Sermon Archive

Join Jennica Davis-Hockett in exploring how joy and community-building can be transformative forces in our lives. She shares a personal story of shifting away from internalized self-exploitation toward a more playful, liberatory approach—one that embraces rest, community care, and resilience. Using the Deeper Joy framework, and some very serious play, Jennica invites us to experience radically inclusive, accessible and spiritually grounded community. Presented by Jennica Davis-Hockett, UUA Youth and Emerging Adult Ministry Staff.

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

Watching the news these days can be overwhelming.  How can we stay grounded while we face such chaos?  Rev. Sarah Schurr will share tips of resistance she once learned on a biology field trip.  

Sarah was a charter member and the new congregation organizer for Wy’east at its founding, and is now freshly retired from work at the Unitarian Universalists Association. 

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

Each church year there are 4-5 months that have a 5th Sunday. As part of our lay-led ministry, we will be using these Sundays to offer an alternative to traditional worship. In lieu of holding a service, either in-person or on Zoom, we will be organizing a group service project we can do together instead.

This month we are sponsoring a Trans Day of Visibility Potluck Picnic at Wilshire Park for the trans and non-binary community and their allies. The National Trans Day of Visibility is March 31st and in these times it is important to find ways to demonstrate a community spirit of resistance and resilience. 

Who: The trans and non-binary community and allies
What: Potluck picnic! Bring your best potluck dish, labeled for allergens and dietary restrictions
When: Sunday, March 30,2025 from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Where: Wilshire Park, 4116 NE 33rd Avenue
Why: Because we EXIST and are stronger together!

Please share this event as appropriate. Find a flyer HERE

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

We continue exploring spiritual practices by participating in a workshop led by Colette Gardiner, a witchcraft practitioner. Colette will share the symbolism and meaning behind spring equinox according to her practice, and lead us in a ritual that can be repeated at home with household objects. We will strive to work from a place of inclusion without appropriation and honor the web of connection, and as we empower ourselves, we need to ensure that all people are empowered.

Colette has taught and worked with witchcraft and spirituality for almost 50 years. She is an earth-based practitioner who works with spirits from other realms. Colette currently runs the Golden Web Mystery School and has a Youtube channel called Witch Ways. She strongly believes that witchcraft is about relationships and spirituality, linking us to empowerment, justice, and the well-being of all.

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

Our Social Justice Speaker Series, focused for this church year on Building Beloved Community, continues this month with Kimonti Carter. He is both the former president and a current member of the Black Prisoners’ Caucus, plus the founder of TEACH (Taking Education and Creating History). While incarcerated, Kimonti led a movement to create a model of education seeking to transform prisoners’ lives and their communities – our prisons and our humanity. His story is featured in the film “Since I Been Down,” and it invites us who are Unitarian Universalists to live deeply into our shared values, which call us to create diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where everyone thrives.

Kimonti Carter is both the former president and a current member of the Black Prisoners’ Caucus (BPC), plus the founder of T.E.A.C.H (Taking Education and Creating History), the BPC’s higher education program for the incarcerated. This program was inspired by the idea that education is foundational to the elimination of inter-generational poverty, debt and homelessness, plus building stronger communities and an improved quality of life – even for those serving long (often unjustly long) prison sentences. Since his release in 2024, as a result of a landmark Washington Supreme Court decision, he has worked tirelessly to expand access to educational opportunities for the incarcerated. 

We will be doing a Special Collection to benefit BPC T.E.A.C.H. (Black Prisoners’ Caucus: Taking Education and Creating History)

Immediately after the worship service (at Noon), we will have a screening of the film ”Since I Been Down” followed by a Q & A discussion with both Kimonti Carter and the Filmmaker Gilda Sheppard. (The run time of the film is 1 hour and 45 minutes – bring a sack lunch to eat during the film). Preview a trailer of the film HERE.

Special Collection: BPC T.E.A.C.H. (Black Prisoners’ Caucus: Taking Education and Creating History)

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

Unitarian Universalism affirms the worthiness of every person, yet systemic ableism and exclusion persist even in our most well-intentioned spaces.  Too often, physical limitations, mental health struggles and invisible disabilities create barriers to true belonging. Our faith calls us to radical inclusion—challenging ableism, listening deeply, and ensuring our communities truly welcome and uplift all people. Together, we will explore how to foster a culture of curiosity, compassion, and accessibility.

