As someone who’s spent the last 38 years imploring, cajoling and badgering the flock to ‘COME JOIN US IN CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY!’, I was happy to read a post from UU minister, Victoria Weinstein: Last Sunday morning I picked up the phone in the office. After I said, “Good morning, Unitarian Church,” a woman’s voice […]
There are many in our world who experience Exile – displaced from their homes against their will. Although we may not experience locational exile, there are situations which are imposed upon us and from which we hope to escape. But what do we do when we cannot escape? What do we do when we realize […]
A Grateful Way of Being: Beyond Platitudes, Awkward Prayers and Thank You notes Most displays of gratitude are transactional in nature. We will be exploring gratitude as a soul-altering force. Cyndy Stiehl will be singing and Colin Welford accompanying a service of joy and inspiration. We look forward to seeing you! Pastor Dawn was born […]
St. Patrick: Beyond Shamrocks & Myth with Pastor Dawn Volpe About the Message: I loved St. Patrick’s Day as a child, singing, ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’, the parades, green everywhere, classrooms decorated in shamrocks, stories of leprechauns and snake banishment. As Tomie de Paula recalled in his children’s book, Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, His Irish […]
After enduring 18 months of a global pandemic, which is constantly fueled by human behavior, change is being thrusted upon us. Some of it is distressing (who of us enjoys trying to decipher a conversation through a face mask while standing 6 feet apart?); other changes may alter the trajectory of our lives, both personal […]
Valentine’s Day pays homage to romance and is revered by couples, a cash cow for restaurants and florists and universally hated by those without a partner. It’s patron Saint Valentine knew nothing of romance, hearts and flowers. The word Love has become synonymous with romance, feelings, emotion. But Love is more robust, more demanding, more […]
One of the cherished traditions in some Protestant congregations is the Watchnight Service. People gather close to midnight to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. The Moravians began this practice in 1733 and the Methodists followed suit. But the most powerful Watchnight traditions belong to our African American sisters […]
‘And the angel(s) said to Mary…to Joseph…to the Shepherds…do not be afraid’ (From the Christmas stories recorded in the Gospels of Matthew & Luke.) The fears of our ancient brothers and sisters were real. The Angelic promises of hope and peace was incongruous to the terror facing impoverished people living in an occupied land. The […]
A Reflection on MLK & his reluctant revolutionaries. Dawn Volpe is the pastor of Ephraim Moravian Church. A native New Yorker, she served churches in the Bronx and the suburbs of Washington, DC before moving to Door County in 2010. She and her husband of 25 years, Bob, are the parents of Robert, an artist […]
A Reflection on 2 Kings Chapters 6 & 7…Finding our way through hopeless situations. Dawn Volpe is the pastor of Ephraim Moravian Church. A native New Yorker, she served churches in the Bronx and the suburbs of Washington, DC before moving to Door County in 2010. She and her husband of 25 years, Bob, are […]