UUFSMA: “Practicing Love”

UU Service

“Practicing Love”

Rev. Patrice Curtis

Sunday, Nov. 24, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

by Jon Sievert

The Rev. Patrice Curtis of the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater (FL) explores why and how it is important to go beyond the idea of love and become practitioners of love at this Sunday’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service.

Drawing on the work of author Gary Chapman, she will amplify different ways of expressing love – not in the way comfortable for the giver but by looking at love the person receiving.

In religious movements and spiritual communities alike, the concept of love is ever-present. For example, there is the agape love of Martin Luther King, Jr. that binds us together. There is the love expressed by Unitarian Universalist theologian Rev. Dr. Rebecca Anne Parker, who speaks of a love surrounding all of us. When a child is dedicated to a Unitarian Universalist congregation and to Unitarian Universalism, we speak of original blessing, and we are reminded of the pure love of a baby.
Each of us grows into a unique understanding of love, from what we experience and what we observe. Through this, we learn to recognize love in different ways. Faith traditions profess to want nothing less than to transform the world so that goodness and kindness are available to all. Human relationships are bounded by love. Nothing short than the desire to transform the world in this way is why we should bother learning to be practitioners of love.

Prior to her ministry, Rev. Curtis traveled extensively and worked overseas in community development and humanitarian assistance. Her lifelong commitment to social justice drew her to work as an international aid worker at a refugee camp in the Sudan and later in Bosnia. She co-founded and mentored the creation of a Unitarian micro-enterprise in Kenya, which provided over 100,000 meals for impoverished children.

Rev. Curtis holds a MD in Public Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, a Bachelor’s in Anthropology from UC Davis, and did post-graduate work in Anthropology at Oxford University. She discovered Unitarian Universalism in her forties and earned a Masters of Divinity at Starr Kind School for Ministry. Her ministry career includes serving as a project manager with the Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California. After the 2016 presidential election she led religious professionals on a UUSC College of Social Justice journey to the borderlands of Arizona and Mexico.

Rev. Curtis is completing her call to the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater and will begin serving the Unitarian Universalist Association at the first of the year.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program, Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or check out our website at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

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https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

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