This week we invite disability advocate Leo Chatterjee, who will be engaging in a conversation about disability with Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx. Leo is a non-binary, Asian American person living with multiple disabilities and chronic illnesses. They join us to share their experience, talk about the importance of being conscious of disability, how organizations can be more inclusive of disabled and marginalized populations, and why doing so is so imperative to the values of truth, justice, and Love.
 

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

Ramadan begins this week for our Muslim friends here and around the world. We will take a look this Sunday at what the heart of that practice is. We will also reflect on how approaching our meals with intentionality and attention can enrich our spiritual lives and connect us to the divine and to one another. 

Rev. Stephani Skalak is a hospital chaplain at Providence Portland Medical Center. For many years, she taught media literacy and documentary film production to youth in high schools, community centers, and drug rehab programs. Along the way she co-founded the Portland Women's Film Festival (POW Fest), meaning that she has watched many, many hours of amateur films. She spent most of her twenties working for the Peace Corps in both Washington, DC, and in Mali, West Africa. She earned her Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, and her BA in International Relations from The American University in Washington, DC. She lives in Portland with her spouse Mark, their two children (Ukiah and Seneca) and two very squirrely cats (Agatha and Brimstone). 

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

We continue our monthly exploration of spiritual practice with an introduction to and an opportunity to practice with the “Revolutionary Love Compass.” Created and shared by Valerie Kaur at revolutionarylove.org, this is a spiritual practice that places love at the center and invites us to “point the compass toward whomever you want to practice loving – another, an opponent, or yourself.”

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

Our Social Justice Speaker Series for this church year focused on Building Beloved Community continues this month with Angela Swan and the work of the Pacific Refugee Support Group. Angela will share how the universal values of compassion and the shared responsibility to support vulnerable individuals guides the work of building community. She will share stories of staff and community members' experiences and how their lives have been impacted by the relationships they've built.  

Angela Swan currently works as the deputy Director of the Pacific Refugee Support Group (PRSG). She began her journey into the nonprofit sector nearly four years ago, and though she arrived here by accident, she is deeply grateful for the path that led her to PRSG. With a background as a recruiter for a major tax firm and later for an international direct placement agency, Angela witnessed firsthand the systemic biases that prevent qualified individuals from accessing opportunities. Time and again, she saw talented candidates being overlooked—often those with “funny” names that were difficult to pronounce or degrees from non-U.S. institutions. While never explicitly stated, the patterns were unmistakable, and the injustice fueled her desire for change.

Today, Angela channels that passion into her role at PRSG, an organization founded on the belief that every person deserves dignity and the right to pursue happiness, safety, and belonging. She loves the opportunity to work with a team that values diversity and is committed to re-empowering refugees and asylum seekers. For Angela, this work is not just a job—it’s a mission to help build a community where everyone has a chance to thrive.

Click here for SERVICE RECORDING LINK 

Special Collection: Pacific Refugee Support Group

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 results of the November 2024 election and the inauguration of our new President have shown that many of our neighbors don't share the same vision of what kind of world we want to live in. Christian Nationalism has been on the rise and democracy is under attack.  In this service, we explore how the recently adopted UU Shared Values can help us model a compelling alternative. This service is part of our UUA Sermon Series Subscription and is presented by Rev. Reneé Ruchotzke, UUA Congregational Life Staff, Central East Region.

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke (ruh-HUT-skee) has served as a UUA Congregational Life Consultant since 2010.

She spends half of her time expanding the UUA Congregational Life Team's LeaderLab, UU Leadership Institute, and other online UUA resources for leadership development, organizational development, governance (including Sociocracy), growth, conflict transformation, congregational dynamics and other aspects of congregational life.

The other half of her time is with the Central East Region. She serves about 30 congregations (Greater Cleveland, OH, Western NY, and the Southern Tier of NY) as UUA Primary Contact.

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