June 19
“Poetry: Fast Track to the Soul” with Ginny Sassamann
Ginny Sassaman left the D.C. fast track in 2001 with her husband Bob and moved to Vermont. In 2006, Ginny returned to school, earning a Master’s in Mediation and Applied Conflict Studies at Woodbury College in Vermont. Since then, she created the position of staff mediator for Home Share Now, co-founded Gross National Happiness USA and created The Happiness Paradigm Store and Experience in Maple Corner. Today she works as a mediation coach, artist, workshop facilitator and writer/advocate for happiness at Happinessparadigm.wordpress.com. She also logs many happy hours as a grandmother. Ginny is a member of the Montpelier, VT Unitarian Church.
June 26
“Truth and Reconciliation: What Do We Do with the Uncomfortable Parts of Our Family History” with Dorie Wilsnack and Dell Waterhouse
The Genealogy and Slavery Discussion Group brings together people in Central Vermont and beyond, who are researching their ancestors’ connections to the US system of slavery. They meet monthly to share family history research experiences and to discuss the challenges of uncovering difficult, long-hidden truths.
Dorie Wilsnack is both a peace and social justice activist and a genealogist. Her activist background includes employment with international and US peace and social justice organizations. After training as a genealogist, she created Radical Roots Genealogy, which aims to help people learn about the social and political experiences of their ancestors and in so doing, learn more about themselves. The Genealogy and Slavery Discussion Group grew out of her work with Radical Roots.
Dell Waterhouse has long been involved in community and social activism. She retired from her “calling” as an elementary school teacher 11 years ago, allowing her to become an even more active volunteer in her town of Worcester, VT and beyond. She finds herself reflecting on the many twists and turns of a lifelong spiritual journey that have led to her current anti-racism activism, family genealogical research into her ancestors’ history as slaveholders, and her decision, four years ago, to become an active member of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier congregation.
July 3
“The Sin of Celebrity” with Stephen L. Finner
Recent events regarding well-known personalities, primarily actors, such as one slapping another, and defamation and libel lawsuits point to the problem of the public creating larger than life personas for these people. He argues that this stems in part from misplaced values and for we Unitarian Universalists presents some serious challenges .
Steve Finner is our Director of Music. He served as the volunteer Director of Music and then Minister of Music for 13 years at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of St. Johnsbury.
Steve has composed a number of pieces, some of which have been used in dozens of our congregation. Although primarily retired, he occasionally does a little consulting based on a 50-year career as a union organizer, political consultant and lobbyist. He has worked on a variety of political campaigns. One of his first clients was a New Castle county Delaware county councilman named Joe Biden who Steve tells us never calls and never writes :)
July 10
“The Gift to Sing” with Verdis LeVar Robinson
Verdis LeVar Robinson currently serves as interim minister at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier. He is the Lenora Montgomery Scholar of Excellence at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, where he is an Aspirant for the Unitarian Universalist Ministry and a candidate for the Masters of Divinity. Verdi’s holds a BM in Voice Performance from Boston University, a BS Cum Laude and an MA in History from SUNY University in Buffalo. Welcome back to our congregation, Verdis!
July 17
“When Success is Not Guaranteed” with Rev. Joan Javier-Duval Measuring fulfillment and achievement is not an easy task. When we have dedicated ourselves to some greater purpose, how do we know it has been worthwhile? What keeps us going when the outcome of our efforts is not guaranteed?
A regular speaker at our congregation, we are delighted to welcome the Rev. Joan Javier-Duval back to our pulpit. Rev. Joan was born and raised in Chicago, IL, the daughter of immigrants from the Philippines. She is a 2003 graduate of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA and earned her Master of Divinity degree in 2012 from Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT. In 2016 Rev. Joan was installed as the settled minister at The Unitarian Church of Montpelier, VT. She lives in Montpelier with her husband Jared and their son Liam.
