sermon summaries

We welcome the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt as our preacher today. She is a long-time UU minister who serves as the President of one of our two main theological schools – Starr King School for the Ministry. Before she entered the UU ministry, Rev. McNatt was a writer /editor for the New York Times Book Review. Before going to Starr King she served as Senior Minister of the Fourth Universalist Society of the City of New York. Rev. McNatt has been voice of reason, challenge, wisdom and leadership within UUism for decades. Plan now to join us! You are invited to a reception for Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, after the Sunday Service, at 2 PM Come for refreshments and conversation, to learn about what’s happening in theological education for UU minister, and to help us welcome and thank her for joining us this Sunday. Let Rev. Jill McAllister know if you plan to attend.

As we look toward Ostara, a fleeting moment of balance in the Wheel of the Year, we pause to reflect on what it means to embrace the seasonality and impermanence of all things on the Earth and within ourselves. This Sunday we’ll share a moment of transition between the Wheel of the Year services we’ve come to know and love and the inevitable “what’s next” with an experimental worship service for all ages offered by Director of Religious Exploration, Skyla King-Christison.

What might it take for us to understand that the way things are, what the World includes, is not simply a problem or problems to be solved? That Life calls us to be present (and humble, honest, courageous, grateful, amazed) in all the ways we can, no matter what is happening? A new generation of philosopher-theologians have much to teach us.

Rev. Jill McAllister

“Justice” has been named as a central value in Unitarian Universalism for generations. We are for it. We work for it. We work to understand it. And still, there is much to learn. Most often we think that justice is public work, community work, political work. But what if it is first and foremost soul work? Without getting waylaid by wanting to define “soul,” let’s consider what justice requires, what it asks of us, what it needs from us.

Rev. Jill McAllister

So much is changing in our world, faith, and congregational lives. As we engage this changing reality, we need tools to help us meet the needs of this liminal time. Improvisation can provide us with a framework for shared ministry, and life!

Our guest preacher, The Rev. Darrick Jackson (he/him), is the Director of Ministries for Lifelong Learning of the UU Ministers Association. He is one of the authors in the book “Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity and Power in Ministry.” Rev. Darrick is active in DRUUMM (the UU ministry for people of color) and is the treasurer for Healing Moments (a ministry for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s). He is pursuing his D.Min in Theology and the Arts at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Rev. Darrick and his husband, Dr. James Olson, live with their two cats, Merlin and Morgana. After Service Continued Conversation: Treat yourself refreshments at the Coffee Hour, then join Darrick and Jill McA at 11:45 AM in the Sanctuary for further conversation about improvisation for congregational life and life in the world. All are welcome.

They were two men of small physical stature, but Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh were both giants: religious giants, spiritual giants, moral giants. They met twice – both brief meetings – but the effects of their meetings were and are profound. Between them they gave a depth and breadth to the idea of “Beloved Community” which few since have been able to fully grasp or commit to. What might we learn from the stories of their meeting?

with Jill McAllister

They were two men of small physical stature, but Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh were both giants: religious giants, spiritual giants, moral giants. They met twice – both brief meetings – but the effects of their meetings were and are profound. Between them they gave a depth and breadth to the idea of “Beloved Community” which few since have been able to fully grasp or commit to. What might we learn from the stories of their meeting?

with Jill McAllister

This Sunday we observe and celebrate Imbolc (also known as Candlemas), the point on the Wheel of the Year halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The first hints of Spring are beginning to show themselves, the light is very slowly returning, and it’s a time to plant the seeds of everything we hope will grow this year and let go of things that no longer serve us! This is a time of year for contemplating mysteries, and speaking about the unspeakable, mysterious, hard-to-describe parts of being alive. All ages join in worship together.