Welcome and Services

IMG_0712Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick! We look forward to seeing you in our energy-efficient, completely accessible new building.

We are a “Welcoming Congregation” as we work to prevent discrimination against people of differing gender or sexual orientations. Learn more.

 

A Word About Covid 19

Our UUCB Covid Task Force recommends that congregants should stay at home if ill and wear a mask if you wish.  There is no need for “segregated” seating.  The website, “COVID Act Now” shows statistics as of 10/13/23, for Cumberland County: “Community risk level LOW with 1.7 COVID hospital admissions per 100k total admissions, weekly (last time community risk was NOT low was June, 2022, when 282 COVID admissions per 100k were reported weekly.”

When are services?

Services begin at 10:00 a.m. Sunday mornings (except for Christmas Eve and Maundy Thursday).

Lifelong Spiritual Formation meetings for children and nursery care for children under four years old are provided from September through mid-June. Lay-led summer services begin the latter part of June and continue through July and August.

During the summer there are no spiritual formation meetings or childcare, but parents are welcome to use the nursery, which is located immediately behind the sanctuary. A window into the sanctuary and a sound system allow parents and young children to follow the service while allowing the children to play.

What to expect at a service

Although each service is unique, all have the following similar components:

  • A time for prayer and meditation
  • Sharing of celebrations and concerns
  • A sermon
  • Hymns
  • The offering

Often, we have guest speakers. After the service all are invited to stay for coffee and conversation.

Sign up to host the coffee hour here: Coffee Hour Signup

Choosing a church is a very personal matter

To understand our church, it helps to understand beliefs that draw us together. Our core beliefs are:

  • Each and every person is important.
  • All people should be treated fairly.
  • Our church is a place where all people are accepted and where we keep on learning together.
  • Each person must be free to search for what is true and right in life.
  • All people should have a voice and a vote about the things that concern them.
  • We should work for a peaceful, fair and free world.
  • We should care for our planet Earth.

Welcome to Unitarian Universalism

The following materials are from the Unitarian Universalist Association website Unitarian Universalist Association:

We are people of all ages, people of many backgrounds, and people of many beliefs. We are brave, curious and compassionate thinkers and doers. We create spirituality and community beyond boundaries, working for more justice and more love in our own lives and in the world.

Unitarian Universalism draws from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love. We covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries.

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The values we share include all the following, which we hold as inseparable and deeply interconnected:

Interdependence: We honor the interdependent web of all existence and acknowledge our place in it.
Pluralism: We are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology.
Justice: We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all feel welcome and can thrive.
Transformation: We adapt to the changing world.
Generosity: We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
Equity: We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.

Get to know us:

  • Beliefs and Shared Values – more information on our shared values and answers to some common belief questions
  • Who We Are – our history, symbols, backgrounds and stories
  • Religious Practices – what Unitarian Universalists do on Sunday and every day, including holidays and rites of passage
  • Get Involved – find out how to connect with Unitarian Universalism, no matter where you are

To experience the Unitarian Universalist spiritual tradition online through the WorshipWeb collection and more, visit the Worship & Inspiration section.

For more information contact .

Sources of Our Living Tradition

The living tradition which we share draws from many sources:

    • Direct experience of that 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;
    • Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love;
    • Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
    • Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
    • Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
    • Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

What to Wear

We invite you to wear what you feel comfortable in. On any given Sunday, you will find members in jeans or their Sunday best. Generally, we are considered a casual crowd.