Complete Service-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

"Thus Do We Covenant" Sunday, January 28, 10:50 am, 2024 After the weekend of creating our covenant, we will come together to reveal what we have found most important for us to promise. We will explore and understand how we will use it in our relationships going forward. Aisha Hauser, Guest Preacher; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Rev. Sonya Sukalski, Sabbatical Minister; Mar...

"Covenant: Laying the Foundation" Sunday, January 21, 10:50 am, 2024 As we prepare to engage in creating a congregational covenant for UUSF, we will start to lay the foundation of why it is important work for us to do. We will look at the preparation work we have already done and how covenant already exists in our congregational work. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magal...

"Belonging" Sunday, January 14, 10:50 am, 2024 It is said that religions include belief, behavior and belonging. Unitarian Universalism gave Rev. Sonya an immediate sense of belonging over 25 years ago when she first attended a service in her hometown in New Mexico. Unitarians employ reason in our beliefs, and a sense of freedom concerning religious behaviors, so naming what creates our sense of b...

"Promises of the Heart" Sunday, January 7, 10:50 am, 2024 Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal, covenantal faith; that is, we are united not by a single set of theological beliefs, but by the commitments we make to each other and to the broader society in which we live. A covenant is a promise from the heart to carry out these commitments. Throughout January, we will be exploring the concept an...

"Let Go of the Old & Ring in the New: Fire Communion" Sunday, December 31, 10:50 am, 2023 We will gather to reflect on our past year, then set intentions for the upcoming year. This will be ritualized through a Fire Communion. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Diane Allen, Board of Trustees; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Akane Ota, Songleader; Elli...

"Christmas Eve Night" Sunday, December 24, 4:45 pm, 2023 Come let us join in community to celebrate the Christmas story in song, stories, and candles. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Bree Shennum; Tad Hopp; Michael Bossier; Claire Cover; Tad Hopp, Worship Participants; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Ma...

"What's Up With That: Interactive Christmas Pageant" Sunday, December 24, 10:50 am, 2023 Join us for an interactive telling of the Christmas story. This service is for all ages and costumes will be provided for those who want them. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Orianna Jooss Moren; Robert Jumonville; Callum Sanchez; Dahlia Tarou; Bree Shennum...

"Hanging of the Greens" Sunday, December 17, 10:50 am, 2023 We will gather as a full community to build connection through the ritual of creating the greens for our sanctuary. In honor of the sacredness of each person born, we will create stars that highlight each of us that are present. Join us for a lovely tradition of joy and merriment. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Sh...

"SACReD Stories, SACReD Decisions and Mary, Mother of God" Sunday, December 10, 10:50 am, 2023 What is your faith story? What is your reproductive story? How is the Divine a part of both of these stories? How can we weave them together free from shame, judgment, and stigma? Join us as we examine our stories alongside one of the ancient stories of Mary, Mother of God. Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams fro...

"I Will Meet You There" Sunday, December 3, 10:50 am, 2023 For weeks, there have been conversations in our church forums, at movie screenings, and on the steps as people gather and leave to address the war in Gaza. On Sunday (I think!) we will talk about the struggle to hold these events and dig into one of the issues coming up around the events: the ancient evils of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia...

"Oh, We Give Thanks: A Bread Communion" Sunday, November 26, 10:50 am, 2023 In this quiet service, we will make space to be fed, to reflect on our times around the table and how they have shaped us, to share some of the food we love, and to fill up on the nourishment of giving thanks. If you have a baked good to donate to the table (for sharing at a service or afterwards), please let Vanessa know...

"In Transition" Sunday, November 19, 10:50 am, 2023 This week, the end of Trans Awareness week, we will hear voices of trans folx and be together in their stories and wisdom -- from people we know and love to writers from the United States to the hijra community in India. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Santana McBride, Worship Asso...

"Toward the Beloved Community of Unitarian Universalism" Sunday, November 12, 10:50 am, 2023 The late civil rights activist John Lewis called us to: “Not get lost in a sea of despair and to never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” Week after week, year after year, Unitarian Universalists gather to build the Beloved Community that centers Black, Indigeno...

