Ralph Waldo Emerson once called William Ellery Channing, the “father” of Unitarianism in America, a public conscience. As someone who was excluded from — actually thrown out of — the Congregational Church, he was always framing ethics and morality in terms of inclusion. Who, he asked, in his own way, was being left out?
The first Sunday of each month is Food Sunday, when we collect non-perishable and personal toiletries for members of our community who are in need. This month’s collection goes to the Food Pantry at Old South Church in Kirtland — appropriately a Congregational Church!