From all the places we went or didn’t go during the summer, we gather again to recommit ourselves to nurturing the Beloved Community. How do we navigate the currents we find ourselves in? Please bring some water from a special, or mundane, place to use in our annual In-Gathering ceremony. Worship leaders this week are Rev. Darcy … Continue reading Water Communion–Navigating Currents
Every person, every community has gifts they can use to bless the world or use to curse the world. How can we choose to bless the world even if our gifts are not what we would want them to be or think they ought to be? Worship Leaders this week are Rev. Darcy Baxter, Haruko … Continue reading The Decision to Bless
One thing that makes Unitarian Universalism different from the other branches of Christianity is that we gather together in shared community to support each other’s beliefs, and in search of truth and meaning instead of gathering together to support a pre-programmed, unalterable, common belief. What does it mean to be a People of Promise? Come … Continue reading What Does a Promise Mean?
Our fourth principle invites us to search for truth and meaning. Bring a book today to leave at the altar and take home another to continue your search. Together, we’ll participate in a summer book communion. Worship Leaders this week are Rev. Darcy, Haruko DeArth, and guest musicians Jorge Torrez and Amanda Ross. Because Amanda … Continue reading Book Communion
Do you have questions for me? They could be about the Fellowship, or theology, or current events, or Unitarian Universalism, or whatever is on your heart and mind. At the beginning of the service I’ll invite you to write questions on index cards; my spontaneous responses to these questions will be the sermon. Worship Leaders … Continue reading Question Box Sermon
Poet Gillian Wegener will share some of her poetry focusing on homelessness and compassion. Poetry on such topics connects us to and expands on our own feelings, and is as Audre Lorde said, “a vital necessity of our existence.” Worship Leaders this week are Sharon Arpoika, Gillian Wegener, and guest musician Firefly.
How can we can cultivate a more heart centered approach to how we navigate our complex, painful, and beautiful world? Drawing on the emerging science behind how our hearts have tremendous influence over our mind, Modesto community activist Leng Nou explores how we can cultivate habits of the heart. Worship Leaders this week are Todd … Continue reading Cultivating Habits of the Heart
Transformation requires us both to let go and to embrace. Church leader and poet Pat Egenberger will share several of her poems on the theme of grief and loss, hoping to inspire us all to use the medium of writing to address sorrows that might lie below the surface. Worship Leaders this week are Brian … Continue reading Finding Our Way Through Transformation
Unitarian Universalists have a strong sense that we are all connected. Practicing Ubuntu is a way we can live out our seventh principle of respecting the interconnected web of life–the one of which we are all a part. Worship leaders this week are Rev. Darcy Baxter, Debbie Adair Soro, and Haruko DeArth.
Our guest speaker this week is Debbie Adair Soro. She is a professional educator with the Stanislaus County Office of Education. She joined SCOE in 2016 after working for Modesto City Schools as a high school English teacher for 24 years. She was one of ten recipients of the Woman of the Year award in 2016, presented by Stanislaus County Commission for Women. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Epsilon Nu Chapter, and she is the Educational and Community Outreach Board Member for MoPride. She’s also been a guest director at the Gallo Center for the Arts, directing the drama, “The Sirens,” in May 2016. This was a successful fundraiser for The Haven Women’s Center. And, she has an amazing 18 year old son who is a freshman at UC Santa Cruz!
Chaos and order, messiness and tidiness, holding and falling apart. The spiritual path requires engaging with these opposite, (or perhaps complimentary?) forces in our life. Worship leaders this week are Rev. Darcy, Haruko DeArth, and guest musician Jorge Torres.
