Where are the places we are called to but have yet to go? What will it take to dig deep within ourselves and go where courage calls us as individuals, as communities, and as human beings? 

The parable of the perfect heart[1] is a reminder that what really matters is the love we give away, the love we show for ourselves and others, and our love in action. As bell hooks the well-known black Buddhist-Christian scholar of theology, race, gender, and class wrote, “The word “love”…

As a minister, I have had the privilege of leading many memorial services for people of every age – the very young through the very old. In the end, one thing that clearly matters in a life well lived is the answer to the question: Do we have the courage…

When I was a child, one of my favorite books was “where the Wild things Are” by Maurice Sendak. It was a beginning of a love affair with books and ideas that pushed the boundaries of what common culture might find acceptable. Maruice Sendak was one of a group of…

Where does your story begin? That was the question Ruby Sales, civil rights activist, social critic, and public theologian, asked those of us who were present at a gathering centered around faith, arts, and justice. She called on different people in the audience. People responded with re-telling their birth narrative…

Led by Rev. Alison Miller with Dana Buhl and the new C.A.R.D. Team (Caring and Action for Reproductive Dignity) Call to Worship By Rev. Alison Miller   Our sanctuary is a place for the indwelling and upswelling of love. We gather for spiritual nourishment and fortification To allow that love…

This weekend we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. King would have turned 94 years old today were he still alive. What would King make of the times we are in now, more than 50 years since he was killed? What would King make of the divisions of…

“I have exalted humankind With the vocation of creation. I call humankind to the same norm.” Here is one stanza of the greater works of Hildegard von Bingen, a twelfth century German abbess, expressing the divine word as she came to know it in her heart. She read in the…

Our service this Christmas morning will be a story and readings as well as familiar carols. After church, please bring finger food to share for a special holiday social hour in the Buchan Atrium.

Join us for our annual Christmas Eve celebration & candlelight service. In the midst of the busyness of this season, let us not lose sight of what matters the most. ‘Tis the season of awe and wonder. ‘Tis the season to recall the miracles born this night. ‘Tis the season…

Our 4 p.m. Family Service All are warmly welcomed at this wonderful and joyous service put on by the children ofour congregation. Originally presented in 1924 in honor of the first Christmas in ourthen-new church on the corner of SW 12th Ave. and Salmon, this pageant in its variousiterations has…

“The Dance of Light and Dark” Tonight, beloved friends, we welcome the peace of the dark. The Wheel of the Year Again turns again and again, and tonight we find ourselves here Celebrating the Winter Solstice, Yule, the Longest Night; a tradition that goes back ages and belongs to the…

The holiday of Hanukkah begins tonight at sundown, and it will last for eight days until Monday, December 26th. While the winter holidays share things in common there are also rich nuances that emerge as we learn about the multiple meanings of the holidays that mingle this week – Hanukkah,…

Reena Esmail’s work, This Love Between Us, combines scriptural texts (many in their original languages) from India's seven major religions, all of which call on us to center love in our living and understanding of each other. Our choir and orchestra will perform the work in its entirety, and we invite…

It was a beautiful and lush summer day. I was living near the Queyras, in the Alps, a very ancient mountain range, with a small village perched higher than any other point in all of France. It was truly a perfect day amidst the peaks, so I and my new…

This Sunday’s service will come from the staff of the Pacific Western Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association. They will offer reflections on Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Gate 4A” to ground us as we enter this holiday season.  Note: Our intern minister, Eli Poore, was scheduled to preach this Sunday…

Earlier in the service Rev. Alison shared an excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit, which was first published 100 years ago, way back in 1922. It is a story about a stuffed rabbit that doesn’t feel loved by the other toys in the nursery. Some of the more expensive toys quietly…

When people ask what Unitarian Universalists mean when we say, “I’ll be there for you” as our choir just sang, one response is our covenant – the 7 principles and 6 sources. Plus, the 8th principle newly adopted by hundreds of UU communities, including our congregation. Our principles are a set…

Neighbors are not strangers, not friends, not family. They are the people who we include in the territory we consider to be ‘home.’ Not everyone in our building, or the blocks surrounding our tent, or rental, or house is a neighbor. When we think of neighbors it is usually the…

CALL TO WORSHIP Today, we welcome the great cloud of witnesses, Our spiritual ancestors, the founders of our faith and our community, Those who broke new ground Opening pathways for love and liberation. Today, we welcome all our relations, Including the spirits of our kin and kindred spirits gone before,…

Each of us has a story. About how we came to be. About who our family is. About how we see ourselves and the world. But how do we tell that story? What are the parts we include but also the parts we don’t choose to include? Who are the…

My experience of the divine is a presence that moves through the hearts, minds, hands, and souls of human beings. It is that which is greater than all of us and yet present in each one of us. God is the love which transcends the boundaries of our individual lives…

Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be with you all today on this lovely 2nd Sunday in October for my 2nd time in the pulpit. I do have to say though, these past few weeks, with the exception of a day or two, I’ve wondered if I’m actually back in…

A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau locates and rents an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. After several weeks, the journalist realizes that whenever he looks out at the wall, he sees the same older Jewish man davening, praying vigorously, throughout the day. The journalist wonders whether there is a…

Now is the time of turning, began our responsive reading today. Autumn officially arrived at 6:04 this past Thursday evening. But for a while now, even with our warm days of late, there have been signs of the changing season to notice. The beginnings of leaves turning color, ever so…

Eighty degree afternoons used to feel like a heat wave in Portland. We would retreat to inside spaces, hopefully air conditioned, only emerging when temperatures dropped by another ten degrees. Now it seems like just another summer day, and life goes on.  Despite the heat, this summer Portland never slowed…