Sharing the Load

By Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe

collaboration

How do we respond to the impact of this pandemic in our lives? We work together. Recently, five congregations in Western Pennsylvania have joined together to share worship in rotation- each taking a different Sunday. By doing this, less energy needs to be focused on worship and can instead be directed at supporting individual congregants during this difficult time. The congregations sharing their worship ministries are: First UU Church of Indiana PA, Allegheny UU Church, East Suburban UU Church, UU Fellowship of Ligonier Valley, and Beaver County UU Community.

One congregation leads worship for their designated week and then the congregations breakout into independent coffee hour times for the congregation/community. The congregations kicked this off on the weekend of May 2nd with the ordination of Rev. Elizabeth Mount at First UU Church of Indiana, PA with Rev. Mount offering the service on Sunday May 3rd. Speakers this month include Rev. Stephanie Gannon from East Suburban UU Church and Rev. Deryck Tines and Rev. David McFarland at Allegheny UU Church. Congregations report a greater sense of community and care while being able to connect with their beloved unique communities during the social hour time.

This effort comes from the great support of Unitarian Universalists of Greater Pittsburgh. This independent organization was founded in 2013 and supports the 12 member communities in justice, community, and care. The organization recently provided grants to their member congregations to buy Zoom accounts to further support community and connection. They continue to work on voting rights through UU the Vote and UU Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Network.

Is your congregation or cluster doing something innovative in this time of change? Let us know about it! We are happy to share other success stories about worship, sharing, faith development, annual meetings and more. Contact your primary contact or Beth Casebolt at bcasebolt@uua.org to let us know.

About the Author

Sunshine Jeremiah Wolfe

Rev. Sunshine J. Wolfe is Congregational Field Staff for the Central East Region serving congregations in western Pennsylvania and across Ohio. Ghe hails originally from Indiana where ghe learned to sing, dance, and cause trouble- the social justice kind. Ghe is currently a member of TRUUsT...

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