Unitarian Univeralist Church of the North Hills

Autumn Equinox – Finding Equilibrium
2025-09-21 10:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | West Room and Zoom
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

The Autumn Equinox, also referred to as Mabon, marks when day and night are roughly equal in length. It is a time of reflection and preparation. Join us as Rev. Lee Anne explores some thoughts on how to periodically return to a personal place of equilibrium and peace.

Click here to view the LIVESTREAM on YouTube.
After the event has ended, you may watch this and other RECORDINGS on the UUCNH YouTube channel.

We Begin Again In Love
2025-09-28 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
About this time every year, Jews gather to celebrate the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. It is a time for self-reflection, atonement, repentance, and forgiveness. Though Unitarian Universalists have not traditionally engaged in a similar annual practice, we do have hymns and liturgy that support us in doing so. Join us as Rev. Lee Anne shares her experience as a Modern Orthodox Jewish woman celebrating Yom Kippur in Washington, DC. and invites us into a similar, but uniquely UU practice.

Click here to view the LIVESTREAM on YouTube.
After the event has ended, you may watch this and other RECORDINGS on the UUCNH YouTube channel.

Cultivating Compassion by Meeting the Moment
2025-10-05 10:30 - 12:30
Kevin Hayes – Casa San Jose & Systemic Change

Join the Systemic change team and Kevin Hayes from Casa San Jose, as they share their experiences cultivating compassion by working in immigrant support spaces. They will share opportunities for the congregation to engage more deeply in this work.

Click here to view the LIVESTREAM on YouTube.
After the event has ended, you may watch this and other RECORDINGS on the UUCNH YouTube channel.

Deep Dive Sunday: Our Fourth Principle and Immigration
2025-10-12 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

Donald Trump speaks of undocumented immigrants as rapists, murderers, gang members, and drug lords. Immigration Rights activists speak of an inhumane immigration crisis involving kidnappings, disappearances, and the separation of families. ICE agents complain of a drastic increase in assaults, doxing, and threats to their families. What are we to do?
Join us in our first Deep Dive Sunday. We will pick up on the August 24th and 31st Sunday services, which focused on our fourth principle: affirming and promoting a free and responsible search for truth. Let’s get some perspective, put things in context, and determine what a compassionate response might look like.
Please bring your smart phones, laptops, or tablets. You will be divided into groups of six to search out the answers to some prompting questions and then engage in discussion. Expect this service to last 90 minutes.
Instead of time for all ages, children should proceed directly upstairs to Children’s Chapel upon arrival.

Our First Principle and the Enemy
2025-10-19 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
As we affirm and promote our first principle – the inherent worth and dignity of every person – we can find ourselves wrestling with what to do about those we might perceive to be our enemies. It’s an age-old question. Join Rev. Lee Anne in the first of a five part study. We will begin by exploring different understandings of what it means to be wicked, evil, or an enemy and the parameters of compassion.

The complete study will explore the wisdom of various religious and philosophical traditions; some parables and fables; and guidance from such organizations as the Charter for Compassion. By the end, we will perceive some common themes and have a deeper understanding of what is ours to do.

Compassion is not Complicity: Seeing Humanity without Surrendering Justice
2025-10-26 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

In this second of five services exploring the application of the First Principle in our relationships, Rev. Lee Anne explores how our First Principle calls us to honor every person’s dignity without surrendering truth or accountability. Drawing wisdom from Hebrew prophecy, Buddhist teaching, and Stoic philosophy, we’ll consider how compassion can be both tender and tough—love with a backbone.

Día De Los Muertos Multigenerational Service
2025-11-02 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

This multigenerational service will be highly interactive with different creativity stations and opportunities to honor the dead. We will also have a few of our children joining the choir to sing a medley from the movie Coco.
The church will be decorated for the event and an ofrenda (a traditional altar to honor and welcome spirits of deceased loved ones) will be in the Sanctuary.
Please bring a picture of deceased family member (both furry and human) and/or an item that reminds you of them to place on the ofrenda.
Please bring your deceased loved one’s favorite food (no dog food please) to share at coffee hour.
We will be celebrating this traditional Mexican holiday in the same way and with the same intention as they do in Mexico. By doing this, we will celebrate the cycle of life and death in an appreciative and celebratory manner.

