Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco
803 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsFirst Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco Sunday worship service. Home of liberal spirituality for over 150 years, the Society welcomes people of all racial and religious backgrounds. Our Congregation includes gay, straight, transgendered, and questioning people. More information is available at www.uusf.org.
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Episodes
Understanding Autism, Each Other, and Ourselves
April 21, 2024 17:50 - 29 minutes - 54.2 KB"Understanding Autism, Each Other, and Ourselves" Sunday, April 21, 10:50 am, 2024 For many people, when they learn they're on the Autism spectrum, they gain a rich and empowering understanding of themselves. Let's learn about these identities so we can support each other's unique spiritual journeys and be a more accessible and compassionate congregation! Sam King, Guest Preacher; Rev. Millie Phillips, Affiliated Community Minister; Tad Hopp, Worship Participant; Eric Hamilton, Guitarist...
Perspectives on Earth
April 14, 2024 17:50 - 26 minutes - 48.9 KB"Perspectives on Earth" Sunday, April 14, 10:50 am, 2024 From the astrophysicist, Neil deGrass Tyson, to the botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and through the eyes of the poets, how do we see earth? And what does that tell us about ourselves and life—this life—on this planet we call home? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Greggory Stevens, Story...
Person by Person by Person
April 07, 2024 17:50 - 22 minutes - 40.7 KB"Person by Person by Person" Sunday, April 7, 10:50 am, 2024 Person by Person by Person… that is how change occurs. Not once and for all, but continuously. Change changes what is possible, and each person we engage makes the possible a little more hopeful. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, “You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind, but with the conviction in your heart.” Change requires intention and a willingness to take risks. We suspect that change will not always turn out ...
Roll that Rock Away
March 31, 2024 17:50 - 28 minutes - 52.1 KB"Roll that Rock Away" Easter Sunday, March 31, 10:50 am, 2024 Life has a lot of tombs, losses, and setbacks. And there are rocks, heavy and awkward, that protect and seal them. What are the ways we don't end our stories at the rock or tomb? What does it require of us to make resurrection also the stuff of our lives? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Bill Klingelhoffer and Courtney Young-Law; C...
Lessons from the Road
March 24, 2024 17:50 - 26 minutes - 48 KB"Lessons from the Road" Sunday, March 24, 10:50 am, 2024 I was fortunate enough to have the gift of almost three straight months to renew and refresh in the ancient tradition of sabbath, or fallow times. Thirty-two of those days (but who is counting?) were spent on the road, circling through the American Southwest, with my husband. It is a modern pilgrimage that many of us have done some version of before—a car, a map, some time ago. I'd love to bore you with some of what germinated on the...
Written in Pencil
March 17, 2024 17:50 - 26 minutes - 47.8 KB"Written in Pencil" Sunday, March 17, 10:50 am, 2024 We sing from a hymnal called Singing the Living Tradition. What does it mean that ours is a living tradition? In light of the changing landscapes of religion and Unitarian Universalism how do we keep the tradition alive rather than stagnant history? Rev. Cheryl M. Walker, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Greggory Stevens and Nancy Munn, Canvass Testimonials...
Religion... I Too Dislike It
March 10, 2024 17:50 - 26 minutes - 47.8 KB"Religion... I Too Dislike It" Sunday, March 10, 10:50 am, 2024 Poet Marianne Moore once wrote a poem beginning, “Poetry . . . I too dislike it.” Yet by its end she affirmed something real in it, and worthwhile. So it is with religion, sayeth the preacher. If you (or your friends) resonate to the phrase “spiritual, but not religious,” this sermon is for you, and for them. Rev. John Buehrens; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Judit...
It's Time to Build
March 03, 2024 18:50 - 24 minutes - 44.8 KB"It's Time to Build" Sunday, March 3, 10:50 am, 2024 Over the past several years, UUSF has weathered a pandemic, staff transitions, budget worries, and so much more. Now, we are at a place of recognizing our resilience and moving into a new stability. As we contemplate the year to come, let's determine what we want to build together and celebrate who we are! Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Sherry Delo & Jack Delo, Canvass Co-Chairs,...
What Will You Save?