July 24
“Honesty is an Act of Generosity” with Dian Parker
We are pleased to welcome Dian Parker back to our pulpit! Dian Parker’s essays, short stories and articles have been published in numerous literary journals, magazines, and newspapers and have been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes. An avid gardener and oil painter, she has also traveled extensively, living in the Middle East, including Syria, before its heartbreaking devastation. Dian ran White River Gallery, curating twenty exhibits, before the pandemic forced her to close. She now lives in the hills of Vermont surrounded by forests and wildlife, learning through surrender, love and long hours of stillness that everything is interconnected. You can learn more about her work at www.dianparker.com.
July 31
“Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again” with Rev. Mellen Kennedy
The topic of Mellen’s sermon is based on the book by Johann Hari with the same title. In his book, Hari artfully explores in a comprehensive and captivating manner one of the most pressing contemporary problems today. Let’s face it – most of us have a hard time focusing. Hari interviewed more than 200 experts from around the global about what is happening to our ability to pay attention. Everyone is invited to stay for a Friends on the Path Discussion Group afterwards.
Rev. Dr. Mellen Kennedy is a Unitarian Universalist minister and also a Sufi minister (Cheraga). For 11 years she served as consulting minister to the Washington UU Congregation and now serves as minister for the Springfield UU Meetinghouse in Vermont. Mellen is also chair of the board of The Inayatiyya: A Sufi Path of Spiritual Liberty. She is founder of Interfaith Bridge, an organization dedicated to cultivating friendship and understanding across faiths, particularly among Muslims and non-Muslims. She is also co-founder of the UU Small Group Ministry Network, and teaches the art of sacred storytelling and extemporaneous speaking.
August 7
“Loving Through Death & Dying” with Anne-Marie Keppel
Anne-Marie is a community deathcare educator and founder of the nonprofit Village Deathcare. Drawing from her work as a doula, nurse assistant, life-long meditator, Reiki Master Teacher and mother of three, she is also the author of the award-winning book “Death Nesting.” Anne-Marie is a certified facilitator in the Buddhist path of Feeding Your Demons, a Life-Cycle Celebrant and a trained home funeral support with a focus on Vermont family directed funerals. She lives with her family in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
August 14
“Song & Silence” with Rev. Simon Ruth de Voil
In this service Rev. Simon Ruth de Voil will explore how song is an act of creation that invites us to listen with our whole selves. We often think of singing as expressive and outward focused—closer to speaking than listening. But the skilled musician is always listening, resting in the pause, the breath, and through that listening finds a hidden meaning inside the music.
Simon Ruth de Voil is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister, trained to be a sacred presence outside the conventions of traditional religion. As a sacred musician, spiritual mentor and worship leader he incorporates chant, ritual, storytelling and mindful practice to create a space for profound connection and sacred witness. Simon provides music for worship, ceremony, and prayer in a wide variety of churches and non-religious spiritual communities. He particularly loves to create music for meditation, healing services, and rites of passage.
Simon is also an experienced workshop and retreat leader, drawing on 15 years of study, training, and practice that grew from his time living and working in Iona Abbey. Although influenced by many traditions, Simon’s spiritual path and teaching is deeply rooted in Celtic Christianity, the wisdom of the earth, and in the Scottish land where he’s spent most of his life.
August 21
“Don’t Sleep On This” with Verdis LeVar Robinson
A message about the wrinkle in our time right now. Let’s wake up to the idea of acknowledging it and embracing the possibilities of what’s to come instead of lying dormant, waiting for it to pass.
We welcome back to our pulpit Verdis LeVar Robinson, former Ministerial Intern and current Worship Coordinator at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier.
August 28
Rev. Brendan Hadash, Topic TBD
Rev. Brendan Hadash was the long-time minister of the St. Johnsbury UU Congregation, retiring in 2014. His “specialty” is speaking in role as a historical Unitarian or Universalist person prominent in our history.
September 4
Rev. Mellen Kennedy, Topic TBD
