Reverend Charles J. Stephens
It is a pleasure to extend a warm welcome from the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing. I have been the minister of this vibrant and wonderful congregation since 1997. What attracted me to become the minister of UUCWC is that central to this congregation is the commitment to living, worshipping, serving and growing in right relationships. It is the goal of the members of UUCWC to be a warm and supportive liberal community of faith. We strive to live up to the principle that each and every person has inherent worth and dignity. We became one of the first congregations in the UUA to become a Welcoming Congregation. We are in the midst of the UUA Journey Toward Wholeness program to fight racism and other forms of oppression. Our Religious Education Program is truly devoted to providing vibrant religious education opportunities for the entire lifespan within our community.
Worship is, of course, central to the life of our community. I have the privilege of working with a group of talented and creative Worship Associates. They work with me in a Shared Ministry to help craft our Sunday service of worship. We are blessed with a wonderful choir and music program that enriches worship. The children of our congregation participate in the first portion of our worship service and then attend their religious education classes. Ours is not a church with creeds or doctrines; rather, we focus on and hold up that which is of worth among us, that which calls us to be who we are meant to be and how we most desire to live our lives and that which helps us come to terms with those times we fail to live up to our own highest expectations.
Our liberal religious community, its services of worship, and programs welcome you (as we say each Sunday) if you are young or old, male or female, partnered or unpartnered, gay, straight, transgender, lesbian or bisexual, whatever your physical or mental abilities, whatever the shade of your skin, or the shape of your features, or the place of your birth. It is our experience that through the wealth of human diversity we are able to grow ever more whole as a community. It is also our experience that through the sharing of our joys and sorrows and our joining together in the refreshing search for truth and spiritual depth that we grow closer to what we are called to be as a human community.
I encourage you to visit the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing. Ours may be the community you have been longing to discover.
Charles J. Stephens
minister@uucwc.org