WEST PARIS — Sunday worship services resume at the First Universalist Church of West Paris after summer break. We’ve planned an exciting lineup of themes and speakers, including a poetry series and a concert series, both starting in September, see details below. Please join us at 9 a.m. Music will be performed by guitarist Davy Sturtevant. All are welcome!

September 8, “Water Communion” led by the worship service committee, the new church year will begin with our traditional Water Communion, a joyous 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, we’ll pour our water into a large bowl. As we add the water, we’ll tell those gathered why the water is special to us.

September 15, “Poetry in Shared Stories of the Unexpected” led by Maryli Tiemann, who is a frequent speaker at our church. This Sunday’s service will kick off a series focusing on Poets. First in our series: Maryli Tiemann will return to focus on the wonder within unexpected moments, sharing real-life stories and poems. With her twist of humor and compassion, she’ll nudge our appreciation of both sides of bike rides, traffic, and kale. In case you missed it last time, she’ll also bring copies of Read To Me Some Poem, the Maine poetry anthology she co-edited this January.

September 22, “Whoever Receives One of These” based on Mark 9:30-37, and led by The Reverend William (Scott) Campbell. In God’s reign everything will be turned upside down. Let’s try to put that in a more modern context. In God’s reign:

·        Women will get paid more than men for doing the same work,
·        Undocumented workers will get big bonuses while CEO’s line up at Home Depot hoping to be hired,
·        Politicians will have to fight the wars they start,
·       The world’s children will have full healthcare and full bellies, while those of us who have had it so good for so long will get whatever we had advocated for others, either with our words or our actions.

We have too often forgotten that Jesus was a radical.

September 29, “A Healing for the World” worship service with Jim Scott. Jim mixes songs and stories in a message of peace and reconciliation for a wounded world and our struggling society.  Acknowledging the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki we celebrate the pursuit of nothing short of real peace. Amid wars, cataclysmic weather events, and an economic collapse, long term visions of sustainability have lately been obscured if not abandoned. In this season of optimism and renewal of spirit for the work we have before us, our charge is nothing less than a job of healing, the earth and ourselves. Formerly a member of the Paul Winter Consort, Jim was composer of their celebrated Missa Gaia/Earth Mass and sang their anthem song Common Ground. A long-time friend of folk icon Pete Seeger, Jim credits Pete with influencing his musical career choices. Pete in turn called Jim “Some kind of a magician.” Paul Winter said of his collaborator: “His music sings of the life spirit.” Jim has toured the world, recorded nine CDs of original music and published a growing line of choral works. (On this Sunday at 2 p.m., Jim will also lead a multimedia concert, titled “The Year to Save the Earth” – A Multimedia Experience by Jim Scott)

For more information about the church and services, please contact Marta Clements, 674-2143, mclements96894@roadrunner.com, or Suzanne Dunham, 665-2967, dunhamfarm@msn.com. To learn more about the Unitarian-Universalist Association, visit http://www.uua.org/. The First Universalist Church of West Paris is located at 208 Main St., W. Paris.