February 25, 2024 18:50 - 20 minutes - 53.2 KB"What Will You Save?" Sunday, February 25, 10:50 am, 2024 As the years accumulate and I (Rev. Sonya) experience growing satisfaction with a life well lived, I wonder what it is worthwhile to save—for posterity, for my children, for our communities? At the same time, a recent article lifted up the fact that longevity often depends on engagement and connection with people and efforts rather than saving and consuming. Rev. Sonya Sukalski and Carmen Barsody will take up the topic with an eye t...
Storm Warning
February 18, 2024 18:50 - 27 minutes - 50.3 KB"Storm Warning" Sunday, February 18, 10:50 am, 2024 It’s a fraught time in our nation, especially because it’s an election year. On this President's Day weekend, how might we read more clearly the crucial signs of our time? And how might our faith be a source of strength, not only for ourselves but for others? Starr King School for the Ministry is commemorating its long-standing connection with the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco! President Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt ...
The Dragon's Might: A Lunar New Year Celebration
February 11, 2024 18:50 - 31 minutes - 58.5 KB"The Dragon's Might: A Lunar New Year Celebration" Sunday, February 11, 10:50 am, 2024 According to legend, a heavenly race determined the order of the Chinese zodiac signs. Why did Dragon, so clearly the mightiest of the animals, fail to come in first place? What can Dragon teach us about using power for more than winning in a world that calls for it? Join us in welcoming the Year of the Dragon. Rev. Seanan Fong, Affiliated Community Minister; Rev. Sonya Sukalski, Sabbatical Minister; Ka...
Thus Do We Covenant
January 28, 2024 18:50 - 24 minutes - 40.1 KB"Thus Do We Covenant" Sunday, January 28, 10:50 am, 2024 After the weekend of creating our covenant, we will come together to reveal what we have found most important for us to promise. We will explore and understand how we will use it in our relationships going forward. Aisha Hauser, Guest Preacher; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Rev. Sonya Sukalski, Sabbatical Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Diane Allen, Board of Trustees; Reiko Oda Lane, Organis...
Covenant: Laying the Foundation
January 21, 2024 18:50 - 21 minutes - 40.1 KB"Covenant: Laying the Foundation" Sunday, January 21, 10:50 am, 2024 As we prepare to engage in creating a congregational covenant for UUSF, we will start to lay the foundation of why it is important work for us to do. We will look at the preparation work we have already done and how covenant already exists in our congregational work. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Jonah Berquist, Moderator; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn...
Belonging
January 14, 2024 18:50 - 22 minutes - 41.4 KB"Belonging" Sunday, January 14, 10:50 am, 2024 It is said that religions include belief, behavior and belonging. Unitarian Universalism gave Rev. Sonya an immediate sense of belonging over 25 years ago when she first attended a service in her hometown in New Mexico. Unitarians employ reason in our beliefs, and a sense of freedom concerning religious behaviors, so naming what creates our sense of belonging this month is our work and our play. She will explore what belonging means today a...
Promises of the Heart
January 07, 2024 18:50 - 21 minutes - 39.9 KB"Promises of the Heart" Sunday, January 7, 10:50 am, 2024 Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal, covenantal faith; that is, we are united not by a single set of theological beliefs, but by the commitments we make to each other and to the broader society in which we live. A covenant is a promise from the heart to carry out these commitments. Throughout January, we will be exploring the concept and practice of covenanting. Rev. Millie Phillips, Affiliated Community Minister; Richard Davis...
Let Go of the Old & Ring in the New: Fire Communion
December 31, 2023 18:50 - 11 minutes - 20.9 KB"Let Go of the Old & Ring in the New: Fire Communion" Sunday, December 31, 10:50 am, 2023 We will gather to reflect on our past year, then set intentions for the upcoming year. This will be ritualized through a Fire Communion. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Diane Allen, Board of Trustees; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Akane Ota, Songleader; Elliott Etzkorn, Pianist Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communicat...
