Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County

Rev. Grace Simons: Sermons

These are sermons by Rev. Grace Simons. She was our minister from August 2001 until she retired in October 2011. We also have sermons by Rev. Joe Cherry, our Interim Minister. Our Guests, who include clergy, lay people and a rocket scientist.

[Ed Note: On the eve of her retirement, Rev. Grace gave two sermons, one looking back, one looking forward. They are a set.]

Today and Tomorrow:
What can we say about our Fellowship and its place in our wider community? Now that we'll be taking separate paths and engaging in separate ministries, what do we need to hold close and what should be let go? What resources and supplies will serve us well on the journeys ahead?
(October 23, 2011)

Yesterday and Today:
It's been nearly 10 and a half years since I came to serve as minister of UUFSC, first arriving in early June, 2001. Let's look back at the way we were and how far we've come. We've shared laughter and tears, achievements and setbacks. We've worked on projects large and small. We've taken stands for love and justice. We've learned a lot about who we are and what we can be.
(October 16, 2011)

Renewing Roots and Wings:
Our familiar hymn, Spirit of Life, reminds us of the importance of spiritual roots and wings - which we nurture here at UUFSC. What helped to root you? What gave your spirit wings?
(September 11, 2011)

Definitely Human - Like It or Not!:
Fathers - and mothers too, of course - come with a range of strengths and failings. After all, they, and we, are only human. As children we tend to idolize our fathers. Then as we grow, we find they have foibles and faults. None of us had perfect parents. None of us are perfect parents. How do we deal with that, especially if the problems were significant?
(June 19, 2011.)

Open the Doors!:
Every congregation has doors. How will we use them? Closed for shelter or safety? Open to welcome the newcomer and encourage members to adventure out? Gated to allow a view but screen who comes and goes? Are there invitations to those of other faiths or only prospective members? Are they swinging gates to encourage movement - maybe enjoyment?
We'll look at the doors and thresholds of our faith. We often sing "Come, come whoever you are." How do we understand ourselves as a religious community with both welcome, belonging and neighbors?
(April 10, 2011)
[This is the sixth and last in the "House for Hope" series.]

Theologically Speaking, Who Are We?:
Continuing our "House for Hope" series, we turn this week to theological anthropology. What's the nature of being human? How do we understand our mix of abilities and limitations? How can we best live with one another? Where is our inspiration and agency grounded? What about self-transcendence? A lot has been written about these questions - we'll explore the more progressive landscape.
February 27, 2011)
[This is the fifth in the "House for Hope" series.]

We Don't Stand, We Move:
Once asked to explain where Universalists stood in America's religious landscape after WW I, Lewis B Fisher, dean of Ryder Theological School said, " ... we do not stand at all, we move." In some ways, it was a prediction of the next 100 years in American religion. How does liberal theology address perennial questions about God, Ultimate Reality, salvation, and why we might need it? What does change? What stays the same? How can we fit them together?
(January 23, 2011)
[This is the fourth in the "House for Hope" series.]

What Dream Today?:
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Dream" speech is rebroadcast, in whole or in part, every year at this time. His words rang out to assembled thousands and stand as testament to his vision of the ways America might live up to its ideals, its promise. More than praise, MLK would want us to carry the work forward. What do we dream of today? What should we be dreaming of?
(January 16, 2011)

Religious Community in a Culture of "Me First":
How do we understand our congregation and other UU congregations? Our first principle speaks of the worth of each person. Our seventh reminds us we're interdependent with all that is. Our culture urges us to look out for Number 1. But what about all those connections and interdependence? What about the common good? And how will we relate to other faith communities?
(December 5, 2010)
[This is the third in the "House for Hope" series.]

Our Earthly Home:
Unitarian Universalism concentrates on our life together here on our Earth - the place where we are born and will eventually die. We are part of the interconnected web of Earth's complex systems. What are the implications for the ways we live? Both our daily lives and our deep understandings are shaped by the knowledge that we are at home here.
(October 24, 2010)
[This is the second in the "House for Hope" series.]

How Do We Decide?:
We make thousands of decisions, from small things like which shoes to wear all the way through life changing issues and choices. UUs tend to like things to make sense and we like to think that we make our decisions based on rational considerations. But things don't always make sense and research indicates that our decisions aren't really made by thoughtfully weighing the pros and cons. So what's a good UU supposed to do with that?
(October 17, 2010)

A House for Hope:
A new book by the Revs John Buehrens and Rebecca Parker reminds us that liberal religion is founded on love rather than fear and explores our message of hope. They explain that we have a sound theological background and make the case that knowing more about that grounding would go a long way to help UUs be clearer and more confident in our faith tradition.
(September 26, 2010)
[This is the first in the "House for Hope" series.]

Religion, Values and Politics, Oh My!:
We're of (at least) two minds on these topics. Can they fit together? Should they? If we don't live out our values, are they really values? On the other hand, we get pretty outraged when folks from some other faith traditions bring their religious positions into politics. Is that inconsistent? Are there some guiding ideas and principles in the values and politics mix? I'll argue that some key ideas which go back to the ancient Greeks can help us sort things out.
(September 19, 2010)

Lives and Waters:
Rev. Grace reflects on our uniquely UU tradition of In Gathering and the Water Ceremony, where we pour water symbolic of our summer adventures and insights into a common container to symbolize our rededication to our Fellowship and the ideals that unite us. She reminds us that we may be more powerful than we like to believe.
(September 12, 2010)

News from the Wider UU World:
Rev. Grace reports what happened at the 2010 General Assembly; workshops, wonderful worship services, changes to the UUA structure and a huge debate over immigration as a moral issue.
(August 1, 2010)

