What does our faith teach us about a theology of creating Beloved Community? What sustains us as we labor and endeavor to create it? In this service, we’ll explore Beloved Community and the sacred glimpses we have in the here and now of the world we dream to create together. In the end, this theology could be one such way of renewing faith and our commitments to one another and our shared world.

The conversation around ‘reparations’ has been a hotly contested and highly polarizing conversation in American Social Policy for over 175 years. In Reparative Justice, we rely on agreed upon evidence to determine whenever someone has been ‘wronged’ and then attempt to discern what action could be taken by the perpetrator and what benefit could be received by the survivor such that a common reconciliation might be possible. In this service, we will look at 150 years of racial discrimination under U.S. law and where that leaves us in terms of reparations.

The pathway to present day world power has been built from the labor and dreams of women. But unlike most dynasties that work hard to build their kingdom and legacy, the world reveals shockingly few signs of the spoils of victory. During Women’s History Month, we will explore the slow and painful march of women to finally gain what they have always wanted.

Whether we realize it or not, we have all been taught many messages about money. And whether we know it or not, many of those messages have been reinforced in important ways. So, it would behoove us to get around to asking ourselves the question of whether these reinforced teachings actually have anything to do with our fundamental core values. In this award winning sermon, I highlight an epiphany that came to me early in life and how I have been trying to live up to it ever since.

We generally feel that labeling and categorization of people is bad, but I have learned that sometimes it is valuable. In a recent sermon Joshua Schwartz explained that the autism label helped in self understanding, and after that service, in break-out room discussion, participants noted how accepting and receiving labels of lesbian and of dyslexic had relieved perplexity and stress. Nevertheless, labeling can also be very damaging, with racial labeling coming immediately to mind.
In this message I will take the question of whether the astronomical object Pluto should be labelled a planet or a dwarf planet, and explore both the blessings and the perils of labeling, and develop some tentative criteria for useful versus damaging labeling. I will apply some of these criteria to labeling of people, and will include some of my own pet peeves of misleading terminology.
In widening the circle of knowledge of how to use labeling as a blessing, we can widen the circle of our understanding of others, and widen the circle of loving community.

30 Days of Love is our Side With Love campaign’s annual celebration that runs approximately from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January through Valentine’s Day in February. It is taken as an opportunity to collectively nurture our spirits, deepen our understanding, and take action on our values for collective liberation. The celebration this year concluded with Side With Love Sunday. This is a worship service featuring stirring music, deep-hearted reflection, and moving testimonies from a range of UU leaders including President, Susan Frederick Gray.

Every idea that offers hope to the hurting, requires courage. It takes courage to think out of the box – courage to go beyond the problem and all the reasons it got to be this way… courage to see those in pain… courage to get proximate, accept them and understand how to connect those needs to promises of it being different. Our Recipient for this year’s Courageous Love Hero award is Fremont for Everyone. We will have a conversation with them to understand more about how courage can make a difference right where we live.

A number of things aren’t routinely taught in U.S. or World History. A number of interesting truths aren’t recorded for posterity for the simple reason they don’t cast those in power in the best light. One such telling bit of recent world history is how when those in the Third Reich were looking around for models on which to base their ‘Arian Super Race’ model they turned to a surprising source: the United States. In this sermon, we will explore a good deal we didn’t know about hierarchy and subjugation which may wind up being our unintended legacy.

Power is such an interesting thing. We all want it. We all need it. And, if we’re honest, most of us prefer to keep what limited power we do wield something of a secret. In this service, we’ll explore, ‘Dragon Psychology 101,’ hoarding and how power has been typically used throughout history. As well as how it is needed today.