Have You Taken Your Placebo Today?
2025-11-09 10:30 - 12:30
Peggy Fallon

To be considered effective, a new medicine needs to show results in clinical trials that are better than the improvement felt by taking a placebo, which is a pill that looks like medicine but, unknown to the test subject, actually contains none. That is, taking a sugar pill and believing it to be medicine somehow triggers a strong enough internal healing that an actual chemical medicine has to work better than what we believe the pill will do? How does that work, and can we use that power? Will nurturing gratitude help? Peggy Fallon & Edith Ruiz of the Sunday Services Team will explore some ideas on how to harness the healing power we already have.

Blessed are the Peacemakers: Our First Principle and Peace-Making
2025-11-16 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
In a world that often confuses strength with domination, our First Principle calls us toward a deeper, sturdier path: peace rooted in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This Sunday we consider what it means to be a peacemaker—not a peacekeeper, not a peace-faker—but one who builds peace through courageous compromise. With wisdom from Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the brave architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, we explore how lasting peace grows not from victory, but from the recognition of each person’s full humanity. Music from our guest choir will weave through the service as we ask: what does peacemaking look like in our time?

﻿Our First Principle Across the Ages: Multigenerational Worth & Dignity
2025-11-23 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

This Sunday, Rev. Lee Anne and Robyn Travers explore “Our First Principle Across the Ages: Multigenerational Worth & Dignity.” We’ll reflect on why honoring the inherent worth of every person means honoring every age, and how our Friday Family Fun Nights are shaping a more connected, vibrant community.
After a short message, Rev. Lee Anne and Robyn will sit down for a conversation with the congregation about building a church where children, youth, adults, and elders learn from one another. All are warmly encouraged to join the dialogue as we imagine what multigenerational spiritual life can become.
*A bonus handout with suggestions for difficult conversations around the Thanksgiving table will be provided with the order of service.
**The Craft Group’s sale will immediately follow the service.

Deep Dive Sunday: Our First Principle & Handling Conversations Across Difference
2025-11-30 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
This is the last Sunday of our five part series on how the First Principle applies to our dealings with people we don’t understand and often oppose. Building on last Sunday’s handout, we will take a deep dive into ways to apply our First Principle when we face difficult conversations with people whose point of view differs significantly from our own.
Using a short packet, small discussion groups will share ideas about how to handle two short scenarios. The packet includes individual reflection questions for at home use (or for those not wanting to participate in the discussion groups) and two spiritual practices for everyone to use. No research or electronic devices will be required. Expect this service to last 90 minutes.

Make a Joyful Noise - A Unitarian Perspective on Christmas
2025-12-07 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

Join us this Sunday for a Christmas Carol service rooted in historic Unitarian tradition. Through beloved carols and brief reflections, we’ll journey from the angels’ song we seldom understand, to an honest look at the world’s pain, and finally to the joyful work of helping manifest a more just and hopeful world. Together we’ll rediscover the Christmas story not as a supernatural spectacle, but as a call to courageous clarity, acts of compassion, and enduring hope. Let the music lift your heart—and your resolve.
We will also hear The Mitten Tree and decorate our tree with mittens, scarves, and hats. Please remember to bring your contribution to the tree, whose decorations will be donated to North Hills Community Outreach.

Church Closed due to Inclement Weather
2025-12-14 10:30 - 12:30

Winter Solstice Service
2025-12-20 17:00 - 21:00

Holiday Pageant - The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming - A Christmas Story about Hanukkah
2025-12-21 10:30 - 12:30
UUCNH Children and Youth
Sunday is the first night of Hanukkah.
Join us as we explore the inspirational story that gave rise to this holiday and light the first candle.
Our children and youth will tell the story of a potato pancake desperate to distinguish himself and his holiday from all things Christmas.
Enjoy the amazing costumes and set designed by Michelle Broge-Connor, the inspired direction of Robyn Travers, and the exquisite stage managing of one of our youth, Evelyn Erbrecht.
Please bring a dozen or two cookies to share in our annual cookie exchange to occur after the service.
We will also be trimming our tree and decorating the church for the holidays.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and Potluck
2025-12-24 17:00 - 21:00