Christmas Eve Night
December 25, 2023 00:45 - 22 minutes - 41.1 KB"Christmas Eve Night" Sunday, December 24, 4:45 pm, 2023 Come let us join in community to celebrate the Christmas story in song, stories, and candles. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Bree Shennum; Tad Hopp; Michael Bossier; Claire Cover; Tad Hopp, Worship Participants; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; William Harvey, Trumpeter; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Kate Offer, Sopra...
What's Up With That: Interactive Christmas Pageant
December 24, 2023 18:50 - 24 minutes - 44.1 KB"What's Up With That: Interactive Christmas Pageant" Sunday, December 24, 10:50 am, 2023 Join us for an interactive telling of the Christmas story. This service is for all ages and costumes will be provided for those who want them. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Orianna Jooss Moren; Robert Jumonville; Callum Sanchez; Dahlia Tarou; Bree Shennum, Worship Participants; Akane Ota, Songleader; Mark Sumner, Pianist, Yuki and Haruka Ota, Cel...
Hanging of the Greens
December 17, 2023 18:50 - 58 minutes - 107 KB"Hanging of the Greens" Sunday, December 17, 10:50 am, 2023 We will gather as a full community to build connection through the ritual of creating the greens for our sanctuary. In honor of the sacredness of each person born, we will create stars that highlight each of us that are present. Join us for a lovely tradition of joy and merriment. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Christine Patch-Lindsay, Pagan Interest Circle; Reiko...
SACReD Stories, SACReD Decisions and Mary, Mother of God
December 10, 2023 18:50 - 26 minutes - 47.9 KB"SACReD Stories, SACReD Decisions and Mary, Mother of God" Sunday, December 10, 10:50 am, 2023 What is your faith story? What is your reproductive story? How is the Divine a part of both of these stories? How can we weave them together free from shame, judgment, and stigma? Join us as we examine our stories alongside one of the ancient stories of Mary, Mother of God. Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams from SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity, will lead an explora...
I Will Meet You There
December 03, 2023 18:50 - 30 minutes - 55.3 KB"I Will Meet You There" Sunday, December 3, 10:50 am, 2023 For weeks, there have been conversations in our church forums, at movie screenings, and on the steps as people gather and leave to address the war in Gaza. On Sunday (I think!) we will talk about the struggle to hold these events and dig into one of the issues coming up around the events: the ancient evils of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. And find ways and places to dig into the hard moral and political questions of this day in t...
Oh, We Give Thanks: A Bread Communion
November 26, 2023 18:50 - 17 minutes - 23.4 KB"Oh, We Give Thanks: A Bread Communion" Sunday, November 26, 10:50 am, 2023 In this quiet service, we will make space to be fed, to reflect on our times around the table and how they have shaped us, to share some of the food we love, and to fill up on the nourishment of giving thanks. If you have a baked good to donate to the table (for sharing at a service or afterwards), please let Vanessa know ([email protected]). Others inspired at the last minute can just put it out at coffee hour a...
In Transition
November 19, 2023 18:50 - 24 minutes - 36.9 KB"In Transition" Sunday, November 19, 10:50 am, 2023 This week, the end of Trans Awareness week, we will hear voices of trans folx and be together in their stories and wisdom -- from people we know and love to writers from the United States to the hijra community in India. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Santana McBride, Worship Associate; Lucy Smith, Board of Trustees; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF/I...
The Enfleshed Life: What Life and Love of a Body Entails
November 05, 2023 18:50 - 30 minutes - 55.2 KB"The Enfleshed Life: What Life and Love of a Body Entails" Sunday, November 5, 10:50 am, 2023 One of the biggest injuries that Christianity is part of in our journey to human wholeness is seeing the body as sacred—not in the sense of something pristine that could be defiled or whose urges were dangerous, but as something to be honored and trusted. We can blame St. Augustine for some of it. We can blame a world bent on extraction and marketing to us from piling on. However, the wholeness we...
Connecting Across Borders and Divides
October 29, 2023 17:50 - 10 minutes - 20.1 KB"Connecting Across Borders and Divides" Sunday, October 29, 10:50 am, 2023 This is the time of year of the Pagan celebration of Samhain, and the Christian (no doubt borrowed and adapted!) witness to All Souls and All Saints, and to the celebrations of Día De Los Muertos in Mexico and across Latin America. All of these community and religious ceremonies and sacred times begin with the Samhain idea that at this time of year, the veil between the living and the dead is thinned. It is a season...
