Water Communion
Traditionally, congregants bring a small amount of water from a special place. During the appointed time during the service, each person pours the water into a communal vessel and tells why this water is special to them. Due to the challenges of Covid-19, we will be guided through a virtual sharing and the symbolic blending of our faith coming from many different sources.
Better Angels of Our Nature
Moving together through these challenging times, we find ourselves, perhaps on a daily basis, reassessing our priorities.On this particular Labor Day weekend, I want to pay homage to our foremost job as an American people: building a land of liberty and justice for all. As our 22-year-old granddaughter, teaching ESL in South Korea, puts it: “2020 will be the year that we woke up?” So might it be!
What Matters
Moving together through these challenging times, we find ourselves, perhaps on a daily basis, reassessing our priorities.
Truthiness!
Defined as “the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without ignorant assertions of falsehoods to deliberate duplicity or propaganda intended to sway opinions.” This could not be further from our 4th Unitarian Universalist Principle that “We covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” I promise I will not try to trick you with “Fake News” or “Alternative Facts” this…
Joyful Noise
The Music Ministries presented a worship service on the topic of singing. Hear from congregants about the relationship of singing, experience lots of songs about singing, and hopefully, you will open the door to your own singing, just a little bit wider than before.
Spirit Says Do!
Spirituality, by my lights, is defined by our relationships; with ourselves, our communities and with that “Something Larger Than Ourselves,” however we define this: God, Goddess, Nature, the Community, the Cosmos. Our 3rd UU Principle is that we covenant to affirm and promote the “Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations,” which lines up perfectly with our progressive values, our inclusiveness and how we engage with the world.
I Can’t Breathe — When Wading in the Water Isn’t Enough
We are at a tumultuous time in our nation—our world. So many of us wonder, is there hope? If so, where? Let us come together to search for the answers in the spirit of community and love.
Just Us
We covenant to affirm and promote Justice, Equity and Compassion in human relations. One might ask, “Justice for whom?” This would be another difference from some, as our work for justice is for “just us,” … all of us, even for those with whom we might disagree. Difficult at times, but for us, essential
What Would Love Do?
We are living in trying, even dangerous times and hate crime has sky-rocketed in the past months. As we cope with this new reality and with all the restrictions of COVID 19, how can we make a positive difference? There is only one constructive response to difficult times, hatred, and restrictions and that is love. Today’s service invites us to ask “what would love do” as we work to build a brighter tomorrow.
In Here
Our First Principle in Unitarian Universalism is, “We covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” Together let’s take a look at what this means for us as individuals and a faith community. Please give some thought to whether this Principle offers you either comfort or is a challenge or affects you in any other way.
What is Your Gift?
Jacque Nunez returned to our congregation to share lessons from her Acjachemen tribe. (Our church sits on Acjachemen land.) She shared stories, songs, and a homily about the yucca, an important plant native to our area. The yucca threads contain the best of who we are and our gifts. Collectively with other community threads, we can weave a beautiful vessel to serve: a basket.
Principled
What do Unitarian Universalists believe? This sermon explores the history of how our Principles came to be, how we understand them, how we may apply them to our lives and perhaps make it easier to answer our question!