Readings and carols tells the birth story of Jesus of Nazareth, Light of the World, whose message of love and peace encourages each of us to be light-bearers in our time. Led by Rev. Jaye (Jennifer) Brooks

The 2020 Winter Solstice Service was led by Student Minister Alia Shinbrough. They asked, "Are you looking to mark the Winter Solstice in a special way this year? Do you have practices around embracing holy darkness as a nurturing force in the cycle of seasons? Have you been yearning to create sacred spaces and experiences anchored in earth-based spiritualities?" If so, you're in the right place!

This year Hanukkah, the Eight-day Jewish Festival of lights, was observed December 10-18. Unitarian Universalists honor the lessons of this Jewish celebration: the quest for religious freedom, and the times and places of miracles in our lives. 

Led by Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore, there were stories of Hanukkah memories which brought light in the darkness. The Young People's Choir participated.

As we entered the season of winter holidays, we prepared to celebrate the diversity of religious traditions within Unitarian Universalism. A UU who does not practice a particular faith-based celebration nonetheless honors it and those who do celebrate it. This Service explored some of the ways those traditions present a different face of the mystery that includes us all. Led by Rev. Jaye Brooks on Sunday, December 6, 2020. 

There is a chant, what might be thought of as a healing chant, that goes “When the world is sick… can’t no one be well.. but I dreamt we were all beautiful and strong.” In this time of pandemic, amidst the grief and longing, love and loneliness we’ve come to know many more ways our world is sick. How might we dream ourselves into healing, to become more beautiful and strong together?

With our Annual Thanksgiving Worship Service, we again celebrated this community. We brought together bread from our many individual families, traditions. We shared our bread and the stories surrounding our feasting. Our bread nourishes bodies and the stories about the bread feeds our souls. The sharing strengthens our community and forms our common table. While we were not able to eat bread together in the same room, we still shared our family’s bread. The Young People’s Choir sang and the Jazz Ensemble played.

On Sunday, November 15, 2020, Rev. Patrice Curtis, UUA Director of Transformational Interim Ministries, presented an interactive Service that invited each person to come back to who they are, to remember and befriend anew the vision in the mirror. With Worship Assistant Suzanne Viverito, and Rev. Jaye Brooks.

The television series “Stargate SG-1” popularized a device called the Quantum Mirror. Anyone who passes through it ends up in a parallel universe, one that's similar to, but not the same as, our own. Every election day acts as a Quantum Mirror. The entire nation passes through it and comes out into a different universe. What next?

Special Service of Remembrance, led jointly by UUCSR and the UU Congregation of Central Nassau in Garden City (UUCCN). Members of both congregations were invited to submit photos of each deceased loved onea to “lift up” in the Service.

On this day, as we remembered those no longer with us, we reflected upon rituals of mourning and celebrations of life from around the world.

On October 25, 2020, Service was led by UN Envoys Janet Bendowitz and Clara LaCorte, with Rev. Jaye Brooks, and special guest Bruce Knotts of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the UN (UU@UN). In recognition of United Nations Day, celebrated around the world on October 24, this Worship Service lifts up the work of the United Nations and its efforts to protect the planet Earth and its inhabitants from climate change.