Lessons for Future Ancestors
October 22, 2023 17:50 - 23 minutes - 43.3 KB"Lessons for Future Ancestors" Sunday, October 22, 10:50 am, 2023 "Let us measure success by how many of us can say: I am living a life I don’t regret. A life that will resonate with my ancestors" -adrienne maree brown Matt is a musician and worship leader who has led hundreds of services for UU congregations across the country. He has a degree in hand drumming and serves as Director of Community Life for Sanctuary Boston. https://www.rhythmrevelations.com/ Matt Meyer, Guest Preacher; R...
By Stander, Standing By
October 15, 2023 17:50 - 27 minutes - 50.2 KB"By Stander, Standing By" Sunday, October 15, 10:50 am, 2023 This weekend when we honor awareness about our Trans Beloveds, I want to talk about some stories I've heard from members lately. I want to talk about how we show up and invite others to do the same. I want to talk about the real danger of the bystander. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Liz Strand, Board of Trustees; Hamner Fam...
The Uses and Abuses of Scripture
October 08, 2023 17:50 - 20 minutes - 36.4 KB"The Uses and Abuses of Scripture" Sunday, October 8, 10:50 am, 2023 On a Sunday when we mark Indigenous Peoples Day, we will enjoy music from a group of Native Hawai’ian musicians. Rev. Buehrens reflect on how scripture was abused in the spread of settler colonialism, even as he invites people, in his Monday evening adult RE course on the Hebrew Bible, to learn about how the scriptures can be understood and used to counter oppression and begin the process of healing. Rev. John Buehrens;...
“Hello, Frank!” in honor of the feast of St Francis which is on Oct 4.
October 01, 2023 17:50 - 18 minutes - 36.4 KB“Hello, Frank!” in honor of the feast of St Francis which is on Oct 4. Sunday, October 1, 10:50 am, 2023 Living in a city named for St. Francis, we find ourselves looking for the humanity behind the saint as we negotiate very difficult times: Ideals of loving the poor get confused with the complexity of addressing poverty and homelessness; and a reverence for all creation can leave us wondering what really matters environmentally. Join us as we look beyond the saint and find the human. Ca...
Healing and Hope: A sermon on forgiveness and beyond
September 24, 2023 17:50 - 28 minutes - 51.8 KB"Healing and Hope: A sermon on forgiveness and beyond" Sunday, September 24, 10:50 am, 2023 Yom Kippur is a day for Jewish people to focus on forgiveness and determine how they will move forward in the next year. This morning, we will focus on our own relationship with forgiveness and participate in a ritual that allows us to find a sense of peace. If you are joining virtually, then please have a rock or stone to participate in the ritual. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Li...
We Are All the Same.... and Not: A service of celebration and reflection on being in community
September 17, 2023 17:50 - 23 minutes - 38.6 KB"We Are All the Same.... and Not: A service of celebration and reflection on being in community" Sunday, September 17, 10:50 am, 2023 September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month. Mari Magaloni Ramos, Santana Gonzalez Gomez and Vanessa Southern will explore some of what we celebrate this month and also larger reflections about being in community together. Rumor has it there may also be members of a Mariachi band at church!! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Mi...
Good Job!
September 03, 2023 17:50 - 21 minutes - 38.6 KB"Good Job!" Sunday, September 3, 10:50 am, 2023 On Labor Day, we celebrate workers - that is, the vast majority of people - and the work they do. We honor the struggle of workers organizing to make work sufficient and bearable. We ask: What is a good job? Is it having decent pay and benefits? Is it doing work that feeds your soul? Dare we dream to have both? The Covid pandemic has challenged our cultural view of work: what has shifted and what are the implications for social justice? Rev....
Connection Through Sharing
August 27, 2023 17:50 - 32 minutes - 59.1 KB"Connection Through Sharing" Sunday, August 27, 10:50 am One of the ways we find connection at UUSF is through the Small Group Ministry program. Groups meet twice a month to reflect and to share about a topic. We will explore this type of connecting during the service. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Linda Enger, Board of Trustees; Megan Lehmer & Ralph Fenn, Small Group Ministries; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Wm. ...
