Sermon Archive

Curtis Young, the Executive Director of the Blueprint Foundation, joins us this morning as the first of our Social Justice Focus Speakers for the new church year and will explore the intersection of the land, Black Community, and stewardship. From the beginning, humanity was entrusted with the earth. Let's take time to reflect on the legacy of stewardship within faith communities—a legacy of resilience, wisdom, and care for the planet. Our faith calls us to action. Stewardship isn’t just a concept to understand; it's a practice to live out. As we consider this work, let us draw strength from our faith and history, knowing that we honor God, our ancestors, and our progeny through our stewardship.

Curtis Young (he/him) currently serves as the Executive Director of The Blueprint Foundation, a dynamic organization committed to empowering Black and Indigenous youth within the Portland Metropolitan Area. His leadership and dedication align seamlessly with the nonprofit's mission.

In his role, Curtis oversees strategic initiatives, community engagement, and program development. Collaborating closely with stakeholders, he ensures that The Blueprint Foundation creates culturally responsive mentoring and experiential outdoor learning opportunities. Curtis’s unwavering passion for justice and equity drives the organization's work, ensuring that young people have access to family-sustaining careers in fields where they are currently under-represented.

Through lived experience, Curtis understands the importance of role models and safe spaces for Black and Brown individuals in Portland, and it is important to him that Blueprint helps in leading the way. 

Whether Blueprint participants are planting trees, restoring trails, or learning nature-based mindfulness exercises, the aim is to provide support to the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—in connection with nature and belonging in green spaces and careers.  

Listen to the Service Recording

Multi-Platform Worship (both in-person & online)

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

Join us in person or online as we welcome the shift in season and the new beginning spirit of September – a new “church year!” The second Sunday in September is the traditional date for our annual Water Communion and Ingathering. Join us joyfully in person or virtually on Zoom with a small amount of water representing your summer experience or your current position on your life journey. Come, let us gather together and refresh our shared commitment to our beloved community. Service led by Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx.

Normally the 2nd Sunday Service is only offered online. However, due to the Labor Day holiday, the 1st Sunday (September 1st) and the 2nd Sunday (September 8th) are switching formats. Our monthly potluck for September will happen on the 8th instead of the 1st.

Special Collection: PAW Team - Portland Animal Welfare

Monthly Potluck after Service!

Listen to the Service Recording here

Multi-Platform Worship (both in-person & online)

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

Lewis Richmond is a Buddhist practitioner, teacher, and writer. In this easy-to-digest talk of his on Buddhist principles applied to aging, he covers ground familiar to us regarding concepts like kindness, giving back, and gratitude, but puts them in the context of our life and death, which we do not necessarily always think about, even though all of us will experience both. 

Normally the 1st Sunday Service is Multi-platform and the 2nd Sunday Service is Online only. However, due to the Labor Day holiday, the 1st Sunday (September 1st) and the 2nd Sunday (September 8th) are switching formats. 

Our Monthly Potluck will be next Sunday - the 8th. 

Online (Zoom) Only Worship

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

Let’s explore the role imagination plays in how we think of and treat one another. How can we use our imaginations toward the liberation of all people? 

Annie Scott, Credentialed Religious Educator, feels honored and excited to begin serving congregations as the newest member of the Pacific Western Region Congregational Life field staff. She has most recently served as Director of Religious Educator for Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, CO and as President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA). She has learned much from the congregations and religious professionals she has served with in Oregon City, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Golden over her twenty-seven years as a religious educator. She and her husband, Mick, raised their children in Unitarian Universalist congregations and are moving back to Oregon from Colorado to live near their three daughters, extended family and two-year old granddaughter, Emerson.

