in the fellowship hall at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

A favorite annual service at Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is our  sharing of books and the joy, if not the critical habit of, READING!  With winter coming, we find time to curl up before a fire with a good book.  Or a dozen.  Members and friends are encouraged to share your finds of the past year on Sunday November 3^rd, as we BRIEFLY offer recommendations and critiques on those we’ve most enjoyed.  A list of those suggested will be circulated after the service.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to be with us for our services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings in the fellowship hall at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Sunday, October 27^th., our member Maureen Skuban will lead us to consider “Death and Dying.”  Of the two guaranteed facts of life, birth and death – death is surely the more avoided topic, and as Unitarians, who don’t lean on sacred texts of other religions for surety, so … where do we seek comfort?  And what has Ms Maureen found to make it an engaging area of study?

“At some point, doctors and funeral homes hijacked the way we interact with the death of loved ones. For many, especially in western culture, death has become a taboo subject. Having those end-of-life conversations with loved ones is awkward -and mostly avoided. But we know talking about death doesn’t make it happen any  faster, neither avoiding the subject stops it from happening.  Did you hear about the Buddhist coroner who got fired? He kept listing the cause of death as birth”

So let’s talk about it!  Join Ms Skuban, host of Shell Lake Library’s “Death Café”, as she weaves the topic of death and dying into a positive, upbeat service.   Can she do it? 

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to be with us for our services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings in the fellowship hall at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org

Ch Dennis Peters will lead Blue Hills Unitarian Universalists in a study of “Humanism,” Sunday, October 22^nd.   In his homily, “The Action Side of UU”, Peters suggests we “… take a look at where Humanism fits into our world;   having been around for 100 years or more, there are questions that we might ask ourselves.”

Wikipedia states “the term generally denotes a focus on human well-being and advocates for human freedom, autonomy, and progress …” viewing humanity as responsible for:  the promotion and development of individuals, espousing the equal and inherent dignity of all human beings, and emphasizing a concern for humans in relation to the world, with a “reliance on science and reason rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.” Humanists tend to advocate for human rights, free speech, progressive policies, and democracy.

Blue Hills UU invites everyone to be with us for our services, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings in the fellowship hall at 230 W. Messenger St., Rice Lake, and on Zoom.  THIRD SUNDAY each month is also a time for gathering after service to share in Potluck; bring a dish to pass and enjoy camaraderie and nourishment with members and neighbors. The zoom link is sent to members, and anyone interested may request it by contacting patriciashifferd@gmail.com. https://bluehillsuu.org