Archives: Services

Freedom is a Place

On this 100 year anniversary of the first Flower Communion Service, we honor activist and scholar Ruth Wilmore Gilmore wisdom that “freedom is a place.”  Please bring a flower. Worship Leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter, Sharon Arpoika, and Jude Markel.  Tech Maestro: Todd Whiteley.

A Hard-Won Hopefulness: The Journey to Liberation

What does it mean for us to journey from being a liberal tradition to a liberating one? We will hear a recorded sermon from Rev. Sofia Betancourt, PhD, candidate for UUA president, addressing this question. Worship leaders: Tricia G, Jude Markel. Tech Maestro: Todd Whiteley

Human Unfurling

Thoughts on life, reflected through one of the many gifts of spring. Is it guided by nature, nurture or a combination of both? How do we as humans unfurl in our lives? Worship leaders: Leah Silvestre Franklin, Brian Wise, and Jude Markel. Tech Maestro: Todd Whiteley. 

To Remember or Forget

Exactly three years ago on 3/19, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order for non-essential workers.   Is there any sense to make from these past pandemic years? What should we remember and what should we forget? Worship Leaders: Rev Darcy Baxter, Robbie Edge, and Jude Markel.   Worship Maestro: Cherie T Mendoza.

No Such Thing as an Accident

Accidents by definition are seemingly random, blameless, and harm-causing events. But if we focus our attention on the bigger picture, on our interdependent web, we may come to realize that there is no such thing as an accident, just a messy web of risk and precarity.  Worship Leaders: Rev Darcy Baxter, Sharon Arpoika, and Bernadette … Continue reading No Such Thing as an Accident

A Hairbreadth Away from Unbearability

Theologian Serene Jones writes that “to be human is to live a hairbreadth away from the unbearable.”  How do we prepare ourselves for when we lose even that hairbreadth? Worship leaders: Rev Darcy Baxter, Tricia Garcia, Guest Musician Melynda Ruiz Rodriguez. Tech Maestro: Todd Whiteley.

How to Fight

In a good fight, the conflict does not collapse into caricature–we realize no one has all the answers and that we are all connected. We need good conflict to understand each other and ourselves–and to improve. So what does good conflict actually look like and what does it require of us? Worship leaders: Rev. Darcy, … Continue reading How to Fight

Blossomings

Come celebrate the glorious beauty we are surrounded by at this time of year (if your allergies allow!) Please wear your boots or sneakers and a coat as you will be invited to take a brief contemplative walk (or do a sitting) into the surrounding almond orchard as part of the worship service. You are also welcome … Continue reading Blossomings

Is Our Loving Large Enough?

No matter how big we think our capacity to love is, it can always be BIGGER. Join Pat and Leroy Egenberger as they lead a contemplative and poetry based service to help equip us in making our loving even bigger.  Worship leaders: Rev. Leroy Egenberger, Pat Egenberger, Sharon Arpoika, and Magdalene Myint. Guest Musician Anne … Continue reading Is Our Loving Large Enough?

Creative Maladjustment

“There are certain things in our nation and in the world about which I am proud to be maladjusted.” preached Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. How does the proposed new language for our Unitarian Universalist principles encourage us to be creatively maladjusted? Worship leaders: Rev. Darcy Baxter, Tricia Garcia, and Jude Markel. Tech Maestro: Cherie Mendoza.