Complete Service-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

The Awareness of Glory "Big Music" Sunday at UUSF! The Poulenc Gloria is one of the great choral works of the 20th century. It was commissioned for and first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in 1961. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Kat Liu, Worship Associate Margaret Pearce, The Interfaith Power and Light Dr. Mark Sumner, choir director...

The Awareness of Evil If most religion begins in a sense of metaphysical unity, it also includes the moral duality of good and evil. We often focus on good people, doing good things. But how are good Universalists called to respond when we see and encounter real evil in the world? Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Richard Davis, Worship Associate Rev. Alyson Jacks, Message for All Ages Dr. Mark S...

The Awareness of Oneness It is possible to be both rational and something of a mystic. Perhaps all unifying religion begins in what we claim as one of the sources of our living tradition: Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life. The Message for All Ages w...

Practicing Resurrection In a change from past practice at Easter, the children will join us only for the early part of the service, for a Message for All Ages and for some of the glorious music; then they will go off with Rev. Alyson to other activities, including an Easter egg hunt. John’s message, under a title borrowed from the poet Wendell Berry, will be about carrying the Easter theme into da...

Cracking The Monolith Bill Rankin is the author of a 1994 book on social change with the same title as his sermon with the subtitle, “The Struggle for the Soul of America: A Peace and Justice Manifesto.” Bill is a 20-year friend of John and Gwen Buehrens, an Episcopal priest holding a doctorate in social ethics, the former Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, and, with his wife, Sally, was recently...

Change In The Church Spirituality is meant to change us. No one should touch holy ground and remain unchanged. Churches, on the other hand, are meant to provide stability – a framework for spiritual change. No wonder there is an inherent tension between them! Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Jan Hutslar and Windows & Mirrors Class Teresa Goebel, Reflection Reiko Oda Lane, organist Rusty Harris-B...

Worship is constantly changing. The root of the word goes back to the Anglo-Saxon “worth -shaep.” The constant purpose being to help give shape to what is of true worth, to shape our inner lives that way. Taking off from an essay on religion in an age of science, John will discuss how rock concerts, intimate groups, and even astronomy offer aspects of what we seek – but not the whole. Rev. John Bu...

The Soul as Inner Connection The late Malvina Reynolds, a Bay Area Unitarian activist and singer-songwriter, once wrote a prose piece she called her “Soul Book,” arguing that the soul is something we acquire in the course of living rather than something inherent. Whether you believe the soul exists or not, is inherent or acquired, we hope you’ll find your own soul expanded by the reflection offere...

Alienation and Reconnection Alienation, said theologian Paul Tillich, is inherent in the human condition. We live alienated from ourselves, from others, and from the very ground of our being. How then do we reconnect? Preaching for us will be a scientist turned minister, now retired from active ministry but still serving as a research scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. John Buehrens ca...

Connecting To Beauty On Valentineís Day we will ponder eros ñ not just as sexual attraction ñ but as the divine energy that connects us to the beauty all around us. Those who are lonely, or depressed, or feel spiritually starved (and that is all of us at times) often need to practice connecting to beauty. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Alison Rittger, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, music d...

Practicing Connection Many of us, including your Sr. Minister, are actually introverts. We have to be intentional about making a real connection with other people. Those who are natural extroverts sometimes need to be intentional about just listening. This is how the web of community is woven, in diversity. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Milo Hanke, Worshi...

In These Hands: Embodying Justice In his latest book, Prehension: The Hand and the Emergence of Humanity, philosopher and writer Colin McGinn tells the amazing story of how the hand formed human evolution. Our hands -- with their dexterity, flexibility, precision, and sensitivity -have been instrumental in shaping the world around us, for better and for worse. The hand has also played a critical r...

Holding Out For Mercy When I get to talking too much about justice, my wife Gwen is likely to say aloud, “Personally, I’m holding out for mercy.” Aren’t we all? In the effort actually to practice justice, nothing is more important than forgiving ourselves and one another as we stumble on the way. Wisdom from rabbinic tradition is relevant and will be applied. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Re...

