Sermon Archive
Pick One, Pick 'em All
A little girl’s drawings lead us into some of the deepest waters of classic Universalist spirituality. Come today and meet The Blob Family! Sermon by Rev. Craig Moro.
Please join us for social hour after the service.
Waking Up to Who You Really Are
A filmmaker and the author of ten non-fiction books, as well as a book of poetry, James Hilgendorf will present some Buddhist perspectives on life and death, the real nature of our own lives, and our connection to the universe around us; including thoughts from Leo Tolstoy, John Wheeler, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Kenneth Ring, Joseph Campbell, and Daisaku Ikeda. He and his wife Elizabeth have been practitioners of Soka Gakkai Buddhism for forty-three years.
Please join us for social hour after the service.
The Seattle Organ Transplant Community
Vanessa Whitacre, a liver transplant recipient, and soon to be kidney transplant recipient, will speak on the healing connections people in this situation have made, from support groups, to an every Saturday morning walking group of 100 people, to creating temporary housing for the families of folks undergoing hospital treatment, so that they can be be near their loved ones. She’ll also share the difference community has played in her healing and state of mind.
Please join us for social hour after the service.
National Ice Cream Day, Sharing Our Stories and Traditions
Why a service for National Ice Cream Day? Worship Associate Linda Macpherson explains.
Listen to Debra's piano interlude, "In the Good Old Summertime."
Listen to the Ice Cream stories:
With Linda Macpherson coordinating, we will honor this summer-time treat. Like we do in our traditional November bread service, we’ll hear stories from some members of our congregation of the connection, joy and traditions that surround ice cream in our lives.
There will be no Wy’camp, as this is an intergenerational service. Childcare will be available.
Please join us for our Sundae Bar Social Hour after the service.
Write Mercy and Live
We could call the first two decades of our new millennium the time of the suicide bomber and the mass shooter—so common and pervasive have such acts become. What happened in Orlando last month reminds us that these are not just things that happen someplace “over there”. We often hear that “religious” thoughts and feelings set such acts in motion. So, how can we respond to them “religiously”? What do we learn from our second UU principle, in which we “covenant to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations”? Sermon by Rev. Craig Moro.
Please join us for our regular 2nd Sunday Potluck Brunch after the service.
Picnic at Creston Park
In lieu of our regular Sunday service, we will have our annual Summer Picnic at Creston Park on SE Powell and 43rd Ave. Please bring a food and/or drink to share. There is a barbecue pit and lots of room for kids to run! Starting time is 11:00 AM, instead of our usual 10:30. There will be no regular service at the Senior Center. There will be no RE.
Belonging to Each Other
What does it mean to belong? Social justice sometimes seems like a big and foreign concept made for only one kind of person. But social justice is about the simple everyday claiming of our own place in the world -- and extending that sense of belonging to everyone. Service by Rev. Katie Larsell, executive director of the Oregon UU Voices for Justice.
Please join us for social hour after the service.
Out of the Floody-Floody
Note: This worship service starts early, at 10:00, to allow people to also attend the Portland Pride Parade afterwards.
We read in the Book of Genesis that all of a sudden God got furious with his whole creation—not just people, but plants and animals, too! “Dad” was mad, like so many angry men today! What was his problem? Did he need a “time out,” or just some time with a friend? This Father’s Day let’s spend some time with a couple of Biblical father-figures to see what value religious liberals can find in the “ark” of this ancient story! Sermon by Rev. Craig Moro.
Wondering and Wandering
“Our calling is not just to notice, but to make a sustained and sustaining response, to act like a god. Our calling is alchemy – to transform wonder into something that endures even after the moment of wonderment passes.” Wy’east member Paul Strohmayer will share “Wondering and Wandering” by Victoria Safford, originally published in Quest, the newsletter of the Church of the Larger Fellowship. Victoria is the minister at White Bear UU Church in Mahtomedi, MN.
Come, Come...
“Come, Come, Whoever You Are” is one of the best-known and best loved hymns in the Unitarian Universalist movement, and for good reason! But did you know that it’s based on a poem that was written in the Farsi (Persian) language, over 800 years ago? What does the broad mind and big heart behind the original have to offer us today, when big hearts and broad minds seem to be scarce in our public discourse? Sermon by Rev. Craig Moro.