Ucdsm Sermons

Rev. Erin Gingrich May 8, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) In preparation of becoming parents, Rev. Erin and her husband have been listening to a series of TED talks called "Advice to Help You Be a Great Parent”.

Rev. Karen Hering, consulting literary minister, Unity Church-Unitarian (St Paul, MN) May 1, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Improv performances are based on a simple formula of saying “yes” to whatever is given — a word, a scenario, an action — and adding to it to create a rich story of shared authorship. Far from the panacea of positive thinking, this challenging practice can be useful when living through significant change, especially in community.

Rev. Erin Gingrich April 24, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) People often say it is their desire for community rather than God that brings them to First Unitarian. What do we find in community that is of ultimate concern and meaning?

Rev. Linda Barnes April 17, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) A great forgetting has occurred. We have forgotten that to which we belong, of what we are made, and how we are connected to all of creation.

Rev. Erin Gingrich April 10, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Just Mercy, the UUA’s suggested all read book by Bryan Stevenson, details a lawyer’s extraordinary efforts to serve those unjustly condemned to life without parole or death. He strives for just mercy, as opposed to mercy, defining it as the kind of mercy that "has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power and mass incarceration.” How might we culti...

Harvey Harrison, member April 3, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) When Harvey Harrison retired from his law practice in 2011, he did not anticipate becoming an activist on issues of racial justice. Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow and the NAACP booklet, Born Suspect changed all of that. Becoming involved in the movement to end, once and for all, the continuing racial injustice in our country has been a privilege, an honor and a transformative experience

Rev. Erin Gingrich March 27, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) Easter offers us the spiritual themes of letting go into death so that we can be reborn through resurrection. What liberation might we experience in letting go and making space for something new in us to take form?

Rev. Dr. Brian Eslinger March 20, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Easter offers us the spiritual themes of letting go into death so that we can be reborn through resurrection.

Jordinn Nelson Long March 13, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube) Listen to the Audio (MP3) In reading this, you are likely contemplating a deeply subversive action: coming to church. How do the small spaces we create in our weeks make room for something larger in our lives? What might we kindle together on Sunday morning, and how will those sparks bring light to the larger world?

Rev. Dr. Larry Peers February 28, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) “Only connect!

Celebrant Reflection - Chris February 21, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Rev. Erin Gingrich February 21, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) We learn from life's difficulties and also life's joys. As we explore being a people of desire, let us recall the times when it was what we desired, or the light, as the poet Rumi writes, that split us open and expanded our hearts for the better.

Rev. Mark Stringer February 14, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen the to the Audio (MP3) In all relationships, romantic and otherwise, there tend to be differences in desire between the partners. Depending on the topic at hand, one partner may be considered “high desire” and the other partner, comparatively speaking, “low desire”.

Rev. Erin Gingrich January 31, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) We often face resistance when changing the status quo at work, school or in our relationships. What fortitude and spiritual centering is needed to persist in the face of resistance?

Rev. Kent McKusick, UU Fellowship of Ames January 24, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) The Rev. Dr.

Rev. Mark Stringer January 17, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) In the midst of challenging times when we can too often respond with emotional reactivity rather than with clear thinking, what are some ways that we can keep our heads on straight and our hearts engaged?

January 10, 2016 Reflection by Karen Lauer: Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Banner Dedication, Rev. Stringer's Meditation & Rev. Gingrich's Reflection: Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text of Rev.

Rev. Mark Stringer January 3, 2016 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Welcome the new year with your church family at this annual “Crossing the Threshold” service. Meaningful fun and ritual for all ages.

Rev. Mark Stringer December 24, 2015 Christmas Eve Homily Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3)

Rev. Erin Gingrich December 20, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Nature's dark season reminds us of the nourishment of being fallow. This Solstice, let us slow down to embrace the gifts and nourishment of the dark, even as we celebrate the returning of the light.

the almost Rev. Linda Barnes December 13, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3)