BELIEF: IN JUSTICE, IN LOVE - Rev. Craig Hirshberg
2016-03-13 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by special guest speaker, Rev. Craig Hirshberg. What are the assumptions we hold onto as we move toward a more just society … and what are some of the assumptions we need to dispel. Join Rev. Craig Hirshberg, Exec. Director of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, as she explores the foundations and the myths of social justice work and how the UU Legislative Ministry of NJ addresses them.
Rev. Craig Hirshberg’s Bio:
Rev. Hirshberg currently serves as the Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey (UULMNJ), representing Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout New Jersey. UULMNJ strives to be a courageous, compassionate, non-partisan voice for truth, justice and equality in New Jersey public policy, working in collaboration with like-minded organizations through education, research, advocacy, witness, and service. Rev. Hirshberg believes that public advocacy is a necessary component of any spiritual practice.
Rev. Craig Hirshberg came to the Legislative Ministry in May 2011 with a wealth of experience in the pulpit and in the community. She is Minister Emerita of the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills where she served as the founding minister. She brought to her ministry extensive non-profit experience including training, planning, community organizing and program development. She has a private practice in spiritual direction and hosts meditation classes, retreats and other spiritual development activities. She is a graduate of Drew Theological School, and a lifelong student at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. She received her spiritual direction training at Shalem in Washington DC. Rev. Hirshberg also serves on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Trauma Response Team, being deployed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.
Following the service: “Belief: In Justice, In Love” with Rev. Craig Hirshberg, there will be a short session led by Frances Prestianni and Lessie Culmer-Nier of the UU Legislative Ministry of NJ, “How to Make a Better World – One Law at a Time”. How the Legislative Ministry works with Q&A.
Poster by: Liandra Pires

ANOTHER LOOK AT BEING SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-03-06 10:30 - 11:30
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. There’s been much attention in recent years to the growing number of people who identify themselves as spiritual but not religious. Today, we’ll take a second look at what that means and at some alternatives we might not have considered.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Liandra Pires

JAZZ - LET THE SPIRIT MOVE YOU - Al Stawsky
2016-02-28 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by UUCP member Al Stawsky. “Jazz” originated uniquely from the African American experience in the United States. Today it is a powerful worldwide cultural presence. It is expressed and reflected in many musical forms. But, what is Jazz? How and why did it come to be? What does it “mean”? What makes Jazz spiritual and how can Jazz change your life? How does Jazz connect with Unitarian Universalism? These questions will be explored and discussed in the upcoming Sunday Service. Excerpts and examples will be given.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Liandra Pires

AN EVENING OF COLORING MEDITATION
2016-02-26 19:30 - 22:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for this special evening of coloring meditation led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff.
The word mandala comes from the ancient Sanskrit language and loosely means “circle” or “center.” The mandala is a circular matrix with a center point, a sacred center that helps to stimulate and promote creativity, relaxation, healing, and other positive states of being. As an alternate style of meditation, coloring allows us to enter into and experience the power of the mandala in our lives.
Rev. Paul Dodenhoff will begin the evening with a brief talk on meditation and the mandala before we begin our evening of coloring. Our coloring meditation will be a silent one followed by a time for refreshments and conversation. Crayons, colored pencils, and coloring mandalas will be provided.
Poster by: Liandra Pires

GOD, REALITY & WHAT REALLY MATTERS - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-02-21 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Does god exist? Can we prove or disprove god’s existence Throughout history this question has been debated and argued. People have even been put to death for believing or not believing a certain way about “god.” And that debate still continues to be a source of much intolerance, hatred, and violence. But the real question we should be asking is: Does god matter?
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

Board of Trustees Meeting
2016-02-18 19:00 - 21:00

THE DEVINE FEMINIST - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-02-14 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. In recent years, much has been written and taught about the importance of honoring the Divine Feminine in our spiritual lives and is acknowledged in almost every faith tradition. But many people aren’t quite sure what the Divine Feminine is or how to honor it. Today we will consider not only the truth of the Divine Feminine, but the equally important idea of the Divine Feminist in our lives.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Liandra Pires

