Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown
When Ruby Wiles speaks to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown (UUCJ) on Sunday, November 19, she will describe “The Transformative Power of Gratitude.”
For the week of Thanksgiving, Wiles will share, “How gratitude can change you and the world, and why I believe the generation that lived through the great depression may have been our greatest generation.”
In 2017, Wiles received the UUCJ Richard T. Parker Award for Social Justice for her work in founding and directing Free Books for Kids Town. This organization has provided thousands of free books to children in Warren County, Pennsylvania. Inspired by her passion to encourage kids’ reading by having books that belong to them, the church’s Social Justice Committee gives books to Jamestown’s Fletcher Elementary School kindergarteners and has two free book boxes in their front yard.
Wiles graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, interned at Community of Christ in Washington, D.C., while a student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, and completed work in Clinical Pastoral Education at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her first call at a two-point parish in North Dakota was followed by 12 years at Calvary Lutheran Church in the Bronx. Returning to her roots in rural Pennsylvania, she served Tabor Lutheran Church in Kane before founding Free Books for Kids Town in 2013.
Pianist Julie Anderson provides the music for the service.
Participation can be in person at 1255 Prendergast Avenue in Jamestown or online. To join virtually, use the link at UUJamestown.org/calendar.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown is a progressive, liberal religious community serving the southern tier of Western New York and Warren County, Pa. The UUCJ’s mission is to support and celebrate each other, encourage spiritual and individual growth, and serve the wider community.
Learn more about the UUCJ at UUJamestown.org or on their Facebook page facebook.com/JamestownUU.
