Many, if not most, Unitarian Universalists deny the existence of a hell in the afterlife. We say that people are too good to be eternally damned! Have we, however, truly lived into this belief in our own world and faith movement? What kind of hells exist right here? Join us this morning in exploring how we disrupt and dismantle oppressive behaviors in our faith, to then build up spaces of our own kind of loving, justice-fueled heaven.
This week’s service is Stewardship Kick Off Sunday with a homily from Eleanor Trawick. Elsbeth Fritz, John Taylor and Susan Taylor will give their reflections on why UUCM is significant in their lives. The congregation of this church is a caring and loving group. Our speakers will enlighten us on the importance for financial generosity. We will “Come Together” with additional wise Beatles music.
Join us this Sunday for “Muhammad Ali, The Greatest: His Journey with Integrity and Religion.” Come “Shadow Box” with Bill Frederick he shares ideas and stories of this journey that has had profound influence on America and the world. He was also a poet. If Ali says a mosquito can pull a plow, don't ask how! Hitch him up.
How do we prioritize where to focus our attention when the world is a literal dumpster fire? How do we move towards the beloved community that we yearn for? Join the middle and high school aged youth for an exploration of these questions and more. This service is completely planned and led by youth.
As people of faith, we are called to recognize injustice and work to change it. We move toward suffering and come alongside it. Religion is also attention and openness to the totality of being human together in community. When it feels like the world is on fire, I sometimes struggle to pay attention to joy. How about you? What does our Unitarian Universalist faith teach us about holding this tension? How can we tell the truth about suffering and make room for beauty? Can joy be just? Let's give our attention to meeting the holy in just joy.
Jessica James, MDiv, is a candidate for the Unitarian Universalist ministry. She serves on the board of the Church of the Larger Fellowship and is pursuing a master’s degree in restorative justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding of Eastern Mennonite University. She graduated from Andover Newton Theological School in May 2018 and served as the Ministerial Intern for UUAC First Parish in Sherborn, MA from September 2017-June 2019. Jessica and her husband Royce live in Dayton with their four children.
Our lives are a "cone of uncertainty" by definition. And the times in which we're living seem especially uncertain to many of us, on a whole host of levels. How can we live creatively and joyfully in the face of uncertainty?
We are faced with daily reminders of how the world is changing, and what the world needs from us more than ever (compassion, risk-taking, and a commitment to justice). This is a critical time for each of us to live our Unitarian Universalist values, on Sundays and every day.
The Reverend Scott McNeill is the Associate Minister of the UU Church of Bloomington (IN), with a portfolio that includes worship planning, social justice, and small group ministry. Beyond parish ministry, he has served the UUA in work related to anti-racism and anti-oppression, as well as governance and elections.
The UU Church of Muncie honors its Universalist history and is proud to recall a time when Universalism appealed to many people here. Sadly, those times are gone, but can we articulate a modern Universalist message that could inspire 21st century folks? Bruce will give you some ideas in his sermon.
Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne served UU in churches in Illinois, Utah and Ohio, and as a Chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and is now retired. He and his wife Cece are gardening thru their 7th summer in Carmel. They are members of All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis. Bruce has preached here about once a year.
In the words of a Thai Buddhist monk, Ahahn Brahm, “who ordered this truckload of dung?” However it got here, it's here. In my previous sermon, I marshalled institutional memory and the sense of “that's who we are” (at our best). This Sunday, I will invite us to consider how we can care for ourselves and each other as we shovel our way out of the situation we're in.
