This summer we have been worshipping in our historic Eliot Chapel so that construction work could take place in our Sanctuary. For years it has been a goal to make the chancel (that’s the front of the Sanctuary with the organ and the pulpit) accessible to people using wheelchairs and who live with other mobility issues. Thanks to the proceeds from this year’s auction we are finally able to do this important work. In addition to the accessibility work, we are hoping to make some aesthetic improvements that will make the space more inviting for everyone. Our sanctuary building was…

This week I am working hard to “tie up” loose ends and work through my year-end “to do” list. Some of you are finishing or have just finished a school year. Or a major project. Perhaps you would recognize my focus on crossing items off, my need to declare victory even though next year’s version of most of these tasks will be there to greet me when I return from my break. There is much to be said in defense of “finishing” things, not least the sense of accomplishment it can provide and the chance to move on to the…

Saturday evening we will celebrate Cathy Cartwright-Chow's 15 year ministry here at First Unitarian and her 30 years service to Unitarian Universalist congregations. We will send her off into retirement from full time work, to her son’s wedding in Malaysia and to welcome her first grandchild. This is another major milestone for the church. If you have not yet done so, please let us know that you can join us for the celebration. (cathysretirement@firstunitarianportland.org). Many of you already have heard the news that Cassandra Scheffman has been selected as our new Director of Religious Education. Cassandra is so well qualified,…

What does the Beloved Community look like? What will it look like? How will we know if we get there? Is this just about race? I have been asked these questions, and more, by members of our community. One of the challenges of using the language of Beloved Community is that it is open ended. On most days, that lack of specificity is a virtue. Because revelation, truly, is not sealed and we are always discovering how justice and mercy are calling us to open our eyes and widen our circle. But that lack of specificity can also frustrate. It is nice language but what are we really talking about, what would such a…

Too often, in recent days, I have found myself yearning for a return to “compassionate conservatism.” Each new day brings another revelation that our national leadership is motivated primarily by self interest; and our lofty national ideals, however poorly realized, no longer even figure in our national decision making. That nostalgia is proof positive, for me, that our moral compass needs recalibration. As members of First Unitarian, a community that describes itself as a liberal religious beacon of hope, we promise to help each of us find our moral compass. We are called, I believe, to resist despair and limit…

There are some things that need to be clearly condemned. Israel’s shooting of more than 1350 Palestinians on Tuesday and injuring of hundreds more was an outrage. I can imagine no moral universe in which American-armed professional soldiers firing thousands of rounds into protestors hurling rocks can be justified. An hour away from the slaughter, our President’s relatives were celebrating the end of any possible American role as a fair broker by opening our embassy in Jerusalem. Our current political leaders have shamefully justified the massacre at each opportunity since. Every lens I use leaves me disheartened and disgusted with…

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…