In Pope Leo’s new encyclical about AI, he writes that “the deepest and most important things are learned only after much time and effort.” In a world that fetishizes speed and efficiency, let us spend time affirming our commitment to the slowness and gentleness required to learn the most important things. Worship leaders: Rev. Darcy … Continue reading The Deepest and Most Important Things

Growth, learning, and adaptation generally happen when we feel some discomfort–but discomfort isn’t the only ingredient for learning. We must also feel safe. Worship Leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter, Robbie Edge, and Melynda Rodriguez.

Surviving the heaviness of the world requires us to experience enough joy and pleasure to buoy us through. We will celebrate the (arguably) Unitarian origins of the Ice Cream Sundae and buoy ourselves for our annual congregational business meeting after worship. Worship leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter and Tricia Garcia. Tech Maestro: Adlai Frederickson. 

“The self, after all, is an intimate collaboration with others,” writes Dominic Pettiman in his book on ghosting. Digital technology has dramatically altered how we experience human relationships and intimacy in the span of just a few decades. Why is participation in congregational life a meaningful spiritual practice in these times when digital connection is … Continue reading An Intimate Collaboration with Others

Curiosity, according to UU minister Victoria Stafford, is “To see, simply to look and see, is an ethical and intentional choice. To see, with open eyes, is a spiritual practice, and thus a risk, for it can open you to ways of knowing the world and loving it that will lead to inevitable consequences.” Worship … Continue reading Curiosity

Sometimes our capacity for imagination and beauty is only fully realized when we confront and embrace brokenness. Worship Leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter, Tricia Garcia, and Melynda Rodriguez.

Spring burst upon the central valley in a fragrant snow of almond blossoms. Soon it will be Beltane: the Celtic festival of fertility. While we can see why that festival would make sense to our ancestors who lived close to the seasons of the year, what significance does it have in our modern lives? Join … Continue reading The Rites of Spring

Most of us want plenty, or at least enough– plenty of friends, plenty of money, plenty of time. But what if the way to access a sense of abundance is not through addition but through subtraction? What do we need to give up to have plenty of what is most important to us? Worship Leaders: … Continue reading Abundance Through Subtraction

Nurturing the possibilities we most desire requires so much of us–this is one lesson of Easter. Please bring a flower or two to worship (whether you are coming in person or via Zoom) as we celebrate and honor all that possibility requires of us in our annual Flower Communion ritual. Worship Leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter, … Continue reading To Nurture Possibility

Whether it’s Christian Church “Father” St. Augustine, who believed rhythm came from God, or Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., asking to be called a “drum-major for justice,” religious leaders have considered rhythm as essential in our efforts for spiritual and ethical living. So this will be a service full of rhythm! Dave Rogers from … Continue reading Drum Circle Sunday