Unity Church-Unitarian Sunday Services Podcast: Recent Episodes
Unity Church-Unitarian in Saint Paul, MN
Come explore the prophetic and pastoral wisdom of the Harm Reduction Movement. We are in a societal crisis, when whole groups of people are redacted and fractured, reduced to behaviors and pathologies, and subsequently dehumanized. Harm Reduction theology is rooted in compassion, seeking people out, meeting them where they are, and inviting them into beloved community.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection written by Worship Associate Mary Pickard and read by Worship Associate Estelle Brouwer. It continues with a sermon by Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.
Political grief reflects the sorrow, pain and disruption experienced by individuals, families and communities when faced with loss or change due to political actions, events, policies and ideologies. It manifests itself in various forms, from personal feelings of despair and injustice to collective mourning observed during protests or commemorative events.
This sermon begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.
Near the end of the sermon, Rev. Shay has the congregation listen to The Star Spangled Banner arranged by Chase Holfelder. Due to copyright we cannot include it with this podcast.
This podcast begins with a refelction from Worship Associate Raffie Parke and continues with a sermon by Rev. Andrea Anastos.
What does it mean to transform ourselves or our ways of being? What factors support such complete change from one thing to another? These are questions that have fueled spiritual seeking, activism, institutions and our own personal lives. Everyone who has tried to change a deeply held habit will know there's more to changemaking and transformation than making a simple decision. Come explore the ways of change, the realities of life and our practice of evolution and growth.
Dan Hotchkiss reminds us that churches are transformational institutions. As we reflect on the church year in Saint Paul, what are the ways participation in Unity Church has changed us, and how has the church itself been transformed?
This service begins with a reflection by Worship Asssociate Betsy Hearn, continues with a story by Rev. Karen Hering, and ends with a sermon by Rev. Shay MacKay.
How do we leave well when it's time to say goodbye? Life is filled with transitions, and not all of them give us the closure we need. Sometimes goodbyes are rushed or incomplete, leaving us to gather the quiet pieces of grief left behind. As I offer my final service at Unity Church, I feel called to honor this moment with intention and grace. Together, we will create space for reflection, gratitude, and love that continues beyond parting. Come ready to see differently.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
Amid unraveling certainties and cascading crises, we witness the hollow grammar of innocence coming undone all around us. Euphemisms that anesthetize harm, official scripts that avoid responsibility, curated speech that protects us from truth and obstructs change. Yet within that collapse, the Spirit stirs, teaching the church to speech that opens memory, expands imagination, dissolves borders, and draws different people into a belonging and intimacy we once feared. Pentecost is the refusal to speak a world alone, insisting upon a new beginning born from speaking a world together. Come ready to see differently.
This podcast begins with a reading of The Acts of the Apostles 2:1-12 , continues with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker, and finishes with a sermon by Rev. KP Hong.
Unity's annual Flower Ceremony was developed over a century ago by Unitarians in Prague who created a ritual to affirm the beauty and diversity of community in a time of rising authoritarianism and fear. As we find ourselves in a world that feels hauntingly similar, let us celebrate the traditions that remind us we are in this together, believing in mutual flourishing and universal belonging.
This podcast is a reflection offered by Rev. Shay MacKay, Rev. KP Hong, Amy Brunell, Laura Park, and Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.
Who, or what, determines belonging? On Mother's Day, we'll talk about what it means to be claimed by another person, a family, or a faith. In a place where all of who we are is welcome, how do we call ourselves to bring our best selves?
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.
Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature yearlong journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith or credo. Coming of Age gives us a glimpse of what is to come: a Unitarian Universalism that continues to embrace our vision of a community based not on shared beliefs, but a commitment to each other, and what we can do together.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Drew Danielson, Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministries.
What if the most radical spiritual act is looking closer? Religious Naturalism is a faith practice that finds the sacred not beyond the natural world but entwined into the very core of it. It is the practice of interdependence. When we ground ourselves to look closely at what is actually real, something unexpected happens — call it reverence, call it wonder, call it joy. Come ready to see differently.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Charlie Caswell.
Are we a faith of believers or skeptics? Do our joyful visions depend on what we know to be true or on what we hope to be true? Join this conversation about doubt (and faith).
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Anna Newton.
Jesus, in at least one version of the Easter story, died a human being and came back as a community. One vision of resurrection, in our tradition, is a community in which all of us are needed, gathered in a beloved community of mutual care and thriving. As the ice melts and spring comes, what comes next for this place?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.
In the Christian tradition, the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, marks a celebration of Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem, a moment when power and meaning were inverted. The power of the day existed, not with a political establishment or temple, but with a community gathered and proclaiming that a better world was possible. One where all of us are included.
This podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
Let's talk about speculative fiction! When can pop culture and escapism inspire us and when does it offer only empty promises of relief and fulfillment?
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.
Choosing to be alone is different from loneliness. Sometimes even in the midst of people, I feel a sense of loneliness. It often surprises me. I like spending time alone, but that is a choice I can make rather than feeling like I'm all alone. Many people at this moment feel all alone. Perhaps modernity has separated us even more? What is our call as Unitarian Universalists to respond to this feeling of loneliness? Let us worship and consider further.
This podcast begins with a refelction from Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.
Liz Slade, the leader of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in the UK, writes about finding a "god shaped hole" in her life, and finding her way to a church that did not ask her to fill it with anything she did not believe. We know people come to church looking for something, but how do we understand the hunger that brings people here?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection and reading from Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.
In 2023, Unitarian Universalists decided to describe ourselves as a faith movement with love at the center. This Sunday, join members of Unity's ministry team in conversation as we consider how, three years after that decision, we understand love as an expression of our theology?
This sermon is a series of reflections in order: Rev. Shay MacKay, Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn, Hallman Ministerial Intern Amy Brunell, Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.
"In the fullness of time, even the devil will be redeemed." Our Universalist ancestors preached that love was the most powerful force in the world — that God's love for humanity transcended and triumphed over any human capacity for wrong. How does this heritage find expression today, as we confront the brokenness around us with love?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Betsy Hearn.
Join Rev. Shay and Dick Buggs for reflection on their personal experiences of sharing love — one conversation, one person, one moment at a time.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
Is "evangelize" the most dangerous word in our themes this year? How do we grapple with it as Unitarians? Or is the danger hiding in plain sight, when we consider what is asked of us when we show up in love, in the world.
At pivotal moments in life, when change is no longer optional, we are confronted with a profound question: How do we find the courage to step into a new way of being? Let's explore the threshold moments when we choose to move toward transformation rather than retreat from it —allowing ourselves to be broken open, and forever changed.
Love breaks us open, not always in a single supernatural moment, but in a slow accretion of changes. When we love, we loosen our grip on the self; what is good becomes more than just what is good for me. In love, we become the best versions of ourselves, together. Make a donation to our Sunday offering in support of The Jeremiah Program.
"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." C. S. Lewis's A Grief Observed, is a firsthand account of the months after his spouse's death. In it, the 20th century theologian grapples with what it means to feel truly lost, unable to depend on the beliefs and certainties that shaped his life. Moments of grief change us, creating a dividing line in our stories between the time before, and the time after loss.
Sorrow endures for the night but joy comes with the dawn, writes the psalmist. Moments of joy, whether quiet moments over a cup of coffee, or life changing moments like the birth of a child, can open us to new experience and leave us transformed. As we begin a new year in an icy season, how can we cultivate our capacity for transformation?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker
This sermon podcast will consider how to cultivate faith to move forward into the new year and begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Anna Newton.
This sermon podcast, reflecting on what it means to tell, and retell a story over generations, begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
"Roses love garlic." Gardens abound with stories of different plants that grow together, sometimes unexpectedly. Polyculture, or companion planting, uses that diversity to create more resilient, beautiful garden beds. The same might be true for our churches: rather than a monoculture of a single creed, Unitarian Universalists plant our diverse faiths side by side, and in doing so cultivate wild and resilient communities.
Without hope, how can we authentically evangelize love? Hope, however fragile, can sustain us. It anchors our conviction and guides our commitment to serve with faith, compassion, and resilience.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker and is followed by a sermon by Hallman Ministerial Intern Amy Brunell.
What do you do when the life you had imagined for yourself is stuck in committee? Join us for the story of the Unitarian Universalist Hysterical Society… The practical joke that accidentally turned into a 300 thousand person Unitarian Universalist community on Facebook. It's a story of feeling lost, finding yourself, and UUism-outside-the-box.
Taking inspiration from the beautiful writings of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician, writer and academic — join Shay in exploring how water can inspire new ways of thinking about relationships, promoting a "vision of relationality that transcends traditional boundaries."
Unity's new ends statements call us to "understand the interconnected roots of oppression." What tools do we have to see the complexity of interconnected, intersectional oppression, and how do we begin to dismantle it in our congregation and the broader world?
This service begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Carol Mahnke.
Join us for Unity's annual service of remembrance for the members of our community who have passed away in the last year. As we gather near the traditional observance of All Souls Day, we remember the stories of those who have gone before, and how they are intertwined with our own. Everyone will be invited to light a candle for someone they loved and lost in 2025.
Yoking is not a solo endeavor. To be yoked is to be joined in a team, each pulling together in a common effort. Community organizing teaches us the power of organized people, each giving up some level of autonomy in order to effect change together. How do we navigate our Unitarian Universalist tradition's emphasis on individual conscience with the need for collective action in these times?
Building on the work of Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, how can we possibly yoke ourselves to joy in times like these? What happens when we let our grief for a broken world direct the plow? Resiliency and creativity are not only tools of the joyful, but are also honed by what we've lost.
For the last several years, Unity's Board of Trustees has been considering the work of reparations as a moral imperative, partnering with the Saint Paul Reparations Commission and other activists in the community to imagine how the church can engage in work to address historic harms. This Sunday we’ll consider where that work has led us, and what might come next.
This service begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.
On Celebration Sunday we begin Unity's annual pledge drive with a reflection on joy. What does it mean to choose to be yoked to joy, to commit ourselves to institutions and ways of being in the world that call us to deeper meaning, rather than transient happiness?
This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.
This Sunday we welcome Unity's 2025 Hallman Ministerial Intern, Amy Brunell, to the pulpit.
The podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
What toll does it take on our souls when words are used against us? What grief cripples us, stops us from letting go of, or reclaiming, dangerous words? Only in naming, in dialogue with, in expression of our grief and hurt and anger can we fully embrace the power our words have in the world – and freely learn to (again) to use dangerous words.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Anna Newton.
2025 is a dangerous time in the world. When the foundations of so many of institutions and assumptions shake, we embrace the power of words to heal, as well as to harm. Even as we recognize the danger in language used to hurt, we use our own dangerous language to imagine a different way of being.
This service begins with a reflection by worship associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.
We begin our congregational year joined by representatives from our partner church in Homoródszentpéter. Together we reflect on the long journey from our first meetings to now, and look forward to what comes next in our friendship.
This podcast begins with a reflection by Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair and is followed by a refelction from Rev. Kinga Réka Székely, the minister of Unity's partner church in Homoródszentpéter.
A hot cup of coffee. A firm handshake. A sincere conversation. As we continue to wade in the waters of polarization and binaries, the temptation to let our differences keep us apart is strong. Yet our Unitarian Universalist roots ask us to continue rethinking and reimagining what Beloved Community can and should look like. Could being foolishly vulnerable and honest with each other provide us with a key to a different world?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Nelson Moroukian.
In the last of our series on membership at Unity Church, we consider our work beyond the congregation, as we ask each other to “let the compassion that rises from doing your work within and among lead you to bless the world.” In this anxious age, what does it mean to be a blessing?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.
The second expectation of membership at Unity Church is that our members will “develop the skills of small group intimacy that let you go deep quickly with strangers.” Among this community, the skills of connection deepen our ties and begin to connect our personal practices and lives with the broader world.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.
Members of Unity Church are asked to “develop a personal practice that helps you find and keep your balance.” What is it about practice that improves balance? Is there value to these practices outside of an instrumental result? How does personal practice set up the rest of our lives together as a community?
What does it mean to be Unitarian Universalist in this moment? In an anxious age, it is not sufficient for us to retreat from the world into intellectual contemplation. Instead, our faith calls us to engage, fully, with our souls, each other, and the world around us.
Alana Howey | Anna Newton | Lisa Burke Unity's Act for the Earth Community Outreach Ministry Team With chaos all around us, action grounded in spiritual practice can help us move forward. Anna Newton, Alana Howey, and Lisa Burke, members of Unity’s Act for the Earth Team, will share their approach to this work.
This service begins with a reflection by Anna Newton which is followed by a collage of voices from members of Unity's Act for the Earth Team, and concludes with a refelction by Lisa Burke.
The question we need to be asking in our justice efforts is what are we building together, not what are we doing. Weaving relationships, growing capacity, grounding in our values — these are what build power and make a difference over the long-haul of change. Rev. Terri Burnor (she/her) is
Executive Director of MUUSJA (the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance). She also serves the St. Croix Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Wisconsin as their quarter-time minister and has been a member at Unity Church since 2005. Terri is a lifelong Minnesotan who lives in St. Paul with her spouse, Brian, and their two dogs, Marvin and Betty.
As the world around us changes at a rapid and discouraging pace, how do we keep ourselves grounded and continue to build resilience for the years ahead? What practices both spiritual and otherwise do we need to establish and maintain in order to continue to live lives of integrity, service, and joy?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.
Most summer Sundays, Peggy Lin can be found at "dirt church": digging around in the dirt in her home gardens. Called two winters ago by Act for the Earth to overwinter pollinator perennials, she hasn't looked back. This Sunday, she'll reflect on the spiritual practice of noticing what you notice and how that practice can shape your religious journey at Unity Church.
It is no secret that mainline churches are rapidly losing members. In fact, research shows that, religiously speaking, the only category where there is growth is among the "Nones" — those who have no church affiliation and don't want one. Yet Unity Church–Unitarian is growing. What are we doing that is different? What are we offering that people want to join with us?
This sermon podcast from Rev. George Anastos begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Chris Russert.
This sermon podcast is a reflection on Father's Day through a series of stories by Worship Leader Ari Giles and Worship Associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.
At Rev. Lara Cowtan’s final worship service as Unity Church’s Minister of Congregational Care, we gather to reflect on her ministry in Saint Paul, to celebrate community and care, and to practice opening to what comes next.
View the whole service on Unity's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/Cf2KCcHW0qk?si=vDNdJG5fIHqX3IlY
Meg Riley serves as co-moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Chief Governance Officer of the Association. Come hear how the practice of improv has shaped her service, and become a spiritual practice.
Watch the full service on our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/live/_RmTQBA4-GE
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.
Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer, as school graduations start and Unity Church moves to a single service on Sunday mornings. This morning we’ll explore the holiday’s origins as Decoration Day, a ritual of remembrance created in the aftermath of the American Civil War.
Complete Sunday services are on Unity's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@unitychurchunitarian
This podcast begins a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs, continues with excertps from Unity's All Our Fullness project, and concludes with a homily from Rev. Oscar.
Unity’s annual Flower Ceremony was developed over a century ago by Unitarians in Prague, who created a ritual to affirm the beauty and diversity of community in a time of rising authoritarianism and fear. At Unity Church, we aspire to know each other "in all our fullness," seeing the beauty and complexity of each individual and our community.
Complete Sunday services are on Unity's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@unitychurchunitarian
This podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez. The sermon is delivered by Rev. Lara Cowtan.
The promotion of gender equality was woven into the fabric of the United Nations from its beginning in 1946 with the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s and girls' rights, documenting the reality of their lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. How are we doing, as a society, as a community, as individuals, as we try to live into the values and future our foremothers dreamed of?
Complete Sunday services are on Unity's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@unitychurchunitarian
Arthur Foote Music Sunday will include selections by Francisco Guerrero, Osvaldo Golijov, Ernani Aguiar, Johann Sebastian Bach, Craig Hella Johnson, Abbie Betinis, and Alysia Lee. To hear the music please visit our YouTube channel. This podcast is the reflection offered by worship associate Lorelee Wederstrom.
Complete Sunday services are on Unity's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@unitychurchunitarian
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Nelson Moroukian, Unity's Religious Education Program Assistant, and excerpts of the credos of Unity's Coming of Age class of 2025 read by Coming of Age Facilitators Claire Cooke, Stu Alger, and Kelley Loughrey. The sermon is delivered by Rev. KP Hong, Minister of Faith Formation.
Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature yearlong journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith or credo.
Complete Sunday services are on Unity's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@unitychurchunitarian
This sermon podcast begins with A Story for All Ages by Rev. KP Hong, continues with a reflection offered by worship associate Ari Giles, and ends with a sermon by Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.
Wendell Berry writes:
Expect the end of the world.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts… practice resurrection.
On Easter Sunday, how do we practice joy, not despite but in the midst of heartbreak?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Charlie Caswell.
Unitarian Universalist ministry is "called out from among" the membership of our congregations. Our tradition celebrates shared ministry, and we recognize and commission a whole range of ministries, from newly installed ministers to groups of volunteers doing the work of the church every day. This Sunday we join in a celebration of that shared ministry.
This week's sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Betsy Hearn, which is followed by a guided meditation led by Rev. Oscar.
Grounding ourselves in embodied spiritual practices in order to find our balance, heal and engage with the world has long been a role of religious community. Once central to Christian self-understanding and spiritual expression, our bodies have been relegated to an inferior position relative to intellect and reason. What is a spirituality of embodiment? What reflections in theological anthropology might explain the absence of the body in modernity and a lot of Western Christianity? Moving forward, what practices can we adopt that help foster embodied activities as tools for spiritual formation and spiritual practices?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton.
Courage, to Aristotle, is a virtue located between two vices: cowardice and recklessness. In times that call for great courage, but also great discernment, how do we chart a course between obstacles, and in doing so live courageously?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Chris Russert.
On the precipice of World War II, a time when most Americans were turning a blind eye to the growing social injustice and totalitarian threat in Europe, the Unitarian Universalist Association — alerted to the dire situation by their fellow congregation in Prague — was committed to saving as many people as possible. The story of Unitarian Universalists Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp is one that bears retelling today, to explore what message the past has for our future.
This podcast includes a reflection offered by worship associate Sara Ford.
If you would like to listen to the musical piece by Elizabeth Alexander that Rev. Oscar refers to at the beginning, please visit our YouTube channel.
dJohn Lewis and the other leaders of the American Civil Rights movement were clear about the relationship between power, relationship, and organized action. In the midst of storms, we reach for each other’s hands.
In his landmark "Rules for Radicals," Saul Alinsky cautions organizers to practice the skills of being heard. “Lacking communication,” he writes, “I am in reality silent; throughout history silence has been regarded as assent — in this case assent to the system.” Organizing, like any spiritual practice, is a discipline with tools and methods developed over time. What lessons do those tools hold for this moment?
For years, Unity Church has joined with other congregations around the Twin Cities and the world is proclaiming the dignity of each person, and the need for fair and affordable housing in our community. Housing is an issue that lives at the intersection of the individual and collective: what makes a house a home is deeply personal, but we all have a stake in creating a community of homes.
This sermon podcast begins with a Story for All Ages by Rev. KP Hong.
The word in Hebrew for truth, emeth, is related to the verb amam: to support and make firm. Emeth is inherently relational; we depend on each other for support, and to understand the world. Can we understand truth in isolation, or are we dependent on each other?
This podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Meg Arnosti.
Indigenous communities around the world were gravely impacted by The Doctrine of Discovery, a pronouncement by the Catholic Church and the policies of colonial domination by European countries that were used to justify dominion over lands that were not inhabited by Christians, and the right to subjugate and exploit non-Christian people. What is our role, as Unitarian Universalists, in furthering the process towards healing and repair? Towards Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery?
This podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Charlie Caswell.
Truth is not simply a dry recitation of facts. The Greek word for truth, aletheia, suggests an unveiling; it was used to describe a curtain coming up at a play, revealing the truth of the story. What truths are revealed to us today?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Anna Newton.
The first generation of Unitarians in America preached that reason was the primary tool for understanding the truth of the world around us. Veritas, the Latin word for truth, gives us “verifiability,” the idea that truth is a description of external reality that can be understood by observation and experimentation. What role does this understanding of truth hold for us in 2025?
The questions answered in this sermon were posed by the congregation at the beginning of the service.
Music and ministry both exist in the relationship between structure and improvisation. This Sunday we will consider both, in an extemporaneous reflection from piano and pulpit.
Founded in 1940, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has served as a beacon of liberal religion in the world, and the possibilities that exist when we connect faith with action. On the day before the 2025 United States presidential inauguration, we will hear from Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, president of UUSC, about the work of the committee and the possibilities of this moment.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Chris Russert
"Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born." — Howard Thurman
Often this phrase is used to explain a painful moment or failure, an uninvited or unwelcome “opportunity for growth.” Yet, it is from these places of challenge that we do, indeed, emerge and develop, whether as planned or, more often, with an unexpected or creative outcome. We grow from places of strength, of hope and resilience, that once were edges themselves. Let us look to these edges together, that we may commit to a generative practice of being transformed.
Join us for Unity Church’s annual service of remembrance for the members of our community who have passed away in the last year. This sermon podcast begins with eulogies offered by Rev. Lara Cowtan and Rev. Oscar Sinclair.
This podcast begins with a reflectin offered by worship associate Peggy Lin.
The story of the Maccabean revolt is the inspiration for the Jewish festival of lights, Hannukah. The miracle at the heart of the story is simple: lamp oil that appeared to only be enough for a night lasted for eight days. But even in simplicity, the story holds meaning for what it means to live sustainably, hopefully, and what it means to rededicate ourselves to a cause.
At the start of the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph are internally displaced refugees, traveling from their home in Nazareth to be counted in a census for a far-away imperial capital. By the end of the story, they are fleeing their homes as refugees, looking to start a new life in Egypt, away from political violence and oppression. In 2024 in St. Paul Minnesota, where do we locate ourselves in this story? Are we the innkeeper, telling the young family there is no room? Or are we the shepherds, called from the fields to witness and provide what help they can?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Sara Ford.
In the Christian calendar, Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Christ child. The story from first century Palestine tells us that with the birth of Jesus comes hope, love, the undoing of the status quo: a new reign of peace on earth. In times of fear and uncertainty, where is hope to be found in these ancient stories? In our own stories?
“My Soul Magnifies the Lord,” Mary tells the Angel Gabriel in the gospel of Luke. The song she sings next is a vision of a world that might be, one where the mighty are thrown down, the hungry are fed, and the beloved community arrives. What lessons do her words hold for us, 2000 years later?
How do we build hope from the gifts and wounds we carry with us, while also navigating the fear of change?
On this Thanksgiving weekend, we consider the traditions from around the world and at our own tables of offering words of gratitude. How do these rituals provide opportunities for deepening and growing in our spiritual and personal relationships. What is grace? How can we give and receive it in our lives and the larger world?
Vaclav Havel, the Czech statesman and literary figure, wrote that hope “…is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.” How do we anchor ourselves to hope, even when it exists beyond our vision, on the other side of the horizon?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton.
What can we say, in the aftermath of an election? How have the church’s commitments changed, or have they? How do we balance the uncertainty of this moment with the certainty of faith?
“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic, if you can keep it.” Benjamin’s Franklin’s words at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787 have obvious relevance in 2024. The first Unitarians and Universalists in the United States came from the first generation after the American Revolution, and from that first generation, our tradition has been actively involved in the democratic process. How does that legacy speak to us today?
We have heard it said, the only constant is change, and that there is no growth, no growing forward without letting something go and embracing change. Sometimes a door must close in order for a window to open, but how do we navigate this kind of loss, these decisions about what and when to let go in order to be open to new possibilities? Anatole France wrote, “All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another.” But, this doesn’t mean we throw everything out the window and start from scratch over and over! So, what can we hold onto that is solid and true, what can we trust as a constant in our lives when the ground shifts and change happens?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Betsy Hearn.
Dan Hotchkiss writes, “Congregations create sanctuaries where people can nurture and inspire each other — with results no one can predict. The stability of a religious institution is a necessary precondition to the instability religious transformation brings.” How do we balance the tradition and change in our lives together? How do we embrace the future we imagine while holding onto the traditions that define us?
Join us for Celebration Sunday, as we gather to celebrate Unity Church and commit to a joyful year together. Unitarian Universalist congregations depend on the support of their members for everything from religious education and kitchen volunteers to legacy giving and ongoing financial support. How do we root our gifts to the church in our spiritual practices?
Pop culture is full of dystopian stories. In a time of climate change, war, and political uncertainty, dystopia feels near at hand. Even as they grapple with the consequences of the suffering and destruction, authors from Octavia Butler to Becky Chambers can help up to imagine a better world. What are the tools of storytelling that might help us imagine ourselves into a sustainable, joyful future?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Chris Russert, worship associate.
In 1348, a community of monks in Sienna opened the doors of their abbey to serve as a hospital during the plague. Seven hundred years later, the abbey exists as a picturesque ruin, popular with tourists and filmmakers. What are the risks of hospitality, and why do we do it anyway?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Meg Arnosti.
The ancient question, “Who am I?” inevitably leads to a deeper one: “Whose am I?” because there is not identity outside of relationship. You cannot be a person by yourself. To ask, “Whose am I?” is to extend the question far beyond the little self-absorbed self, and wonder: Who needs you? Who loves you? To whom are you accountable? To whom do you answer? Whose life is altered by your choices? With whose life, whose lives is your own all bound up, inextricably, in obvious or invisible ways?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton.
Unitarian Universalists are rightly proud of width and breadth of our institutional welcome. But who decide who is welcomed? Who belongs? What are the systems that we can either critique or build to deepen our understanding of welcome?
Rev. Sinclair offers a reflection on belonging, and how we are drawn to faithful life in community, sometimes in spite of ourselves.
Is making a meal or baking or creating art or music an expression of your love? Let us lift up the many labors that go unsung, the under appreciated and maybe uncompensated work of people for others that enrich our lives in priceless ways.
This podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Lorelee Wederstrom.
We’ll explore the depth of tradition and the benefits of renovation through a journey at sea.
In the uncertainties of our times, our mistrust — of the future, of ourselves and one another — might be justified. But we are called, as people of faith in a liberating love, to cultivate greater trust. Let’s explore how to become more trusting and more trustworthy in the face of change.
Rev. Karen Hering
The life of the spirit is all about triage: attending to this thing and then that thing, each in its time, with care. But the planet spins beneath our feet, sometimes careening wildly, and our days are disjointed and dizzying. When the known world flies apart, what holds you in place? Join us for pancake brunch after the service.
There were some audio issues with this recording. The audio gets better at the 30 seconds mark.
We are all familiar with the story of Henry David Thoreau and his two-year experiment on a plot of land owned by his teacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. We are less familiar with the story of Harriet Jacobs, Thoreau’s contemporary, who also, alone, entered a space that cut her off from society, and who also wrote a book about that experience. A look at these two experiences and the national appetite for one story, to be told in one, specific way in every school in the country for almost 200 years, and for the other not to be told at all gives us insights into the dangers of a single story, dangers that contort our history and uphold power in the same hands. Over, and over, and over again.
As hostile laws are adopted across the county, queer families and individuals are making their way to states like Minnesota. We will paint a picture of what is happening, how Unitarian Universalists are connected, and supporting the effort to find safety and sanctuary for those who are migrating to Minnesota.
This service begins with a reflection by Sara Ford followed by Kevin Ward and Jess Goff.
What happens when a book changes your life? You buy copies for your friends? Or maybe you talk about it in a summer service. In 2016, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote The Book of Joy. Some of their ideas are weird and unattainable (like — Can you really train your mind to have mental immunity? Can you really have empathy for your enemies?), but then again maybe joy can happen. Jess Goff and Kevin Ward will share their favorite passages and meditate aloud how this book has transformed them.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Chris Russert.
In a consumer society focused on limited resources and rugged individualism, many are left feeling estranged from one another and numb. How might we move from a culture of scarcity towards abundance, understanding the power of sharing, and embracing our human vulnerability as a strength? Each of us can help and be helped, and through our empathy can find and build bridges of resilience, community, and hope.
What does it mean to have a conversation or an encounter with another human that invites the divine into relationship? When we talk about “going deep quickly” and knowing each other “in all our fullness,” what do we mean? Why are these things important? And what do Herr Buber and Mr. Douglass have to teach us about all this?
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Caswell Burr.
There is a great, interconnected web of existence, a great and entrancing mystery, and we are starting to see more of the effects of our neglect for that interdependence. How can our UU faith and principles help guide us through the growing imperative to change our relationship with the natural world?
This Sunday reflects on the milestone events since Rev. Kathleen’s arrival at Unity Church in September 2022: successes, missed opportunities and work that is still in the making.
Fatherhood has changed a lot since the first celebration of Father’s Day in 1910, as have ideas about masculinity. Worship associates Charlie Caswell, Chris Russert, and Isaac Fried will reflect on their own experiences of fathers, and the joys and the challenges of navigating maleness amidst a culture that insists on binary thinking.
We are well aware of the realties of climate change; we see evidence of the changing earth on an almost daily basis. Yet climate fatigue — the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is also evident. How do we cultivate a sustainable level of energy and care for the environment when our own resources are often thin? How is that climate of care practiced within, among and beyond us?
Beethoven was completely deaf when he embarked on his masterpiece, Ode to Joy, and it’s a tragedy that he never heard a single note of it except inside his head. At many times in our lives, finding joy may seem impossible. Life can seem painful or tragic, and joy completely out of reach. Not ignoring the truths of the tragedies and challenges of our world, how can we cultivate more joy in our lives?
Ukraine. Israel and Palestine. Haiti. Eritrea. Ethiopia. There are so many places around the globe where violence and the war that follows results in an endless cycle of retaliation and devastation. On this Memorial Day Sunday, we honor those who have died in past wars, while maintaining the hope that we can learn the things that make for peace.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Sara Ford.
On this Mother’s Day, amidst rising conflicts near and far, let us lean into inspiring stories from our global Unitarian community and ancestors, including Dr. Lotta Hitchmanova, a Jewish journalist from Prague who spoke out against the Nazis and then dedicated her life to humanitarian efforts. Dr. Lotta helped literally thousands of children impacted by the second World War and the decades following it, she worked with the Unitarian Service Committee in Europe and then established a branch in Canada.
Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature year-long journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith or credo.
This sermon begins with worship associate Ari Giles reading "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith.
There is a voice within you which no-one, not even you, has ever heard. Give yourself the opportunity of silence and begin to develop your listening in order to hear, deep within yourself, the music of your own spirit. — John O’Donohue, Anam Cara
In a world full of distractions, screens, video bingeing, and climate unraveling, paying deep attention to our inner lives — and the wisdom and music that is there — is critical. Tuning in and encountering the deepest parts of ourselves can help us unearth the hidden treasures, insights, and clues within that can lead to more aliveness, joy, and abundance. This Sunday, we’ll explore concrete practices that can help us tune into the “song that is our life.”
After two decades in Unitarian Universalist ministry, Rev. Justin Schroeder and his wife, Juliana Keen, launched Holding Space for Change, a practice that accompanies and supports people through life transitions. They provide spiritual direction/accompaniment, therapy, grief support groups, divorce support groups, life-transition support groups, and more. Between the two of them, they have over four decades of experience in spiritual leadership and social work.
This podcast begins with Merrill Aldrich reading Luke 24:13-32.
What really happened on that Easter morning? A resurrection? An awakening? No one can say for certain, but we can say this — Jesus of Nazareth’s life after his death changed the world. On this Easter Sunday, it also has the power to change us. Come find out how.
In his essay of the same title, the Hungarian cultural critic László Földényi stages an encounter between Dostoyevsky and Hegel, between our creaturely sense of transcendence as finite-limited-mortal beings and radical Enligthenment's belief in unbounded progress and mastery. In a world mediated through switches, buttons, credit cards, screens, redlined neighborhoods and land as commodity for ownership, what do we mean by the sacred? In this moment of climate change and degradation of life, when the wounded world seems "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," how do we remain attentive to the sacred song of life itself, to claim a deeper sense of belonging to the earth, shared history, and to each other? Worship associate Nancy Dilts and Rev. KP Hong amplify the work of honest storytelling, asking us to more creatively name this sacred life and work against its degradation.
Who among us really expected life to be a bed of roses? Barbara Hubbard will speak about how the Unity Church community has inspired, shaped and transformed her life’s journey.
Many Unitarian Universalists find a spiritual connection with Nature (yes, the N is writ large intentionally!). Having just experienced the warmest winter on record and rising concerns about our planet’s climate, what is our spiritual and theological response? Where can we find the individual and collective strength to clearly face the truth of the climate emergency, mourn the damage being done to our blue planet and inspire ourselves and others to action? Spiritual Ecology and Eco-Spirituality look beyond our sense of justice and connect more deeply with how we engage with nature on a person and spiritual level. Let us explore the sacred thread that weaves the essence of humanity into the tapestry of all creation, and then re-engage with the world from this awareness.
Join Rev Jessica Clay as she returns to Unity and reflects on her years of parish ministry since she was the Hallman Ministerial Intern in 2016-2017. She will explore the place creativity has in faith, community, and life.
Sometimes in life we are faced with seemingly impossible choices. This sermon will pick up on the themes introduced on February 11 and take them even further into the spiritual, theological, ethical and moral realms of our daily living.
"We respond to the call of love because it is our common theological core. It is what can and does motivate us and illuminates our deepest commitments to each other.” These words are from the UUA Board in their Charge to the Article II Study Commission. This Sunday we will consider how our Unitarian Universalist faith and values are expressed in our lives and in our religious communities as we consider the proposal from the Article II Study Commission that deepens and expands the language of the Seven Principles to include commitments and actions, with love at the center.
Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner made famous the phrase “If it’s not one thing, it’s another...it’s always something!” And isn’t that true? We are constantly called to choose one person or one thing over another; often accompanied by conflicting feelings about those choices. This Sunday we’ll dive deeper into the February theme of choosing, and the role chance, choice, free will and determinism play in our lives. This podcast begins with a reflection offered by Ari Giles, worship associate.
Anyone who has endured messy and bitter conflicts in a congregation may not be able to see how there could be an opportunity of a blessing in the midst of the pain. But conflicts will inevitably occur and it is possible to learn new ways of approaching them that can allow for growth and learning, and even transformation.
Rev. Cooley is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and has served as a minister for over 30 years in both congregational and denominational settings. She is an Accredited Interim Minister and faculty of the Interim Minister’s Network, and currently serves as the Developmental Minister at the First UU Church of Columbus, OH.
What calls you to work for justice in the world? This sermon will explore both the historical and contemporary call to justice that arises from our Unitarian Universalist theological heritage.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, and Bayard Rustin’s commitment to non-violence was a powerful and effective strategy because all those involved in the Civil Rights Movement were committed to practicing the disciplines of non-violence as expressed in Beloved Community in action. What wisdom can we learn from King and Rustin as we move towards ever increasing levels of accountability which require of us both courage and consistency?
What purpose does religion serve now? What purpose can it serve? With membership declining and ministerial shortages in every denomination, what will the future of religion and Unitarian Universalism be? What could it be? We’ll explore these questions, and how we might learn from our past, those around us, and the moment we’re in to consider a course for the future of religion. Rev. Kron is the Transitions Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Because we’re human, we hurt each other, we get hurt, and there’s a way through that, but that way through depends on the ability to deliver and accept a powerfully meaningful apology. Healing and repair of broken relationships doesn’t happen on its own. This sermon podcast begins with a reflection written by Sara Ford and read by Peggy Lin.
Reparations for systemic racism and attempted genocide is now part of our national conversation, yet confession, without making attempts to redress harm, is nothing more than virtue signaling. We’ll explore the complex question of reparations through the lens of those most harmed, with a particular focus on indigenous justice.
The second Sunday in October is typically an opportunity for you to reflect on your financial support of the church in the year ahead. This year, our Executive Team will confess some hard and hopeful truths about the current state and future of the church as we prepare to enter our 2024 fiscal year. This podcast from Stewardship Sunday begins with a reflection by worship associate Betsy Hearn.
Unitarian Universalists long ago abandoned confession as part of their liturgical tradition, believing that such a practice was in direct opposition to our First Principle of “covenanting to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all persons.” Rev. Rolenz will explore whether the ancient practice of confession is antithetical to our First Principle, or actually a vehicle for deeper self-reflection?
This sermon podcast begins with Peggy Lin reading an excerpt from On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg.
Rev. Rolenz offers a reflection on how the various streams of our faith meet, merge, nourish and sustain us for the year ahead.
Over the years we have developed myriad ways to navigate this world. We learn how to make our way from place to place. We learn habits to accomplish routine tasks. We learn problem solving techniques to tackle difficult situations. There are times, however, when we have no maps or when a problem surpasses our knowledge base. There are even those times when we know what we need to do, but don't know if we can muster the strength and resolve to move forward. This service probes the spiritual underpinnings of making our way through those wilderness times, those events and challenges when we find ourselves feeling lost, helpless and directionless.
Matt Meyer is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist with a long background as a musician and worship leader for UU congregations. He lives in Boston but travels as an itinerant worship leader, bringing the good news of Unitarian Universalism to hundreds congregations all over the country. Matt serves as the Director of Operations for Sanctuary Boston, a contemporary UU worship community with rockin’ music and engaging worship that meets on Wednesday evenings online and in-person. Matt’s children’s story “Desmond Gets Free” was published last year as a book by Skinner House Press. It just recently won a Nautilus award for social justice in children’s fiction.
A substantial number of us prefer ‘choosing’ to ‘being chosen.’ It’s all about the power. But as most of the great spiritual leaders have taught, power is not at the center of love, justice, sustainability, equity, or joy. Do we want the power? Or a whole and holy life?
This sermon podcast begins with a reading of Luke 4:16-21 by worship associate Jess Goff.
“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 To the ancient Hebrews to sanctify and to make holy meant to set something apart. After laboring six days to create the world, the Hebrew god created the Sabbath as a day free from work, a day free from doing. It was created as a time for being. What are some of the ways we can keep Sabbath by separating ourselves for a day from the world and all of its busyness and constant doings? By keeping Sabbath we choose to ignore daily demands of production and consumption and make the time to just be. Sabbath time can become a time of countercultural resistance. Sabbath can become a time to rest and restore the soul.
This sermon podcast begins with a reading of Deuteronomy 5:14 by Rev. Kathleen Rolenz.
Explore how specific, even ordinary, encounters can be a powerful window to spirit or to universal truths. Historically, both Unitarianism and Universalism come from theological arguments that had a certain level of abstraction, but more recently we seem to have a more grounded definition for these terms. They are no less powerful, though, for naming little "t" truths.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Carol Mahnke.
Here is the link to listen to the congregational meeting led by Rev. Jen Crow on January 12, 2020: https://www.unityunitarian.org/ministerial-transition.html
About the Music
The music for this service, which integrates Latinx and indigenous perspectives, was chosen to reference and honor values of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration.
Lady Xøk is a Nu-Nueva music project mixing Indigenous instruments, electronic, acoustic, and experimental performance and multimedia installations. Front woman interdisciplinary artist Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra pulls from roots in Latin American Nueva Canción and American Blues. Members are Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra (vocals, piano, guitar) and Xilam Balam (bass, Indigenous instruments).
Curandero is a Twin-Cities based sound-healing project whose music presents a fusion of pre-Columbian Indigenous instruments, house, and dance hall. Curandero's music brings together traditional indigenous instrumentation and rhythms of Mesoamerica (Mexico) with electronic DJ elements and production. Members are Gustavo Lira, Xilam Balam, and Rico Simon Mendez (DJ Don Cuco).
Ahmed Anzalduúa, Director of Music Ministries, piano
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Sunday, October 27, 2019
*Please rise in body or in spirit.
Gathering Music
Words of Welcome Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs
Ringing of the Bell
PRELUDE (9:00/11:00) Round and Round (traditional round) The Earth Is Our Mother (Cherokee song) Tulla Wallace, soloist
Prelude (4:30) Eintritt (Entry) — R. SchumannCall to Worship Bob PeskinLighting the Chalice
Opening Hymn (18) What Wondrous Love
Responsive Affirmation Brave Space — Micky ScottBey Jones
Together we will create brave space
Because there is no such thing as a “safe space”
We exist in the real worldWe all carry scars and we have all caused wounds.
In this spaceWe seek to turn down the volume of theoutside world,
We amplify voices that fight to be heardelsewhere,
We call each other to more truth and love
We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know,
We will not be perfect.This space will not be perfect.
It will not always be what we wish it to be
ButUnison: It will be our brave space together, and we will work in it side by side.
Silence
Embracing Meditation
Minister's Prayer
Anthem (9:00/11:00) Amo (Love) — N. Gutiérrez
Todo, todos, se han idoSólo me acompañan mis recuerdosCon los cuales unos ratos yo lloroY en ocasiones logro a sonreirLos amo
Everything, everyone, has leftI am accompanied only by my memoriesWith which sometimes I cryAnd sometimes I manage to smileI love them (or I love you, or I love you all)
Anthem (4:30) The Sky Above the Roof — R. Vaughan Williams
CHILDREN’S RECESSIONAL (11:00) Children’s Blessing — Jason Shelton
May your mind be open to new learning. May your lips bring truth into the world. May your heart know love, and your hands do the work of justice, as you go your way in peace, as you go your way in peace.
Reading excerpt from The Fire Next Time — James Baldwin
Reflection My History and Yours
Interlude
Offering (9:00/11:00) Con amores la mi madre (With love my mother) — J. Anchieta
Con amores, la mi madre, con amores m´adormi.Así dormida soñaba, lo qu´el corazón velaba,Qu´el amor me consolaba, con mas bien que merecí.
With love my mother, with love she lay me to sleep.And that way I dreamed of what was weighing on my heart.Her love consoled me, with more goodness than I deserved.
Offering (4:30) Morgen! — R. Strauss
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinenund auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,wird uns, die Glücklichen sie wieder eineninmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde...und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen...
And tomorrow the sun will shine againand on the way that I will go,she will again unite us, the happy onesamidst this sun-breathing earth,and to the beach, wide, wave-bluewill we still and slowly descendsilently we will look in each other's eyesand upon us will sink the mute silence of happiness...
Sung Response Turn the World Around
We come from the mountain (ocean, fire, heartland, story, mountain)
Living in the mountainGo back to the mountain
Turn the world around.
Dedication
Reading excerpt from Praise Song for the Widow — Paule Marshall
Interlude
Sermon Forgive Us Our Debts
*Closing Hymn (139) Wonders Still the World Shall Witness
Benediction
POSTLUDE Asbchied (Farewell) — R. Schumann
The text of Karen Hering's poem, “Here,” recited at the end of the sermon: http://karenhering.com/a-poem-for-living-through-change/
Gathering Music
Ringing the Bell
Prelude Away in a Manger — James Murray, arr. Fred Bock
Call to Worship Helen Pohlig
Lighting the Chalice
Opening Hymn Joy to the World
Unison Affirmation (615) The Work of Christmas
Silence
Embracing Meditation Nic Cable
Minister’s Prayer
Interlude
Reading A Christmas Poem (adapted) — Dr. Maya Angelou
Interlude
Reflection Mary, Did You Know?
Hymn of Affirmation (409) Sleep, My Child
Homily My Lord, What a Morning
Closing Hymn (232) The Hills Are Bare at Bethlehem
Benediction
Postlude On This Day Earth Shall Ring — Personent Hodie, set by John Carter
About the Worship Leader
Nic Cable is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Religious Studies, as well as Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies. Nic received his Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2014. In the few years prior to coming to Unity Church, he lived in Michigan where his wife pursued her law degree. During this time, Nic worked full time for the UUA in Stewardship and Development, and part time with the UU Church of Greater Lansing. Nic feels blessed to learn and grow as a ministerial intern at Unity Church this year and is looking forward to getting to know the community.
About the Worship Associate
Worship Associate, Helen Pohlig, was raised Lutheran and explored several spiritual traditions before finding her home at Unity Church when she moved back to St. Paul seven years ago. She teaches business law seminars around the country and also does legal document review on a part-time basis. Helen lives in south Maplewood and spends much of her spare time doing various kinds of social dancing.
About the Musician
Priscilla Morton (piano) enjoys volunteering as the accompanist for the Unity children’s choir. She also enjoys her new part-time retirement career in counseling and the extra time allowed for hobbies like table tennis (the seniors at the Y are killer players) and modern dance. Priscilla has recently added a small terrier and two capable students to her household — all of whom add joy to her life.
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs, Co-Minister
Kevin Ward, Worship Associate
Ringing the Bell
Prelude Andante con moto — Alexandre Guilmant
Call to Worship Kevin Ward
Chalice Lighting
Opening Hymn (295) Sing Out Praises for the Journey
Unison Affirmation (463)
Silence
When I breathe in, I breathe in peace. When I breathe out, I breathe out love.
Minister’s Prayer Janne Eller-Isaacs
Interlude
Offering
Offering Music Michelangelo’s On Beauty — Kurt Knecht
Readings
Twenty Questions After November 9 — Marg Walker
The Sycamore — Wendell Berry
Hymn of Affirmation (55) Dark of Winter
Sermon The Bark Heals the Wound
Closing Hymn (225) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Benediction
Postlude Noel — Claude Balbastre
Kevin Ward has been attending Unity Church since 2010 with his spouse, Jessica Goff, and children, Murray and Olive Goff. Kevin has been an English Language Arts teacher at Avalon School since 2002.
About the Musicians
Unity Choir is the foundation on which our music program is built and is a vital and energetic presence in our community. Its members share various levels of musical experience and a wide variety of activities and interests, all of which are brought together by their love of singing. Ruth Palmer, Director
About the Offering Recipient
Avenues for Homeless Youth is a transitional housing program for twenty youth, ages 16-20. Its North Minneapolis location, staffed 24 hours a day, provides basic shelter needs, meals, intensive case management, health and wellness care, independent living skills, and help with education and employment help. The average stay at Avenues is between 90 and 120 days. Avenues also manages a host family program for homeless, queer-identified youth, the majority of whom are people of color.
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs, Co-Minister
Angela Wilcox, Worship Associate
Gathering Music
Words of Welcome Rob Eller-Isaacs
Ringing the Bell
Prelude
Something Within — words and music Lucie Eddie Campbell; arr. Robert L. Morris
... Something within me I cannot explain. All that I know there is something within.
Call to Worship Angela Wilcox
Chalice Lighting
Opening Hymn Earth Moves in a Mysterious Way
Earth moves in a mysterious way, her wonders to unfold
She fashions beauty out of clay, like straw spun into gold
I lose her voice amid the din, and clamor all around
But if I listen to the wind, I hear her sacred sound
And though this human enterprise, is poised ’tween hope and hell,
Earth circles in her endless dance, and whispers “All is well”
Earth moves in a mysterious way, her wonders to unfold
She fashions beauty out of clay, our mother and our home
Responsive Affirmation (439) We Gather in Reverence
Silence
When I breathe in, I breathe in peace. When I breathe out, I breathe out love.
Embracing Meditation
Minister’s Prayer
Interlude
Offering Music
The Heaven’s Flock (Paulann Petersen) — Eriks Ešenvalds
Stars, you are the heavens’ flock tangling your pale wool across the night sky.
Stars, you’re bits of oily fleece catching on barbs of darkness to swirl in black wind.
You appear, disappear by thousands, scattered wide to graze but never straying.
While I, a mere shepherd of these words, am lost.
What can I do but build a small blaze and feed it with branches the trees let fall:
that twiggy clatter strewn along the ground.
And lichen crusting such dead limbs glows silver, glows white.
The earthfood for a fire so unlike and like your own. Oh, what can I do but build a small blaze.
Readings Sweet Darkness — David Whyte
Leaf Huts and Snow Houses — Olav H. Hauge
Interlude
Reflection Deep Listening
Hymn of Affirmation
Listen, listen, listen to my heart’s song. (2x)
I will never forget you. I will never forsake you. (2x)
Sermon Love Begins With Listening
Closing Hymn (226) People, Look East
Benediction
Postlude Allegretto — Daquin
About the Worship Associate
Angela Wilcox was pulled to Unity Church ten years ago by her children, after they attended one day of religious education and declared that this was “for sure” their church. They were right. Those two children, Lucy and Nelson, have now launched themselves to Los Angeles and Scotland, and Angela is focusing more of her energy on issues of equity in education and cultivating a healthy sense of curiosity of what’s next. She lives in St. Paul and is grateful that we no longer have to pay large sums of money to make long distance phone calls.
About the Musicians
Unity Singers is Unity Church’s auditioned, a cappella, chamber choir. Each singer’s involvement is built on a passion for singing and willingness to work towards an ensemble of excellence capable of sharing varied musical genres with the community. All singers volunteer their talents to offer the musical gift of this ensemble and are deeply involved in the life of this church community. Ruth Palmer, Director
About the Music
Luci Eddie Campbell (1885-1963) stands fourth in the line as one of the creators of Gospel Music. She is the first woman composer of Gospel music in the Black American Tradition. Her Gospel ballads, coupled then-current everyday language with archaic words to provide an impressive and emotional look into the singer’s mind and soul. She preferred the songs to be performed using both Gospel and European singing traditions. A good number of her existing songs have made their way into music books of almost every denomination that sings hymns.
Robert L. Morris is a highly respected choral conductor and teacher. Locally he taught at Macalester College and Concordia University. He is founder and artistic director of the Leigh Morris Chorale.
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Nic Cable, Ministerial Intern
Rochelle Lockridge, Worship Associate
Gathering Music It is Well with My Soul
Philip P. Bliss; arr. John Purifoy
Prelude Present — Footfall
If you ever wonder if I am thinking of you
Watch the rain fall on our hearts
It makes its mark to wash the darkness away
If I ever wonder if you are here beside me
Watch the tears fall on our souls
Where we hold hope and love all our days
And if we ever wonder if we can walk the long road
Watch the sun give us this gift of the day
As we make our way through the here and now
Call to Worship Rochelle Lockridge
*Opening Hymn (6) Just as Long as I Have Breath
*Responsive Reading (610) The Journey of Love
Silence
When I breathe in, I breathe in peace. When I breathe out, I breathe out love.
Embracing Meditation
Minister’s Prayer
Interlude Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
arr. Carol Tornquist
Offering Music Sister, Sit on Down — Footfall
Sister, sit on down. Sister, sit on sit on down. Sister, sit on down
Tell me something I don’t know
Tell me something about where you want to go
Tell me something I forgot about to love or hope or know
Make a space to let it in
Take a break to start your heart again
Wake up knowing that it’s easy to find yourself a friend
Talk your way onto the ride
Shake off the shadows of your pride
Walk into the world knowing that we’re right here by your side
Readings A Hidden Wholeness — Parker Palmer
A Sikh Prayer for America on November 9, 2016 — Valarie Kaur
*Hymn of Affirmation (1) May Nothing Evil Cross This Door
Sermon The Power of the Shared Table
*Closing Hymn I Know I Can
Benediction
Postlude Peace Call — Woodie Guthrie/arr. Footfall
Open your hearts to the paradise to the peace of heavenly angels
Take away that woeful shadow dancing on your wall
Take to the skies of peace of friends, of the peace of one great spirit
Get ready for my bugle call of peace
Chorus: Peace peace peace
I can hear the bugle sounding, roaming around my land, my city and my town
Peace peace peace
I can hear the voices ringing, louder while my bugle calls for peace
If these storms fill your heart with a thousand kinds of worry
Keep to my road of peace, you’ll never have to fear
Keep in the sun and look around, in the face of peace and plenty
Get ready for my bugle call of peace
I’ll clear my house of the weed of fear and turn to the friends around me
With my smile of peace, I’ll greet them one and all
I’ll work, I’ll fight, I’ll dance, I’ll sing, of peace of the youthful spirit
Get ready for my bugle call of peace
About the Worship Leader
Nic Cable is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Religious Studies, as well as Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies. Nic received his Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2014. In the few years prior to coming to Unity Church, he lived in Michigan where his wife pursued her law degree. During this time, Nic worked full time for the UUA in Stewardship and Development, and part time with the UU Church of Greater Lansing. Nic feels blessed to learn and grow as a ministerial intern at Unity Church this year and is looking forward to getting to know the community.
About the Worship Associate
Rochelle Lockridge was lured by the sweet siren’s song of the Unity Choir singing from the balcony in 2002. She has been a member of the choir and the Unity Church family ever since. After careful consideration she has expanded her involvement to include serving as a worship associate. Rochelle lives in Maplewood, newly venturing out to build her own management consulting business. In addition to following her passions in grand-parenting, music, and digital storytelling, she has recently rediscovered the joys of Ballroom dancing.
About the Musicians
Footfall is what happened when folk, punk, rock, classical and good common sense converged. If a label helps, alt country is where we landed. We hope you’ll agree but mostly just want you along for the ride. Footfall is Jim Christiansen and Debbie Cushman. We’ve been playing music together for about fifteen years. Jim plays guitar, slide guitar and mandolin. He also sings a mean harmony line and can be nudged into lead. Debbie brings guitar, vocals, piano and dreams of fiddle playing. Songwriting is shared and so is banter over covers. The day jobs pay for the gear. The music feeds the soul.
Kathleen Bartholomay, a long-time member, has enjoyed a rich history of musical involvement at Unity Church: accompanying Unity’s adult choir, coordinating summer music, and sharing her musical gifts in recitals, memorial services, weddings, and other occasions. She sings with the St. Paul Vocal Forum, and is completing her training to become a music therapist. Kathleen holds a Master of Music degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. www.twincitiespianist.com
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs, Co-Minister
Heidi Huelster, Worship Associate
Gathering Music
Words of Welcome Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs
Ringing the Bell
PRELUDE Sicilienne — Fritz Kreisler
Call to Worship Heidi Huelster
Lighting the Chalice
*Opening Hymn (128) For All That Is Our Life
*Responsive Reading (515) We Lift Our Hearts in Thanks
Silence
Embracing Meditation
Minister’s Prayer
Interlude Deep Peace (Traditional Gaelic blessing) — Bill Douglas
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace to you.
Offering
Offering Music Affetuoso (from Sonata in D Major) — George Frederic Handel
Readings
You Must Try to Praise the Mutilated World — Adam Zagajewski
Accidents of Birth — William Meredith
*Hymn of Affirmation (123) Spirit of Life
Sermon Cultivating Gratitude
*Closing Hymn (318) We Would Be One
Benediction
POSTLUDE Berceuse, Op. 16 — Gabriel Faure
About the Worship Associate
Heidi Huelster and her husband Josh were married at Unity in 2002, and have been calling it their church ever since. Heidi is currently working on her Masters at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where she gets riled up about education policy and parent outreach. She enjoys travel, playing the piano, producing the podcast Parent Town, cooking, and seeing art. The coolest thing she gets to do is call herself “mom” to her children, Mimi, Howard, and Zoe, who pretty much amaze and make her laugh every day.
About the Musicians
Wendy Tangen-Foster is violinist, teacher, and performer whose passion is helping others connect through music. She is the director of Ms. Wendy’s Suzuki Violin Studio in Saint Paul where children and adult students learn to build character, sensitivity, confidence, and expressivity through studying the violin as part of a joyfully vibrant community of families. With over 20 years of Suzuki and music teaching experience, Wendy loves to travel and share her joy and passion for music at Suzuki workshops around the country. A dynamic performer, Wendy plays regularly with Rogue Tango on Sundays at the Loring Pasta Bar, and with CharangaTropical, a nine-piece salsa band with strings. Wendy makes her home in Northeast Minneapolis where she enjoys running, playing backgammon, cooking, going to art shows, and jamming with friends. Ms. Wendy’s Suzuki Violin Studio is currently accepting new students. Her studio theme this year is cultivating gratitude. wendysuzukiviolin@gmail.com
Unity Choir is the foundation on which our music program is built and is a vital and energetic presence in our community. Its members share various levels of musical experience and a wide variety of activities and interests, all of which are brought together by their love of singing. Ruth Palmer, Director (9:00/11:00)
About the Offering Recipient
Growth and Justice is a non-partisan, non-profit, research and advocacy organization, focused on expanding prosperity in Minnesota. It promotes policies that reduce inequality and that eliminate racial disparity, through investment in human capital and public infrastructure, by ensuring universal and affordable health care, and through a cleaner and greener economy. Unity Church member Dane Smith is president of Growth and Justice.
Assistive Listening System
To access the sanctuary’s assistive listening system, please switch your hearing aid to “T” or request headphones or assistance from an usher.
On this audio:
Excerpt from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Reflection offered by Bill Doherty
Excerpt from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Reflection offered by Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs
This audio includes a story for all ages offered by Rev. KP Hong followed by an Easter message offered by Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs
This service begins with worship associate Rene Meyer-Grimberg reading March Parish Hall artist Ken Starlin's artist statement. Following Rob's reflection, there is a writing prompt offered by community editors from St. Paul Almanac.
This podcast begins with a Story for All Ages offered by Director of Religious Education Rev. KP Hong.
Here are links to the books Dane references in his sermon:
http://www.amazon.com/Harvest-Empire.../dp/0143119281
http://www.amazon.com/Half.../dp/046500296X/ref=sr_1_1...
http://www.amazon.com/Slavery.../dp/0385722702/ref=sr_1_1...
http://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta.../dp/B00SEFAIRI
http://www.yesmagazine.org/
This Memorial Day Sunday worship service audio begins with a reflection written by Unity Church member Michael Orange and read by Worship Associate Terri Burnor.
Arthur Foote Music Sunday Order of Service (PDF)
Individual Tracks: Please click HERE to listen to individual tracks.
- Spiegel im Spiegel - Arvo Pärt
- Words of Welcome
- Peace Flows Into Me - Jake Runestad
- Call to Worship/Peace Chant/Responsive Reading (Thich Nhat Hanh)
- Nada Te Turbe - Jake Runestad // Soloists: Brian Newhouse, Chris Crosby-Schmidt
- Prayer
- A Breathing Peace - Daniel Elder // Soloists: Cathy Crosby-Schmidt, Mary Baremore
- Reflection
- Sing Wearing the Sky - Jake Runestad // Soloists: Jeannine Robinette, Anna Meek
- Offering words
- I Am - Melanie Horn
- Dansi Na Kiumba - Swahili partner song
- Deep in the Quiet Woods - James Weldon Johnson
- The Peace of Wild Things - Jake Runestad
- Reflection
- We Can Mend the Sky - Jake Runestad // Soloists: KrisAnne Weiss, Teresa Tierney, Blake Morgan
- Prayer and Benediction
- Postlude
Personnel List
Unity Choir
Unity Singers
Women's Ensemble
Children's Choir
Worship Associate: Marg Walker
Readers: Marg Walker, Don Lee, Brian Newhouse
Violin: Nancy Oliveros
Percussion: Elizabeth Giffin, Steve Lewis
Children's Choir Director: Kathleen Radspinner
Children's Choir Pianist: Priscilla Morton
Pianist and Musical Assistant: Kathy Kraulik
Director of Music Ministries: Ruth Palmer
Ministers: Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs
About Arthur Foote Music Sunday
Arthur Foote was minister at Unity Church from 1945-1970. Upon his death in 1999 the Arthur Foote Music Fund was created as a permanent endowment to provide an annual music Sunday in his memory. Currently the endowment supports a portion of Foote Music Sunday expenses. Click here to make an online donation to the fund and include "Arthur Foote Music Fund" in the comments section. Thank you!
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection on Coming of Age offered by Drew Danielson, Unity's Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministry, and then a Collage of Voices of the 2015 Coming of Age class credos.
This podcast begins with a collage of voices offered by members of the group who traveled to Selma in March as part of the 50th anniversary of the march for voting rights. The collage is followed first by a reflection offered by Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs and then a reflection offered by Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs.
This audio has two reflections delivered on Easter Sunday 2015. The first by Rev. Janne and the second by Rev. Rob.
This audio includes a reflection offered by worship associate Helen Pohlig and two readings from Genesis, 22:1-10 and 22:11-19.
This audio includes a reflection offered by Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs and a Story for All Ages told by Rev. K.P. Hong.
Three reflections offered (in order) by Rick Koyle, Joan Velasquez, and Segundo Velasquez.
This podcast is a series of reflections offered by Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs and worship associate Ray Wiedmeyer.
This podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Mary-Margaret Zindren.
This podcast begins with a collage of reflections from Unity's 2014 Coming of Age class.
This sermon is based on the song, Stones in the River. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhgKxWGCj-c
This podcast begins with a Story for All Ages offered by Director of Religious Education Rev. K.P. Hong.
A compilation of reflections offered by members of Unity's Mano a Mano Community Outreach Ministry Teams.
This podcast features two reflections. The first offered by Hallman Ministerial Intern Mae Gibson Wall. The second offered by Unity's Co-Minister Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Drew Danielson, Unity's Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministries, about Coming of Age. It also includes a Collage of Voices from Unity's 2013 Coming of Age class.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Ray Wiedmeyer.
This sermon podcast begins with a Story for All Ages told by Unity's Director of Religious Education Kerri Meyer.
This podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Mary-Margaret Zindren.
Begins with a homily by Derek Mitchell, Director of the Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program.
Includes eulogies from Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs and Hallman Ministerial Intern Mae Gibson Wall.
Includes a Story for All Ages delivered by Director of Religious Education Kerri Meyer.
This podcast includes a Story for All Ages told by Interim Religious Education Assistant Mary Blouin Auffert.
Podcast includes selected eulogies of those who died in 2011 as well as a homily entitled "The New Normal" offered by Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs.
Includes a collage of voices from pilgrims who have traveled to our partner church in Homorszentpeter, Transylvania.
This sermon begins with a "Collage of Voices" which is a collection of writings from members of the congregation on the topic of hospitality.
Includes a collage of voices from villagers in Homorodszentpeter as well as from members of Unity's Partner Church Team. Homily delivered by Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs.
On the eve of General Assembly in Minneapolis, join Lissa Gundlach, Worship Associate Ann Kirby McGill and Nathan Eckstein for a special service celebrating Lissa’s ministry at Unity and exploring dimensions of belonging to the larger body of Unitarian Universalists.
"It is easy to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great person is the one who, in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." Emerson’s words point toward a creative response to the inherent tension between independence and belonging. As we turn toward summer Rob and Worship Associate Nick Raths will offer the service.
Like concentric circles rippling out on a pond, we belong to ever expanding groups: first to ourselves, then to our family and extended families, our communities, neighborhoods, nation, the world, and to the planet itself. Janne and Worship Associate Katy Taylor will explore the roles of belonging and letting go.
As we express our gratitude to the volunteer Religious Education teachers who have made our Ministry with Children and Youth a reality, worship leader and Director of Religious Education, Kerri Meyer, will pause to reflect on the causes and the consequences of R.E.'s growth in both enrollment and commitment. We wrestle with crowded Sunday School classrooms, but can we actually ever have “too many kids”? As the psalmist sang, our quiver is full. Now where shall we aim our bow?
Our Universalist forbearers used the phrase "our larger hope" to refer to their belief in universal salvation. How many of us have come to know God’s love because our mothers have given us the kind of love "we did not earn and cannot buy," a love that is so very much like grace.
Some of life’s important rites of passage come to us as a matter of chronological growth, development and an increasing ability to assume responsibility. Other transformations come to us much more subtly without fanfare.
We are transformed by forces outside ourselves but we can welcome or resist those forces.
From the days of the Pilgrims and Puritans, our free-church tradition has been shaped and transformed by history, maintaining its core message while responding to the social and spiritual signs of the times. Taking a look back into our past, Lissa Gundlach and Worship Associate Amy Kujawski explore directions of our shared faith in a quickly changing world.
Easter Sunday homily from Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs. Includes the much requested A Story for All Ages delivered by Kerri Meyer.
It is so easy to be captured by the myth of progress. It’s not that there is no such thing as progress but it is neither inevitable nor orderly. As young people we imagine our personal lives will conform to certain patterns of progress. And as a culture we tend toward the assumption that progress is "onward and upward forever." There are aspects of the myth both personal and collective that need to be broken. Janne Eller-Isaacs and Worship Associate Hal Freshly will lead the service.
Welcome the Rev. Robert Balint, the 2009-10 Balazs Scholar from Starr King School for the Ministry. Balint is minister of the Unitarian Church in Meszko, the alabaster village in Transylvania where Francis Balazs for whom the fellowship is named once served. In addition to his theological studies, Balint has completed a degree in sociology at Kolozsvár Babes Bolyai University. He has been involved in the Unitarian youth movement and worked with local social and charity organizations. With others, he has started the Balázs Ferenc Historical Preservation Project, designed to preserve and promote Francis Balázs's spiritual and material heritage.
It is often difficult to find meaning in the midst of brokenness. Perhaps a deeper question is attempting to find the Sacred in the midst of suffering. What, if anything, is holy or redemptive in suffering? How can our lives be changed for the better from our brokenness? The age old question of “Where is God in my suffering?” is not easily answered, if answered at all. How we respond to brokenness can be painful, as well as beautiful. Join Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministries Luke Stevens-Royer and Worship Associate Katy Taylor for a service on brokenness and compassion.
For more than a hundred years Unity Church has faced south. We have been a liberal church for old St. Paul. Our congregation has largely come from the nearby neighborhoods of Ramsey and Crocus Hills. What might it mean for us to turn north? Caritas, the fourth form of love, calls us to come to know the neighbors we have yet to know.
When a person can "Friend" and "Unfriend" someone on the internet without ever interacting, what has friendship come to mean? Might it have something to do with the idea of face-to-face "presence?" Rev. Karen Hering explore dimensions of the Greek form of love known as philia, or friendship, in building spiritual communities.
All our wise and heartfelt words amount to dust and ashes if we don’t live out our values in the world. Rob and Worship Associate Amy Kujawski will begin our series of services on love by taking a long, hard look at the way of love the Greeks knew as agape.
It is so hard to tell a decent story. It is even harder to tell a story that is actually true. By what power, by what authority do we tell the stories of our lives. The private stories, the public stories… The stories that insist on being told… With what strength of heart, with what sense of courage do we share our witness of the world? And, more deeply, what is the power of our honest word? Join us for exploration of courage and excellence in public life.
It doesn’t seem to make logical sense. How does it take courage to let go, to surrender? What are the costs and benefits for individuals and congregations of having the courage to surrender, to let go?
Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in the line of the prophets. Unitarian Universalist theologist James Luther Adams was a passionate advocate for the "priest and prophethood of all believers." This year we honor the memory and ministry of Dr. King by asking how we all might be both priests and prophets.
Is it possible to break out of a pattern of living that doesn’t fit any longer? People all over the world and even in our community can testify to the courage it takes to do so. Explore the dimensions of courageous and authentic living.
We begin each new year with a memorial service for those who have died in the previous year. Rob, Janne, and Lissa eulogize men and women whose lives have shaped the world of art or politics, literature or science.
