This Sunday

The Promise and the Practice

Dr. King was a theological Unitarian rather than what evangelicals call a “true Christian,” but would he have been comfortable worshiping with us?

Learning at CVUUS

Learning at CVUUS

We provide children, youth, young adults, and adults an opportunity to explore, reflect, and learn in a nurturing spiritual community.

Religious Exploration

Welcome to CVUUS

Welcome to the CVUUS website! We’re glad you’re here.
Ground Floor Construction to Begin in September!

Ground Floor Construction to Begin in September!

Funds for Kitchen and A/V Still Needed. Click for more information.

THANK YOU!

Rev. Barnaby Writes

From the Minister

Rev. Barnaby Feder, Minister

 I’ve been thinking about what kind of game could celebrate being a people of possibility – our January theme. My one rule given all the woes of the world would be to make it a fun break. And a stretch. I began thinking about a spelling/word game with 31 turns – one for each day of the month. Players would share answers. So here goes::

Day 1 – do something with the letter P. (Like make it so big you could fit “e” and “a” and “c” and “e” inside the half-circle).

Day 2 – do something with “Po” that doesn’t spell out our theme word. (Like “Poppy’s on sabbatical! I hope she enjoys it.”)

Day 3 – Pos…”Pose a great question – do the world a favor.”

Day 4 – Poss… “Possitive is not spelled like this – I’m sure of it!.”

And of course it gets harder if you take it too seriously as the week progresses, so I suggest welcoming increasing silliness. And then you get to: Read More about “From the Minister”…

Save the Dates!

CVUUS MLK Day Field Trip for Justice, Monday Jan 21

Join us on Martin Luther King Jr Day for Dreams into Action: A Community Conversation about Race at Grace Church.  Featuring Etan Nasreddin-Longo, Co-chair of the Fair and Impartial Policing Committee of the Vermont State Police and the chair of the Attorney General’s Racial Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Advisory Panel; Mickie and Neil Richardson, citizen activists from Randolph; and Rutland NAACP President Tabitha Pohl-Moore. Co-sponsored by the Rutland NAACP, the Rutland Interfaith Clergy group and the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society. NAACP will provide lunch starting at noon. Free. Donations welcome. Contact Rev. Barnaby or Caitlin Gildrien about carpooling and ways to help with lunch or donations. Read More about “CVUUS MLK Day Field Trip for Justice, Monday Jan 21”…

Member Stories

Love is the doctrine of this church, the search for truth is its sacrament, and service is its prayer.

I love those words, and to me they capture the essence of CVUUS, what we do here together each week, and what we take with us when we leave and go out in to the greater world.

I believe that everything in this life at its most fundamental level is based on love, and that everything we do in life must have love as its foundation.

I believe that justice, compassion, and respect are all born of love, and I feel that righteous anger, too, springs from love and a passion to make things equitable and just.

I believe that love will always win in the end. Always.

This may all sounds well and good, and I will readily admit that I am an idealist. But am I a PollyAnna? Not by a long shot. I know there are tremendous obstacles and trials on the path of love. It’s something we all deal with every single day.

But I see CVUUS as an incubator of love and hope, as a safe haven in which to envision and build the stepping stones to a more loving and peaceful world. CVUUS is a place where I come precisely because we don’t all look the same, we don’t all think the same way, and we don’t all approach things from the same perspective. That’s the way life is. We respect and value our differences, and even though we may not always be perfect when it comes to bridging our differences, it is something we yearn for and strive to do.

Every time we welcome someone through that door and every time we walk out of it, we are ambassadors of justice, of compassion, and of love. And at CVUUS we are committed ambassadors.

I see it time and again in our readiness to face challenges, in our passion to act, in our fearlessness to confront hatred and violence, in our willingness to admit mistakes and to regroup and go at it again; in our eagerness to reach out and share, I see it when we look in each other’s eyes, clasp hands and honor each other and our work together.

We may be small here at #2 Duane Court in Middlebury,VT, but we are mighty. I know that our efforts and the love we build here together does and will have an impact far beyond our little burg.

So, let’s squirt some WD-40 on the hinges of our hearts and open them even wider. Let’s continue to be resilient and creative in the face of animosity and difficulties; let’s build and share more love in every possible way we can.

Because love in all its manifestations is the only way forward.