Margaret Fuller: A Life Too Soon Ended
Margaret Fuller was part of the group of New England intellectual lights we call the Transcendentalists. She was an ardent feminist as well as a linguist, teacher, social critic, author and editor. This Sunday marks her 200th birthday. What can she offer us today?
(May 23, 2010)

Have We Grown Up?
That's the title of Mike Durall's latest book. Durall says that developing spiritual maturity is the underlying purpose of our congregations. What do you suppose that means? How can we encourage spiritual growth if we accept each other the way we are? Do we ever grow up completely? Should our congregations adopt that old Army slogan - "Be all that you can be!" - as spiritual advice?
(March 7, 2010)

It's Basic
A recent opinion column in the New York Times says that our basic human pleasures are food, sex and giving. Maybe that last is a surprise to you. But when you look more closely, we all want to be generous people - people who share the gifts of life in their many forms. I suspect it's actually about love - which we only get when we give it away.
(February 28, 2010)

A Time for War, A Time for Peace
President Obama invoked the "Just War" tradition when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize last month. There's no small irony in receiving the prize while in the midst of fighting two wars. What is Just War theory? How does it relate to peacemaking? Are they opposites? Why is it so hard for people to live in peace? Can we do anything to encourage an outbreak of peace?
(January 24, 2010)

Spreading the Word
How can we spread the word of Unitarian Universalism without being pushy? Without coming off as a zealot? Surely there's ground between secrecy and proselytizing! Let's find that! Do you remember when we talked about "elevator speeches"? Maybe it's time to polish them up. When you say you're a Unitarian Universalist and get a blank stare in return, what can you say about us? What should you say?
(January 10, 2010)

Truth and Fiction: Slanting Our Stories
You’ve often heard me say that Thanksgiving is about my favorite holiday. Yet my visit to Plymouth Plantation this summer set me to wondering about how far from reality the common Thanksgiving story has wandered. Why do we seem so reluctant to admit the misdeeds of our ancestors? And do the real stories get in the way of our ability to be thankful?
(November 22, 2009)

From Braided Roots
It’s no secret that Unitarian Universalism is quite a bit different from most Western faiths. Perhaps some the reasons can be found in the lived experience of our early European ancestors. Parts of Hungary, Transylvania and the more liberal of the Ottomans enjoyed a multi-religious culture that shaped Unitarian history. It offers lessons for us today.
(November 8, 2009)

Each One Unique
On the Day of the Dead - "El Dia de los Muertos" Rev. Grace talks about the place of death in our society; how we honor those we love who have died and how to recognize our own mortality. Each life is unique. So is each death.
(November 1, 2009)

Our Chosen Faith
Our religious community is very much formed by our choices. This morning's title is borrowed from a book of personal essays about the reasons behind the essayist's choice to be a UU. What about us? Why are we here? What are our hopes for this chosen faith and for this congregation?
(September 20, 2009)

Choosing Fatherhood
We celebrated Father's Day by taking a look at the choices that go into being a great Dad. Each man has to make them for himself, and does it in his own way. Sometimes others understand, and sometimes not. Recently I read the claim, "Every father has a dream for his family." How do these dreams guide the choices of fathering?
(June 21, 2009)

Deep Security
Drawing from two recent books, a little theology and our UU Principles, Rev. Grace looks at the idea of security in increasingly complex and unpredictable world. How can we be secure when 'the unthinkable' seems to happen so often? What can help us to meet challenges? To learn and change because of them?
(May 31, 2009)

This is Your Brain on War
The war in Iraq has continued for six long years now, and hostilities in Afghanistan even longer. What's the cost - besides dollars and lives - in lingering mental/psychological effects? And how are we shaped by the seeming inevitability of warfare? How do we unknowingly contribute to it?
(March 22, 2009)

Our Fellowship Heritage
UUF of SC has its own history. It intersects with the history of the Fellowship Movement of the American Unitarian Association - which established new groups, the Fellowships, across the US but especially outside New England and the Mid-Atlantic. This effort lasted about 20 years and started this congregation, along with the ones in Fresno, Livermore, Lubbock, Honolulu - and Cape Cod. In some ways we are unique, in others, typical. Now all of us are deciding what parts of that heritage we want to embrace and which ones are better suited to that earlier day.
(February 22, 2009)

So What is a Convenantal Religion?
You have often heard me say that we covenant to walk our religious journeys together. What does it mean to be in covenant? What does it ask of us? How do we connect to other UU congregations? As always, history plays a part. We’ll look at the ways all this comes together.
(January 11, 2009)

Where Do We Come From?
A quick, not-too-dirty tracing of our tradition. Our story goes back centuries, maybe millennia depending on what you include. This Sunday is closest to Frances Dávid's birthday and is celebrated by Unitarians in Transylvania, whose church he founded. It seems like a good time to look at our roots - both American and Trans-Atlantic.
(November 16, 2008)

UU Myths and Sacred Cows
Does "anything go" with UUs? Do we have limits or boundaries? Does our breadth of theology mean we're completely different from other churches? Do we overdo our individualism? Maybe. Maybe not!
(April 6, 2008)

Out of Slavery
A new book, entitled "Slave No More" prints recently discovered journals of two men who escaped from slavery about the time of the Civil War. Their accounts are remarkable tales of determination, perseverance and courage. Even the finding of their accounts are remarkable tales.
(February 3, 2008)

We are a liberal church and the only UU congregation in Stanislaus county. We serve Ceres, Denair, Escalon, Hickman, Hughson, Keyes, Manteca, Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson, Ripon, Riverbank, Salida, Turlock and Waterford. We welcome Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Deists, Free-thinkers, Humanists, Jews, Pagans, Theists, Wiccans, and those who seek their own spiritual path. We welcome people without regard to race, physical ability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.