On the Christian holiday calendar, between the joyful celebrations of the birth of Jesus and the wonder of Epiphany, there is an event entitled the "Massacre of the Innocents," which marks Herod’s ruthless and violent search for the baby Jesus. How do we stand against violence, especially done to the most vulnerable in our world? Lissa Gundlach illuminates gifts and challenges of this difficult text.
This is a season of preparation, of anticipation and waiting for new birth and new light to appear once more. Explore the dimensions of preparation for the rebirth of the holy within, among and beyond us.
What Are You Waiting For? — Rob Eller-Isaacs
In the season set aside for waiting Rob and Worship Associate Ann Kirby McGill offer us a service intended to provide an overview of theologies of incarnation. Why would God choose to put on flesh and walk among us? What do we really mean when we talk about the God within us?
Fellow Travelers, Common Journey — Lissa Gundlach
The poet Rumi wrote:
"O you who’ve gone on pilgrimage where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved! Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor, he is next to your wall."
Jerusalem may be the most Holy city in the world, a site of pilgrimage for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and seekers alike. The Temple Mount is a shared spiritual landmark for Jews and Muslims — the Dome of the Rock marks where Muslims believe the prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven, while the Jewish people believe the site to have supported the original Temple during Biblical times. How might a common pilgrimage journey provide fertile ground for connections amongst as well as conflict between people of faith?
Some pilgrimages involve travel to a foreign or holy destination. Others actually can occur right at home. Janne and Worship Associate Mary Baremore will explore the dimensions of staying home, recognizing the sacred lessons available in our everyday lives and the riches to be explored in the pilgrimage within.
Our series on pilgrimage begins with a service for the Day of the Dead. When we move through the world with pilgrim eyes even our memories take on new life. Mary Oliver writes, "it matters how you carry it, books, bricks, grief." Pilgrims have to learn to travel light.
We are all sojourners, strangers, on a quest to find deeper meaning and connection in life. We are all strangers but we are all brothers and sisters. The service will explore the soul’s work of finding a true religious home.
Rev. Abhi Janamanchi has been serving the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater, Florida since 1999. He is a native of India and a third-generation member of the Brahmo Samaj, a Unitarian-Hindu reform movement. Abhi is a member of the International Advisory Council to the UUA President. He and his wife, Lalitha, have two sons, Abhimanyu and Yashasvi.
After scoring a run in the sixth to tie the game, the Indians forged ahead with two runs in the seventh. Luis Valbuena singled to start and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Brantley sneaked a single through the right side of the infield… The Twins lost that game, 3-1. Cleveland taught us about what sacrifice really means. Sometimes, we think of it as an act of losing, as surrender, as a penalty for a mistake or worse. Sacrifice is also a means of getting the runner home.
San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk used to begin every speech by saying, "My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you." He was asking us all to come out; all of us, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, queer and each and every ally, all of us together have a right to live open and authentic lives.
What’s Love Got to Do with It? — Janne Eller-Isaacs
What does sacrifice mean in a liberal religious context? As its meaning becomes more elusive in today’s post-modern world, is it possible that it is exactly what we need now?
Stuck in a dead-end job? Move. Or don’t. Sometimes a change of attitude or perhaps, of consciousness is really what’s called for. Could it be that our upwardly mobile, self-centered culture puts too much emphasis on moving on and too little emphasis on staying put? There are times in our lives when only faith can see us through.
How do we know when we have been "called" to particular work or tasks? How do we respond to numerous calls coming from different directions? How do we do as Quaker educator Parker Palmer says, "Let our lives speak"? Janne explores this dimension of vocation.
Labor advocates and spiritual progressives have found common cause for a century and a half in Minnesota and the nation. The righteousness of all God’s children getting fair recompense and enjoying the fruit of their labor is foundational for the Judeo-Christian tradition, and others too. After decades of progress earlier in the 20th century for working people, Labor Day 2009 finds us at low ebb. Union membership has declined sharply over the last 30 years and middle- and lower-income households now have a smaller share of total income than they’ve had since the Depression. But there’s new hope and energy rising, and a growing understanding among business leaders that we must obey Donna Summers’ message in her hard-driving 1983 anthem for working women (and men): We’d better treat them right.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that our real sacred text is "...life passed through the fire of thought." In other words, we find the holy when we share and process our stories with each other. This Sunday, we will explore the ways storytelling and storyhearing let us cross barriers of difference and allow us to meet each other in our deepest humanity.
This I Believe: Holding Onto Doubt — Richard Foushée
During the past year I have struggled with two of the central issues of religion. Join in the exploration and personal reflections on faith and doubt and what they mean to our lives.
In his book A Path with Heart, Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield writes, "...it is not by moving rocks that we find happiness and awakening, but by transforming our relationship with them." When we suffer, it is often because we are defining ourselves by a life story that we have come to believe as absolute truth. We define ourselves by this narrative because in many ways it is easier than the work that is required to create a new story. Changing our story requires a faith that many of us as religious liberals struggle to define. How do we do the hard work of transformation when we may not have faith in a higher power? Where is our source of comfort?
When we tie our words together as if making nets large or small, what is it that we hope to catch? What is the power of poetry and story, of naming and metaphor, to catch or to carry that which is beyond words? How do we use these tools of language in matters of faith?
It’s a small world. Our tendency to shuffle life’s debris around rather than confront the mess is not without its consequences. From the broken toasters in the city landfill to the children in our broken foster care system, worship leader Kerri Meyer and Worship Associate Steve Harper explore the geography of human responsibility.
Youth Sunday: The Street COA Experiment
When’s the last time someone struck up a conversation with you about religion in a public space? The youth of Unity Church have taken their Coming of Age questions out on the streets, engaging folks on the bus or on the sidewalk in respectful discussion about their beliefs around death, the sacred and God. Come hear their reflections on the experience of going deep with strangers as our youth lead us in worship.
William Channing Gannet’s Bond of Fellowship, which we read in unison with new members, speaks of a community of helpers wherein it is made easier to live a thankful, trustful, loyal and helpful life. We are in covenant with one another, a religious family which values the sacredness of every individual and encourages us to live lives of integrity, service and joy. Laura Smidzik will explore the impact of a sacred covenant and how belonging to a spiritual community enhances one’s life.
We’re Americans, and we breathe American culture. But does our Unitarian Universalist religion tell us something about our role as citizens? How should we engage with America? If it is true that neither politics nor religion should be spoken of in polite company, it could be that UUs are more likely than others to get thrown out of dinner parties. Maybe that’s not all bad.
Gardens in spring are easy to love, but what about the times when all your garden reminds you of is mortality? Some thoughts about faded flowers, crispy lawns, and the dog buried in the perennial flower bed.
Come welcome summer Rob, Janne and Karen Hering in the final service of the formal church year. Though not everyone is able to "go to the lake," everyone can make room in their lives for the deep restorative rest that brings us back to life.
This is not a website. It is the sermon title. This is an exploration and a celebration of beauty — an exploration in the sense that we will discover its variety and a celebration in the sense that all of this variety is held in boldest embrace. It is a gentle and difficult journey that beauty takes through our lives. Joining it makes us beautiful as well.
Those who equate the Sabbath with daily spiritual practice misconstrue its meaning. For Sabbath has a communal dimension that transcends the purely personal. Rob and worship associate Jackie Hendrickson will offer a service focused on the communal implications of Sabbath practice.
Jacob wrestled all night with an angel. As the sun rose the angel tried to end the struggle. And Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." This Memorial Day Rob will ask us to consider how we have been blessed by those who have fought for our country.
The whole church family gathers to celebrate the uniquely Unitarian Universalist ritual of flower communion.This year the ministers will be joined by Justin Schroeder who has recently been named the candidate to become Senior Minister at the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis. Justin will be preaching.
We celebrate the challenges and blessings of mothering and mothers. Explore the relationship between our very real mothers and the archetype of the great mother and acknowledge those women in our lives who have been informal but none the less formative mothers.
Rob Eller-Isaacs brings us the final sermon of our redemption theme. We say each child more is one more redeemer. Even when they challenge our assumptions? Even when they make us squirm?
Hankering For a Higher Quality of Life — Michael A. Schuler, Senior Minister, The First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin
In his just-released book Making the Good Life Last, Michael Schuler argues that sustainability must become a major consideration as we ponder the future not only of the natural environment, but of our families, finances, communities, and individual physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. In a culture which encourages the pursuit of evanescent "good times" we sorely need a strategy that delivers more lasting benefits.
Includes Kerri Meyer's Story for All Ages. What can resurrection mean for those of us for whom the bodily resurrection is a metaphor at most.
How can we best cultivate those aspects of our character which encourage us to perform redemptive acts in the world?
What is sin in a liberal and progressive faith? Janne will examine how sin has been viewed in Unitarian Universalism and what might be sins in today’s church. Janne is joined by Balazs Scholar Endre Nagy who will explore sin in the Transylvanian church.
Despite history's best efforts at creating commandments and rules of all sorts and sizes, sin can be hard to pin down in specifics. Explore what these ambiguities mean for our ability to wrestle honestly with the definition of sin - and to address it in the world and in ourselves.
From Augustine to Aquinas, from Freud to Matthew Fox, understandings of the nature of sin have shifted and evolved. Though we have rejected the concept of original sin and though many of us have distanced ourselves from shame-based theologies, we can’t ignore the fact that they exist.
Engaging the concept of sin can be a challenge. Confronting the possibility that sin might engage us can be even more challenging. The traces that we leave on the wind, the footprints we leave in the sand... Evidence of our having lived... sometimes wastefully.
What are the ideas which guide th eliving of your life? What are the blessings and assurances that echo in the liminal spaces between slumber and awakening?
We are not the first doubters to struggle with prayer. Our spiritual ancestors thought deeply about many of the same question with which we still wrestle. And they found some answers.
Since Copernicus displaced the earth from the center of the universe, we find ourselves increasingly dwarfed by the infinite creation of expanding space. How, and who, and wher is God in this vastness? Marjorie Suchocki askes, "Can we really believe that creatures such as our sorry selves in the littleness of our histories are invited by the creator of the univers to pray?" We will explore an old image of an ever-present God within a new understanding of space and time.
Prayer is a state of being. Practice is what gets us there. Words can make it hard to pray especially when it matters what they mean.
What in the world does the role of prayer play in the life of someone who if they do pray, prays To Whom It May Concern? What do prayer and meditation have in common?
Thom Belote, minister at Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church in Overland Park, Kansas, preaches the concluding service of our series on resistance.
Martin Luther King Jr. was part of a community of resistance. Without Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin and a host of others, there would have been no Martin Luther King Jr. Janne and Intern Minister Leon Dunkley will help us understand the many ways in which we are a community of resistance and suggest what heroism may be needed now.
We know what’s good for us. But for some reason we hesitate to do those things we know full well will help us to be happier, healthier, more effective, more loving people.
We begin each New Year with a service to honor those who have died in the previous year. The ministers will eulogize a number of "world shapers" artists, musicians, writers and leaders.
There is a challenging passage in the Gospel of Matthew (2:16-18) to which we return, year after year. We ask what scared King Herod so much that he unleashed such violence upon the world. What strength within us is tough enough to resist him?
This question is legitimately asked by people new to Unitarian Universalism. Though our religious taproot is the Judeo-Christian heritage, our religious perspective and inspiration is not confined there. At the same time, we do not throw away the powerful stories or images that exist in the Christian narrative. This Sunday we will celebrate the ancient invitation to rebirth and renewal. This podcast includes the Story for All Ages delivered by Kerri Meyer.
Is our relationship with Jesus beyond repair? We say we follow Jesus but we do not worship him. What exactly might that mean? As we once again await his birth, we will reconsider our relationship to Jesus.
Such a small thing to be thankful for... not even three feet square. In 1936, Georgia O’Keefe put oil on canvass. She painted the skull of a deer and some flowers floating in the clouds above a barren range of gentle hills as a way of saying "thank you" for their beauty and their gift. What great and small things have we to be thankful for?
Our dear friends in Homorodszpeter, our partner village in Transylvania, have done so much to deepen and enrich our lives. Ray Wiedmeyer, recently returned from pilgrimage, will offer a reflection on his journey as the whole Unity Church family gathers to give thanks.
Saying thank you is good manners but it can be ever so much more. Giving thanks can be a way of life. It can be a deeply nourishing spiritual practice.
Like grammar and syntax provide structure for our language and communication, gratitude can provide the underlying structure to our lives. Explore the role that gratitude can play in everyday living, particularly when challenged with pain and disappointment.
We owe so much to so many. As we prepare our minds and hearts for the election Tuesday let’s think about thanking the Georges; George the Third, George Washington, George M. Cohan, George Gershwin and yes friends, the Georges Bush.
Throughout the centuries people in the public realm have had to be accountable for their destructive or immoral behavior. Some refused to apologize, while others lied and schemed about their illicit deeds. Others have apologized but to what aim? Explore the dimensions of public apologies. Is the common good enhanced or diminished by public apologies and what constitutes the difference?
Sometimes, forgiveness in the world outside depends on forgiveness in the world inside, on the delicate grace of self-acceptance, on a turbulent courage that one might call "deepest hope." Sometimes our own best efforts fail us and fail us well...right into the open arms of a noble gift.
Mark says of his sermon, "Give me that old time religion because today’s world needs 19th century Universalism’s proclamation of a loving God as much as it ever has."
We enter into the spirit of the Jewish High Holy Days contemplating the story of Jonah the reluctant prophet. But we won’t focus so much on his reluctance as on his inability to forgive.
