As we approach All Souls Day and Halloween, when the veil between the living and the dead becomes thin, and our part of the world turns toward greater darkness and rest, we gather in our spiritual community to honor our beloved dead. We bring ourselves into compassionate relationship with one another, with the grieving, and with those we have lost in this annual service of remembrance. Join us for this multigenerational ritual service where we honor our beloved dead, those we have lost in the congregation, and those you have lost this year.

When we have compassion for one another, we are moved to act for each other’s well-being. In real relationships across difference, we come to care about the suffering of others, which moves us to act to change it. Join us for this worship service where we explore the power of empathy to till the ground for the seeds of change.

Cultivating Compassion, especially during the times we find ourselves in, can be difficult for ourselves in some of our long-treasured relationships, not to mention those who are learning into fascist tendencies today. As we honor Indigenous Peoples Day 2025, how might we uplift some of our First Nations Communities here in Wisconsin and beyond, who continue show deep compassion towards others in light of this country’s history with and among the many First Nations Communities that still live, and thrive among and around us?

Cultivating compassion in a society wrestling with fascism is tough. And yet, compassion is the doorway to understanding our entanglement with one another. Our separation is just a fear-based illusion. Empathy returns us to the truth of our interdependence and mutuality, making it a threat to authoritarians who would prefer us to remain divided and disempowered. Join us for this service where we explore how cultivating real compassion (with power analysis and boundaries) can empower us to overcome narratives of hate and division.

It takes courage to unlock the heart, to be our authentic selves with one another to truly know and be known. This is what is required to build belonging, though. We must be free to be ourselves and be willing to be open to others’ true selves. James Crews, a poet of connection and compassion, will join us for this worship service where we build belonging through authenticity and presence.

Being a Unitarian Universalist for 25 years and now ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister for the last 16, working to understand and nurture a sense of belonging for myself and others, no matter where I go, is an ongoing practice. My hope is to share a little bit of my journey that has brought me to this city and historic church through the song and lyrics of Gregory Porter’s “Take Me to the Alley.” Will you join us?

In Unitarian Universalism, what does it mean to belong to something larger than ourselves, larger even than any individual community? In this service, we will explore belonging to each other, to the water, the woods, the moment, to time itself. Remember to bring water from home or another place that matters to you, as we pour our individual waters together in a water ceremony of belonging in community

Belonging is hard to find in our divided, individualist, post-industrial society. But what if we don’t need to find belonging, but rather need to build it, together? As the oppressive forces try to erase identities, it is counter-cultural to intentionally build belonging with and for one another. In church, we create belonging through radical welcome, showing up for one another, authentic connection, and shared experience. Join us for this worship service where we explore how building belonging fits in the ecosystem of resistance.

Writer John Jay once wrote “A true home requires belonging – both people to belong with and a place to belong to.” In our fractured, divisive world, with its oppressive systems embedding various traumas in all of us, how do we come home to ourselves in order to create home for each other? Let us look to the healers among us – and to our own UU faith – for practices to help us come home to who we need to be.

While positivity and kindness are foundational expressions of our shared faith and humanity, they can also serve as tools that mask inequity, reinforce unjust power dynamics, and delay transformative action. Pardeep Singh Kaleka will share his journey as a first-generation immigrant in America and how his path of healing from hate compelled him to move beyond surface-level conversations around kindness, compassion, and optimism. This service will invite reflection on what it means to pursue justice with empathy and why authentic healing demands both courageous truth-telling and sustained action.