Upcoming Services

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Religious Education Sunday
the Rev. George Buchanan, the Rev. Daniel Budd

Sunday, June 3, 2012

"In Gratitude and Love"
the Rev. George Buchanan


Religious Education

Classes begin at 11 a.m.


Morning Forum 9:30am

Community Forums season has ended

Our Forums will return in the Fall
 


Music

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First Unitarian Church of Cleveland
21600 Shaker Blvd
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
(216) 751-2320
F: (216) 751-2322
church@ firstunitariancleveland.org

Sunday Worship Service
11:00 am  year round

Religious Education classes begin Sunday, September 16th at 11:00 am. Child care for infants and toddlers is available.

There is no Sunday School program in the summer (June through Labor Day weekend). Child care is available.

 

Merci Reverend G!

Everyone is invited to celebrate the six year ministry of Rev. George Buchanan in Fellowship Hall following the service Sunday, June 3rd.  A light lunch with cake will be provided.  George will be conducting the service that morning a preaching.

 

 

Solar Panel Installation Continues

Installation of our Solar Panel Array continues getting all the wiring hooked up and the inverters online.  Below is a picture (thanks to Kimberly Dyer of Bold Alternatives) of the final panel being put in place.  See an article by John Funk in the Plain Dealer at http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/first_unitarian_church_of_clev.html

Religious Education Leader Sought

We are currently in search for an individual to head our Religious Education Program.  If interested, please check out our Position Posting at: http://firstunitarian.businesscatalyst.com/pages/position-search.htm

2012 Killam Fellow Selected

Celie Katovitch, who is finishing her second year of ministerial preparation at Harvard Divinity School, has been selected as the 2012 Killam Fellow. Celie is originally from Syracuse, New York. She is excited to meet and to serve with the members of First Unitarian Church as Killam Fellow for summer 2012.

Celie came of age in the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Syracuse. She attended college in Gettysburg, PA, where she studied philosophy and peace studies and was blessed to share in the formative years of the town’s small UU congregation. It was during those years that her call to ministry crystallized. Interspersed with her seminary studies over the past two years, she has worked with First Church Shelter, a homeless shelter in Cambridge that helps its guests transition into stable housing; as a chaplain at Upstate Medical Center in her hometown of Syracuse; and as ministerial intern at the First Parish in Weston, MA. She also serves as the President of the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Students.

Celie believes that everyone has a ministry, and that ministry is about care of the soul: it is about encouraging one another and our communities to engage the joys and sorrows of life’s journey with an openness to mystery, a grounding in gratefulness, and a trust in those threads of deep and sacred connection that draw us beyond ourselves. She shares the commitment "to search and to serve," and hopes that she may offer a listening ear and a compassionate heart as she joins First Unitarian Church in its searching and serving this summer.  Celie's first service with us will be July 8th.

Our Permaculture Garden

 

Members of First Unitarian have constructed a 5,400 square foot permaculture garden as a way to express one of our core Unitarian Universalist principles: Respect for the Interdependent Web of Life.  The principle provides a natural fit for the discipline of permaculture, which follows ecological principles to create durable, positive relationships between soil, plants, animals, and human beings.

Work on the garden began in 2010, when some 50 volunteers covered a plain grass median with a lasagna mulch---multiple layers of compost, cardboard (to kill the grass before decomposing into soil enriching carbon), more compost, dead leaves, top soil and mulch.

By spring, the lasagna mulch was well on its way to becoming black, microbe-rich soil. Still more volunteers cut and laid gravel paths, piling the new soil to planting areas. They followed by planting a “nibbling garden”—blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, persimmons, onions, sorrel, as well as tea plants like anise hyssop.  Following permaculture principles, these plants were accompanied by plants that fix nitrogen, accumulate other nutrients like phosphorous, and attract beneficial insects.

But the garden designers stressed another element, as well: aesthetics. Pinks, mixed with oranges and white—and even some purple asparagus—draw people in.  Stone seating walls, teak benches, vine-covered arches, a children’s water maze, chess tables and stools make people want to stay, sit, and talk.

(Coming soon: a picture of people sitting in one of the garden spaces in full bloom....)

In the end, 120 volunteer workers and contributions of over $55,000 have created a unique space: one of the largest permaculture gardens in Northeast Ohio and only the second Unitarian Universalist permaculture garden in the United States. It’s become a key component in First Unitarian’s designation by the Unitarian Universalist Association as a Green Sanctuary (link to that web page). What’s next?  Expanded permaculture gardens elsewhere on church property?  Group permaculture installations at member homes? Active support for permaculture projects around Northeast Ohio?  One thing is clear at First Unitarian. We not only respect the Interdependent Web of Life, we engage it.

 

 

This is where you'll find articles that mention our church or other references in traditional an social media about us or about our community.  

Read Daniel Budd's latest Messages of Faith column on 'faithful choice.'  Go to: http://www.cleveland.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/02/making_a_faithful_choice_messa.html
First Unitarian Church Installs High-tech Solar Array

We encourage you to share any of the links here that catch your eye or interest within your own networks. Oh, and please send a note if you spot First Unitarian in the news and aren't sure that we already know. Thanks! 

 

Our new website

Welcome to the new website of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland! We are glad you stopped by. And we encourage you to explore the pages and information here. Please know that this website is for all of us. So feel free to send a note if you want to add information or make suggestions for content. 

The tab labeled Spotlight On, currently features our Permaculture Garden.  We will be changing this feature periodically to highlight a program or other aspect of our community.  If you are involved with a group, effort or program anchored at First Unitarian that you want others to know more about, suggest that it be explored as a Spotlight On topic. (Just also be ready to write a little copy to submit!)

The tab labeled Coming Up will be updated more frequently, and feature events and other details to inform our members and friends about the next week or so. If a special function or event is happening, this is where you can get the details, plus a link to more information in many cases. This is where you would find out about things happening at Church in the next few weeks or so, such as: 

  • Special music programs or services;  
  • Church gatherings or events;  
  • kick offs for campaigns or other efforts that gain strength and effectiveness from wide participation; or,  
  • Other information about the upcoming service or week at church our community should know.

 The tab labeled Press will feature mentions about the church in the media, with links to articles, so our church community can read and share them, if desired. Social media links and references to the church would be here, too. If you spot the church in the news, send it to us We'll make sure to include it.   

And the Video tab will feature some short films that have been produced to show what it looks and feels like to be a part of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland. As we get more video, from events or other programs at the church, we will add those, as well.