THE PRESSURE OF PURPOSE - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-02-07 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. The pressure to find the unique “purpose” for our life is great. And for those who struggle to find that purpose, life often seems to become one big, constant apology. But Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “My life is not an apology, but a life. It is for itself and not for a spectacle.” Today we’ll look at the pressure society puts on us to find our “purpose” and consider what “finding our purpose” really means and ways we can do that without having to apologize for ourselves!
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Liandra Pires

SMALL BOATS ON ROUGH SEAS - HELD AT UUCR IN POMONA, NY
2016-01-31 10:30 - 11:30
Please join UUCP and The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockland for this joint service led by Rev. Karen Brammer. Karen will share some of what she has learned about smaller congregations. What might thriving as a smaller congregation looking like? What are some of the questions we need to address in order to thrive? Come be part of the conversation. Service will be followed by a potluck​.
This service will be held at:
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockland
130 Concklin Road
Pomona, NY 10970

Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

SERVICE CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER
2016-01-24 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States

EMERSON: THE IDEAL IN AMERICA (DOCUMENTARY)
2016-01-22 19:00 - 21:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
On Friday, January 22nd at 7:00 PM, UUCP will be hosting a viewing of the documentary, “Emerson: The Ideal in America”. Please join us!
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century is still seen today as a champion of individualism. His belief in “the infinitude of the private man” still resonates with spiritual seekers today. Most people know Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance,” but there is much more to the fascinating life of the man and his circle, which included Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Margaret Fuller. You will never look at Emerson – or yourself – quite the same way again.
“Why should we not also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should we not have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?” (Nature, 1836)
Bring a friend. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

FACING THE FACTS ABOUT RELIGION AND VIOLENCE - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-01-17 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Is religion responsible for most of the violence in the world? Is Islam a violent religion? What about Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism? Is any religion free from violence? Is violence only physical or are there other forms of violence?
Today we’ll consider those and other questions and try to make some sense of a topic that is increasingly in the news.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

THE (INNER) HOUSING CRISIS - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2016-01-03 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Ah, home, sweet home! This is the time of year when “coming home” takes on deep meaning for many of us. Today, we’ll explore the inner meaning of home and houses, what all of those rooms signify, and consider the inner housing crisis that all of us face at times.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

WINTER CONTEMPLATIONS - The Program Team
2015-12-27 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join the UUCP Program Team at 10:30 AM in a service where we will share short stories and musings about the holidays and this time of year. If you have a favorite reading or short story we might not know, please bring it to share with the congregation.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and good conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

THE COMING OF THE COSMIC CHRIST - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-12-24 17:00 - 19:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s Christmas service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Christmas isnt merely about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It’s about the birth of the Cosmic Christ spirit that lives within each of us and of which Jesus was one example. The Coming of the Cosmic Christ is an event that is always happening. We simply have to open our hearts to it.
Bring friends and family and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!

DANCING IN THE DARK - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-12-20 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. December 21st is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and a time to consider how both darkness and light are necessary for all things – including our spirit – to grow and thrive. Today we’ll consider how our ancestors observe this event and what it means for us today.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

WINTER SOLSTICE - Lauren Hooker
2015-12-13 10:30 - 23:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz
Join pianist/vocalist Lauren Hooker celebrating this year’s Winter Solstice with song, native American flute music and African Djembe call and response. A time for reflection as well as group participation.
LAUREN HOOKER – BIO
Lauren Hooker is known throughout the Metropolitan area as a jazz vocalist, pianist, songwriter and lyricist, as well as an acclaimed music and events producer via an arts coalition she founded, and a storyteller via her arts in education company: Musical Legends. With numerous radio and television appearances and three cd’s to her credit, she performs regularly with her quartet and as a solo artist. As an educator, she currently teaches piano in her home studio and as a teaching artist via Arts Horizons. Much more than just a singer or a musician, she has lived the life of an artist, going from one important project to another and uplifting each area of her life with her creativity, wit and sensitivity. For more info visit:www.laurenhooker.com

Bring a friend and stay for coffee and light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!

