An important part of our conferences is worship services. This fall, Ned Wight and Anne Marsh will offer an opening worship service tying together lamentation, gratitude, and commitment. Ned and Anne said, “Our Ingathering worship begins with lamentation, for we gather in troubled times and may feel grief, fear, anger, even despair, for ourselves and for our world. But we also know that we are surrounded by love and beauty, hope and joy. We move from lamentation to gratitude, for in so many ways, we are blessed. One of those blessings is being with each other at this conference, and we close with commitment to a world of greater justice and compassion, and also commitment to being present to each other, listening and learning over our time together.” Please join us during the first session on Monday October 21 for this inspiring service.
Another service we offer is one of Remembrance, a reflective time of worship in which we are bathed in the memories of our colleagues who have recently died. It can be terrifying—this unknown part of life called death, but if we cultivate our memories, if we preserve them and return to them often, we will not lose them nor our colleagues.This fall, Charles Stephens will lead us in a service designed to preserve our memories. He said, “It is a privilege for me to lead the service of remembrance for our colleagues who have died since our spring conference. I know you share the deep sense of gratitude that I have for the gifts they gave us and their support of our Unitarian Universalist movement. I am always moved by the meaningful obituary accounts of friends and colleagues who I knew and appreciated. I hope you will join me on Monday October 21 in the evening session and help me remember and be grateful for them.”
These are our colleagues and friends we will honor during the service:
The Rev. Walter S. Jonas
The Rev. Barbara Jean Kulcher
The Rev. Elizabeth “Betsy” Boyd Stevens
Mr. Christopher B. Nelson
The Rev. David O. Rankin
The Rev. Dr. James “Peter” Hughes
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Torquil MacLean
Mr. David Turner
The Rev. Frances Ann Dew
The Rev. Kent McKusick
The Rev. Robert T. Latham
The Rev. Stanley Robert Stefancic
The Rev. Sylvia Ann Falconer
The Rev. Marjorie Rebmann
The Rev. Dr. Frank W. Carpenter
Ms. Christine Lilly Backus
The Rev. Walter S. LeFlore
The Rev. Robert C. Sallies
Ms. Ann Clark Howe
The Rev. Carl Arthur Hover
The Rev. Patricia V. M. Tummino