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The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration in East Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania, celebrated its 200th anniversary in February. As reported in Chestnut Hill Local on March 27, longtime member and assistant moderator Steve Workman shared stories of personal and congregational history to mark the occasion. The church recently hired the Rev. McKinley Sims, who will become the full-time minister in July and who has been streaming services live during the pandemic.
On October 17 and 18, 2020, the UU Congregation at Rock Tavern in Orange County, New York, will celebrate its 150th anniversary. A Saturday afternoon celebration will honor the congregation’s history, and the Sunday morning will feature a special service led by the Rev. Chris Antal.
Congregational projects
The Ellsworth American reported on March 5 that the UU Church of Ellsworth, Maine, has initiated a “Bounty for Babies” program, which supplements its Loaves and Fishes food pantry with items for young children.
Television station RTV6 stopped by the UU Church of Indianapolis to report on its participation in the National Solar Tour. The congregation’s solar setup—installed in stages in 2013 and 2017—generates most of the church’s electricity; four of its five buildings are connected to the solar panels and are 100 percent solar powered. The congregation has also reduced its energy use by almost 40 percent. Tour attendees were able to see the solar panels up close, ask questions, and find out why the congregation decided to go solar. View the news coverage here.
UU Church of Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, member Gail Cohen was inspired by a sermon the Rev. Florence Caplow gave, challenging the congregation to launch a creative community-building project, and started soliciting stories that resulted in the book Mosaic: Stories That Changed Our Lives. The collection of thirteen stories includes both light-hearted tales and harrowing experiences and has already created interest in a second volume. Sales will help underwrite future projects and initiatives. Available on Amazon.