We hold many beliefs, but we share in one faith. Unitarian Universalism is a religious movement that draws wisdom from multiple sources, including the world religions. Here is the full list of what is often referred to as our six UU sources. In addition, at a recent General Assembly, we passed a set of shared values, which includes pluralism as a core value of our faith.This openness to diverse beliefs and guiding philosophies sets us apart from more dogmatic traditions. While you can’t believe anything you want here as some have suggested, we support a very broad tent. Our eight…

Friends, we find ourselves in a time of fasting. The Muslim observance of Ramadan began last Friday evening and yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian liturgical season of Lent. So I’ve been thinking a lot about the spiritual practice of giving things up. As an atheist teenager, I was terribly judgy of my friends who observed Lent. The giving up of sugar and junk food felt like a way to reinforce diet culture and cloak it in piety, which was an affront to my feminist values. I am embarrassed now to remember how, full of teenage bravado…

This month, we’ve been reflecting together on the topic of grief: the many different types of grief, the role grief plays in our lives, and how we can hold and move through our grief together. As we continue to reflect on this topic, we share this poem from adrienne maree brown that served as our reading during this past Sunday’s worship service. May it spark something in your soul and bring a measure of comfort or inspiration. Spell for Grief or Letting Go By adrienne maree brown Adequate tears twisting up directly from the heart and rung out across the…

I wasn’t at church on Sunday, but I often make sure to tune in afterwards if I can’t be in the sanctuary. For me, worship is a way to center myself in our faith community. I feel more connected to you all and my own spirit when I know we’re pondering the same questions, chewing on the same topics, or feeling lifted by the sound of the same choir anthem during the week. And I’m so grateful for the staff and technology that make it easy to tune in remotely! So while other passengers were watching the Super Bowl pre-game,…

We are actively working to name the priorities that will guide our planning and resources (allocation of money, staff time, volunteer time, and facilities use) for the 2025 – 2026 Congregational Year. While there are core ministries and functions that we always include, it is helpful to articulate some specific aspects of our congregational life that we hope to enhance in the coming year.  For example, in this year’s 2024 – 2025 Priorities, we listed under Spiritual Growth – Support community building among the visitors, members, and friends worshipping online. Next week, Jen Thomas and I will be launching a…

How do we plant seeds of hope as we cross the threshold of a new presidential tenure, which represents a season of loss and harm for so many? One answer is to find nourishing individual and communal spiritual practices that will cultivate resilience within our lives and within our community.Last Sunday, in our multigenerational service we shared the following message about prayer followed by a candle lighting ritual, which invited us to commit to countering racism, militarism, poverty, and environmental degradation.We share the words again below, so you can read them, and to invite you to consider lighting candles at…

January is often a season of envisioning the journey of the year ahead, including making resolutions. As you do these things, I hope you will include something about your commitment to your spiritual life and your commitment to our common spiritual home. Your personal spiritual life – the practices that help you to make meaning out of the brokenness and out of the beauty of living – is a vital part of your health and wellbeing. Our common spiritual home – a community that partners with you to offer experiences of grounding, growth, inspiration, and activism – is a vital…

Our 2024 – 2025 annual spiritual theme is “Join the Journey,” and this month we are exploring the topic of threshold. It is a fitting theme for January when we cross the threshold of a new year; a point in time which feels pregnant with potential. What will 2025 bring to our lives? What can we bring to 2025?Now, I know that some of you (likely many of you) are feeling some level of dread about our country’s presidential transition. Given the threats the incoming president has made against immigrants and LGBTQ2SIA identified folks, as well as anyone who disagrees…

To get everyone in the mood for our winter solstice service, we offer this poem. Let us welcome the spirit of this season! The Shortest Day, by Susan CooperAnd so the Shortest Day came and the year diedAnd everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white worldCame people singing, dancing,To drive the dark away.They lighted candles in the winter trees;They hung their homes with evergreen;They burned beseeching fires all night longTo keep the year alive.And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awakeThey shouted, reveling.Through all the frosty ages you can hear themEchoing behind us—listen!All the long echoes, sing the same delight,This…

I first felt a call to ministry on August 27, 2017 (coincidentally, my very first sermon with you all was on August 27, 2023). The call was sudden and clear, seeming to come from somewhere deep inside and far beyond at the same time. It was during a Sunday service at All Souls in Washington DC, but it did not happen during a rousing sermon, a moving piece of choral music, or a moment of prayer. It came during a child dedication. It came to me in the midst of a ritual rooted in community, where we recognize our interdependence…