Upcoming Sunday Services

    Sunday Services at begin at 10:30am and end around 11:45am. You can join us in person or on Zoom.


    In person,  at 67 South Randolph Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.


    On Zoom, using your computer, tablet or smartphone: https://zoom.us/j/327711271. On your phone, dial in at +1 646 558 8656. If asked, enter Meeting ID: 327 711 271.  The password is 12601.

    Upcoming Sunday Services

    • PROGRAM COMMITTEE

      The Program Committee is responsible for those Sunday Services  not conducted by a minister, approximately two Sundays a month. Our services can take many forms: guest ministers or speakers, panel discussions, multigenerational, musical, poetical, theatrical, meditative, experiential.  We hope to encrich, enliven and expand perspectives and spirits.


      We welcome  feedback and suggestions! Please feel free to contact us at  programs@uupok.org

    • SUMMER 2025

      Summer Sundays, a little more laid-back than "regular" Sundays, begin on July 6!

    • July 13, 2025: HOW CAN WE LIVE THE QUESTIONS? 

      Reverend Diane Diachishin

      Joe Cosentino, Worship Coordinator


      The notion of living the questions is really a way of thinking that becomes a way of seeing and moving through the world. The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, "Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language." This service will explore how each of us is shpaed as much as by the quality of the questions we are asking as by the answers we have it in us to give. It will focus on how our questions themsleves become powerful tools for living and growing.  



    • JULY 20, 2025: LIVING IN HARMONY: EASIER SUNG THAN DONE

      DAVID ROTH AND PAT WICTOR

      Pat Lamanna, Worship Coordinator

      Joined seasoned troubadours Pat Wictor and David Roth for a musical “conversation” about how we can live together more meaningfully in a world filled with complications - and differing opinions!

    • JULY 27, 2025: WHAT I BELIEVE (AT LEAST FOR NOW!)

      AMY STROM


      Two of our UU principles are "a free and responsible search for truth and meaning" and "acceptance of one another and encrouagement to spiritual growth in our congregations." Today we will do some exploration of our individual beliefs and how those beliefs have developed and changed in our lives - and will probably continue to change! After all, UU ccongregations are where we com eto have our answers questioned!


    • AUGUST 3, 2025: ALL THAT WE CARRY

      KATHY BOONE


      Inspired by the book "All That She Carried" by Tiya Miles, and by memories of her own mother, who would hve been 97 on August 10, Kathy will explore the nature of the things we "carry" with us - objects, memories, lessons, etc - and how we value and manage them. 


      Kathy has been a UUFP member since 2017. She’s served as VP and as a Board member several times. She’s currently active on the Caring Circke and Hospitality teams. During her 30 year career at IBM in Human Resources, she was a program/project manager for IT initiatives and corporate training. 


    • AUGUST 10, 2025: MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF DUTCHESS COUNTY

      ANDREW O'GRADY, CEO

      Mental Health America of Dutchess County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making sure nobody gets left behind in our community due to lack of mental health services.   We believe mental wellness benefits the whole community.

    • AUGUST 17, 2025

      Reverend Diane Diachishin

      Joe Cosentino, Worship Coordinator


    • AUGUST 24, 2025

      Paula Greenspan, Reed Asher, Bruce Epstein, Rachael Epstein


    • AUGUST 31, 2025: PETE SEEGER AND THE SEVEN VALUES

      PAT LAMANNA AND RICHARD MATTOCKS


    • SEPTEMBER'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: BUILDING BELONGING

      What matters is that should difference enter the world of beloved community, it can find a place of welcome, a place to belong.                                                                                                                                                                                      Bell Hooks

    • SEPTEMBER 7, 2025: BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT

      OUR INGATHERING WATER CEREMONY

      WITH NEW MEMBER WELCOMING

      Multigenerational Service


    • SEPTEMBER 14, 2025: 

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    • SEPTEMBER 21, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • SEPTEMBER 28, 2025: SPACE 2 MEDITATE

      JON AARON

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    • OCTOBER'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: CULTIVATING COMPASSION

      Compassion and empathy are not luxuries: they are necessities for human survival.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Dalai Lama


    • OCTOBER 5, 2025

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    • OCTOBER 12, 2025

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    • OCTOBER 19, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • OCTOBER 26, 2025: SAMHAIN

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    • NOVEMBER'S SOUL MATTERS THEME; NURTURING GRATITUDE

      This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one bfore.