Online (Zoom) Only Worship

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

The Five Oaks Museum in Hillsboro is a gathering place of vibrant art, culture, history and storytelling. Visitor Services & Learning Coordinator Aron Wagner will join us this Sunday as part of our “journey to learn more, do better, and honor the stories of those who came before us and are still here.”  For over 600 years, people, plants, and animals have gathered under a grove of five Oregon white oak trees standing tall in what is now Hillsboro, called Chatakuin (Place of the Heavy Stone Mortars) by the Tualatin Kalapuya. If these trees could speak, they would tell stories of how they thrived with Indigenous land stewardship. They would recall the changes caused by colonial settlement, agriculture, and urban growth. The oaks would applaud generations of caretaking efforts. They would remind us that we, the people who live here, are also part of nature. Ultimately, the oaks would show that when humans and land care for one another, we can weather the changes of the future. 

We will be organizing an optional field trip to visit the museum for a private tour on Saturday, August 24th at 10:30. A link to RSVP will be in the Zoom chat and went out in the Service Announcement for today’s service.

Listen to the Service Recording
 

Multi-Platform Worship (both in-person & online)

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

Rev. Sharon Dittmar talks to us about the challenges of engaging with people that hold different political viewpoints from our own.

Rev. Sharon Dittmar graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1997 and has worked in Ohio. Her passion lies in team building, conflict transformation and world relationship development.

Online (Zoom) Only Worship

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

There was a time when spirituality, religion and environmentalism were kept separate. No more. Vision quests. Long walks. Honoring creation. Church collections. Collective action. All of this matters! 

 Jon Biemer is a founder and member of the Wy'east UU Congregation. He is registered as a professional Mechanical Engineer in the state of California and a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Jon’s upcoming book is Our Journey to Sustainability: How Everyday Heroes Make a Difference. His previous book is Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future. 

Listen to the service recording 

First-Sunday Monthly Potluck after Service!

Multi-Platform Worship (both in-person & online)

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

The Confluence Project is an ambitious project that aims to connect us to the history, living cultures, and ecology of the Columbia River system through Indigenous voices. We will learn more about this community-supported nonprofit that works through six art landscapes, educational programs, and public gatherings in collaboration with northwest tribes, communities, and the celebrated artist Maya Lin. Plus we will be organizing an optional field trip to visit the Vancouver Land Bridge, the Confluence Project site right across the river from us. 

Listen to the Service Recording Here

Online (Zoom) Only Worship

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

As Unitarian Universalists we are called to hold love at the center and we declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion. This Sunday is the day of Portland’s Annual Pride Parade and we offer two ways to Side With Love on this “Action Sunday”

• You can show up and “side with love” on the sidelines of Portland’s Pride Parade which begins at 11am. The Parade begins at NW 8th & Davis and will proceed west on Davis to Naito Parkway, then South on Naito Parkway to the Pride Waterfront Festival. 

• Join us at the Center for Positive Aging or on Zoom for an abbreviated Action Sunday Service. We will offer an abbreviated service followed by some hands-on or interactive ways to “Side with Love.” You may have the time and energy to take public transit to catch part of the parade or attend the Pride Waterfront Festival after the service.

Multi-Platform Worship (both in-person & online)

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833

We all rely on energy to live, work, and play. As we face climate change, we need to transition to clean energy while making sure that our energy systems work for the people who use them. Oregon Citizens' Utility Board (CUB) is our state's utility watchdog that advocates for affordable, accessible, reliable, and clean utilities for the people of Oregon. Learn more about how we can advocate for policies that protect our planet while ensuring everyone can access critical energy services. 

Charlotte Shuff joined CUB 2020. They have a background in energy efficiency, advocacy for environmental justice, and community education. Their passion is taking complicated topics and making them understandable for the general public to inspire collective action.

Charlotte graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a BA in Sociology & Anthropology with a focus on civic engagement and the public sector. When not at work, they can be found learning new crafts and playing chess around town.

Special Collection: Citizens’ Utility Board

Listen to the Recording Here

Online (Zoom) Only Worship

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom

Meeting ID:  275 194 110

Phone In:  (669) 900-6833