Rev Pamela Barz began her ministry serving the UU Church of Saco-Biddeford and now has returned to Maine where she offers coaching to help clergy and others get "unstuck" and live from deep gladness. Contact her at: .
Pamela Barz began her ministry serving the UU Church of Saco-Biddeford and now has returned to Maine where she offers coaching to help clergy and others get “unstuck” and live from deep gladness. In between, she served churches in Massachusetts – most recently as the minister of the First Parish in Scituate. She has also served as the UU Chaplain at Wellesley College from which she was graduated with a degree in Mathematics. She and her husband live in Bath and are the parents of twin sons, one a sophomore at UMaine Orono, the other a Lance Corporal in the US Marines.
The ritual of chocolate communion has become popular among UU congregations in recent years as a symbol of our core belief that Love is at the center of who we are and all that we do. But loving is hard. In some ways our congregations are labs for learning to love. So on this Sunday … Continue reading Chocolate Communion: Learning to Love Together
On this 11th day of Christmas, our Carols of Resistance series concludes with a reflection on “Christmas Bells” by the Unitarian poet and Mainer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and its vision of peace bridging human divisions.
Lesson, carols, the story of “Good King Wenceslas” (our final Carol of Resistance), and candles – join Pamela Barz, Kevin Kiley, Carney McRae, and the choir in a Christmas Eve service for all ages. If you’d like to bring a poinsettia to lend color to our space, please place it in front of the pulpit … Continue reading Christmas Eve Service
Three of the season’s celebrations come together today: we will light candles for the Solstice, Hanukkah, and the 4th Sunday in Advent, and contemplate our fourth Carol of Resistance, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by UU Noel Regney.
“I am a living member of the great family of all souls,” wrote the 19th century Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing. On this All Souls Sunday, we will celebrate that great family of the living and the dead, remembering that we are all still connected by Love. Please bring photos and mementos of your beloved … Continue reading The Great Family of All Souls
“Worldbuilding” is the process of constructing an imaginary universe. Authors of speculative fiction like Susanna Clarke, Octavia Butler, JRR Tolkien, and Ray Bradbury created worlds readers love to inhabit. What can the construction of imaginary universes teach us as we work together to build a world of justice and compassion?
“Rooted Like Cottonwoods” Cottonwood trees grow in the desert because their deep taproots allow them to reach water sources inaccessible to other species of trees. How can we develop such strong root systems? Where can we find the water we need? So what would replenish you? What do you need to feed your spirit? We’ll … Continue reading Ingathering
e.e. cummings wrote, “We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust… Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” How do we create space for that to occur?
Our society tells us that to be successful we have to hide our flaws and failures. Is that really the way to success?
Singing together is an important part of our time together each week. Singing unites us, expresses our beliefs and theology, encourages, consoles, and strengthens us individually and as a community. But the songs we sing can also divide or alienate us. As we prepare for the next four years, how can we draw on our … Continue reading The Strength of our Song
