October 3-4 - ``Give Them Not Certainty, But Beauty``

Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon
``Give them not hell, but hope,`` proclaim the apocryphal words attributed to our Universalist forebear John Murray. In our own era, Unitarian Universalists are called to resist both the hells of the day and the authoritarian claims of certainty that buttress them. To do so, we must build up our own architecture of beauty upon which a tolerance of unknowing may rest.
On Saturday, David Lauth will play selections for guitar. On Sunday, Society Choir will sing.
Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon is minister of the UU Church of Columbia, Missouri and author of the new picture book Dance Together, Spin Apart from Skinner House Press, which supports children and those who care for them in addressing big questions about life and death with wonder, beauty, and grounding in science.

October 10-11 - ``Acting on Faith``

Revs. Kelly Crocker & Kelly Asprooth-Jackson
Over 35 years ago, Unitarian Universalist minister Forrest Church wrote that, ``the principal sin besetting many of us today is the sin of sophisticated resignation.`` By this he meant feeling strongly about matters of principle while accepting that there is nothing to be done about them. Our creedless faith has long emphasized that what a person - or a community - does is far more descriptive of their character than whatever beliefs they might espouse. In this service, we will explore pushing past the barrier of sophisticated resignation.
On Saturday, Linda Warren will play music for solo harp. On Sunday at 9am, the Teen Choir will sing. At 11am, the Cherubs and Choristers will sing.

October 17-18 - ``Uncertain Courage``

Rev. Kelly Crocker
Our brains our wired for certainty, to look for patterns, to make plans on a future we can predict. Yet we know we are living in uncertain times. Unpredictability, a general ``not knowing`` can bring danger, confusion, and general messiness. Facing these times in which we live, as uncertain as they are, with all the courage we can muster, can bring us new insights and a new way of being in the world. We will face the uncertainty together and explore some ways to find our own inner courage through it all.
On Sunday, Meeting House Chorus will sing.

October 24-25 - ``Running Towards the Fire``

Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson
In the deluge of daily information, there are many things that we might choose to turn away from. The suffering of the world is real, it can quite often be overwhelming. It takes courage to engage our empathy, to open our hearts rather than to hide them. In this service, we will explore what such empathetic courage might look like.
On Saturday, Linda Warren will play classics by Beethoven, Massenet, Scarlatti, and von Weber. On Sunday, Society Choir will sing.

October 31-November 1 - ``The Courage of the Ancestors``

Revs. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson & Kelly Crocker
On this weekend of remembrance, when we honor the festivals of All Souls Day and Samhain, we reflect on those lives which, though ended, continue to shape our own.

For the Saturday service, members of the Nature-Based Spiritual Practices Group will lead us in observation of Samhain. Samhain is one of two Celtic Fire Festivals. It bookends the wheel of the year with Beltane when we celebrated flowers and new life. Now we are moving into the dark of the year. This Samhain night, before we go out to appease little tricksters with offerings of treats, we sit with death. The veil between life and death is thin. Our ancestors, those dead who are in living memory, and our recent dead are near. What message do you want to share with them and what messages do they have for you? Please bring a favorite treat or snack of one of your ancestors or recent dead to share during coffee hour. All ages are welcome.

Our Sunday morning services continue the cherished FUS tradition of observing All Souls Day through memory and reflection. At all three services, we will call the names of those members of FUS who have died in the past year and remember the names of the members' loved ones. Please join us to remember and celebrate the dear ones who live on in our hearts. Linda Warren will play Welsh and Scottish compositions on the piano at all three services.