WEST PARIS —  As summer comes to a close, First Universalist Church of West Paris will start 9 a.m. worship  services Sunday, Sept. 7, and they will continue into June.

The services are presented with a combination of Worship Service Committee members, guest speakers, and the Rev. Fayre Stephenson at least twice each month. All are welcome to attend services followed by refreshments.

On Sept. 7 Water Communion will be led by Stephenson. The summer sabbatical will end and the new church year will begin at the traditional communion, a service of ingathering.

Those attending will bring a small amount of water from a place that is special to them. At the appointed time during the service, one by one, parishioners will pour their water into a large bowl. As they add the water, they will tell those gathered why the water is special to them.

On Sept. 14, “Spirituality – Tree Spirits?” will be led by guest speaker Rick Churchill, longtime educator and naturalist, Churchill was drawn to the forest as a youngster, and when he was in his teens he was drawn to particular trees within the forest.

As time moved on he began to wonder why. This led him on a journey that continues to this day –  a journey to understand why people are drawn to trees. Churchill’s message may help all understand what it is that draws most cultures, religions and individuals to hold reverence for trees.

Sept. 21, “Finding Faith in a Troubled World” will be the topic. Unitarian Universalists walk many paths to the truth and celebrate their theological diversity. But, some ask is there a center to the faith? Is there something in all diversity that holds all together. Stephenson will explore answers to the questions.

Sept. 28, “Pilgrimage Is Always a Travelling to Where I Am” will be led by guest speaker, Philip Shepherd who is best known as the author of “New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the 21st Century.”

As a teenager, Shepherd cycled alone through Europe, the Middle East and Iran to arrive in India, then went on to Japan to study classical Noh theatre. He co-founded and has written for the magazine, Onion; co-founded and directed an interdisciplinary theatre company; written two internationally-produced plays and a documentary for CBC television.

Since the publication of his book, he has earned an international reputation as a workshop leader, lecturer and coach. Shepherd is a faculty member of the Institute for Sacred Activism, based in Chicago. He lives with his wife and two daughters in a home he designed and built in a little car-free community on an island south of Toronto. And he still travels by bicycle whenever he can.

For more information about the church and services, contact Marta Clements, 674-2143, [email protected]. Visit http://www.uua.org/ to learn more about Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.