"The Enfleshed Life: What Life and Love of a Body Entails" Sunday, November 5, 10:50 am, 2023 One of the biggest injuries that Christianity is part of in our journey to human wholeness is seeing the body as sacred—not in the sense of something pristine that could be defiled or whose urges were dangerous, but as something to be honored and trusted. We can blame St. Augustine for some of it. We can...

"Connecting Across Borders and Divides" Sunday, October 29, 10:50 am, 2023 This is the time of year of the Pagan celebration of Samhain, and the Christian (no doubt borrowed and adapted!) witness to All Souls and All Saints, and to the celebrations of Día De Los Muertos in Mexico and across Latin America. All of these community and religious ceremonies and sacred times begin with the Samhain idea...

"Lessons for Future Ancestors" Sunday, October 22, 10:50 am, 2023 "Let us measure success by how many of us can say: I am living a life I don’t regret. A life that will resonate with my ancestors" -adrienne maree brown Matt is a musician and worship leader who has led hundreds of services for UU congregations across the country. He has a degree in hand drumming and serves as Director of Community...

"By Stander, Standing By" Sunday, October 15, 10:50 am, 2023 This weekend when we honor awareness about our Trans Beloveds, I want to talk about some stories I've heard from members lately. I want to talk about how we show up and invite others to do the same. I want to talk about the real danger of the bystander. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congrega...

"The Uses and Abuses of Scripture" Sunday, October 8, 10:50 am, 2023 On a Sunday when we mark Indigenous Peoples Day, we will enjoy music from a group of Native Hawai’ian musicians. Rev. Buehrens reflect on how scripture was abused in the spread of settler colonialism, even as he invites people, in his Monday evening adult RE course on the Hebrew Bible, to learn about how the scriptures can be und...

“Hello, Frank!” in honor of the feast of St Francis which is on Oct 4. Sunday, October 1, 10:50 am, 2023 Living in a city named for St. Francis, we find ourselves looking for the humanity behind the saint as we negotiate very difficult times: Ideals of loving the poor get confused with the complexity of addressing poverty and homelessness; and a reverence for all creation can leave us wondering wh...

"Healing and Hope: A sermon on forgiveness and beyond" Sunday, September 24, 10:50 am, 2023 Yom Kippur is a day for Jewish people to focus on forgiveness and determine how they will move forward in the next year. This morning, we will focus on our own relationship with forgiveness and participate in a ritual that allows us to find a sense of peace. If you are joining virtually, then please have a...

"We Are All the Same.... and Not: A service of celebration and reflection on being in community" Sunday, September 17, 10:50 am, 2023 September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month. Mari Magaloni Ramos, Santana Gonzalez Gomez and Vanessa Southern will explore some of what we celebrate this month and also larger reflections about being in community together. Rumor has it th...

"Ingathering Sunday: Bring in the People and the Waters!" Sunday, September 10, 10:50 am, 2023 This Sunday is opening Sunday! Church may serve as a place to "Remember" or to get an understanding of what it is to be human. Bring any water from areas you went this summer (even if it was from your backyard spigot or a nearby park). If you don't, we will have water accessible, and we look forward to y...

"Good Job!" Sunday, September 3, 10:50 am, 2023 On Labor Day, we celebrate workers - that is, the vast majority of people - and the work they do. We honor the struggle of workers organizing to make work sufficient and bearable. We ask: What is a good job? Is it having decent pay and benefits? Is it doing work that feeds your soul? Dare we dream to have both? The Covid pandemic has challenged our c...

"Connection Through Sharing" Sunday, August 27, 10:50 am One of the ways we find connection at UUSF is through the Small Group Ministry program. Groups meet twice a month to reflect and to share about a topic. We will explore this type of connecting during the service. Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Linda Enger, Board of Trustees; Megan Leh...

"La Dolce Vita in Motion" (also known as "Reflections on My Life as a Dancer”) Sunday, August 20, 10:50 am In seminary we spent part of our first year in a class part of which entailed writing our "Spiritual Autobiography." We had to look back on everything as it related to our journey as a spiritual being or around our beliefs or experiences of religion and spirituality. It made me realize that y...