People's Church Of Kalamazoo

Often we do not choose change or welcome it, especially when it so often involves loss. Yet, we can all name life-changing benefits that came out of unanticipated changes in our life plans. Following the service will be the first all-church transition meeting.

Shared ministry? The power center? Identity? Growth in numbers, growth in spirit? Community outreach? How is People's Church affected by these dynamics? What are the key factors that ministers in search will be looking for?

Radical hospitality in the age of the Benedictine monks was not about serving tea. It was and is a risky and revolutionary way of living that challenges our natural compulsion to avoid connection with people we don’t know so well. What treasures might we uncover as we hear some of the practices of radical hospitality? Rochelle Habeck Hunt will help with this service.

What are the secrets of the seasons? How are we affected by the changing colors and skies? What is the spiritual thread that binds us to the wonder and mystery of the seasons of our lives? David Isaacson will also participate in this service.

When friends or family ask what you believe, what do you say? Do you have a handy “elevator speech,” meaning that you could express the core of your belief systems in the time it takes for the elevator to go from the first floor to the sixth—without getting tongue tied? If they are intrigued and want to know more, do you have a deeper explanation? I will share something of my current beliefs, and we will hear “elevator speeches” from some of our members.

The People's Church community has expressed a desire to be "as green as possible." But where do we find motivation to take action and strength to persevere when the crises besetting our wondrous planet seem to escalate while political will evaporates? One resource can be found in accounts of other faith communities striving to foster sustainability. We can learn from their examples as we craft our own UU path forward and we can take heart in knowing that we have companions across religions and nations who are working alongside us to bind together the strands of our interconnected web.

The last service of the “regular” church year, and Jill’s last regular service with us. All ages will meet together, to share in the Czech Flower Ceremony (please bring a flower to add to the bouquet), with songs and stories and pictures from this year of growing together. Following the service, our new ‘tradition”—a pie and ice-cream social!

Members of our High School class will share what they have been studying and exploring this year, including music, stories, and reflections. Their insights on UUism and the religious life are always worth hearing and pondering. Graduating seniors will be recognized, and “bridged” on to young-adulthood, and several 8th-graders will “bridge” into YRUU.

The final sermon in a three-part series on teachings of world religions which illustrate the project of religion itself. This week, Who Am I in Relation to Life? (God, the cosmos, the universe, ultimate reality, or other names.) These teachings address questions of ultimate existence—where do we come from, where are we going, what is the meaning of life? It is an appropriate theme for our annual day of remembrance of those we have lost in the past year—People’s people, or others special to you, who have died. Please let Jill know if there is someone you would like to have remembered in this service.

The second in a series of sermons on teachings of world religions, this morning we’ll focus on the nature of our relations to others—humans and all living things. In general, these teachings cover the ethical precepts of religion traditions, which arise from needs for harmony and peace. What are the right actions, and who is to decide? Are there universal moral standards, or is morality contextual? How do we know when we are living in right relations?

We’ll wrap up our theme of World Religions this year with a 3-part sermon series focusing on the basic levels of our ‘necessary relatedness.’ Using the definition of religion as a human process of aiming to live in right relations, we’ll first consider the wisdom and teachings of world traditions in reference to “the self.” This means exploring questions such as what makes us individuals, what does it mean to be honest or authentic, how is the self related to others and to Life? A few small topics for a Sunday morning! I hope you’ll join us.

The central values of Unitarian Universalism—freedom, reason, embracing diversity, and affirming the worth and dignity of every person—must be lived in order to be real. Truly living these values compels us to work for justice. People’s people have been living in this way for close to 150 years; we have much to be proud of, and we are still called to this work, in this world, everyday. Jill and the SJCC will tell stories of how we have lived up to our ideals, and the impact we continue to make, to strengthen us for the continuing work of creating more justice and more peace.

Over the past four decades Unitarian Universalists have been organizing to build a more inclusive and just Beloved Community in our congregations, our work places, our communities, and our families. Beloved Community embodies the values of inclusion, justice making, power sharing, and affection. To build more Beloved Community we have had to struggle with the isms of sex, race, sexual identity, class, age, and physical ability. It has often been a difficult and painful journey. There are successes to celebrate and defeats to learn from. We are on the way but we aren’t fully there yet. Bill Gardiner will reflect on where we go from here in building Beloved Community.

Seems like every time you turn around, something unexpected happens. Your kids, your parents, your car, your health, the weather, the plumbing, your spouse, your partner.....your minister. Who said "Life is what happens while you're making other plans?" Perhaps real life is truly made of the unexpected. The unexpected, plus all those emotions that come with it--fear, anger, shock, pain, sadness, --oh, and also joy, and gratitude. Life keeps happening to all of us--so much of it unexpected. That's why we gather as a religious community--to help each other keep going, and keep going well.

Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Michael Rice will join us to discuss links between what we are doing in schools and the community and what the obligation is in different religions to perform acts of kindness, particularly relative to those who have less, are not known, or are otherwise the underdog.

When we are blessed and loved, we become sacred. Masculinity becomes sacred when it is infused with the power of love and respect. Pursuing the sacred masculine is a process, a journey, of transforming our often independent, isolated, in control and invulnerable images of masculinity and moving toward a vision of interdependence, connection, vulnerability and love.

How we come to our beliefs has important implications for how we view ourselves, others and the world at large. How, then, might such beliefs impact how we live in right relationship—to ourselves, others and the larger community?

Karen discusses her new book about our yearning to live vibrant and meaningful lives amidst life’s busyness and the soul ache that can arise when our cup gets too full. She also describes her own spiritual search in seeking wisdom and comfort from a variety of world religions, and how the ideas she has encountered have both complemented and contradicted each other.

Our Living Tradition looks to the words and deeds of prophetic women and men for insight and inspiration in living lives of love and justice. Who were these prophets? More importantly, who are today’s prophets? And what is it they tell us? The Rev. Suzanne Wasilczuk currently serves UU congregations near Duluth, Minnesota and Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Religion doesn't have to be serious all the time. This talk explores how comedy enriches and humanizes religion, while also bearing witness to profound mysteries, what Dante called "The Divine Comedy."