Who are the moral owners of Unity Church? What is the relationship between personal and institutional morality? How can we move from "charity to solidarity" in our efforts for social justice?
The founders of our church chose their words carefully. For them the word pointed to the unity of religious experience. For us the word implies a quality of curiosity, engagement and respect. Are we living up to our name?
It’s a common question among Unity parents: "What about the Bible?" Do the stories of the Old and New Testaments have a place in the religious upbringing of our children? Why does the Bible elicit a wholly different response from Unitarian Universalist adults than other sacred texts? Drawing wisdom from our liberal religious ancestors, William Ellery Channing and Sophia Lyon Fahs, worship leader and Director of Religious Education Kerri Meyer will frame a possible approach to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, useful to parents and Sunday School teachers and of interest -- Kerri hopes -- to all.
At age 6, Sophie discovered that time moves effortlessly from "now" to memory. It’s a wonderful insight, but how important is "now?" What does it mean to be in the moment? Why do we live our lives in "future mode" while clinging to the past for guidance? If we are open, we can discover the "now" that calls us to play and to "dance in a spring wind." Then we can realize that "Only this moment is life."
Hear from several youth who -- in the eyes of their church and community -- are turning out to be fine human beings in a generation subject to our doubts. We will explore what ingredients contribute to the growth of a whole person in this moment in history. How are parents, other adults and the youth themselves cooks in the kitchen that is adolescence? Recipes and tasty morsels of young wisdom will be provided by worship leaders from among the youth of the church.
Mindfulness meditation encourages us to recognize the inevitability of pain and struggle in daily life - the embracing of this reality allows us to let go and find peace. This is the essence of what the Buddhist nun Pema Chodron calls "letting go of the story line." She writes, "real life problems are the material for waking up, not the reason to stop trying" - holding our struggles with the same honor that we hold our joy is the essence of waking up to life. But how do we learn to just "be" while still needing to do the "do"? Jenny explores the challenges in reaching this state of awareness, the journey to find peace there, and the role of faith and religion in this process.
Our liberal religious tradition values the role of rational inquiry more than other traditions. But careful, rational inspection of the best of our information and deepest of our intuitions can lead us into strange places. What happens when familiar truths are shown to have disconcerting implications? Some examples from the history of mathematics can be both cautionary and enlightening.
Unity Church encourages us to create lives of integrity, service and joy. How do we engage in this effort within our own lives, with each other, and beyond the walls of Unity Church? What holds us back and what drives us forward? Laura Smidzik takes a thoughtful look at the journey our faith calls us to take.
At the center of German philosopher Hegel’s construction of logic is the concept of Aufhebung, a word which carries three meanings: to lift up, to preserve and to destroy. This is a look into the spiritual practice of dialectics, or accepting seemingly contradictory ideas to be true, and the practical implications for those on the journey to integrity, service and joy.
July 4 is Independence Day, the premier national holiday, and we are called upon to demonstrate our pride in our independence, our freedom. But before we are washed over by the sea of red, white, and blue flags, and become transfixed by the fireworks red glare, let’s reflect. Do we dare to acknowledge our interdependence on Independence Day? And what can we understand about this iconic word, freedom?
Extraordinary rendition, denial of habeas corpus, enhanced interrogation tactics, waterboarding, torture. We have been hearing and reading these words too often since September 11, 2001. It has been difficult to follow the recent history. It’s tough to sort out facts from spin, and for some, the issue is too abhorrent to think about. CVT and the National Religious Campaign against Torture have determined this June to be Torture Awareness Month and have charged religious communities across the country to recommit themselves to their most deeply held convictions and act in this effort to ban torture. Come hear what this means for our church and the larger Unitarian Universalist community.
Remember that fist dance with someone you were attracted to and barely knew. It may have been scary wonderful, awkward, transformative or all of this at once and more. Community Intern Jacqueline Duhart will explore the sometimes mysterious dance of ministry, learning, and letting go.
In the Buddhist tradition, the first of the three marks of existence is impermanence. This idea that reality is constantly flowing has become embedded in modern, Western theological thought as ‘process’. In this continual flux, is there anything permanent and unchanging? What is our place in this transient world? Where is the joy?
Did you know that Irma Rombauer was a Unitarian? And that Joy of Cooking has its roots in the Women’s Alliance of the Unitarian Church in St. Louis? Janne and Worship Associate Jean Olson will lift up the unique contribution of Joy of Cooking and the importance of kitchen wisdom.
Did you know that the "K" in K-rations refers to U of M professor, Ansel Keyes? During World War II, Keyes was asked to devise a compact, nutritious packet for use by the troops. What did he include and why? What do soldiers need and why? Rob and Community Intern minister, Jacqueline Duhart, a retired Air Force officer will offer a service for Memorial Day.
Come celebrate the affirming, uniquely Unitarian Universalist ritual of Flower Communion. Developed by Czech Unitarian minister, Norbert Capek who died a martyr at Dachau, the ritual celebrates the intrinsic beauty of each and every soul. Bring a flower for the arch. This Family Sunday service is for the whole church family.
Barry Lopez asks, "How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but with oneself?" How do we embody the generous spirit of mothering in this troubled time? The answers may lie in the workings of an anthill or the language of our very DNA. Ruth MacKenzie is a student of theology at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, as well as a professional creative and performance artist.
Increasingly, we are not only conscious of the nutritional value of the food we eat, but also its source and sustainability. We are also increasingly aware of the ethical and political dimensions to the food we eat. Explore the dynamics of the food chain and what is healthy eating when the well-being of the whole planet is considered.
We conclude our series on covenant and creed with a service to honor those who are Coming of Age this year. Building on the Saturday night ceremony at which each participant will offer their theological statement, the services will highlight those practices, which are essential to our liberal faith. Community Ministerial Intern, Jacqueline Duhart, who has been working with our Coming of Age class all this past year, and Kerri Meyer, Director of Religious Education join Rob in conducting the service.
"Although there are considerable differences between American UUs and Transylvanian Unitarianism - because we live in different societies and in slightly different kinds of cultures - I am more and more conscious about our common passion for justice, human dignity, true fellowship, real peace and love – and I know that we all feel responsible for these values. As a progressive liberal from Transylvania, being here gives me the unique opportunity to learn from your experience, spirituality, and social involvement. " Rev. Bela-Botond Jakabhazi
The liberal church was founded upon the understanding of covenant as the central binding agent, not creed. Given that historic understanding, Janne and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander will explore the promises the liberal church makes to its members and friends.
An introduction to our way of being religious. Who were our spiritual ancestors? What do we promise each other? Covenant for us is more a verb than a noun, a way of being religious together rather than a set of fixed beliefs.
The entire church family will gather to "practice resurrection." Easter celebrates far more than simply the coming of spring. Easter is the joyful recognition of the ministry of Jesus and the many ways his work lives on in all our lives.
Theologian James Luther Adams identified five smooth stones of liberal religion. These stones can be thought of as the stepping stones that we walk upon as we move forward into the future. Explore the smooth stones of our liberal religion that speak to what we might become in the future.
There are times in life when only faith will suffice. Rob and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander have collected stories of such times in the lives of church members and will offer them in collage as part of the service. Even though we know that spring is on the way there are times when even the resilience of the seasons seems in doubt.
How do we keep our heart attuned to the harsh realities of what happens in the public squares of our sacred world? How do we become more and more conscious and spiritually engaged? Explore the road toward becoming an Active Witness; a tool that may reawaken/reconnect us to the fullness and wholeness of life.
Sometimes our efforts at keeping our lives in balance are not enough. With a chance misstep, the world tilts, and we take a tumble. Can we fall with grace, or do we resist the inevitable outcome? Can we recover, and how? Who is there to help us, and can we accept that help?
The Blues tradition embraces the reality that some times "just gettin’ down" with our blues can be the wisest thing to do in response to our disappointments.
There is no work (outside of serving as an instrument of evil) that cannot be made worthwhile. Both suffering and joy are largely a matter of consciousness. Gandhi taught that caste was a matter of karma. In other words, know your place and find happiness there. That approach is in direct conflict with working for human liberation. Or is it?
W. E. DuBois states, "Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the play-time." In justice-making work is there room for joy? If so, how do we find joy and sustain it? This service will be led by Jacqueline Duhart and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith.
Every great tradition points to the fact that compassion can take root in a heart that’s been broken. There is work we do that we know won’t be accomplished in just one generation. We do it anyway because we know it’s right. Rob and Worship Associate Estelle Brouwer will speak of their own heartbreak and of why good work is sometimes worth the risk.
The first service dedicated to the theme of "Work Worth Doing" will explore the important work of raising and mentoring our children and youth.
With the joy of birth and hope that the Christmas season offers us, there is another side. Holy Innocents Day, an ancient Feast Day, recalls the story of the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem as described in the Gospel of Matthew. How can this apparent evil be part of the Christmas story? How do we face the fact that we live, and many around us suffer and die, daily? Come explore how we may navigate a world full of suffering, violence, and despair.
The long midwinter nights seem almost out of time. We rush around in hope of pleasing those we love the best while the world around us slows down to starlit stillness. A quality of spiritual surrender is forcing ourselves to slow down.
The title of this service comes from the poetry of Sufi poet, Rumi. But folk wisdom posits that guests, like caught fish are welcome for about three days.
All creation sings the secret told to Mary by an Angel. Soon God will be born again through you. Soon love will come to you in human form.
In a quest for efficiency, order and even survival, we compartmentalize our lives, separating work from family, from church, from leisure. We know that some boundaries are necessary, but when do we go too far? What is the spiritual cost to such dis-integration?
The story of the first Thanksgiving may well be mostly myth. We know how quickly gratitude gave way to conquest. But seeds of possibility and hope were planted with the corn when spring finally arrived after that terrible first winter. For years now we’ve been planting seeds of hope in Transylvania. We’ve exchanged visits, struggled for mutual respect and gained far more than we could ever have imagined as genuine, lasting friendships have taken root.
We welcome Vivek Pandit, freedom fighter, community organizer and the visionary founder of Vidhayak Sansad, an organization at work freeing slaves in India. Vivek, who is in Saint Paul to explore partnership possibilities with Unity Church, asks us to contemplate the following question. How can liberal religion help newly liberated people to achieve inner freedom? Breaking physical chains is easy when compared to confronting the oppression of self-doubt.
To miniaturize another human being is a violent act. When we make assumptions about others on the basis of some singular aspect of their identity we diminish and marginalize them. Rob and Worship Associate Mary Baremore will wrestle with this all-too-human tendency.
College education, money, sound body and mind, heterosexual, male, physically attractive, white skin, English speaking, socially skilled…do these characteristics separate us from beloved community and contribute to our collective suffering or bring us together in a spirit of love that is healing and liberating? Worship and reflect on how sins of privilege can be transformed and blaze a path toward freedom and justice for all.
Kabir says, Go over and over your beads, paint designs on your forehead, wear your hair matted, long and ostentatious. When deep inside you there is a loaded gun, how can you have God?" We live at the intersection of spiritual development and right action in the world. Urgency is understandable but so often its also an indication that we’re hiding behind the troubles of the world as a way to avoid confronting our own troubles. We run from church to church or from crisis to crisis hoping against hope to find an all-consuming cause. Such behavior can perpetuate the very injustice its intended to combat. Rob and Worship Associate, Craig Allen will begin our series on "Identity and Violence."
Evil prospers and wrongdoing asserts itself; loved ones disappoint us and fall short. Even our own dreams die and our courage often fails us. In the face of this often cruel reality, how dare we lay claim to hope? Rev. McNatt invites us, and our faith, to endure. This Celebration Sunday join us as we renew our financial commitments to our church community.
As part of our series on faith, Janne and Worship Associate Karen Palmen will examine where we look for validation of our faith. Do we look inward for our own sense of truth or do we look to outside sources? Or is it ever that clearly delineated? Emerson’s essay on self reliance will be a primary source for this service.
What does faithful living look like? What does faithful living feel like? It must have to do with living aligned to our values. What questions should we be asking ourselves? How can we most usefully serve one another in living faith-filled lives? Rob, Janne and worship associate, Estelle Brouwer will each offer reflections on these essential questions.
What is the role of faith in a noncreedal religion that is so attractive to skeptics? In what ways is faith different than belief? Janne and worship associate Don Brunnquell will examine the role of faith in today’s world.
In Jewish tradition the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called "the Days of Awe." That awe is inspired by the sure knowledge that you and I can move beyond our brokenness, beyond our dissolution and begin again. Each year we celebrate the Jewish High Holy Days in a service, which culminates with a "Litany for Atonement." Rob Eller-Isaacs will offer a sermon on faith. Jean Olson will serve as worship associate.
First lines explores the importance of beginnings and what it means to have a beginner’s mind.
Is it possible that starting a backyard flock of three chickens could be a meaningful response to the human crisis of inequity in food production and distribution? What does producing our own food at the really local level reveal to us about the relationship between feeding our communities and nourishing our souls? And what are you supposed to do when one of your hens begins to crow? Kerri Meyer reflects on the growing trend of keeping chickens and the ‘inexpressible satisfaction’ that comes from more than just fresh eggs.
We in America are immersed in a culture of violence, and in general we don’t even notice. Our news, our entertainment, and our societal norms lead us to accept horrific violent acts as normal, acceptable, business-as-usual. As Unitarians, as people seeking to lead a religious life, should we be concerned? What response can we offer?
In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. It may also be a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person’s beliefs and faith. Lyn Burton will share joys, hardships and insights from her seven-year journey of faith as a Unity Church sponsored candidate for UU parish ministry on the path to Preliminary Fellowship in the UU Minister’s Association.
