Sermon Archive

Micah Young: "PYB is in the business of helping young people build exits into the walls of generational poverty. To build or find a way out, to break through barriers, whatever those might be, we humans need three things. We have to know that barriers have been broken before, that is to say, we have to believe that these walls are in fact, penetrable; secondly, we have to trust that we deserve more than these walls; and finally, we have to have the skills and the strength to get through."

Micah Young has been teaching English Language Arts for 8 years and just began her fourth year at Portland Youth Builders, where she has been Lead Teacher for two years. Micah describes herself as a lifelong learner and a passionate teacher, although her path to the front of the classroom was not direct. After receiving her Bachelor's Degree in philosophy, Micah went on to study theology in Berlin, Germany, where she subsequently worked as a Lutheran pastor for eight years. During this time, Micah discovered a love for teaching and a passion for anti-racist justice work. Upon moving back to the US in 2016, and with a deep belief that to teach literacy is to work for liberation, Micah went back to school in Los Angeles to get her teaching certificate. The question that lit her way was this: If, as Fredrick Douglass wrote, "education is emancipation", then who teaches the approximately 2.1 million youth in the US who have already fallen through the cracks of our "one-size-fits-all" education system? This was the question that led her into alternative education, working with gang-affected youth, youth experiencing homelessness, and trans youth in L.A.; then to get her Master's in Educational Leadership; and finally to Portland and Portland Youth Builders. 

Listen to the Service Recording

Special Collection

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

Community is an act of creation. In this heartfelt sermon, Nat M. Esparza (he/they) explores what it means to build liberatory spaces that don’t ask us to disappear. Through personal story, sacred imagination, and a call to collective care, Nat reminds us: design is spiritual—and liberation is something we build together. 

Nat M. Esparza serves as a Southern Regional Administrator for the Unitarian Universalist Association, and is currently earning his Master of Arts in Religious Studies, on the path to becoming an interfaith chaplain. As a Wellstar Fellow, he is conducting research on what it means to age and die as a trans person— work that is equal parts academic and deeply personal. He also serves as an interim board member for the LGBTQ+ Institute at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where he helps uplift and advocate for the sacred lives in our community.

Watch the Service Recording

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

To live joyfully, we must learn to be our own Joy Advocates: clear in our intentions, steady in our choices, and grounded in joy through every twist and turn life tosses our way. Shannon Diffenderffer shares testimonials and insights from her pickleball students—real-life examples of how joy can be discovered through play, connection, and intentional practice. With gentle encouragement and personal reflection, we are invited to stop waiting for joy to find us—and start creating it ourselves.

Shannon Diffenderffer, M.Ed., is the founder of Joy Crazy™, a joyful learning community built around pickleball, kindness, and connection. A certified IPTPA Pickleball Instructor with a Master’s in Adult Education from Michigan State University and a B.A. in Political Science from UC San Diego, Shannon began teaching pickleball after the COVID-19 pandemic and a medical condition changed her path from nursing to joy advocacy.

Born with microtia atresia—without a right ear and jaw development—Shannon has spent her life navigating the healthcare system. She’s undergone multiple surgeries, lived with undiagnosed ADHD for years, and experienced conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and sciatica. These challenges have deepened her empathy for her students, many of whom are learning new skills while managing their own health concerns.

Why pickleball? Pickleball is a sport that is fun, easy to learn, and naturally social. It brings people together across generations, backgrounds, and abilities. Shannon sees pickleball not just as a game, but as a powerful antidote to the loneliness epidemic—helping people laugh, move, and feel seen. You can find Shannon teaching Pickleball classes at PCC Community Education or through her Joy Crazy™ company at Friendly House.

Shannon believes that joy takes effort—but it’s absolutely worth it. Through Joy Crazy™, she creates experiences that brighten days, build community, and lift people up. Whether she’s coaching on the court, hosting events, or growing her online community for casual players and enthusiasts, Shannon encourages others to become their own joy advocates—one game, one connection, and one smile at a time.

First-Sunday Monthly Potluck after Service

Watch 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

The annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association took place at the end of June in Baltimore and culminated with a powerful and communal Sunday Worship. This Sunday we find inspiration and connection to our broader faith with a look at some of the highlights of this service led by Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk.

Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk (she/her) is the Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School and a historian of American religious history. She has served UU congregations in Ohio and New Jersey and is currently the Program Minister (part-time) at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She joined the Meadville Lombard faculty in 2012 after serving eight years in the parish and earning her Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include religion, business, mobility, and material culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dr. Kirk’s publications include Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (New York University Press, 2018, 2023) and chapters in several edited volumes.

Dr. Kirk enjoys advising students and assisting them on their formational path(s). Over the years, she has met and worked with many of Meadville Lombard’s international partners in the Czech Republic, Japan, and Transylvania. In 2023, the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians gave Dr. Kirk the Award for Supporting Czech Unitarianism. A popular speaker, she gives lectures and sermons across the United States and internationally.

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

This Sunday we juxtapose a well-known and loved TED talk from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie titled “The Danger of A Single Story” with the work of Underscore Native News a local organization producing Indigenous-centered journalism. Our lives and our cultures are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

Special Collection: Underscore Native News

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

Jan Hively’s life was a powerful example of purposeful living, justice-seeking, and community leadership. In this service, we honor her legacy as a visionary elder, public servant, and social entrepreneur who championed lifelong learning, advocacy, and meaning-making in every stage of life. Drawing on Jan’s commitment to “meaningful work, paid or unpaid through the last breath,” we reflect on what it means to live a life of generativity, rooted in the interdependent web and guided by deep love for community. Come celebrate the power of networks, the dignity of aging, and the sacred calling to pass on wisdom, connection, and courage.

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

Where: Creston Park in Group Picnic Area "B". This is the same park we have been using. Use directions on-line*

When: Sunday July 6th from 10AM-2PM. 

What to bring: your pot luck dish offering, camp chairs, your favorite beverages, sun protection (hats, sun screen, sun glasses), games (volleyball, hula hoops), and noise makers for Matt's sing along! Paper plates, plastic utensils and cups will be available but you may certainly bring your own eating and drinking supplies. 

*If you have questions please contact Ron Thurston, Membership Chair, 318-300-9509.

There will be NO regular service (either in-person or online) this Sunday.

As part of our lay-led ministry, we gather on 5th-Sundays for a service project. So in lieu of holding a service:

Celebrate Pride with Wy'east UU! 

We are sponsoring an All Ages Drag Story Hour Event on Sunday, June 29th from 10:30 - 12:00 in the Hollywood Neighborhood. 

Join us for an all ages event that, in addition to a Drag Story Hour with Wilder Bloom and Glow Merrygold, will include all ages family friendly crafts and opportunities to connect to community.

When: Sunday, June 29th, 10:30 - 12:00

Where: Wy'east Unitarian Universalist Congregation  - 1820 NE 40th Avenue (at the Center for Positive Aging, just north of NE Sandy)

Why: June is national Pride month and there's no time like the present to create safe and welcoming spaces to celebrate. Wy'east Unitarian Universalist (UU) Congregation is a liberal religious community striving to bend the world towards love, truth and justice.

There will be NO regular service (either in-person or online) this Sunday.

As the sun reaches its peak and the days stretch long and warm, we gather to honor the turning of the seasons and the gifts of the earth. This zoom service focused on personal spiritual practice focuses on the summer solstice as a moment to be in the sacred space of reflection, celebration, and reconnection—with nature, with one another, and with Light.

Through music, meditation, storytelling, and ritual, we will mark this moment of fullness and transition.
 

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

We continue our Social Justice Speaker Series this church year focused on Building Beloved Community with Imani Muhammad, the Visionary and Executive Director of Y.O.U.TH (Youth Organized and United to Help). She has been working within our community here in Portland and throughout the country for close to 20 years as a youth advocate and community organizer. She founded Y.O.U.TH in 2010 after the death of Davonte Lightfoot in North Portland in 2007. She graduated with a BS in Psychology, Sociology and Bible studies from Cascade College (branch of Oklahoma Christian University) in 2003. Imani credits her unique upbringing from her parents for laying the foundation for her level of activism and commitment to always striving to better herself and in-turn humanity as a whole. 

Special Collection: Y.O.U.TH, (Youth Organized and United to Help)

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