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By Rev Janet Onnie July 13, 2025 The Shenandoah Valley is in mid-summer.  So are the mountain towns in the Blue Ridge.  I know this because the Farmers Markets are brimming with produce and flowers, there’s a smell of charcoal and sunscreen in the air, and I read email messages from friends in far-flung places.  I know that many of you are no longer confined to summer to indulge in your wanderlust, but the rhythms of childhood are hard to break.  July in America – at least th

by Dianne Davis-Meadow June 29, 2025 I'm sure you already figured it out and won't be shocked by what I'm about to say because you've already seen the Order of Service. I am an atheist. It feels strange, honestly, to be standing inside a church and saying that out loud. As an atheist, walking into a church feels a little like going to a costume party where I’m the only one not in costume… and I’m afraid they might hand me a Bible instead of a drink. But for the first time in

by Bill Faw June 22, 2025 In November, 2021 , I gave a zoom sermon to HUU on “ The Seasons of Our Life and of the Soul”.  Irv was also my facilitator that day. Today, I will repeat part of the Seasons of the Soul, in order to then expand the metaphor to seasons of democracy for nations and the world . PART ONE: SEASONS OF THE SOUL In her challis reading, Andi set the stage for seeing seasons of the soul as cycles of good and bad experiences in life, through the famous wo

Rev. Janet Onnie June 15, 2025 Reflection:  My Grandfather’s Apron My grandfather was a small, wiry man with a thick head of hair, a slow smile, and an emotional reserve expressed in silence.  (Although he did become more animated when discussing the affairs of the church over Sunday suppers.)  He was a reader of books and collector of relics left over from the former inhabitants of the Ohio land where he had our small dairy farm.  Some of those relics turned up by his plow –

by Rev. Janet Onnie June 8, 2025 The new worship team has been meeting to look at the Sunday services here at HUU. One of the more theologically interesting discussions refers to the Order of Service. They asked the very good question why we do what we do in the order we do them. Why do we have to have an Order of service ? Why is it not called the Order of Worship? They’re not so much interested in changing the elements of the Sunday service or even their order. Like