Sermon Archive
"What Is, Is. Now What? – A Spiritual Practice Exploration Service” Wy’east Worship Team
This Sunday immediately following Election Day we continue our exploration of personal spiritual practice. How do we stay centered and grounded in times of worry or uncertainty about what the future holds?
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
"Cultivating Peace During Election Season" Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx
In a world that often feels polarized, many of us carry anxiety about the future. With the approaching election, many of us are attuned to Election high hopes and deep fears. In this time together, we’ll explore how to stay grounded and hopeful despite political turbulence. Drawing on Unitarian Universalist values and our community’s strength, we will create space to hold our anxieties and find ways to be agents of peace and positive change. This time together will offer warmth and calm, inviting each of us to discover healing in our collective presence.
First-Sunday Monthly Potluck after 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
"Nones, Dones & Scrabble Together®” Rev. Phil Lund, UUA Congregational Life Staff, Mid-America Region
What can UU congregations learn from an international toy company? Plenty! Like how to reinvigorate an experience steeped in tradition by making it more appealing to younger generations—without diminishing the essence of the original.
Phillip Lund has twenty years experience serving congregations in the areas of faith formation and spiritual growth, first as a religious educator in Bloomington, Indiana, New York City, and Chicago, Illinois, and most recently as a congregational life consultant working for the MidAmerica Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago and a certificate in InterSpiritual Counseling from One Spirit Learning Alliance in New York. Phil has received additional training in The Art of Hosting Conversations That Matter and Discerning Your Call: Dependable Strengths® for Congregations at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota; he has completed the Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders sponsored by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, and is a Certified Practitioner of The MBTI® Step I™ and Step II™ Instruments. In 2013 Phil was named the Fahs Fellow for Innovation in Technology by the Fahs Collaborative at Meadville Lombard.
He currently lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, Julia, and their son, Henry David.
Listen to 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
"Immigration, Again” Rev. Barbara Prose
In the second of our Social Justice Speakers centered in beloved community, Rev. Barbara Prose joins us to share more about the work of IMIrJ (Oregon’s Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice) to create a more just world for immigrants, migrants, and asylum seekers by building relationships, taking immediate humanitarian action and long-term collective, intentional action.
Rev. Barbara Prose currently serves as the Executive Director at IMIrJ and just recently accepted a part-time Minister role at the Mid-Columbia UU Fellowship in Hood River. She moved to Portland in 2023 from Tulsa, OK, land of the Cherokee, Muscogee Creek and Osage Nations, where she served as the Executive Director of Ministry for All Souls Unitarian Church. With a Rabbi and a Lutheran Minister, Barbara also co-founded and served as the co-chair of the board of El Centro: New Sanctuary Empowerment Center in Tulsa.
Listen to the Service Recording
Special Collection: IMIrJ - https://www.imirj.org
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
"Spiritual Practice: Atonement” Wy’east Worship Team
Many spiritual traditions include practices of reflection and atonement, recognizing the importance of self-awareness and relationship-repair. Inspired by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year, we will explore this spiritual practice together. This year, the observance of Yom Kippur starts at sunset on October 11 and concludes on the evening of October 12 so it seemed timely to center the second of our services focused on exploring spiritual practice around the idea of atonement. What does this mean to UU’s and how might a spiritual practice of making amends for wrongdoing and repairing broken relationships fit into your life?
Listen to 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
"Separate or Interconnected - Our Worldview Matters” Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx
In this service we will contrast indigenous wisdom and Buddhist philosophy with the dualistic worldview often found in Western thought with its sharp separation between humans and nature. This division often leads to an extractive relationship with the natural world, prioritizing short-term gains and technological advancement over ecological balance and long-term sustainability.
In contrast, indigenous worldviews tend to embrace a more holistic and interconnected perspective, where humans are seen as an integral part of nature. Buddhism reveres and honors all life, cultivating compassion for all living beings. These perspectives support us as Unitarian Universalists to live into our value of interdependence.
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
"5th Sunday Day of Service: 3rd Annual Hollywood Neighborhood Cleanup"
Each church year there are 4 or 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.
We are planning our 3rd annual Hollywood Neighborhood Cleanup for this last Sunday of September. Come dressed for the weather and join members Larry Burt & Diane Ingle who are again coordinating with SOLV to provide supplies. Our goals are to help make the area a safer, cleaner, more pleasant area to visit and to help build community spirit among our members. Volunteers will pick up litter in the Hollywood neighborhood business area surrounding our meeting place.
We are seeking a volunteer to lead a possible online gathering for those who are unable to join the cleanup with a possible Get Out the Vote Letter Writing service project. Please connect with Linda M at worship@wyeastuu.org if you would like to assist in this.
5th Sunday Day of Service, 10:30 AM - 12:00 Noon
There will be NO regular service (either in-person or online) this Sunday.
"Exploring Personal Spiritual Practices” Linda Macpherson
Wy’east’s mission includes supporting each other in keeping our spiritual searches joyful, compassionate, and curious. Join us as we explore ways we might do this with each other in this interactive online service.
The current rhythm of our worship services has us meeting online twice each month. In this new church year, your Worship Team is inspired to find ways to really lean into some of the strengths of this format of worship which include opportunities for deeper sharing with one another and exploring personal spiritual practices that can nourish and strengthen our spirits. This Sunday we will delve into ways to nurture personal spiritual practice.
Listen to 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
"Beloved Community & The Roots of Resilience: God's Legacy of Environmental Stewardship.” Curtis Young, Executive Director of the Blueprint Foundation
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
"Celebrating Our Belonging: Annual Water Communion & In-Gathering” Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx
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