Read the Order of service. When I was a kid, two of my favorite possessions were a copy of The Whole Earth Catalog and Baba Ram Dass’s book Be Here Now, admittedly a pretty trippy book that has been called a “countercultural bible,” and a “seminal” text for the 1970s hippie culture.  And while it’s three-word title is now quite common […]

Read the Order of service. This month we have said that we are “a community of story.”  On this Sunday after Thanksgiving, many of us no doubt have stories to tell – stories from this year, and stories of years gone by; stories that evoke laughter, and those that bring out tears.  Today we will have […]

Read the Order of Service. The image of “the welcome table” has been fully embraced in religious metaphor, but if its fruits can be seen nearly everywhere, it is important to remember that its roots are in slavery.  Enslaved African Americans sung about a “welcome table” at which they would one day be free to […]

Rev. Alex McGee and Worship Weaver Cypress Walker will help us reflect on how the “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  This quote is based on the theology of Unitarian leader Theodore Parker (1810-1860).  Come share in comforting songs and stories.  [Note:   this will be a Social Action […]

It begins with a stoning and it ends with a stoning, and in between there are some important teachings about truth and judgement, and there’s one big challenge.  That’s my 15-second synopsis of the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John, the passage my friend, and your pastor, suggested that each of us preach from this […]

Mainstream American culture acts as if everything important happened today, or will happen in the near future, like a car driving down the highway with no rearview mirror.  Yet the majority of other world cultures know that our past is intimately intertwined with the present.  Día de los Muertos, and festivals like it, are a […]

As the United Nations works for human rights, how does our faith intersect to call us to action?  As October 24 is United Nations Day, and the Unitarian Universalist Association has an office at the United Nations, we will reflect on healing through policy change. [Note:  Rev. Alex McGee will be preaching.] Theme Question:  What […]

Read the Order of service. In 2007 the Unitarian Universalist Association began a national marketing campaign which had as its tagline:  “Nurture your spirit; help heal the world.”  This might sound like a grandiose objective, were it not for that first word, “help …”  When we set our goal as helping to heal the world we […]

Read the Order of Service. Am I in the right sanctuary?  I can see that some of you’re wondering.  Isn’t this a Unitarian Universalistcongregation?  What’s all this talk about “repentance” and “sin” and “God”?  In some religious traditions you don’t talk openly about sex, for instance, or social justice.  In ours …? Yet we know – or […]

Read the Order of service. Most of us take a lot of care to keep our most wounded, most vulnerable parts of ourselves as out of sight as possible.  We want to show the world our strengths, not our weaknesses.  Yet all deep spiritualties agree that our woundedness is, paradoxically, our greatest strength.  Can our wounds […]