Podcast: Chalice Sermons

Hidden Labor: The Work That Americans Won’t Do

One service at 10 am
George W. Bush once noted that immigrants in the United States often do the labor that “Americans won’t do.” These jobs often include menial labor such as picking strawberries, cleaning hotels, bussing tables and mowing lawns. However, it is not only immigrants that do this work; other non-majority peoples such as African Americans and indigenous people do this work, often without recognition or thanks. This service will look into the importance of invisible labor, touching on issues such as what it means to be an American.

Beloved Conversations

One Service at 10:00am only 
Conscious conversations around race and the role it plays in our society are vital especially these days. Issues of race confront us in our politics, our daily lives and in this country’s history since its founding. This past spring 14 members of our congregation participated in a program called “Beloved Conversations” to gain greater consciousness around the role race plays in our lives. Join us as we share our spiritual realizations why it is so important to be more mindful of race.

Jazz Basketball and Other Keys to Happiness

One Service at 10 am ONLY 
Jazz basketball is a term from author, activist, and basketball great Kareem Abdul Jabbar and it refers to the creative interplay of the individual player and the team, like a soloist in a jazz ensemble. It is one more way of understanding what it means to live a whole and happy life in balance with Nature, the Universe, the Tao, or Way, as the Taoists call it. Finding harmony of ego and the greater self and our community is the challenge and the opportunity this life gives us.

How do you love?

One Service Only Service at 10:00 am
If the main way we can change the world is by opening our hearts to one another and loving more, how do you do that? How does your unique call to bring more love to this world express itself? Can we bring more love to our families and friends, to our community and those we don’t know? How might we love those who are difficult to love? Join us to explore how Unitarian Universalism calls each of us to grow and express our love, so we may help heal the world.

The Spiritual Sweet Spot

Service at 10:00am only 
This week, Rev. Nica returns from her study leave and summer break. Today she shares the fruits of her reflections and insights with us. Join us for our minister’s musings.

The Unconventional Hero’s Journey

Service at 10:00 am 
A hero’s journey? Do we all have the opportunity? I know nobody feels like a hero at the beginning, but what if you still don’t feel like a hero at the end? What do you do with the sense that you just did what anyone else would have done? And in the end, isn’t it all less about facing our enemies, seizing the sword, and returning home changed forever and more about letting go of false notions, letting go of our ego, and letting go of what others think and embracing our true selves? A hero’s journey…..Is there really a sword?

“You Should be Grateful!”

1 Service at 10 am
A thoughtful examination of the idea that gratitude isn’t just being thankful for what you have, but taking it to the next step and empowering yourself and others to make the world better.

The Theology of Neil Gaiman

1 Service at 10 am ONLY
Author Neil Gaiman is a prolific author in several genres. Yet a common thread in many of his works is the idea of good and evil, and whether there exists an ineffable Plan. What is good? What is evil? Can they be differentiated? Is there a Heaven and Hell? What is the great Plan? Ayanna Gaines will explore these questions through the lens of some of Gaiman’s writings.

BACK TO JUNIOR HIGH

Services at 9:15 & 11:00
Oncology chaplain and popular guest speaker, Michael Eselun will share some deeply personal reflections about junior high school– a pivotal and often painful time that leaves indelible memories for many of us. In dialogue with some of those 13- year old’s perceptions, what might be discovered about inherent worth, dignity, and compassion?