Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Yes? Most of you? I hope you all found a welcome table. I hope you all were also able to get to gratitude…at least a little…and to give thanks. Our world moves so fast. Already the dominant culture has moved us through the shopping…

Of all the spiritual themes we have explored through the years, the theme of death has gotten more response than any other—by far. And that probably isn’t a surprise when you think about it. Death, after all, is one of those subjects most of us learn early on that we…

Building a New Way Sunday, November 17, 9:15 AM & 11:15 AM Rev. Bill Sinkford Story for All Ages: Inspired by the story, No Less a Miracle, by Rev. Barbara Fast Some of you know the story I want to share. It is about how Jesus fed thousands of people with…

https://vimeo.com/372918167 There is a Bhutanese saying, “To be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times every day.” In our culture that sometimes seems allergic to death, how might a practice like this benefit us? How might it prepare us not only for a happy life, but for a…

https://vimeo.com/370963308 “What do people fear most about death?” Mitch Albom asks his former professor, now old and moving toward death, in his book, Tuesdays with Morrie. What do people fear most about death? ‘Fear?’ the old man thought for a moment. ‘Well, for one thing, what happens next? Where do…

https://vimeo.com/370975774 We may express our love or gratitude for someone from the highest mountaintop. We may express it time and time again; still, frustratingly, we find we are not understood. We are left wondering why feelings of disconnection persist.

https://vimeo.com/370987039 Thank you choir. To my knowledge that is the first time that Taiko drums have been here in this sanctuary. The poor and dispossessed take up the drums For civil rights--freedoms to think and speak Petition, pray and vote. When thunder comes, The civil righteous are finished being meek.[1]…

https://vimeo.com/371427404 We’ll build a land where we bind up the broken We’ll build a land where the captives go free Where the oil of gladness dissolves all mourning Oh, we’ll build a promised land that can be. Those forward-looking, optimistic lyrics and the positive, upbeat melody in that major key……

Courage isn’t something that only happens in extraordinary situations -- it is a skill we can practice and learn in the everyday. How might we as a community lean into this vulnerable and messy work of practicing courage? 

https://vimeo.com/384648560 (Sings) Though you’ve broken your vows a thousand times. Though you’ve broken your vows a thousand times. That base line repeats over and over, insisting that the invitation extended by the melody…Come, come, whoever you are… Insisting that you don’t have to be perfect. Come. But even saying that…

https://vimeo.com/361904208 Unitarian Universalism claims to WELCOME ALL to our congregations and communities. We say that we embrace, engage and WELCOME ALL genders, races, sexualities, classes, ethnicities, skin-tones, shapes and sizes - regardless of class or education. We loudly proclaim that we can/will/do, “…take in the world in all its complexity and diversity...” (Rev. Rob…

https://vimeo.com/362082297 “First Unitarian Church is a beacon of hope for us and for our community, a spiritual center in the heart of our city that helps each of us find our moral compass, calling and challenging us to build the beloved community with an ever deepening sense of spirit, diversity…

“Come, Come, whoever you are: Wanderer, wonderer, worshipper, infidel…come. … Open your hands, if you want to be held. … Open your soul if you want to be filled. Ours is a portal of hope.” The Sufi mystic Rumi calls out an invitation and a welcome…regardless of who you are…

Not happy with the future the soothsayers predict for us?  Let’s dream the one we want into existence. What does it look like and how will we make it real?

https://vimeo.com/358349789 Readings: Call to Worship -- "For Sweet Honey in the Rock" by Sonia Sanchez Responsive Reading -- "Children of the Age" by Wislawa Szymborska Reading -- "I Had a Bad Dream" by Ibrahim Farajaje "The Body Political" “I had a bad dream that lasted too long, that started some…

https://vimeo.com/354719073 When the culture around us doesn’t encourage us to be our best selves, how do we model the kind of world we want to live in. Matt will reflect on the good and bad of middle school, the time he picked the very best costume for a high-stakes 5th…

https://vimeo.com/351655636 This summer, I have had the honor of planning and leading three weeks of Unitarian Universalist day camp -- Portland Chalice Camp. It was the inaugural summer of what we hope will be  a long tradition. This year we had one week of leadership training for middle and high…

https://vimeo.com/353452723 In the midst of a world, wrote Rebecca Parker, marked by [both] tragedy and beauty… In the midst of that world, “there must be those who bear witness against unnecessary destruction…those who speak honestly and do not avoid seeing what must be seen…of [both] sorrow and outrage...” Sorrow AND…

https://vimeo.com/352114665 Sermon: Sacred Vessels Before we begin, I’d love for everyone to move your body however it wants to move right now. That might be stretching your legs and arms, wiggling, standing up, or giving your hands a little massage.  I want to take a moment to acknowledge all that…

https://vimeo.com/351653654 Memories. Secrets. Lies. Regrets. In preparation for today, I’ve been spending lots of time lately thinking about untold stories, and my inner jury is still out -- are skeletons better kept in the closet, or brought into the light of day? And where does our faith call us in…

https://vimeo.com/348389536 The stories we tell--about ourselves, and the world--have the potential to trap or to liberate us. How do we change the narrative when it sometimes feels impossible? How do we make transformation? Who doesn’t love a good story? After all, it’s one of our most defining human characteristics. Our…

https://vimeo.com/347128470 This week, as our country was about to celebrate its 243rd birthday, a controversy developed over Nike’s decision to pull shoes that had the so-called Betsy Ross flag on them. They were set to go on sale on July 4 but Nike changed course, apparently following a concern from…

https://vimeo.com/347129664 Ben Okri, a Nigerian storyteller, says, “We live by stories, we also live in them. One way or another we are living in the stories planted in us early or along the way, or we are also living in the stories we planted -- knowingly or unknowingly -- in…

https://vimeo.com/347131148 “Boy, are we in trouble.” I'm aware that your mind may have gone to any number of different places when I said that statement.  It can seem like we are in trouble in so many ways right now.  Take a deep breath.  Breathe with me.    This phrase was recently…

https://vimeo.com/333161599 Earlier this month the Washington Post Magazine decided to illustrate its cover about climate change in an unusual way. To mark the occasion of Earth Day—and the scale of the impact of global warming—it produced not one but 24 magazine covers on the many ways global warming is affecting…

This is an annual tradition at First Unitarian—a service led by our high school youth in YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists). It’s a wonderful opportunity to experience what our church nurtures in young people. The service will include the musical talents and insightful homilies.