Sermon Archive

Our "We are Stronger Together" Social Justice Focus Speaker Series continues this month with a presentation by Mariah Rocker, the Public Programs and Exhibits Manager at Oregon Black Pioneers (OBP) titled Preserving Oregon’s Black History.

Black History Month 2026 marks a century of celebrating Black history, nationally and locally. Oregon Black Pioneers emphasizes the importance of this work and acknowledges some of the remarkable individuals who have helped to uplift this history over the past hundred years.

Oregon Black Pioneers is Oregon’s only historical society dedicated to preserving and presenting the experiences of African Americans statewide. For more than 30 years, they have illuminated the seldom-told stories of people of African descent in Oregon through engaging exhibits, public programs, publications, and historical research. This service will include a Special Collection to benefit Oregon Black Pioneers.

Mariah Rocker is the Public Programs and Exhibits Manager at Oregon Black Pioneers. With a bachelor's in Public Relations and a bachelor's in Sociology, Mariah’s passion for uncovering and sharing the stories of marginalized communities is evident in both her professional and personal pursuits. In her free time, Mariah channels the strength and resilience of historical icons by dressing up as them, and also enjoys crafting handmade miniatures.

Special Collection: Oregon Black Pioneers

This week we will write love letters -- to those who nourish us, to our childhood selves, the difficult people in our lives, Mother Nature, who we are becoming -- collaborative letters as well as individual ones. Bring your whole selves and a sense of creativity.

For those attending in person, we'll have materials available. For those online, please gather paper and a writing instrument.

Alana will draw on life as a farmer living in close relationship with land, their study of somatics and the body, plus their ongoing inquiry into how humans and society function in this service.

They will support us to navigate the complicated and interlocking challenges that come from society’s disconnection from the earth, our bodies and each other.

Alana believes it's not about “fixing” or trying harder but instead about building our quality of presence and our ability to work with grief and anger while also cultivating what nourishes us. 

We'll explore the function of the so-called “negative” emotions and how to build lives of balance and meaning without bypassing our pain.

Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx has invited Alana Kenagy to bring their perspective to Wy’east because Leslie’s mind is always expanded when talking to this jack-of-all trades, community organizer, artist/writer, and holistic life education enthusiast.

Fascism demands loyalty to power; our UU values call us to loyalty to love. This service reflects on Timothy Snyder’s warning against tyranny and blind allegiance and explores how UU faith invites us to place our loyalty in compassion, justice, and the inherent worthiness of every person. We ask: what does it mean to choose love for the whole interdependent web of existence when fear tells us to choose sides?

First-Sunday Monthly Potluck after Service!

Rahab's Sisters' Development Director, Beth Madsen Bradford, will join Wy'east UU to talk about radical hospitality, community building, and the healing power of connection.

Rahab's Sisters is a low-barrier day shelter and service hub welcoming women, trans, and nonbinary folks near 82nd Avenue in the Montavilla neighborhood. Beth Madsen Bradford is the Development Director at Rahab's Sisters. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than a decade, specializing in organizations dedicated to collaboration, community, and empowerment.

Special Collection: Rose Haven

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, please join us for a thoughtful discussion of heroes through the ages: What makes a person heroic? Who are our personal heroes? What does heroism look like in ourselves and in our communities?

This is our monthly spiritual practice service with Guest Minister Rev. Stephani Skalak

The space between. That is where the change happens.  Yet how often do we simply move from one thing to another, neither giving farewell nor greeting to our rich life experiences? We often carry things along, not laying them down, not being fully present. Or we just plow forward, missing the joy of welcoming the next thing into our life. Let’s consider these thresholds in a new way, a fully conscious way, an aware and purposeful way.   

Jean DeVenney is an active congregant of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, where she serves as a Worship Associate and lay leader, Small Group Connection Circle and book group facilitator, and co-facilitator of an Aging and End of Life series.  When living in a small town in Alaska she felt the need for a spiritual community, so advertised in the weekly newspaper for “open minded, liberally religious and/or spiritually curious others”.  People showed up, so in her living room began the Kenai Peninsula UU Fellowship.  

Now retired, she spent most of her career as a college counselor and instructor, focusing on returning adults and student development.  When not traveling, camping, or kayaking, Jean is taking art classes, reading mysteries, exploring the concepts of the Enneagram, and aspiring to learn pickleball. Her volunteer work includes her church’s food security programs, the local shelter for her unhoused neighbors, and serving on the Eliot Institute Board of directors for UU family camps. She is a trained SoulCollage® practitioner and facilitates workshops in her community and online.

The turning of the year invites both honesty and intention. In a time of profound uncertainty, this service centers the spiritual practice of staying with what is—grief and gratitude, fear and love—without turning away. Through shared ritual and reflection, we remain resilient by choosing, again and again, to meet the present moment together. Grounded in Unitarian Universalist values, we recommit to becoming what this moment asks of us, holding fast to our vision of a future with love at the center.

First-Sunday Monthly Potluck after the Service!

Special Congregational Meeting after the Service: Proposal for Planned Partnership with Y.O.U.TH (Youth Organized and United To Help)

Singing in worship unites our voices, moves our spirits, and touches our hearts. The two printed hymnals we have been using are from 1993 and 2005 respectively; they contain many beloved and meaningful songs. Do you have a favorite? 

Earlier this year, the UUA launched the newest hymnal project -- an online only one -- called Sing Out Love. How do we find and learn new hymns that will become future favorites? In this service, Linda will explore a bit about the role of music in worship and invite you to think about the songs that move you. Ellen will be taking requests and supporting us in exploring the music that touches us.

For the first time since 2019, we will gather for a "traditional" Unitarian Universalist Christmas Eve Service at 5pm.  This will be a sweet, intimate, and intergenerational service filled with stories and singing and candlelight. We will not offer any childcare or religious education and there will not be a formal social hour. This service will also only be offered in-person and will not be on Zoom. Service led by Wy'east Members.

Special Collection: Minister's Discretionary Fund

This service will be In-Person Only, at 5:00pm