"Choosing Hope” with CeaseFire PA
2025-12-28 10:30 - 12:30
Sunday Services Team
This Sunday, we welcome Beth Foringer, Senior Southwest PA Coordinator with CeaseFirePA, as our guest speaker. Her sermon, “Choosing Hope”, is offered on the Sunday after Christmas, a time to reflect on how we carry hope forward when the holidays end and the work of justice remains. We hope you will join us as we reflect together on choosing hope and turning it into action. (Content warning: Gun violence)

"Creative Resistance" Not Just Another Protest
2026-01-04 10:30 - 12:30
Sunday Services Team
This Sunday, we will explore some different ways of resisting situations and policies that don’t feel quite right. We’ve all participated in marches and protests which have their place but sometimes we need to shake things up a bit. We will delve into some of the creative ways that people have used to get their point across.

Beloved Community in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Wisdom of Martin Buber (Part One)
2026-01-11 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes our work, communication, and daily routines, it is reshaping not only what we do, but how—and with whom—we live our lives. This message will briefly define what AI is (and is not), explore its current and likely future roles, and consider how widespread automation may unintentionally deepen social isolation, echoing patterns many of us experienced during COVID. In a world where fewer interactions require other humans, the need for meaningful, embodied connection grows sharper. This reflection invites us to consider how intentional communities like UUCNH may become not relics of the past, but vital centers of belonging, purpose, and shared moral discernment in the years ahead.

This is the first of a four-part sermon series that will culminate in a Deep Dive Sunday on February 8th.

Beloved Community in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Wisdom of Martin Buber (Part Two)
2026-01-18 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
This Sunday’s service explores the wisdom of Martin Buber and what it means to place relationship—not individuality—at the center of a meaningful life. In a time shaped by artificial intelligence, digital connection, and increasing social isolation, we will reflect on how beloved community offers an antidote to loneliness and fragmentation. Together, we’ll consider how meaning is formed through relationships, how disagreement need not destroy connection, and how our congregation can become a place where people are truly seen, known, and needed. The service will conclude with a participatory ritual inviting members to share the gifts they bring to our shared life.

Children’s Chapel will be held this Sunday. Children should head straight to their classrooms when arriving.
This is the first of a four-part sermon series that will culminate in a Deep Dive Sunday on February 8th.

Beloved Community in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Wisdom of Martin Buber (Part Three)
2026-01-25 10:30 - 12:30
Beloved Community in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Wisdom of Martin Buber (Part Three)

This week’s service – Will be held via zoom

Rev. Lee Anne Washington

All Real Living is Meeting: we spend hours each week on Zoom, Google Meet, and social media—connected, yet distant. Online tools help us stay in touch, but often leave something to be desired when what we crave is companionship.

Drawing on Martin Buber’s insight that “all real living is meeting,” this service explores why meaning is most deeply made through in-person encounters, and why shared presence, service, and community life continue to be vital sources of meaning. Embodied community matters more than ever in an increasingly digital—and soon AI-shaped—world.

Due to the incoming snowstorm, our service will ironically be held on zoom click

The Light's Return: On Groundhogs, Imbolc, and Embodying Resilience
2026-02-01 10:30 - 12:30
Sunday Services Team
Even as Winter seems determined to sap our will, we take comfort and draw strength from celebrating the halfway point. The days grow longer, the seeds of Spring are sprouting in the Earth, and we celebrate even the cheeky groundhogs in their burrows.

