• Food for Thought
• Honduras Project
• Eight Ball Pool Tournament
• Green Sanctuary/Social Responsibility Committee
• Should we have a minister or not?
• Tight Rope Walk Over Niagara Falls
• Scratching the Surface from Terrill Ploss
• RE Project Backpack
• Food Net Project
• Interfaith Peace Chant
• T’ai Chi
• Hungry Sunday Every Sunday
• Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice
• Unsung Hero
• Pittsfield UU Meditation Sangha

Sunday Services

Sunday gatherings form an integral part of our life as a caring and supportive community.  Services are held at 10:00 am every Sunday from September through June.  Child care is provided for infants and toddlers in our nursery.  School-age children stay with us in the Sanctuary until after ‘Time for the Young’, when they leave for their church school classes.   During the months of July and August, shorter more informal services are held, usually led by a member of the congregation.

Each Sunday’s program is listed both in the the local newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle, and here on our web site. If there is any question about possible cancellation of services because of weather, please consult the web site where it will be posted.

Services typically include:

• Words for Gathering
• Announcements  and the Lighting of the Chalice
• A sharing by members of Joys, Concerns, and Appreciations
• Time for the Young: a story that all can appreciate
• Readings, Meditation and Special Music, Hymns
• An Offering
• A sermon by the minister, or talk by a guest speaker

Religious Education

Church School

Our church school affirms that children, as well as adults,  should have the freedom to discover and develop their own religious philosophy.  This makes us different from traditional churches which have a body of dogma to impart to their children.  Rather than a creed or formula, we offer children experiences from which religion can grow.  The kinds of experiences differ according to the age of the child and the type of curriculum, but certain themes run throughout the church school:

• Acceptance of self and others as being of unique and intrinsic value
• Appreciation of the natural world
• Encouragement in making increasingly mature and responsible decisions
  Appreciation that the Universal Questions we ask have been asked throughout history by peoples everywhere
• Awareness that our religious heritage has its source in the way these questions have been answered by many religions, but especially by Judaism and Christianity

The Religious Education program is coordinated by the Religious Education Committee and our Director of Religious Education.  The curricula are carefully selected from a variety of materials, including materials made available by the Unitarian Universalist Association.  Members of the congregation volunteer their time as classroom teachers.

Youth Group

The Youth Group meets to socialize and to be involved in community service projects.  They commonly have activities to raise money, do arts/crafts/cooking projects, have field trips, and attend conferences together.

Adult Religious Education   There are several curricula available for study by adult groups; these are usually from the Unitarian Universalist Association.  One or more of these study groups take place each year.   On a more informal level, book study groups have often played a role in adult religious education, as have discussion groups around particular topics of interest.

Church Organization, Administration

The  Pittsfield Unitarian Universalist Church has a variety of church committees and programs whose purpose is to maintain the functioning of the church and support the spiritual, intellectual, and social needs of our members.

The church is governed by a 14 person Executive Committee which is elected by the church members at the Annual Meeting of the congregation, in May.  It meets at the church at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday of the month and all members of the church are welcome to attend.   The Executive Committee is composed of the officers of the church, the chairs of the major standing committees and four at-large members.

The  Church Administrator is Kas Maroney. Her hours are Wed/Fri  9 – 3.  Office phone: (413) 443-7903

The Director of Religious Education is Sue Langman.   Phone: (413) 499-1729

The Church Building Caretaker is Pema Tara. Her phone: (413) 358-2626

The meeting times of the other Committees and Programs are set by the groups themselves  and are noted in the monthly newsletter, on the web site, in each Sunday’s Order of Service, and in the verbal announcements made during Sunday Service.

We trust that you will find among the many Committees, Programs, and Activities, something that interests you and with which you can become involved. This is the best way for you to get to know us and make friends within the church.

Church Activities and Events

These will vary from year to year, but generally include at least the following: