From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Senior Co-Minister The early American Unitarians believed in Salvation by Character – the idea that we could save ourselves by living with integrity. This radical assertion overturned the prevalent Calvanist theology of predestination – that some were saved and others damned at birth; that character simply revealed what God had pre-ordained....
Author: Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael (Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael)
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The Beauty of Collaboration: Hospitality at UUCM
From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael , Senior Co-Minister “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life...
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Possibilities Abound
From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Senior Co-Minister There is a slight possibility that Rev. Scott and I will move into our new home in Montclair the day before Christmas Eve. There is a greater possibility that we will move into our new home on December 27th. There is a slight possibility that we have underestimated the...
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Experimentation, Change and Community
From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Senior Co-Minister Perhaps you were present for the “Experiment!” service on March 18, 2018. If not, I encourage you to listen to the sermon podcast (https://uumontclair.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/experiment-03-18-2018/). As senior co-minister with accountability for Worship at UUCM, I am excited to announce some new experiments: Our Music Director Markus Grae-Hauck had the bold...
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Hope: It Looks to Me Like a Community
From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Senior Co-Minister I’ve begun to receive holiday cards. One of the notes came, as it does every year, from an intentional community where I lived for a year and a half, while studying for the ministry at Meadville Lombard Theological School. The Sophia Community, an intentionally interfaith home, nourishes the lives of their residents...
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A Language of Reverence
From Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Senior Co-Minister The vocabulary of reverence allows us “to speak of that which is sacred, holy, of ultimate importance to us, the language which would allow us to enter into critical dialogue with the rest of the religious community.” – Rev. Dr. David Bumbaugh, Unitarian Universalist Minister and Professor In the mid...