Speaker: Rev. Ted Tollefson

Worship Service Coordinator: Paul Thompson; Music: Anne Waltner

It is sometimes tempting to identify political conservatives with patriotism, but it’s dangerous fun. I will suggest ways that liberals and progressives can reclaim our patriotism by drawing a few lessons from American Founders. What principles can we claim to make love of our country and clear thinking mutually empowering?

Noon Workshop

Conversations across the Fence   Rev. Ted Tollefson  Noon – 1:30 pm.

Do you have friends, neighbors or family who keep voting’the wrong way’? Welcome to the club! I will be share five field-tested ways to deepen conversations with those whose politics and/or religious views differ from our own. We’ll test these strategies face-to-face and revise them accordingly. 

American founders and co-authors of the Declaration of Independence all had strong ties to American Unitarianism: Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson helped establish First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, PA, with Rev. Joseph Priestley as its minister. John and Abigail Adams are co-founders of the Unitarian Church in Braintree, MA. All were influenced by American Unitarianism and Deism.