The news of the day includes both the release of three hostages by North Korea and Israeli air strikes on Syrian facilities and infrastructure. How do we hold both movement toward peace and toward deepening war? I am aware that, in my own spirit, escalating war feels more possible and more likely than it did two years ago. I have a difficult time trusting that peace could break out on the Korean peninsula. I also see both the Syrian and the Israeli actions as escalating war. I hope I am wrong. What I know for certain is that we have…

As a minister, a religious leader, I have been struggling to understand the response of people of faith to our national politics. Celebration of the National Day of Prayer at the White House this morning featured the predictable conflation of American national pride and God’s purpose. “Faith and Opportunity” was the President’s pairing of the day. As we watch the moral train wreck of this presidency, I find myself yearning for a return. A return not to some fictional lost Eden of racial and religious purity, but a return to national discourse and decision-making in which moral imperatives are valued…

A note from Rev. Sinkford:  Congregational singing is such an important part of our worship life at First Unitarian. Our worship leaders take care every week to select hymns that fit our worship theme and support the spiritual work we do in the sanctuary. We have a robust, on-going conversation about the music we sing, made particularly important as we introduce new selections.  A question has come up about why so many of the hymns we sing (usually 2-3 per month, on average) are from outside of our two hymnals. I love questions like these because they show that people…

I believe this is the first “movie review” that I have offered in this blog. It is not that I do not watch movies. Nor is it that I think there is not often material worthy of theological reflection in films. I normally assume that you are able to make the sense you need to make of the movies you see. And there always seems so much else to reflect about. But it feels almost mandatory that I offer some thoughts in response to Black Panther. The film continues to set box office records now close enough the Star Wars…

Welcome, Dana! I am delighted to announce that Dana Buhl has agreed to accept the position as our permanent Social Justice Director! When the final results of this year’s Annual Fund Drive were clear at the end of January, we were able to shape a permanent position at ¾ time and a fair compensation level. Financial realities did not allow a commitment to a full-time role. The position description drew heavily on work defining roles and responsibilities that the Social Justice Council completed last year. We determined that both lay and ordained persons would be welcome to apply. As Senior…

Yesterday (April 4) was the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The day was marked by a march and rally where members of First Unitarian joined the leaders of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, the NAACP, Ecumenical Ministries in remembering Dr. King’s life and legacy. It was a time of rededication but also a time to reflect on the dream he articulated and the dream that our nation was able to hear and chose to embrace. The brief remarks I offered at the rally began with the words of Yolanda Renee King, Dr. King’s granddaughter, at the…

With the coming of spring, I somehow cannot resist seeing signs of hope. Last Saturday hundreds of First Unitarian folks joined the March for Our Lives, calling for a ban on assault weapons and other sane and sensible measures to reduce gun violence. By the end of church on Sunday, we turned in 425 of the needed 2000 signatures to start the process of putting these measures on the ballot. This witness against gun violence is one example of a movement that is renewing my spirit in this season. The spiritual discipline involved is “followership”. The young people from Florida…

We awoke on Tuesday to news of another school shooting, this time in Maryland. “Only” three children were critically wounded…this time. At First Unitarian, there seems to be near unanimous agreement that sensible gun safety measures are desperately needed and long overdue. Consensus around that seems broadly shared, at least based on what members of our community say to me. There also seems to be broad consensus that more rigorous control of access to guns, especially military weapons and military-sized ammunition and accessories is a priority. Like the vast majority of Americans and a substantial majority of gun owners, based…

What are you giving up for Lent? I remember that question from my youth. Although my family did not recognize this liturgical season, many of my childhood friends did. Spinach was a favorite response, as I remember it. Praying, Fasting, and Giving Alms are the three traditional disciplines of Lent, but what I remember most was giving things up … sacrifice. Lent is the 40 day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter, during which Christians prepare themselves for the promise of rebirth that Easter offers. Lent, which simply means “spring” or specifically “longer days,” is celebrated in most of the…

We are coming to accept and expect that there are more things to pay attention to than we can possibly hold in our hearts. This week is no exception. Today is International Women’s Day. Hollywood pushes forward on issues of equality for women, while a “porn star,” a sex worker, sues the President of the United States. A trade war is threatened. Florida enacts modest gun control measures. The Justice Department sues the State of California because of that state’s sanctuary commitments. Any of these could have been my subject for this blog. But today I am looking more toward…