Ucdsm Sermons

Rev. Mark Stringer February 8, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) As we kick off a month of considering what it means to be a people of faith, Mark will consider the relationship of intentions to outcomes.

Anson Tonelli January 25, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) What is the status of our ideas and practices surrounding sex and gender at this Unitarian Universalist institution? One of our youth, Anson Tonelli, speaks about how all of us are obstructed by gender in some way, especially people who are not recognized or self-identified as the gender forcibly assigned at birth.

Rev. Erin Gingrich January 18, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) In the aftermath of Ferguson and NYC, many who lived through the civil rights movement of the ‘60s are asking the question – is social change truly possible? Let us grapple with this question as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and those in our church who continue to work for social change.

Rev. Mark Stringer January 11, 2015 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) Can someone who is not inclined to believe in “God,” or at least some of the ideas associated with “God”, still have integrity when using the word? Mark thinks so and will tell us why.

Rev. Mark Stringer January 4, 2015 Watch the video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Join your church family for our annual “Crossing the Threshold” service. Together we will reflect on our relationships of this past year and consider what we might nurture in the year yet to be.

Rev. Mark Stringer December 24, 2014 Watch the video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Christmas Homily

Linda Barnes, Ministerial Intern December 21, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Solstice is a time of pause in the darkness to ponder the beauty and power of our universe. Let us pause together before the headlong tumble many of us take into the holidays. In this service we will embrace the quiet wonder of the night sky, the clarity that cold can bring, and the promise of returning light.

Rev. Erin Gingrich December 7, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) A week after Ferguson, another white police office was not indicted after killing a black man with an illegal choke-hold for selling untaxed cigarettes. Let us continue to grapple with our nation's holy unrest with racism, seeking ways for each of us and our church to part of the changing and healing tide.

Rev. Mark Stringer November 30, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) A reflection in response to the grand jury's decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown.

Rev. Mark Stringer November 16, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) Managing our own anxiety in the midst of family challenges is one of the most difficult and helpful things we can do for ourselves and for our families. What does holding steady to our principles and our sense of self look and feel like when everything around us seems topsy-turvy?

Rev. Erin Gingrich November 9, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) November’s monthly theme invites us to be a people of grace. What does this mean for our church?

Rev. Mark Stringer November 2, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) Grace is sometimes thought of as unmerited reward, as a blessing that arrives via divine intervention, accident, or even luck. Might we also think of grace as something that we bring about by how we choose to live, even when life seems to have led us astray?

Rev. Mark Stringer October 26, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) For this, our traditional end-of-October service of remembrance to honor those who have died and celebrate the continuity of life, we will together create an altar adorned with items that we think would be beautiful to our departed loved ones. All who attend are encouraged to bring photos, mementos, special items, etc.

Rev. Erin Gingrich October 26, 2014 Watch the Video (YouTube link) Listen to the Audio (MP3) Download the Text (PDF) Part of our Festival of Remembrance Sunday.