[Hmmm.. why is it an American but a Unitarian?]
The Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Paris is a hardy group. Boasting a core membership of permanent residents (or close to it), the Fellowship welcomes those who, like us, find themselves here for a shorter stay, or one of indeterminate length.
Virtually everyone is an expat. There are some French spouses of American expats, to be sure, but from undergraduates studying abroad to faculty families and others here on business of one kind or another, it’s mostly a question of “Where are you from?” with the answer of “Somewhere in the States.” A nice geographical mix, however – there are people from the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, California, really all over. Just all over America.
As a Fellowship, this group relies on its membership to stay afloat and do practically everything. A guest speaker delivers the sermon at each of the monthly services, which are held in a lovely (protestant) church building not far from the Bastille. The UUs take over after the “others” have finished worshipping. There are the paid staff – the organist and the baby sitter. Everything else – flower arranging, photocopying, newsletter, book group, moving of chairs and tables, etc. – is done by the congregation. There’s a charming informality about this kind of group, and the dedication of the ongoing membership is noteworthy.
The services include a chalice lighting (the Fellowship chalice, designed by one of the members, looks a bit like the Eiffel Tower), group singing of hymns, the sharing of joys and concerns, a children’s story, offering, sermon, announcements… the whole bit. There’s a bit less time for personal reflection or prayer than there might be, but the spirit of this fellowship speaks to my old UU soul. It’s good to sing together, to be invited to share a sacred time together, to associate with others who choose to associate in a faith community like this one. I’m sorry we’re only called to worship once a month!
We’ve been to all three services this fall, and have felt welcome and welcomed each time. I contributed some banana bread to the October fellowship hour (the snacks are rather substantial, since everyone is hungry at 1:30 when the service wraps up!). Sunday’s service was followed by a lovely and delicious Thanksgiving dinner – we all chipped in for the turkeys, and had a pot luck for the rest of the meal. It’s the first Thanksgiving at which I’ve enjoyed a cheese course! And of course, the wine was delicious. One diner was bemoaning the lack of gravy available, since the turkeys were cooked on a rotisserie, but that was the only complaint I heard. We had both pumpkin and pecan pie -- miam! miam! (That's French for yum! yum!)
Meredith (surprise!) loves going to church, where she can play with some different kids and do some arts and crafts, or just scribble. There are a couple of other young children, a few school-age kids, and a nice size youth group that has attracted some French teenagers as well as the aforementioned expat community.
The Paris fellowship is well connected in the UU European Union, and a good number of “us” attended the fall UUEU retreat in Germany. The reviews were uniformly positive, leading us to consider attending the spring retreat, which will be held in Belgium at the end of April.
Next month, after the service, the fellowship will sponsor a Holiday Bazaar. Perhaps we’ll do a bit of Christmas shopping there! In the mean time, we’ll reflect on the November gathering and make room in our busy calendar for the December service.
No comments:
Post a Comment