I’ve been revisiting Naomi Klein’s appeal to a universalism in her book, Doppelgänger, where she considers the non-shared, bifurcated reality most of us inhabit. I’ve shared about this book before, but the Deep End class is discussing it this week, so we were able to dive into it in a more intentional way. You can hear a discussion of the book here. One passage struck me and, I think, expresses a deeply meaningful appeal to a congregation of Unitarian Universalists as we think about how to respond to the brokenness in our world. Klein writes: “One overarching message I choose to take at the e ..read more

The Finance team has just completed a draft budget for the coming fiscal year (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025). The budget will be reviewed and tweaked by the Board, and then presented to the congregation. No budget is final until it has been approved by the congregation at the annual meeting. There will be opportunities for comments and suggestions during the weeks before the vote. As you look at the budget, it is important to look at both the Operating numbers as well as the “below the line” numbers. Operating refers to ongoing income (pledges, rentals, etc) and expenses (salaries, utilities ..read more

Don’t forget that UUCC will be hosting the Greater Cleveland Flute Society’s annual Cleveland Composers’ Connection Concert in our sanctuary at 7 p.m. this Sunday, April 28th. The event is free and open to the public!   Also, be sure to arrive early to church this Sunday for a special musical prelude beginning at 10:10 a.m.!    Music Notes – Sunday, April 28th:  This Sunday’s musicians are Dana Bjorklund, Lucy Carney, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney   About Sunday’s guest musicians: Dana Bjorklund discovered a love for the French horn in 2017, finding resonance i ..read more

WHAT’S BEEN DONE ABOUT ALL THOSE SAFETY CONCERNS WE EXPRESSED? A few months back, UUCC had a Congregational Conversation about safety, in which congregants were asked what things in the church made them feel safe and what things did not. We generated a long list of items. Several of them fell under the aegis of the Building and Grounds Team. In case you were wondering, here is the status of each of those items according to a conversation with our Facilities Manager, Victor Young: TRIP HAZARDS – It is currently in the budget to resolve trip hazards on the exterior of the building in all areas w ..read more

Scholarship Information and More! The Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual meeting, General Assembly (GA) will be held Thursday, June 20 through Sunday, June 23, 2024 and will be Virtual in 2024 with all content online. The UUCC Board adopted a process in 2022 to better organize the selection of delegates and the work they do prior to GA. It is the responsibility of the UUCC Board to designate up to 7 delegates for our congregation. Please note one may attend GA without serving as a delegate! Attending workshops, About the Scholarship:        UUCC General Assembly S ..read more

As far as I know, Peter Gabriel doesn’t claim to practice any particular spirituality. And yet, a lot of Peter Gabriel songs have spiritual themes. I might even say that there are spiritual implications to the way Peter Gabriel has intentionally lifted up marginalized voices throughout his career. Although Unitarian Universalists cannot “claim” Peter Gabriel, there may be pieces of music that become part of our personal scriptures, expressing our values more fully than volumes of sacred texts. A year ago, Peter Gabriel released a few different versions of a song that—for me—captures a deep und ..read more

Good Company’s spring concert is this Sunday, April 21st!   This coming Sunday, April 21st is the concert date for Good Company: A Vocal Ensemble. The concert, called The New Day, will be a choral celebration of the hope and promise found in each rising dawn. The performance will be at 4:00 p.m. at Lakewood Presbyterian Church (14502 Detroit Road) in Lakewood. Many of you know that I direct Good Company, and several UUCC members and friends sing with the group, including Amy Collins, Leon Michaud, Anne and Steve Sanford, Pam Schenk, and Holly Walker. Click here for more information about ..read more

There’s a hyperlocal board game group where I live. A special text group lets people arrange games and chat about all sorts of other things. I’m usually not available for their weekly events because they play on weekday evenings, but a special opportunity arose recently. Aaron is a member of the chat group who isn’t really local, but Aaron has family who live pretty close, so he’s connected to the board game group through minimal degrees of separation. Aaron also happens to be an amateur game designer, and he was in town visiting family. During his time in town, Aaron reached out to the group ..read more

If the Fall is the great celebration of the end of a leaf’s life, the Spring is the unfortunate act of forgetting, when what was gorgeous and precious in October becomes litter in April. Impermanence is part of what we as human beings have to deal with, and leaves are nothing if not impermanent. But the other thing that human beings can do is remember, repair and re-create. And this video captures a remarkable effort to recapture the redolence of years past through an artistic act of repair and re-creation. @artedguru #duet with @Restoration Magic #restoration is this da da art or environment ..read more

Music Notes – Sunday, April 14th:  This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir, The Women’s Ensemble, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney   Opening Hymn: #318 We Would Be One – Sibelius/Wright  This Sunday’s closing hymn will be #318 “We Would Be One”, one of two hymns in Singing the Living Tradition built around the Finlandia melody, borrowed from a 1900 tone poem of the same name by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). The words you’ll singing this Sunday were written by Unitarian minister Samuel Anthony Wright (1919-2016) for Unitarian and Universalist youth at thei ..read more