The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick is letting its light shine by illuminating the corner façade of its building, located at the corner of Middle and Pleasant streets in Brunswick, on two upcoming weekends. Both focus on increasing peace and justice in the community and reflect the church’s earnest efforts to work together with people of all faiths or no faith who likewise want to positively shape our world.

On the weekend of June 3-4, the church will be lit in orange in observation of Wear Orange Weekend (wearorange.org), which honors survivors of gun violence. Along with other houses of worship, including the National Cathedral in Washington, the spiritual community of UUCB honors National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the lives of over 100,000 Americans killed or injured in the United States each year by gun violence. The effects of gun violence are felt much more broadly, of course, from those who have lost loved ones to those of us whose daily lives are impacted by rising fear of mass shootings. The most vulnerable in our communities — those marginalized by race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, immigration status, poverty, etc. — are disproportionately impacted. UUCB will illuminate a portion of its exterior in orange to express our deep sorrow at the epidemic of violence plaguing our nation and to amplify our commitment to peace, love and nonviolence.

The following weekend, June 10-11, the church will be lit in rainbow colors to honor the second annual Brunswick Pride Festival. UUCB has been an officially welcoming congregation since 2006. UUCB will join with other congregations in our area at a joint Pride Festival booth called “Queer Spirit” on Saturday, June 10, from noon to 5 p.m. on the Brunswick Mall.