Beloved Community in an Age of Artificial Intelligence - The Wisdom of Martin Buber (Deep Dive Sunday)
2026-02-08 10:30 - 12:30
Rev Lee Anne Washington
From I-It to I-You: Practicing Presence:
Over the past several weeks, we have been exploring the wisdom of Martin Buber, who taught that life’s deepest meaning is found not in what we use or manage, but in how we meet one another. In a world shaped by speed, efficiency, and increasingly mediated relationships, Buber’s insight invites us to practice presence—to notice when our interactions become purely transactional and to choose, when we can, deeper attentiveness, listening, and care. Deep Dive Sunday offers a chance to learn and practice deep listening skills as well as a chance to reflect on how adopting Buber’s perspective can enhance how we relate to one another, our communities, and the world we inhabit.

Matters of the Heart.... and Other Organs
2026-02-15 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
We all know the heart is the seat of romantic love, but is love really that simple?
During this multigenerational service after Valentine’s Day, we’ll explore various types of love (agape, eros, philiia, and storge) and where in the body love has lived across cultures and centuries: in the heart, yes… but also in the liver (courage), the gut (compassion), the brain (choice), and the hands (action).
Join us and discover that love may be more embodied, more powerful, more resilient, and more nuanced than we ever imagined.

Put Feet On Our Prayers
2026-03-01 10:30 - 12:30
Systemic Change
Our guest speaker will Rev. Dr. DeNeice Welch.
She holds a Ph.D. in health care ethics, a Master of Divinity, with an urban ministry focus and a bachelor of science in community ministry, Ms. Welch’s academic work focuses on reproductive justice, racialized health care and faith responses to systemic inequalities.
Since 2007, Ms. Welch is the Pastor Emeritus of Bidwell Church, and on the pastoral staff at Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She is also a national director of Ntosake, a women’s public leadership initiative of The Gamaliel National Network.
Ms. Welch has been recognized with several accolades for her work, including the NAACP Faith in Action award, YWCA Racial Justice award and the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Women of Excellence award. A minister in training program she developed has gained national recognition.

She has the operational experience to run a powerful organization, and her deepest self-interest is to raise up leaders in our communities who will force the powers to work for the people.

Are You Serious?
2026-03-08 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. John Ballance will discuss what it means to take one’s intentions and attentions seriously. It turns out that sometimes a small failure can turn out to be a gift.

Stop Sleepwalking, Start Noticing: Three Spiritual Practices to Wake You Up!
2026-03-15 10:30 - 12:30
Rev Lee Anne Washington

Ever feel like you are operating on default? You do what you always do. You think what you always think. You follow who you always follow. Your routine remains unexamined and unchallenged. Join us on this spiritual practice Sunday as Rev. Lee Anne offers opportunities to rekindle a feeling of awe, to adopt a beginner’s mind, and to intentionally return to your center.
Come prepared to bare your feet, feel the wind in your hair, smell some spices, and pray for peace. After a brief message and a scented meditation, you will be offered an opportunity to experience two additional outdoor spiritual practices of your choosing.

Iran & Israel: The Ancient Stories Beneath the Headlines
2026-03-22 10:30 - 12:30
Rev Lee Anne Washington

Much of the public conversation about Iran and Israel focuses on strategy, politics, and military power. What if current events in Iran and Israel cannot be fully understood through those alone? What if there is also an older layer of meaning–shaped by ancient historical memory, civilizational symbolism, and the self-understanding of peoples whose roots reach deep into the ancient world? Question: What do Esther, Mordecai, Haman, and Cyrus the Great have to do with the current war? Join us as Rev. Lee Anne offers an additional perspective–not to simplify the present, but to deepen our understanding of it.

Awe Shucks
2026-03-29 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Scott Rudolph

There are many openings to the feeling of awe – experiencing the natural world, connecting with another person, or noticing a simple moment unfolding.
Life is always happening; we just have to remember to pay attention. Remembering what we already know is a spiritual practice.

Life Transformed: From Tomb to Womb
2026-04-05 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

This Easter, we gather in a season of profound change – changes reflected by the ancient stories of Inanna’s descent and Jesus’s transformation. While our transitions—through downsizing, career changes, or the loss of those we love—can feel like a radical stripping away, these stories suggest a deeper truth: our transitions are a sacred preparation for a new form of existence. Join us as we find hope in the “life after letting go” and discover how our darkest tombs can become the wombs of our most resilient possibilities.