CHANUKAH - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-12-06 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Today we will light the Chanukah menorah and consider the spiritual meaning of both the miracle of Chanukah and the lighting of the candles.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

SHARING OUR MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES - Deborah Singer Pires and Arlene Holpp Scala
2015-11-29 10:30 - 12:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by UUCP Co-Presidents, Deborah Singer Pires and Arlene Holpp Scala. Have you ever had a mystical experience that defied explanation? Many of us have. In keeping with our tradition of “out-of-the-box” services on the fifth Sunday of the month, we will be talking about Spiritualism and sharing our paranormal experiences. Come with your stories and an open mind!
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

A DICKENS OF A HOLIDAY PARTY!
2015-11-27 18:00 - 22:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for “A Dickens of a Holiday Party!”
This is a great alternative to Black Friday!!
We will have a potluck dinner with friends to kick-off the holiday season! Bring some of your Thanksgiving leftover main course, side dishes, and dessert goodies to share. We’ll provide hot cider, coffee, tea, and maybe a Wassail bowl or two. Feel free to bring your own wine.
We will be having a viewing of the 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol” starring Alastair Sim. Before the film, Rev. Paul will be sharing some comments on Charles Dickens, his connection to Unitarianism, some thoughts on the text of “A Christmas Carol,” and social justice work in Victorian England. After the film a time for dessert and some questions and discussion.
Also please bring any canned and / or non-perishable items for donation to our local food pantries.
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

THE QUEEN BEE - Jack McKeon
2015-11-22 10:30 - 12:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by special guest speaker, Jack McKeon. The “Queen Bee” is one of the Grimm’s shortest stories, but one that could be peeled back like an onion to reveal social, ecological, personal, and even spiritual meaning. Come today to hear Jack McKeon, a retired English teacher and expert on myth and story telling.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

LIBERATION SPIRITUALITY - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-11-15 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Liberation Theology has been called “an interpretation of the Christian Faith out of the experience of the poor.” Today we will consider the possibility of a wider, inter-spiritual interpretation of Liberation Spirituality.
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

15TH ANNUAL UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST OUTREACH AUCTION
2015-11-14 18:30 - 22:00
Saturday, November 14
6:30 PM
Central Unitarian Church
156 Forest Avenue
Paramus, NJ

What is the Outreach Auction?

This gala evening features a live auction as well as a tricky tray and is sponsored by three congregations in Bergen County:

Central Unitarian Church
Unitarian Society of Ridgewood
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palisades

with 100% of the proceeds going to selected charities. The charities are selected based on the impact they have on those in need in Bergen County, regardless of religious affiliation.

Our first Outreach Auction was held in 2000. Over the years, this brainchild of Central Unitarian Church has grown to include two additional congregations, and has raised more than $400,000 to support Bergen County charities. The auction raises money with bids from $10 to $1,000, demonstrating that when we work together, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

The auction is an annual event calling upon members, friends, businesses and the local community for support.

Tickets: $30 (Includes hors d’oeuvres, beverages, coffee, dessert, and a free sheet of tricky tray tickets valued at $15)
Selected Causes and Charities for 2015
(1) Providing Safe Housing
Center for Hope and Safety provides access to safe housing and services for women and children forced to ﬂee their homes due to domestic violence.
(2) Reducing Hunger
Center for Food Action provides food and homelessness prevention assistance at five locations.
(3) Escaping Poverty
Family Promise of Bergen County provides shelter for families, walk-in dinners for 120 people daily, transitional housing and other services.
(4) Advocacy for Children
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children.
(5) Assisting Children in Need
Holley Childcare and Development Center is a 55-bed residential treatment facility, serving children 5 to 12 years old who are emotionally handicapped as a result of abuse, neglect, poverty, abandonment or other circumstances.
(6) Providing Services for Children
Children’s Aid and Family Services provides human services and child welfare programs, including adoption and foster care for children who have been abused and traumatized.
For more information, contact uuoutreachauction@gmail.com.

