Worship

Joy. Rage. Love. Despair. Ecstasy. Hope. Anxiety. Shame. Grief. Attraction. Curious. Playful. Peace.

Emotions are sneaky, inefficient, disruptive–they can pull us under or allow us to fly – and feelings are real. You have them, and so does every single other person around you. So many of us have learned that emotions need to be denied or controlled – that emotions do not hold value or meaning. But what if just the opposite were true? Showing up in our bodies – the tightness in your stomach, the heat in your palms, the openness in your chest – emotions are some of our closest teachers waiting (and sometimes demanding) to be acknowledged.

The irony of this age of e-connectivity is that people are more isolated than ever. Social fragmentation is on the rise, just when we most need one another. In this service, we'll use a Buddhist story to explore the various 'roles' we humans play in troubled times, and how essential our willingness to risk being vulnerable with one another is to our very survival.

Relationships are hard.  Relationships in community can be harder still. When being invited into richer, more vulnerable connections with one another, hurts inevitably happen.  Finding our way back to real repair requires more than a simple apology.  In her book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg explores the writings of the medieval philosopher Maimonides. Maimonides laid out a very specific process for moving from brokenness to repair -- a process, she says, that could help untangle the most challenging of interpersonal struggles and international disputes.

Heidi Todd, Amy Self and newcomer Joshua Robinson will explore the transformational relationship of art and spiritual experience. Movement, Music and Poetry will be the themes, with participation by the congregation. Jack Doggett will serve as worship leader, with music by Austin Skeffington, Paula Staffeldt and Clint Brown.

Are borders helpful or a hindrance? Can we see beyond what divides us to what makes us whole?

How to explain what this religious tradition we're part of really is all about, in the fewest, clearest possible way.

How to explain what this religious tradition we're part of really is all about, in the fewest, clearest possible way.

With love centered as a core value of the faith, more than 3,400 Unitarian Universalists from around the country and world gathered for an all-virtual Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly. Our UUCB delegates can't wait to tell you all about it!

With love centered as a core value of the faith, more than 3,400 Unitarian Universalists from around the country and world gathered for an all-virtual Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly. Our UUCB delegates can't wait to tell you all about it!

"America is essentially a dream," said MLK, two generations ago: "a dream as yet unfulfilled." In the political season ahead, the competition is not just among candidates, but an argument about what that dream really means, and who it's really for.

"America is essentially a dream," said MLK, two generations ago: "a dream as yet unfulfilled." In the political season ahead, the competition is not just among candidates, but an argument about what that dream really means, and who it's really for.

This Sunday we kick off the church year with one joyful all-ages service at 11:00, followed by our annual barbecue! Bring a bit of water from home or summer travels to share in our annual water ritual.

In medieval Europe, building a cathedral was a generations-long process -- a singular vision and hope passed among a changing constellation of people working to make it real. Perhaps considering that different timescale is reason for hope, not overwhelm!

In medieval Europe, building a cathedral was a generations-long process -- a singular vision and hope passed among a changing constellation of people working to make it real. Perhaps considering that different timescale is reason for hope, not overwhelm!

Christian nationalists are more powerful and more emboldened than they've been in decades, and they're trying to remake this country into something it's never been: an explicitly -- and very narrowly -- Christian state.

Christian nationalists are more powerful and more emboldened than they've been in decades, and they're trying to remake this country into something it's never been: an explicitly -- and very narrowly -- Christian state.

At the balance-point between dark and day, we gather to bear witness to the sacred cycle of the year and ground ourselves in this all-ages, earth-centered service. Bring a branch of fall leaves, or fresh fall flowers, homemade bread, or harvest from your garden to help build our altar.

The upcoming Jewish High Holy Days begin the Jewish year 5785. Rev. Ruth Rinehart will reflect on her own Jewish heritage, and invites us all to reflect on their yearly spiritual practice of right relationship.

The upcoming Jewish High Holy Days begin the Jewish year 5785. Rev. Ruth Rinehart will reflect on her own Jewish heritage, and invites us all to reflect on their yearly spiritual practice of right relationship.

Ego stories portray us as in control or in charge of our lives; they're linear stories of continuity and consistency, highly crafted stories that leave out important things, ignoring doubt and uncertainty and fear -- they're what you say at a party when someone asks you what you do. And they do not sustain us in suffering.

Ego stories portray us as in control or in charge of our lives; they're linear stories of continuity and consistency, highly crafted stories that leave out important things, ignoring doubt and uncertainty and fear -- they're what you say at a party when someone asks you what you do. And they do not sustain us in suffering.

We all bring different understandings and practices of worship to Sunday morning services. In this lay-led service, members of our community will share service elements that have particular meaning for them, inviting all of us to reflect on what's going on when we gather to worship.

We all bring different understandings and practices of worship to Sunday morning services. In this lay-led service, members of our community will share service elements that have particular meaning for them, inviting all of us to reflect on what's going on when we gather to worship.

This weekend we join hundreds of congregations in a revival that builds on decades of faithful and visionary UU climate and environmental leadership. Together, we can move past systems and cultures of extraction to usher in a new era with love and justice at the center of our climate actions.