Ralph Yeager Roberts

Ralph is one of the creators of the Montessori-inspired curriculum Spirit Play, which is used by hundreds of UU churches across the us and canada. As an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister of Religious Education, Ralph led what had been one of the largest children and youth ministry programs at that time and was asked to develop and teach the first course in UU religious education at Andover Newton to satisfy a core requirement for the masters program. He briefly served a UCC congregation becoming the first out gay man to ever be called to serve that denomination's South West Conference. For two years he wrote for a nationally carried lifestyle and travel magazine. Recently, in addition to his work developing and illustrating his Original Unitarian Universalist Advent Calendar, Ralph has engaged his creative side fabricating and designing specialty prop, set and costume pieces for area performers and theater companies. His work has been nominated over 5 times for a state theater award.

From Ralph Yeager Roberts

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December seventh, "Eight Candles" (1970). Malvina Reynolds was a 20th century Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, socialist, songwriter, and performer who is best known for her song “Little Boxes.” In 1970 she recorded the Hanukkah Song “Eight Candles.” It has since become a holiday favorite.

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | December 11, 2022 | From WorshipWeb

December twenty-fourth, The Flaming Chalice (1965). The Unitarian Service Committee adopted the flaming chalice as their logo in 1941. Years later, in 1965, at the West Shore Church in Cleveland, OH the youth led a Christmas service opened by ritually lighting a chalice....

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December twenty-third, “O Holy Night” (1855). The first English translation of "O Holy Night" was by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, who tweaked the original French author's socialist themes and images to advance Dwight's own abolitionist cause. Not only was the French author a...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December twenty-second, The First Unitarian Church Founded in Transylvania (1557). Despite recognition under the 1557 Act of Religious Toleration and receiving the king's patronage, the Unitarian church in Transylvania has faced frequent persecution....

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December twenty-first, the Winter Solstice. (The point along the Earth’s annual solar orbit when the northern hemisphere is at its furthest point from the sun). The last harvest of the year is celebrated shortly before the Winter Solstice. In ancient times people would feast knowing the months...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December twentieth, first of Elliot’s Ariel Poems, “The Journey of the Magi” (1927). "Magi" is Unitarian T. S. Eliot’s first of 5 Christmas poems published after his ambivalent choice to join the Anglican church. Many believe that Eliot's feelings about his new church are reflected by the...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December nineteenth, "The Many Moods of Christmas” (1963). Robert Shaw was best known as the conductor of his namesake Chorale. In its day, "Many Moods of Christmas" was the quintessential sound of the season. Even today, the album sells well around the holidays and choirs continue to perform it...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December eighteenth, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (1962). Amid the anxiety of the Cuban missile crisis, Unitarian Noel Regney wrote the text for “Do You Hear What I Hear?” as a protest song. The music was composed by his then-wife, Gloria Shayne Baker. The song's allusions to the Bible stories of...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December Seventeenth, Rod Serling’s Christmas Specials (1963). Though Jewish, Rod Serling always loved Christmas (maybe because his birthday was December twenty-fifth). He became a Unitarian Universalist while in college and later joined the Unitarian Community Church of Santa Monica. He wrote...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

December sixteenth, Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1835). When the man he loved married a woman, Danish Unitarian Hans Christian Andersen wrote one of his first and most beloved fairy tales of a mermaid's tragically unrequited love. His timeless tales include several Christmas classics...

Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

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