Waking Up White The Black Lives Matter movement has been a wake-up call to white America. When did you wake up to issues of race in your own life? How have those early experiences helped or hindered your re-awakening in this new moment in the quest for racial justice. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Richard Davis, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music D...

Beloved Conversations:Healing Our Way Toward Beloved Community A group of UUSF members is about to begin a curriculum called "Beloved Conversations: Meditations on Race and Ethnicity." Several other UU churches in the region are already involved. The conversation about racial justice is important. Rev. JD Benson, Assistant Minister Alex Darr, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Wm. García G...

Practicing Justice Seeking justice as an advocate or activist is one thing -- sometimes akin to serving an ideal. Practicing justice in one's life, every day, is something more concrete and challenging. William Blake said, "[Whosoever] would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars. General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer." Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister...

Transitions Major transitions are always done in the face of fear, grief, or anxiety. Young adults Joseph Chapot and Cierdwynn Donaldson will testify to their own experiences of finishing college, becoming engaged, changing gender identity, and dealing with the death of a parent, while Rev. Buehrens leads us in preparing for a spiritually grounded transition into a New Year. Rev. John Buehrens, Se...

Fear Not! Said The Angels Pt2 For a more contemplative experience of Christmas Eve, on the same theme. Sue Anthony will serve as Worship Associate, and soloists rather than full choir will provide the Christmas music. The Reverend John Buehrens, Senior Minister The Reverend JD Benson, Assistant Minister Susan Anthony, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ Jason Pa...

Fear Not! Said The Angels Intergenerational service with full choir and Christmas music in a multi-generational context. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Dr. Mark Sumner, piano, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ, Bell Choir Director Jason Park, trumpet Jiun-Chyi Yew, soprano Maria Solis, soprano Kate Offer, soprano David Jones, piano Jonathan Silk, OOS,...

Natural Fear and Historical Hope Managing our own fears and anxieties is a primary test of our faithful living, no matter what we believe or disbelieve. “What’s an angel?” asked a little girl. “Not someone who’s always good,” replied her wise mom. “But someone who teaches me about facing fear, as you sometimes do.” We’ll mark the Winter Solstice, when our early ancestors feared the sun might disap...

A Royal Banquet: In The Face of Fear The UUSF Choir and the UC Berkeley Alumni/ae Choir combine with an orchestra under the direction of UUSF Music Director Dr. Mark Sumner for a performance of William Walton’s BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST – with brief historical and reflective commentary by Rev. Buehrens on the story from the ancient Book of Daniel. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Mark Sumner, Music Di...

Thoughts In the Presence of Fear The title is borrowed from poet, ecologist, peace advocate and essayist Wendell Berry, who wrote on this theme after 9/11. Here we are again, and on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. What is the most faithful response to fear? -- within us, around us, and beyond our own control? Chanukah, that Jewish festival of religious freedom, begins Sunday evening, and help...

Nostalgia and Expectations Thanksgiving weekend also brings us the first Sunday of Advent, the season of expectation. John’s sermon will touch on some memories – of his first Thanksgiving as a young husband; of his wife’s ordination 30 years ago this weekend – along with some thoughts about expectations. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Sister Sheila Flynn, O.P., from the Kopanang Community in...

Crossing Over   On the Sunday before Thanksgiving we celebrate Guest at Your Table Sunday, and dedicate the offering to the work of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. 75 years ago, in 1940, they began rescuing refugees from totalitarian regimes in Europe. Today they work on many fronts: economic justice; rights in crisis; environmental justice – here and all around the world....

Breaking Barriers: Learning to Move at the Speed of Trust When I think about barriers and boundaries, I think of Robert Frost's poem, “Mending Wall” and its famous line “ Good fences make good neighbors.” In the poem, Frost asks, “Why do they make good neighbors … Before I built a wall, I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offense?” Boundaries serve...