La Dolce Vita in Motion
August 20, 2023 17:50 - 25 minutes - 46.3 KB"La Dolce Vita in Motion" (also known as "Reflections on My Life as a Dancer”) Sunday, August 20, 10:50 am In seminary we spent part of our first year in a class part of which entailed writing our "Spiritual Autobiography." We had to look back on everything as it related to our journey as a spiritual being or around our beliefs or experiences of religion and spirituality. It made me realize that you and I can write any number of versions of your life. So inspired by this week's "Extravagan...
Living Joyfully
August 13, 2023 17:50 - 28 minutes - 52.6 KB"Living Joyfully" Sunday, August 13, 10:50 am Couldn't we all use a little bit more joy in our lives from time to time? We're surrounded by supposed ways to get joy: buy this, do that, follow these three simple steps. But when we chase it, it can seem more elusive than ever. How can we keep our minds and hearts open to happiness? How might we live more joyfully? Sam King, Guest Preacher; Santana González Gómez, Worship Associate; Tommy Kesecker, Percussionist; Nancy Munn, Pianist; Ben...
The Quick Fix: A conversation about what is lost when we attempt to rush reconciliation.
August 06, 2023 17:50 - 29 minutes - 576 KB"The Quick Fix: A conversation about what is lost when we attempt to rush reconciliation." Sunday, August 6, 10:50 am August is a month in which people around the world celebrate the ascension of the Virgin Mary and mourn the horror unleashed in Hiroshima. What can these two events tell us about our capacity for causing harm to vulnerable populations and to our own spiritual development when we attempt to assuage our discomfort with the work required of us when we are faced with spiritual ...
"The Quick Fix: A conversation about what is lost when we attempt to rush reconciliation."
August 06, 2023 17:50 - 29 minutes - 576 KB"The Quick Fix: A conversation about what is lost when we attempt to rush reconciliation." Sunday, August 6, 10:50 am August is a month in which people around the world celebrate the ascension of the Virgin Mary and mourn the horror unleashed in Hiroshima. What can these two events tell us about our capacity for causing harm to vulnerable populations and to our own spiritual development when we attempt to assuage our discomfort with the work required of us when we are faced with spiritual ...
Worth and Dignity
July 30, 2023 17:50 - 31 minutes - 57 KB“Worth and Dignity” Sunday, July 30, 10:50 am Ever since the 1860’s, when led by our Minister, Thomas Starr King, this congregation has been notable for its commitment to Social Justice. We give scholarships to first generation students, we help feed people in need. We provide free after-school care for local children. We shelter those, who have none, during the winter months. We support ministries in the community, and much else. Today our firmest belief in the inherent worth and dignity ...
Lessons on Community from Nature
July 23, 2023 17:50 - 27 minutes - 49.9 KB"Lessons on Community from Nature" Sunday, July 23, 10:50 am What are the important lessons humans can learn about leadership, adaptation and cooperation? In this sermon, guest preacher, Aisha Hauser will share her favorite stories and lessons from nature about how we can better support each other in community. Aisha Hauser, Guest Preacher; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Radim Zenkl, multi instrumentalist Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; A...
WEAV: What is it?
July 16, 2023 17:50 - 29 minutes - 60.2 KB"WEAV: What is it?" Sunday, July 16, 10:50 am This past Spring, UUSF piloted a new program from Starr King School of the Ministry, WEAV. What is this program and how does it help with our 8th principle work? Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Jayanti Chapot, Reflection; Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Reflection; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Michael Mandrell, guitarist; Richard Fey, songleader Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Shulee Ong & Eric Shacke...
Setting Boundaries
July 09, 2023 17:50 - 28 minutes - 52.2 KB"Setting Boundaries" Sunday, July 9, 10:50 am I had a therapist years ago who said each day do one thing that makes you more of a self. What she meant was one thing that honored your needs, wants and/or named in a grounded way your expectations. As a country that flaunts human behavior without boundaries OR boundaries enforced to extreme (the right to shoot folks who wander on our property, for example) we seem to have lost the gentle, healthy frameworks and art of setting boundaries. Let'...
