It’s a challenging time in our nation and in the world. It can be downright discouraging at times. There is a need for standing up, and getting out into the streets with others. And, there is just as much need for other things as well. If you look around, what are you noticing? If folks, … Continue reading Good People Everywhere
This Sunday, we gather not only in spirit but in song as we honor and say goodbye to our beloved musician, Magdalene. After years of sharing her incredible talent and heart with our community, Magdalene will lead us one last time—not with a sermon, but through the universal language of music. Her farewell gift to … Continue reading Magdalene Says Farewell
Poet June Jordan reminded us, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Pastor Julian Soto told us, “all of us need all of us to make it.” What does our Unitarian Universalist faith tell us in times such as these? Worship Leaders: Rev. Kevin Mann, Sharon Arpoika, and Magdalene Myint. Tech Maestro: Todd Whiteley.
Sometimes the best way to find yourself is to get a little lost. This Sunday, we take a spirited stroll through the wild terrain of Transcendentalism, guided by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller, to explore how their bold ideas about nature, intuition, and individual conscience still shape Unitarian Universalism today. In … Continue reading Get Lost (In Nature, In Conscience, In Justice)
This Sunday our guest speaker is Angela Drew. Angela is a mother, dancer, author, poet and self-proclaimed linguistic artist who has loved the rhythm of words for as long as she can remember. Angela is the poet laureate of Modesto and is the author of ElderBerry Wine, a children’s book written in poetic verse, that … Continue reading Poetry Lives Here
“Pride was a riot” is a phrase repeated to invoke remembering that the jubilation and “fun” of many queer pride celebrations was and is an act of resistance and riot– against all the powers pushing us into square boxes of easily managed identities. What are you riotously proud of? The music of Melynda Rodriguez will guide … Continue reading Riotously Proud- Special Music Sunday
“At last I am learning it’s okay to be scared to the marrow and still show up whole-hearted” writes poet Rosemerry Wahtola-Trommer. Some think that if one is truly “spiritual,” you get to bypass feelings like terror, overwhelm, and fear. What if instead we understand that the wisest among us are those who can be … Continue reading Scared to the Marrow and Still Showing Up
What are the ways forward in such changing and uncertain times? Three years ago, the congregation convened the Visioning and Discernment team to spend time learning, listening, and discerning around this question. Visioning Team members Lousie Barros, Lynn Bristow, Robbie Edge, Leah Silvestre Franklin, and Cari Wise will share some of what they have learned … Continue reading Figuring the Way Forward
Three years ago, the congregation mourned that in late-COVID and Post-Covid, there were not families with young and school-aged children regularly participating in church life. Today, we have a handful of such families whose children delight in the acceptance, compassion, and respect they experience among us. Come celebrate the power and playfulness of multi-generational … Continue reading Beach Balls and Donuts
Philosopher Julia Kristeva writes ‘beauty emerges as the admirable face of loss, transforming it in order to make it live.” How can we make our losses live? What beauty might emerge from all we are losing? Worship leaders: Rev Darcy Baxter, Leroy Egenberger, and Melynda Rodriguez. Tech Maestro: Adlai Frederickson.
