Gary Chapman believes that there are 5 love languages: Words of affirmation, quality time, receiving of gifts, acts of service and physical touch. Each of us has one or two ways that we prefer to be “loved” and there are ways that our loved ones prefer it too. And each of these types of love…

There are all kinds of power in the world – there is influence or authority. Those are types of personal and corporate power. And then there is the “higher” power, aka God which is a kind of omniscient power. The month we are going to be exploring all types of power – personal, corporate and…

Recently the OCUUC Board decided to ask themselves and the church about “what does the church mean to me?” Each board member has been coming up with their own vision statement about the church and what it means to them. It’s been wonderful to hear these visions statements and we are going to be sharing…

I love that our worship theme for November is “Faith.” Because we are about to take a leap of faith! Last Spring, your president, Don Martin, and I held a series of townhall meetings to discuss what to do about our space for worship. You see, we are between a rock and a hard place.…

On my first Sunday back in the pulpit preaching, afterwards a kind congregant came up to me and said “We missed you!” I grinned back, “Thanks!.” Tom L., one of our long time congregants, saw my grin, leaned toward me and whispered, “Doesn’t that feel nice?” Oh yah it does! It’s nice to be missed.…

So in one month, I’ll be going on sabbatical. I’m looking forward, as I’m sure you can imagine, to days of sleeping in and rejuvenating. But I’m also looking forward to exploring ideas, arts and knowledge that I never have time for during my current busy days. In June I’ll be heading to my normal…

Salvation is not a word I like, I have to admit. I generally don’t mind Christian theological concepts, but this one makes me twitch. It’s the worship theme this month and so I’m squirming a bit. Salvation, from a liberal theological standpoint, is often described as “wholeness.” But I think that’s a bit of a…

What will you do with your one wild and precious life? ~ Mary Oliver Our congregation is in the middle of dreaming big dreams! What will we do with this one wild and precious church? What a fun question to ponder. There is such wonderful energy on Sunday mornings – our “pews” are packed with…

As many of you are aware, your President, Don Martin, and I have started a series of conversations to look at our future, in particular the future of our church campus. Not only are we busting at the seams on Sunday morning, but we also don’t want to rest on our laurels. We’ve accomplished a…