UUFSMA: “What Makes God Laugh?”

UU Service

“What Makes God Laugh?”

Rev. Ned Wight

Sunday, February 16, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

This week the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende (UUFSMA) welcomes Rev. Ned Wight, who will share “divine correspondence” illuminating the question, “What Makes God Laugh?”

Many of us grew up thinking that risibility and religion were incompatible. Not so, claims Rev. Wight, the recently retired Interim Senior Minister at the UU Congregation of Shelter Rock, Manhasset, NY.  “Humor is healing, and laughter lightens our lives.”

In this Sunday’s sermon, he intends to demonstrate that humor and a light touch can be compatible with sacred subjects. Other members of the congregation will join with him in sharing a rare collection of letters from notable figures – both biblical and historical – that cast light on a divine sense of humor. Come prepared to smile.

Born in Baltimore, MD on Mozart’s birthday in 1947, Ned Wight grew up in Battle Creek, MI and Gresham, OR, where he was affiliated with Congregational and Methodist churches. The son of a Unitarian father and an Episcopalian mother, he gravitated quite logically toward King’s Chapel when he moved to Boston in 1970, after having completed four years at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA and a year at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. After serving as a take‑out specialist or “soda jerk” for several months, Ned landed a job in the data processing department of the Boston Model City Administration.  Several years later, he returned to school, securing an M.S. in Public Relations from Boston University. Afterward, for seven years, he worked in the public affairs department of the Harvard Community Health Plan and then for three years at public relations and advertising agencies.

Dissatisfied on that vocational track, in 1988, Ned enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Harvard Divinity School. After graduation and ordination, he served UU congregations in Belmont, MA and La Mesa, CA. Ned was a district trustee on the national UU Association (UUA) Board for five years. In 2006 he became Executive Director of Shelter Rock’s unique UU Veatch Program, which provides grants to progressive organizations for social change. In mid-2016 he began a three-year term as Interim Senior Minister at the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, from which he retired in August 2019. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and as a member of the Advisory Board of the UUA’s Beacon Press.

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 at the Hotel La Aldea and check out our website at uusfma.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.

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

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