                                                                                                                                Maya Angelou

    • NOVEMBER 2, 2025: HOPE ON A MISSION

      Cara Mia Bacchiochi


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    • NOVEMBER 9, 2025

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    • NOVEMBER 16, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN


    • NOVEMBER 23, 2025: THANKSGIVING BREAKFAST

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    • NOVEMBER 30, 2025

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    • DECEMBER'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: CHOOSING HOPE

      Once you choose hope, anything is possible.

                                                                               Christopher Reeve

    • DECEMBER 7, 2025

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    • DECEMBER 14, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • DECEMBER 21, 2025: SOLSTICE

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    • DECEMBER 24, 2025 (WEDNESDAY): CHRISTMAS EVE

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    • DECEMBER 28, 2025: THE THRESHOLD OF THE YEAR

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    • JANUARY'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: PRACTICING RESISTANCE

      Resistance is the first step to change.

                                                                                 Louise Hay

    • JANUARY 4, 2026

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    • JANUARY 11, 2026

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    • JANUARY 18, 2026: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • JANUARY 25, 2026

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    • FEBRUARY'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: EMBODYING RESILIENCE

      When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. 

                                                                                                                       Franklin D. Roosevelt

    • FEBRUARY 1, 2026: BRIGID/IMBOLC

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    • FEBRUARY 8, 2026

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    • FEBRUARY 15, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • FEBRUARY 22, 2026

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    • MARCH'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: PAYING ATTENTION

      The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

                                                                                                                                             Keanu Reeves

    • MARCH 1, 2026

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    • MARCH 8, 2026

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    • MARCH 15, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • MARCH 22, 2026

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    • MARCH 29, 2026

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    • APRIL'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: EMBRACING POSSIBILITY

      We should open ourselves to the impossible and embrace a psychology of possibility.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Ellen Langer

    • APRIL 5, 2026

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    • APRIL 12, 2026

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    • APRIL 19, 2026: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • APRIL 26, 2026

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    • MAY'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: AWAKENING CURIOSITY

      The whole art of teaching is only the arts of awakening the antural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Anatole France

    • MAY 3, 2026

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    • MAY 10, 2026

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    • MAY 17, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • MAY 24, 2026

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    • MAY 31, 2026

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    • JUNE'S SOUL MATTERS THEME: FLOURISHING TOGETHER

      Time, effort and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Jim Rohn

    • JUNE 7, 2026

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    • JUNE 14, 2026

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    • JUNE 21, 2025: REVEREND DIANE DIACHISHIN

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    • JUNE 28, 2026

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    What to Expect on Sunday Mornings

    During the pandemic, we met exclusively on Zoom. Since we resumed meeting in-person, our services have been hybrid, with some of us in person and some on Zoom. Very occasionally, due to weather or other events, we meet just on Zoom, but we try to let people know as soon as possible when that is going to happen.


    Sunday services typically include opening words, welcome & announcements, the chalice lighting, an opening song, "Words For All Ages," the singing of the children to their classes, the sharing of joys & concerns, the passing of the collection plate (accompanied by a hymn), the sermon or activity, an opportunity for congregational reflection, a closing song, and closing words.


    On two Sundays a month, children and youth stay in the sanctuary for the first twenty minutes of the service. "Words for All Ages," usually in the form of a story, often told by the Minister, concludes their time in the sanctuary, and they are then released to go to Sunday School. Once or twice a month, there will be a multi- generational service when the children and youth remain in the room and we all worship together.

     

    From time to time, we actually have an activity and even make things during a service. These services are a real opportunity to engage with the world around us in a tangible way, whether it is making meals for those experiencing food insecurity, connecting with the environment more directly. Such services also serve to forge interpersonal bonds between congregants. Below is a photograph of birds happily feasting on all-natural bird feeders made during our March 17, 2024 service, A Host of Sparrows. 


    Following the worship service is the Fellowship Hour, a social hour during which refreshments, including Fair Trade coffee and tea, are served. On the third Sunday of every month, we also host Third Sunday Lunch. Every other month, this lunch takes place at a local restaurant, while on the other Sundays it's pot-luck or something simple at the Fellowship. 

    Hospitality Hour

    Since 2002, we have been participating in the Interfaith Program of a very special fair trade coffee company called Equal Exchange. It is the only coffee we serve during  hospitality hour following the Sunday service.


    Equal Exchange is a for-profit Fairtrade worker-owned, cooperative headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange distributes organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Founded in 1986, it is the oldest and largest Fair Trade coffee company in the United States. Dedicated to concepts of economic justice, the highest paid employee of Equal Exchange may not make more than four times what the lowest paid employee receives.


    Essentially, Equal Exchange brings together the producer and the consumer in an equitable and meaningful way. The middleman (in the case of coffee, called Coyotes), and establishes a more direct connection between the producer and consumer.