UUMeriden Services

Join us for worship each Sunday beginning at 10:30 AM. Our worship services vary in style depending on the service leader and the theme of the particular service. Our Minister leads two of our services each month, with lay led services and guest speakers on the remaining Sundays. Children join us for the beginning of our services and then adjourn to their classes in the Church School. After the service please join us for coffee and refreshments and get to know us better. On most Sundays the service leader will hold a discussion beginning at 12:00 for those who wish to explore the service topic with others.

Worship at UUMeriden

Service Schedule

You are welcome here!

Whoever you are, wherever you come from, whomever you love, you are welcome at The Unitarian Universalist Church in Meriden. We are a faith community made up of people from all walks of life, all ages, and a variety of religious beliefs. Bring your spouse, your children, your family - no matter what kind of family you have. We welcome and celebrate all people of every gender expression and affectional orientation.

February Contributions

Each week 25% of the undesignated cash offerings in the Sunday collection plate are donated to a worthwhile community organization chosen by the Social Responsibility Committee. In February the recipient is True Colors, a Connecticut-based non-profit that works with other social service agencies, schools, organizations, and within communities to ensure that the needs of sexual- and gender-minority youth are both recognized and competently met. The organizing of the largest LGBT youth conference in the country, with more than 2000 attendees, continues this year on March 16 and 17 at the UCONN campus in Storrs. Members of UU Meriden's Social Responsibility Committee's Task Group for LGBTI Issues will be attending and helping to get the information about the LGBTI Teen Safe Space in Meriden out to more youth.

February 5th, 2012

"Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing"

SERVICE LEADERS: the Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and the Rev. Dr. Anthony P. Johnson

The Reverend Debra W. Haffner is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Religious Institute. An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, she is the endorsed community minister with the Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. Following the service, Dr. Haffner will be leading a workshop on Becoming A Sexually Healthy Congregation for the board of trustees, safety committee, and chairpersons of key committees.

February 12th, 2012

"The Imperative of Hope"

SERVICE LEADER: Karen Bellavance-Grace

What are the essential values without which we cannot imagine the world functioning? Paul came up with a neat list of three some 2,000 years ago: Faith, Hope, and Love. Much attention has been paid (especially in February!) to the value and virtue of love, but what of Hope? From politics to marketing, the idea of Hope has been commodified. Yet as Unitarian Universalists, we also know Hope as a spiritual imperative.

February 19th, 2012

"Sacred Space, Inside and Outside"

SERVICE LEADERS: the Rev. Dr. Anthony P. Johnson and the Rev. Rick Klimowicz

Is space sacred because it exists, or because human action makes it so? What calls this congregation to minister outside the certifiably sacred walls of the meetinghouse? The Reverends Klimowicz and Johnson will share their thoughts. Both have served in both parish and community ministries.

February 26th, 2012

"African American Humanism - An Inconvenient Truth"

SERVICE LEADER: The Rev. Dr. Anthony P. Johnson

There is a common assumption that all African Americans are Christians. Scholar Anthony B. Pinn has refuted this assumption in his book, The Varieties of African American Religious Experience. He and Norm Allen, Jr. are two scholars who have documented the large reality of African American Religious Humanism. I draw on their work in this sermon.

Anthony B. Pinn

Norm Allen, Jr.