15TH Annual Unitarian Universalist Outreach Auction
2015-11-14
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2015
CENTRAL UNITARIAN CHURCH
15 FOREST AVENUE
PARAMUS, NJ 07652

This gala event has raised over $400,000 since 2000 for Bergen County Charities with 100% of the proceeds going to the selected charities. The 2015 charities include:

Shelter our Sisters
Center for Food Action
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Holley Childcare & Development Center
Children’s Aid and Family Services
Family Promise of Bergen County

The Outreach Auction features a live auction as well as a Trick Tray and includes live entertainment and hors d’oeuvres.

Be sure to SAVE THE DATE for this very important and worthwhile event that benefits our friends and neighbors in need in Bergen County. When we work together, we are greater than the sum of our parts!

For more information, contact uuoutreachauction@gmail.com.

HEALING THE WORLD - ONE INNER CHILD AT A TIME - Dr. Jay Kantor
2015-11-08 10:30 - 11:30
Please join us for today’s service led by special guest speaker, Dr. Jay Kantor. Each of us has an Inner Child, an aspect of our mind created in childhood that lasts a lifetime. If we were hurt in childhood, our Inner Child lives with that trauma until we heal it, no matter how long it takes. Healing and nurturing a wounded Inner Child – learning what it really means to love ourselves unconditionally – is the critical step in a person’s spiritual development we will explore today.
Dr. Jay Kantor holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University and began utilizing the Inner Child concept in 1990 to help people overcome the effects of inadequate parenting and parental abuse. Jay combines the use of Inner Child Psychology with other forms of energy and spiritual healing to help people overcome long-term emotional, psychological, and relationship problems, which have not responded to talk or drug therapies.
Bring a friend and stay for coffee and great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz

AUTUMN: EVENTIDE OF THE YEAR - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-10-18 10:30 - 11:30 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Poster by: Bonnie Savitz
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. We’re now well into Autumn, the “even-tide” of the year. Even though it’s a season of wondrous beauty and color, for many of us it is also a season of melancholy and a season of turning inward. But that turning inward is vital if we are to be renewed. Rev. Dodenhoff will share some thoughts today on this paradoxical season of Autumn.

Service Auction Event - Come Onna My House and Stromboli Together
2015-10-03 14:00 - 17:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States

THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS: ROOTS OF THE NEW SPIRITUALITY - Rev. Paul Dodenhoff
2015-09-20 10:30 - 12:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by Rev. Paul Dodenhoff. Polls continue to show that many people consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Today we’ll take a look at the 19th century Transcendentalist movement, which included such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Throeau, and Margaret Fuller, and explore some of the ways in which it gave birth to the SBNR phenomenon.

UUCP WELCOME BACK PICNIC
2015-09-13 11:45 - 13:00 | Englewood, 07631, United States
The annual UUCP Welcome Back Picnic will take place on Sunday, September 13, after the service.

The picnic will be at the Garret Lydecker House, 228 Grand Avenue, Englewood, NJ. Food and drink will be provided by the Board of Trustees; however, you are invited to contribute your favorite picnic dishes.

BEGINNINGS: ROSH HASHANAH - Deborah Singer Pires
2015-09-13 10:30 - 11:35 | Englewood, 07631, United States
Please join us for today’s service led by UUCP Co-President, Deborah Singer Pires. Today marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is also Grandparent’s Day. The convergence of these two holidays reminds us of the importance of ritual and celebration in passing on traditions from one generation to the next.
Poster By: Bonnie Savitz
