Happy Valentine's Day!
Our Mission: Our Mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance and to work for positive change in ourselves and our community.
"We envision a congregation in which we practice the principles of our faith. We seek to enjoy peaceful reflection and inspiration in intellectually and spiritually satisfying church services. We aim to embrace the people and efforts of our church community by supporting our children and their programs, our committees and their goals, our staff and their efforts on our behalf, and each other."
February Services
Registration is not required. Tap "Register Now" to see service details.
See everything happening at UUNB on the website calendar!
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
-Howard Zinn
Did you miss Sunday service? Watch it here!
What does it mean to be a people of Justice & Equity?
February 18: The Gift of Building a Better World (Black History Month), The Magnificent Dr. Gladys Mae West. We are excited to be lifting up the life of Dr. Gladys Mae West for Black History Month. Dr. West is a mathematician whose talent gave us GPS (Global Positioning System) without which we would still be using those old paper maps and would also be getting lost a lot more often!
February 25: The Gift of Joy and Beloved Community - Birthday Blessings
30 Days of Love Bonus Days Reflection on Interdependence: Liberatory Intersections, By Rev. Ashley Horan
Safety. Re-Imagining. Possibility. Resilience. These themes have been the backbone of this year’s 30 Days of Love, with each offering extending to us the opportunity to hone our ability to pause, listen, and receive even as the world around us continues its frenetic hum. We hope that these weekly gifts from our siblings in faith have invited you to breathe deeply, feeling – even if just for a moment – a sense of connection with kindred spirits who share a soul-deep yearning for justice and wholeness.
At the most basic level, spiritual practice is spending regular, intentional time turning away from despair and fear, toward connection and commitment. At Side With Love, we believe this kind of spiritual practice is what makes sustained organizing for justice possible. Without making space in our lives to purposefully strengthen the musculature of imagination and hope, the soul of our movements atrophies and the dream of liberation becomes an empty fantasy.
As Black feminist, abolitionist, and scholar Angela Y. Davis famously says, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” But none of us can sustain that on our own. At Side With Love, our work is to build a skilled, rigorous, interdependent network of individuals, congregations, and partners who are in it together, day after day, season after season – audaciously fostering transformation and tending to each other’s spirits in the struggle.
As we close out this year’s 30 Days of Love, we know there is daunting work ahead of us in 2024. Never has it been clearer how deeply interconnected all our issues are, or how very high the stakes are for all of our communities. As we gear up yet again to defend and deepen our democracy, to fight for a society that honors the sacredness of all bodies, to push back against the dehumanizing impact of criminalization, to re-imagine a thriving future for our precious planet – we are grateful to be fighting and dreaming alongside you. Even after these 30 days of practice and pause, let us commit to making space – as individuals, as communities, as movements – for re-grounding in our purpose and nurturing our spirits along the way.
May we all be well, whole, and free. In faith and solidarity,
Ashley
The Rev. Ashley Horan
UUA Vice President for Programs & Ministry
Photographer, Maggie Howland (Maggie By The Millimeter) volunteered her time to take professional photographs of our church for the website. Here is a sampling of the photos she took during the February 11th service.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION - Hosted by the Long Range Planning Group
February 18th, after the church service.
Come with your questions and comments about the Future of our Church. This will be a hybrid event, attend in person or via Zoom.
We want your feedback! Please take our anonymous survey to understand the congregation's specific needs better as we plan for the future. Thank you for your participation.
Photos of a few of our members reading at the 21st Annual Frederick Douglass Read-a-Thon held on February 4th. This event was a huge success. If you missed it, that's okay, your amazing minister recorded it!
SAVE THE DATE! The 40th Annual Jazz service will be held on June 30th, 2024. We are looking for a few church members to serve on a committee to work out the details of the event, plan fundraising, and sell ads to help offset the cost of hiring performers. If you are interested, please email admin@uunewbedford.org.
New Bedford Whaling Museum: Sailor's Valentines were not actually made by sailors. The art form dates back to the early 19th century, when sailors would purchase these keepsakes as tokens of their affection from the tourist trade in Barbados on their last stop before returning home.
The one shown below is handmade and designed by local artist, William L. Boffa, a resident of New Bedford for the past 48 years.
Today, we celebrate Douglass's chosen birthday! As a formerly enslaved person, Douglass didn’t know his actual birthday in February, so he chose Valentine’s Day because he said his mother had called him her "Little Valentine" during the few precious times they were able to see each other.
In his Narrative, Douglass recalls: "I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it."
Call (508) 993-0772 or email boxoffice@yourtheatre.org for tickets!
From the Unitarian Universalist Hysterical Society
Our Promises
Each person is important.
Be kind in all you do.
We help each other learn.
We search for what is true.
Each person has a say.
Work for a peaceful world.
The web of life’s the way.
Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.
First Unitarian Church in New Bedford
71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 994-9686
Administrator ext. 10
Minister ext. 13
Karen cell: (508) 441-9344
Board Members & Officers
Steve Carmel, President
Charles Morgan, Vice President
Deborah Carmel, Treasurer
Cora Peirce, Clerk
Trustees
Committee Chairs
Staff
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