Reverend Suzanne Rude is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister. As a member of this church, she has served on the UU Board of Trustees and as President of the Greater Concord Interfaith Council. She is a 2017 graduate of the Concord Chamber of Commerce’s “Leadership Greater Concord” program.
Spiritually, Suzanne is interested in promoting interfaith understanding and in supporting the use of spiritual practices to enhance well-being and resilience.
Whether it’s fasting or feasting; vegetarianism or veganism; holy cows or hog heaven; or even how a UU minister kept the story of Johnny Appleseed alive: we will explore how homegrown faith and belief systems have produced a myriad of American foods and how those traditions offer insights and guidance for our own personal and … Continue reading Food and Faith
British cosmologist Stephen Hawking said that artificial intelligence is “likely to be the best or the worst thing that can happen to humanity.” What do we need to know about being human and staying human in the age of artificial intelligence? With opening words composed by ChatGPT, a non-human chatbot, we will reflect on what … Continue reading The Most Human Human
Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, American biochemist Jennifer Doudna and other modern-day achievers, both famous and more obscure, started with big, bold dreams. Dreams that seemed unlikely, difficult, and perhaps even impossible. Yet, they persisted. They envisioned success, devised intentional plans, and set to work. How can we be inspired by their stories to reach beyond … Continue reading The Impossible Dream: Making the Impossible Possible
Join us in person, or by Live Stream. How can we bring meaning and purpose into our lives and our world? We will uncover how the Yoruba spiritual tradition from Africa and our own UU tradition can help us identify our signature song and assist us on a path of bringing a higher purpose into … Continue reading Our Purpose, Our Song
Online Only The prophet Micah in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament is revered within Islam, Judaism and Christianity. A rural farmer who lived in the 8th century B.C.E., Micah offered lessons of hope in times of secular and religious turmoil. What inspiration can we draw from the wisdom of Micah for our … Continue reading Do Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly.
How are special things celebrated in the secular and sacred realm? How does the scientific interact with the spiritual? The game of chess and Richard Feynman; enlightenment and entanglement; insight and revelation will be explored as we look at the fourth UU principle: the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Whether you are … Continue reading The Majesty and the Mystery
The Sufi mystic Rumi wrote: “Out of kindness comes this world and certain arrangements of stars. With just the right conjunction, you appear. One drop of your kindness makes the ocean sweet.” This service will explore what we can learn about promoting kindness in our own “ocean” from Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister and the … Continue reading Out of Kindness
As humans, the struggles in our lives can leave physical, emotional or spiritual wounds that need mending. Our resilience can be enhanced when we accept that all of us have been broken in some ways, and that the history of our healing adds to our uniqueness. In this service, we will explore artistic styles throughout … Continue reading Strong at the Broken Places: The Art of Mending
