This June thousands of delegates to our General Assembly voted to amend the bylaws of our denomination to include core religious language acknowledging that love is at the center of who we aspire to be.  This multi-year process was a reminder that it matters how we describe our values and beliefs and that we expect … Continue reading Inviting Love for All

Religion is an experience, an experience connecting us to what is sacred, what we hold as sacred.  Religion creates a container for the emotions that accompany the experience of the sacred – wonder, awe, gratitude, anxiety, joy, grief, reverence, empowerment, compassion, outrage, hope, humility, trust.  Whether theist or non-theist, Buddhist, Humanist, Christian, Pagan or Jew, … Continue reading Inviting the Sacred, Inviting God

As the varied rivers of life bring us back together in our beautiful sanctuary for our annual water communion service, may we experience a sense of renewal and welcome with hearts opened by music and ritual, invited by friendly faces and a caring community. Our water communion honors the diverse stories that join us together … Continue reading The River of Life: A Water Communion Service

As we celebrate our annual Flower Communion service, may we remember the Navajo prayer that there is beauty before us, behind us, above us, and below us – provided we choose to notice.  Please bring a flower if you can – though we’ll have plenty of extras.  The sermon will be the story of the … Continue reading Flower Communion Sunday: Now I Walk in Beauty

Music Sunday will trace the musical journey of our choir this year, from the celebration of being together, to the courage it takes to live through the darkness; from the profound sadness of the Brahms Requiem, to the hope of love and believing in the sun even when it is not shining. Join in for … Continue reading Music Sunday: To Sing Our Shared Humanity

Trust in how we practice democracy continues to erode.  We appear to have a system that inspires theoretically yet seems stuck in its implementation.  What if the process of voting, what if elections, the way they have evolved, are a part of the problem rather than a path to a solution?  What if democracy, the … Continue reading Democracy without Voting

As Robert Reich reminds us “The common good consists of our shared values about what we owe one another as citizens who are bound together in the same society – the norms we voluntarily abide by, and the ideals we seek to achieve. [..]  If there is no common good, there is no society.”  So … Continue reading Our Common Good

The impulse to be helpful when someone is facing or experiencing homelessness is strong in many of us.  Nine year old Hewie, who inspired this sermon, talks about a “deep feeling in his gut” that makes him want to be useful when he passes a person on the street asking for support.  How do we … Continue reading Feeling Useful, Feeling Used

The stories we tell – about ourselves, our communities, and our culture – can be inspiring and liberating or hold us back and keep us stuck.  As we welcome a cohort of new members, what are the stories we choose to share?  Michael will recount and reframe some of our old stories and offer some … Continue reading We Are Our Stories