For many people, working in corporate America seems both necessary and unavoidably numbing. Is workplace spirituality really an oxymoron? Must it be so? Come for some observations about the alleged conflict between work life and personal essence based on Craig’s 15 years working for large Minnesota businesses.
In a world in which money and success are intimately tied with time and efficiency it is difficult to stop and reflect on and appreciate our actions as well as the way in which society and nature act upon us. Based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s book "Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life," we will explore simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into our busy lives in order to create a more peaceful and meaningful existence.
**Oh Say Can You See, By the Dawn’s Early Light? — Tom Esch
It is time to really put our imaginations to use. Fewer people can doubt that we are near or at a point of crisis on many levels as a planet and as a species. Is it time for all of us to begin to see new things in new ways? Where do we as a UU movement find our vision and inspiration in times of desperation?**
**The Eldercare Journey - by Rev. Ann Romanczuk
Many of us in this congregation are caring for, or anticipating caring for, our aging parents. Author Mary Pipher writes of this process: "if we embark freely and willingly on this voyage of discovery, we may find joy, empathy, understanding, and intimacy. We expand our definitions of what it means to be human. We grow our own souls in the garden of time." Rev. Ann Romanczuk will explore this difficult and potentially rewarding passage.**
During the month of May, our ministers Rob and Janne Eller-Isaacs made their way along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage trail that culminates at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compestella. They return to Unity Church to tell us why they chose to go beyond Santiago and to end their pilgrimage at the sea.
In this 4 part sermon, Rob and Janne reflect on their sabbatical, on making a pilgrimage, and on the importance of "taking time" to truly reconnect with ourselves and our deepest callings.
The Joy of Ripeness Justin SchroederLife is full of beginnings and endings. Yet, there is that magical moment, that space someplace between the beginning and the ending, where a fullness and perfect readiness is reached. It is as if we have been preparing our whole lives for this moment, this moment that can come again and again in our lifetime. It is a moment of joy, a moment of perfect ripeness - filled with sweet nectar, ready to burst forth.
The Journey We're Ready For by Teresa SchwartzWe make our paths by walking them, step by step. If our lives are a journey, are we ever truly ready? How would we know? What is the role of faith as we step into the unknown, especially as Unitarian Universalists? As we reach the close of our church year, we"ll reflect on the paths we�ve made together, and what lies ahead as we move into the ripe season of summer and the ripe season of ourselves.
Service and Sacrifice: The Complexities of Memorial Day by Justin Schroeder
In part, Memorial Day is a day of remembering all who have given their lives in service to our country. In this remembering, we are drawn into larger questions of meaning and purpose in our own lives: What am I willing to sacrifice? Who or what am I most authentically serving?
Heading into summer is the perfect time to pause and reflect on the nature of joy and pleasure. How do we find our true course in the midst of so many distractions? What is the difference between a joy we can trust and follow inward and a pleasure that is only a temporary fill for the "God-shaped Hollow."
Katie Lawson was Unity's Hallman Ministerial Intern in 2005 and 2006 and was fellowshipped with the Unitarian Universalist Association in September. She spent the summer as chaplain at Ferry Beach, a Unitarian Universalist retreat center, and currently teaches seventh and eighth grade social studies at St. Paul Academy.
**“You’re Going To Wear That??
— Teresa Schwartz**We were all born — and we all have mothers. Some of us are mothers and grandmothers. We’ll explore having a mom and being a mom — times funny and sad; moments poignant and irreverent. Mothers of all kinds should be remembered, if not honored. Some mothers are nurturing, some mothers are stifling, some mothers always loved us, some didn’t know how, some mothers we never met, some mothers are our best friends. Come and and honor motherhood with us.
**Work That is Real
by Rev. Dottie Mathews, Fox Valley UU Fellowship of Appleton, Wisc.**The title for this sermon comes from the Marge Piercy poem "To Be of Use." Explore the dynamics between finding coherence in our inner life and how we then take that coherence (or sense of meaning) out into the rest of our lives, our work, our home, and our relationships.
Dottie Mathews is the Assistant Minister at the Fox Valley UU Fellowship. In middle-life, after a successful business career, Dottie answered a call to the ministry. She graduated from United Theological Seminary in May 2006 and was ordained in Appleton six months later. Dottie's internship at Unity Church is one aspect of her learning process for which she is particularly grateful. She is delighted for this opportunity to return to greet old friends and new.
**"Abundant Possibilities"
by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, All Souls Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma**Marlin Lavanhar grew up Unitarian Universalist at North Shore Unitarian Church in Deerfield, Illinois. After graduating from Tulane University, he relocated to Kyoto, Japan, where he worked and studied for two years. Leaving Japan, he and a friend took a three year, around the world odyssey on mountain bikes. The trip took him through some of the world's highest mountain ranges, across parts of the Gobi desert, Tibet, India, Pakistan, through the Middle East, across Eastern Europe and North America. It was on this trip that he felt the call to Unitarian Universalist Ministry.
His sermon explores the power of generosity and possibility - and the surprising moments that can come from spontaneous giving!
**Easter Sunday
by Teresa Schwartz and Justin Schroeder**We honor the Easter story every year; every year we are in need of resurrection. We will celebrate doubt and belief, the commonplace and the miraculous, our fears and our hopes as we reach into new life.
**Fools, Foolishness, and Folly:
What Clowns, Jesters and Pranksters Have to Teach Us
by Justin Schroeder**This April Fool's Day (and Palm Sunday), come laugh and chortle as we explore the history of the holy fool - those clowns and jokesters that throughout the ages have managed to penetrate our upright defenses to tell us the things we really need to know.
The Idolatry of Symbols by Rev. Karen GustafsonKaren was ordained by the Duluth Unitarian Universalist congregation in 1986. She is a graduate of the Starr King School for the ministry in Berkeley California. Before becoming an minister, Karen was a public school educator in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. She is married and has four just- barely-adult children. Karen is inspired by the poetry of Mary Oliver, Denise Levertov and Wendell Berry and time in the woods and near the lakes of northern Minnesota.
This sermon explores symbols and the power they can hold over us.
Gates, Alarms, Mace, and Faith: Finding Real Security in an Insecure Age. ByJustin SchroederWhat makes us safe, really safe? Is it a home alarm system, razor wire, the truth, or a hand gun next to our bed? How secure is secure enough, and what's faith got to do with it?
March 4, 9:00am, 11:00am, and 4:30pm Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
We strive for excellence, but when does it become too much? When does our pursuit of improving our careers, our homes, families, bodies, our very selves become too much? When does our drive to be better keep us from doing anything at all? What awakens this drive is us? What feeds it? What can it offer us? As part of our Lenten series on idolatry, Sabbatical Minister Teresa Schwartz and Worship Associate Karen Palmen will explore the idolatry of perfectionism.
**February 25 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30)
“Possessed By Possessions? — Rev. Melissa Carvill-Ziemer, Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, Ohio**Melissa served a Unity Church’s second Hallman Ministerial Intern. She is currently serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, Ohio. Melissa served as Unity’s Intern in 2003 and 2004. Melissa is married to Ellen Carvill-Ziemer. In addition to her full time parish ministry, Melissa has been focused on Conflict Resolution and is currently exploring religious themes in children’s literature. Sharon Hogenson will join Melissa as her Worship Associate.
“Created Identities? — Justin Schroeder delivered at www.unityunitarian.orgJoin Justin Schroeder and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith as they explore the fundamental questions of “identity.? Are our identities fluid or static? Who determines our identities and labels? What are the politics of identity and is it possible to ever be without an identity? Or are we forever creating the identity we show the world?
Neil is the author of two acclaimed books, VoiceMale, and Fatherloss. He is writer-in-residence at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Rev. Kelly Flood, and their 13-year-old son, Evan. Neil is co-founder of the Unitarian Universalist Men’s Network. Justin Schroeder will join Neil as his Worship Associate.
Rev. Jennifer Crow, First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York delivered at www.unityunitarian.org
Effective leadership requires genuine concern, curious listening, humility,and bold vision - a tricky combination whether your find yourself seated in the oval office, around the board room or at the family dinner table. How can we, as leaders and as members of our country, our church, and our families, encourage one another to embrace this difficult balance? What can past leaders teach us about how to proceed — either by way of warning or by way of example? How might we offer and earn the trust required for the emergence of a humble vision in our relationships? Let us explore these tricky questions together
**"Deep Democracy?
Teresa Schwartz**How do our “democratic ideals? line up with our basic lived values, in our lives, and in the world? How is our democracy failing us? Or have we failed it? In this service, Teresa Schwartz and worship associate, Dick Buggs, will look at ways to ground ourselves in a democracy that is life-giving, transformative, and reminds us that as a part of the interconnected web of life, we must work toward the common good.
"Beloved Community" by Justin Schroeder
Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
What we do we mean when we talked about "Beloved Community"? How do we recognize the "Beloved Community," and how do we know if we're there? On this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, we'll explore visions and intersections of "Beloved Community," "Mountain Top" experiences, and the "Kingdom of God."
"Tolling of Bells" - Rob Eller-Isaacs and Janne Eller-Isaacs
January 7, 9:00, 11:00 and 4:30 pm. Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
We begin each new year with a memorial service for those who have died in the previous year. Rob and Janne will each eulogize men and women whose lives have shaped the world of art or politics, literature or science.Everyone will have an opportunity to acknowledge those they’ve loved and lost. In grief and gratitude and gladness we turn to welcome the new year.
October 29 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org. "What Are We Afraid Of?" — Rob Eller-Isaacs
Why do we fear what we fear? Beyond hard-wired aversion to poisons or pain there are more subtle triggers. Particular costumes, a certain swagger or even just the color of a person’s skin can set off our interior alarms, speeding up our heart-rates, closing down our minds. Rob will be joined by Kerri Meyer and Worship Associate Mary Baremore for a descent into the underworld.
**October 22 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"In Our Own Best Interest" — Janne Eller-Isaacs**Huston Smith said that the first step in human flourishing is empathy and compassion. Janne and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith will examine the role that justice making activities and our own community outreach play in our own lives. This service is part of the Privilege of Place series.
October 15 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
“The Even Better News? — Rev. Robert M. Hardies, All Souls Church of Washington
What is the good news of Unitarian Universalism that our world so desperately needs? Rev. Hardies, senior minister of All Souls Church in Washington, DC, will share with us his vision of that saving message, and encourage us all to help spread it by “adding our voice.?
Rev. Robert M. Hardies is senior minister of All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington DC — a historic, diverse congregation in the heart of the nation’s capital. In Washington, he is also a leader in the Washington Interfaith Network, a coalition of 40 congregations building power to create social change in the city.
**September 24 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"Familiar Strangers" - Janne Eller-Isaacs**For the first of our High Holy Day services, Janne and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander will explore the dimensions of the classic text used for the beginning of the new year, the sacrifice of Isaac at the hands of his father. In addition they will address this in the light of the immigrant experience in our country.
**September 17 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30). Delivered at www.unityuntarian.org.
"The 6 Realms of Being" - Dr. Huston Smith and Rob Eller-Isaacs**A lifelong career of studying the world's religions has made the world-renowned Dr. Huston Smith especially gifted in illuminating the dialogues that are timeless. His conversations touch upon many Big Questions: what is the meaning of God? Where do science and religion meet? How can we teach children about the sacred in everyday life? Join Rob Eller-Isaacs and Dr. Smith for an insightful look into this field of study.
**September 10 (9:00, 11:00, 4:30). Delivered at www.unityuntarian.org.
"Crossing the Waters" - Rob and Janne Eller-Isaacs**Every river flows down to the sea. And we will merge the waters of the world as we begin another year together. The whole church family will gather bringing water they have brought back from around the world. We'll sing songs old and new. We'll pray for peace and be at peace together. Please note that this Sunday begins our new service schedule of 9:00, 11:00, and 4:30.
August 27 (10:00 a.m.) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"Ordinary Things" by Richard Foushee
This service will reflect on appreciating the simple in a complex world by exploring the writings of the 17th century haiku master Matsuo Basho.
August 20 (10:00 a.m.) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"Godtalk: UU Children and Theist Language" - Kerri Meyer
Our childhoods are chapters of naming, a time when words are magically attaching themselves to our reality and becomng the currency of our transactions with other people. What do our children mean, whether they come from theist or humanist families, when they use the word God? How do we respond to the Godtalk they are absorbing simply by existing in a predominantly Judeo-Christian religious culture? What choices are we making, as teachers, parents, and fellow seekers, about the theological language we use with our young people, and to what end?
August 13 (10:00 a.m.) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"Conditions for Travel" Jenny Wilson
Writer Frederic Brussat claims that "we read the world to see what it can show us about the meaning of life. Through this reading, we gain a new understanding of our place in the universe and learn to recognize the many movements of the spirit." Join Jenny Wilson as she explores the journey we share as planetary pilgrims traveling on the edge of a galaxy.
June 25 (10:00 a.m.) Delivered at www.unityunitarian.org.
"Shaping Unitarian Universalist History: The Ministry of Frederick May Eliot" by Briana Melom.
"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage - to know who we are and where we came from." - Alex Haley.
This service helps us to remember the ministry of Dr. Frederick May Eliot, minister of Unity Church from 1917-37 and president of the American Unitarian Association just prior to the merger with the Universalists in 1961. As we make space in our busy lives for what Eliot called a sacred reality, we recall one who illuminated our heritage of faith. Briana Melom will be joined by Worship Associate Sharon Hogenson.