Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Joe Gabaeff
Music by: Natalie Brundred & the UUsual Suspects, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: Project Censored
The Buddha said we should be lamps unto ourselves, and the whole democratic experiment depends upon trusting each other’s conscience. But what is the moral sense and where does it come from? And given that it differs so much from person to person and culture to culture, how can we know what’s right, really? These and other questions will be addressed as we look at our Fifth Principle.
Service Leaders: Rev. Tet Gallardo, Eric Fischer
Music by: Sadie Sonntag and the Choir, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: Breakfast for our Neighbors
Rev. Tet Gallardo, who serves the UU Church in Bicutan, near Manilla, is this year’s Balazs Scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry. She is the first Balazs Scholar from the Philippines, where the UU movement is rapidly growing. She is a business leader, an activist for LGBTQ rights, and a very funny person. She will preach on “Humor as Holy Common Sense.”
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Sharon McCarty
Music by: Paul Gilger & the UUsual Suspects, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: North Bay Jobs with Justice
“If I’m laden at all, I’m laden with sadness that everyone’s heart isn’t filled with the gladness of love for one another,” sang the Hollies. But acceptance and love of one another (or ourselves) isn’t always easy; that’s why we have to encourage one another. If you could measure your spiritual growth like a child’s height is measured against the wall, are you shrinking or stretching? And what would it take to for a growth spurt to occur?
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Andrew Hidas
Music by: John Ray & the UUsual Suspects, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: The LIME Foundation
We’re going to spend the next couple of months looking closely at each of our UU Principles. The founding and guiding documents of this congregation place “affirming and promoting” the Principles at the very core of our Vision as a community. The First Principle is many people’s favorite. But do all people have inherent worth and dignity? Really? Today we’ll consider the spiritual growth that can come from really living as if this Principle is true.
ONE SERVICE AT 9:15
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING AT 11:00
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Roger Corman, Millie Phillips
Music by: Sadie Sonntag and the Choir, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: Sonoma County Multiple Sclerosis Group
We’ll concentrate on the compassion piece of this Principle today. Compassion, usually taken to mean acts of kindness, literally means “to suffer with.” If we want to respond in a sacred and loving way to the people of the world, whether we consider them friends or enemies, we have to place ourselves in their shoes. Real justice and equity flow naturally from the tender-hearted perspective of compassion. (We will also talk about being more compassionate toward ourselves!)
Service Leaders: Millie Phillips, Jen Collins
Music by: Natalie Brundred & the UUsual Suspects
Share the Basket: Senior Advocacy Services
Our actions flow from our commitment to build a better world, which is a core spiritual value for UUs. What happens in the US over the next several years will have an even more profound impact on the world than it has previously. Today, we will explore what it means to engage in beneficial action in the face of setbacks, shock, and legitimate anxiety. After the service, we invite you to join us in attending an event where different organizations in Sonoma County will share what they are doing to build a better world and how you might join them in doing so.
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Scott Miller, Millie Phillips, Deborah Mason
Music by: Sadie Sonntag and the Choir, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: Breakfast for our Neighbors
“Caring for one another.” It feels good to do. But how much? How long? For an individual, caring for another might run the gamut from basic friendliness to strangers to intimately tending an ailing loved one unto death. Collectively, too, caring might be as simple as welcoming new folks on Sunday morning, or as complex and demanding as adopting a refugee family or providing sanctuary to a persecuted minority. Fortunately, our inner Spirit can help us find our way.
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Susan Panttaja
Music by: Robert Howseman & the UUsual Suspects, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: MLK Day Celebration
Power is a word that people respond to with surprising emotion. Some of us fear it, others crave it. Yet, it’s simplest meaning is just “the ability to do something.” So, what are we actually trying to do when we empower people? And for what purpose? The answers lie not in having power over, but having power with and for, which we are going to need in spades in the days to come. Dr. King provides a historical example.
Service Leaders: Rev. Chris Bell, Veronica Jordan, Aphrodite Bellochio, Millie Phillips
Music by: Sadie Sonntag and the Choir, Tessa McClary
Share the Basket: Women’s Recovery Services
Celebration is more than just an inner attitude. By definition it requires an action, which is usually shared with others. Celebrating life can be a practice, like other spiritual disciplines. Today we’ll consider some pure and ecstatic forms of celebrating life, such as dancing, making music and art, and playing with children as a way to strengthen our souls in challenging times.
