UUCSV Newsletter for October 2016

Sunday 2 October 2016 11am

Cecil Bothwell

“Woo-Woo Versus the Bunny Hug”

Are we saved by faith or intellect? People who might describe themselves as liberal or progressive tend to fall into two camps, those who embrace belief in the supernatural and others the un-super.
Cecil Bothwell is an artist, musician, organic gardener and author of ten books. He is serving his second term as a member of Asheville’s City Council and his other car is a raft. He believes one can never be too blasé about the possibility of another Genesis flood.

Sunday, 9 October 2016 11am Rev. Michael J.S. Carter

"Hunger, Home, Righteousness"

This sermon is partly inspired by volunteering and witnessing other volunteers serve community residents and the homeless for the “Open Table” located each Wednesday at the Black Mountain United Methodist Church. It has been a thing of beauty to behold and to be a small part of. Many of the volunteers are from our UUCSV. I want to discuss what hunger, home, and righteousness can mean when we put our faith into action with others, regardless of our theological differences, for all religious traditions call us to share our blessings and to provide faith, hope, and charity for the less fortunate among us. We are all hungering for a sense of home and righteousness that flows down like water from a mighty stream. We as UUs and perhaps more importantly, we as human beings are in our true essence, what some would call-- love beyond belief.

Sunday, 16 October 2016, 11am
Eric Bannon
“Weavers and Threads: a Faith Journey in Story and Song”

When we tell a story, we weave together the threads of our personal experience and beliefs; we express our values, even sometimes unintentionally. When someone hears our story and they are moved or inspired by it, a little strand from that thread connects the teller and the listener at the heart. We will explore how our personal stories connect us as families and as a community. Eric Bannon is a musical storyteller whose songs travel the bleak desert highways and lush mountain hollows of the heart. Eric is based in Pittsboro, NC. His home congregation is The Community Church of Chapel Hill U.U.

Sunday, 23 October 2016 11am
"UUism and the Atheist Revisited"

Rev. Michael J.S. Carter

A few years ago I wrote a sermon entitled, The Spirituality of The Atheist. I was the new minister here and as a Theist, this was my attempt at letting the humanist, agnostic, and atheist members know that they were not invisible. Lately, I’ve been reading and re-reading the works of the Dalai Lama, and Bishop John Shelby Spong, I began to think more deeply about why a secular ethic is needed only with religion in our culture today, as well as whether or not UUism is really a religion in the traditional sense and use of the word. Without a so called elevator speech to tell folks when asked what it is that we as UUs believe, it has been difficult, but perhaps we don’t need one. UUs have always seem to know that the world was more complicated than we thought; we always knew that a more inclusive perspective was needed. It certainly appears now that perhaps religion, as well as a secular ethic, was always the way to go. Let’s explore.

Sunday, 30 October 2016, 11 am
Rev. Michael J.S. Carter
“UUs, Saints, and Souls”

Halloween is October 31st and we all know a bit about that “holyday,” but November 1st is All Saints Day and Nov. 2 is All Soul’s Day in the Roman Catholic Church tradition. There are a few UU congregations across our country with the name “All Souls,” but in my research I have found none named “All Saints.” Be that as it may, I will argue this morning that we as UUs can also benefit from the sentiment of these two holy days of our Catholic brothers and sisters by perhaps looking at them in a slightly different light. For instance, by replacing the start of the word “Saint” with a small “s” instead of a capital one, we too can honor our heroes and sheros who have inspired us and accompanied us along life’s journey. After all, Unitarian Albert Schweitzer reminds us that “one does not have to be an angel to be a saint,” and C. S. Lewis tell us that “we don’t have a soul. We are a soul. We have a body.” Let’s explore!