Come Join Us

Welcome Visitors to the Unitarian Society of Hartford (USH)!

If you visit …

We hope you will visit us for a Sunday service! We'd like to welcome you, so do stop by the Welcome Table in the front lobby, where you can find information and support. It's best if you can arrive 10 or 15 minutes early, but if you don’t have time before the service, stop at the Welcome Table afterwards.

If you bring children …

Children are welcome to stay with you through the service or visit one of our Religious Education classes, the nursery or preschool. The Welcome Table volunteer can tell you the time and location of the appropriate class(es). If you prefer to have your children join the nursery or pre-school before the start of the service, take them directly to the nursery downstairs on arrival.

The opening of the service is a family time and children accompany their parents into the Sanctuary for the greeting and early hymn. If your children wish, they can join the other children for the “Time for All Ages” story on the chancel steps. During the musical interlude following the story, parents can accompany their children to the classrooms, if they wish to attend, and return for the rest of the service.

Our services …

These are about an hour in length. We invite our first or second time visitors to introduce themselves, but this is entirely voluntary. Since Unitarian Universalists experience the sacred with an array of spiritual expressions, we offer what we call a “Month of Sundays,” a cycle of services, repeated monthly, that allows our visitors, members and friends to experience both traditional and perhaps less familiar styles of worship. (Click A Month of Sundays for a full explanation of this cycle.) The offerings of our unique and talented musicians and choir raise the spirit of worship.

After the service …

We hope you will join us after the service for Coffee Hour downstairs in Fellowship Hall. You can ask questions and receive information at our downstairs Visitors Table.

Coffee hour is also a wonderful opportunity to meet our members and friends. We hope you will find a community that will be there for you, a place where somebody knows your name!

A welcome from our minister …

Our minister, Rev. Barbara Jamestone, Ph.D., or BJ as we all call her, extends a special note of welcome to you (click Letter of Welcome from BJ).

To learn more about Unitarian Universalism …

If you want to learn more about our Unitarian Universalist (UU) theology and history or are looking for ways to become more connected within our USH community, you will find information and brochures at the upstairs Welcome Table and the downstairs Visitors Table. You can also click Becoming Connected (PDF), which includes information about the bi-monthly series, Our Chosen Faith led by the Rev. Jamestone.

The Unitarian Society of Hartford is part of the larger Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). To learn more about our denomination, please visit the Visitors information on the (UUA) website. There you’ll find information targeted toward visitors, including a 10-minute video, “Voices of a Liberal Faith.”

Click these links to learn about Unitarian Principles and some famous members of the Unitarian faith. Most UU congregations have a tradition of lighting a flame in a chalice at the start of their Sunday services. To learn about the history of this tradition, visit Flaming Chalice.

Becoming involved …

There are many ways for newcomers to become involved in our UU community. If you’d like to be contacted, you can fill out the pink card, “Find your Connection at USH,” located on the back of the pews, and place it in the collection basket. We also have an Easy Starts list especially geared to newcomers. Easy Start activities are a great way to start becoming involved at USH in small ways. It is available downstairs at the Visitors Table during coffee hour or you can download a copy by clicking Easy Starts. More complete listings of USH activities can be found by clicking checklist of your interests or Many-Ways-to-Become-Involved (both PDFs). To learn more about membership in our Society, please click on Becoming a Member (PDF).

Why do people join? …

Just as we believe there are many paths to the truth, there are many reasons our members join USH. Read some member testimonials and “Why I Joined USH” essays below.

Join us for a service, perhaps for more. Explore our traditions, our people … explore yourself. As our opening words say, “Whoever you are, whomever you love ... whether you walked in on little feet or rolled in ... whatever your yesterday or your tomorrow, you are welcome.” Sundays are just the beginning.