I posted in 2011 about different ideas for Unitarian Universalist prayer beads, and it is one of my most read posts. So I thought I should update my idea, now that we have a newly-articulated set of values. My plan is to create a set of beads with six sections: …
I believe that it is part of being a Unitarian Universalist to eventually face the question: Am I still UU? Ours is not an easy faith. I am not UU because it aligns easy with who I am; I am UU because this faith pushes me and challenges me. I …
Shared in my October 22nd sermon “Lessons from My Depression,” I kept a daily log during my episode of depression in order to track what was happening. I used a simple blank book and logged each day: What time I woke up What my exercise was (aiming for 30 minutes …
Congregations and ministers agree that periodic evaluations of the minister are part of a healthy congregational life, but HOW to evaluate the minister in a way that strengthens the minister’s connection to the congregation can be a puzzle. It is too often the case that ministers feel “picked on” during …
by Bethany Russell-Lowe (Millennial) and Sharon Wylie (GenX) This past March, we attended a gathering of UU ministers, a time for us to rest together, to worship together, and to learn together. During a collegial discussion about the future of church in an increasingly secular world, the idea arose that …
As the church year came to a close this past June, Facebook groups of UU ministers filled with stories of congregations treating their ministers poorly. What ministers define as poor treatment can take many different forms, but the result is usually the same: the minister determines it’s time to move …
As I write, over 50% of American adults have been fully vaccinated. In San Diego County, over 50% of residents have been fully vaccinated. All covid metrics in San Diego are dropping: case rate per 100,000 people, testing positivity percentage, community outbreaks, hospitalizations, ICU stays, and deaths. The Centers for …
The following sermon was shared at the July 30, 2017 worship service at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation. To be a parish minister is to bear witness to loss and grief in their many forms and permutations. To be a parish minister is to companion…YOU…through your many losses, through your grief. It …
The following sermon was shared at the July 9, 2017 worship service at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Human beings. We’re capable of great good and capable of great evil. In so many ways, we are amazing: inventors, problem-solvers, compassionate, and generous. In so many ways, we are absolutely flawed: destroyers, fear-mongers, …
The following sermon was shared at the December 4, 2016 worship service at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation. “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” Does this idea sound a little idealistic? …