Big Music Sunday
June 25, 2023 17:50 - 4 minutes - 9.01 KB"Big Music Sunday" Sunday, June 25, 10:50 am Today we feature the Areté Singers, performing the live concert premiere of a new work called Mass for the Eighth Day with its award-winning composer, Luke Mayernik, sharing a reflection on it, as well as accompanying the work on organ. Several other choral gems will surround the musical centerpiece of the service. Some of the finest singers in the Bay Area will be performing, including a number that our regular congregants will recognize. The C...
Our Authentic Selves
June 18, 2023 17:50 - 25 minutes - 47.3 KB"Our Authentic Selves" Sunday, June 18, 10:50 am To parent (officially or unofficially) we have to be our best selves, but also increasingly I realize the gift of being our authentic self -- as parents, more so perhaps than in any other role. That gift is not an easy one to offer, but we find ways to do it. And the world splits gorgeously open when we do. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Michele Kennedy, Soprano; Reiko Oda Lane, Organis...
Life is Pure Jazz
June 11, 2023 17:50 - 18 minutes - 34.2 KB"Life is Pure Jazz" Sunday, June 11, 10:50 am There are so many metaphors for life: a journey, an unfolding (like a flower), a cycle (like the cycle of the seasons), a drama ("Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage"). And there are just as many metaphors about how to approach life so you weather it with grace, find some joy, meaning and come out on the other side having made something of it. How about life as jazz, pure jazz?! Rev. Vanessa...
Extravaganza!
June 04, 2023 17:50 - 35 minutes - 65 KB"Extravaganza!" Sunday, June 4, 10:50 am Join us for this multigenerational celebration of the end of our year together. Bring a flower to be part of our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Flower Communion introduced by Unitarian minister Norbert Čapek of Prague, Czechoslovaki and hear the story of Čapek and the ritual. Let's sing, hear the bells, enjoy the choir and tell stories. Service will be followed by our Annual Meeting! Please bring a flower from your garden to be part of ...
Nap Ministry
May 21, 2023 17:50 - 24 minutes - 45 KB"Nap Ministry" Sunday, May 21, 10:50 am Tricia Hersey, ordained and tired, got drawn to the idea of a ministry around rest, nap-in-happenings but also the larger idea of rest as revolution. Tied deeply to undoing some of the patterns of a culture that has made models of extraction more than colonial models abroad, Hersey unpacks what virtue around rest and work and justice embodied ask of us. It is all very fun and deeply powerful to consider. Note: This Sunday is the Sunday of the Bay to ...
A Sacred Choice: Reproductive Justice
May 14, 2023 17:50 - 34 minutes - 62.8 KB"A Sacred Choice: Reproductive Justice" Sunday, May 14, 10:50 am On this day honoring mothers, what does it mean to truly support the choice to become a mother or not? What does the upcoming resolution call us as a congregation to do to support this choice? Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Bree Shennum, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Peg Lisi, Soloist Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Direct...
Little Did I Know
May 07, 2023 17:50 - 24 minutes - 44 KB"Little Did I Know" Sunday, May 7, 10:50 am An anthology on caring for young people, a grief (or preparation project) around the Empty Nest Chapter that was on the horizon. That's how the book project began, but it took me places that were so different than I expected... as our journey loving and caring for the young people in our lives, I guess, always does. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate...
A May Day Convergence
April 30, 2023 17:50 - 16 minutes - 30.6 KB"A May Day Convergence" Sunday, April 30, 10:50 am On May 1st, it would appear that everything is converging at the same moment, whether it be the international worker's holiday, the Beltane festival, or a desperate call for help. Rev. Millie Phillips, Affiliated Community Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Santana G...
The Problem with God
April 23, 2023 17:50 - 27 minutes - 50.4 KB"The Problem with God" Sunday, April 23, 10:50 am For a lot of people it's the notion of "God" that gets in the way of coming into a religious community. So I want to explore some of what the "problem with God" is and some ways folks have reframed that word -- or reclaimed it -- so that we can see what possibilities there are for God (and where we hit some limits). Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Asso...