Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

My Family and Other Animals We all have the sense of some ideal family, and with it the clarity of how far ours deviates from that norm. The lesson pressed into us at times like Thanksgiving, is how there are no ordinary families. But what fun to tell their stories... our stories! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Lucy Smith, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, piano Bill Ganz, piano Ashe...

Out of Control There are times in life when our well thought-out projects or plans do not materialize as hoped, and we are faced with the unknown. These can be times of great vulnerability, as we try to discern how to move forward with our lives. Sister Sheila Flynn lived in South Africa for many years. While there, she founded the women’s empowerment group called Kopanang. Sister Sheila spoke to...

Enough? "Enough is as good as a feast," as the proverb says. But what if we have lost the notion of enough -- and not just in food, but in all categories of life? What happens then?   Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Phil Marshall, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ Stephanie Gowan, Stewardship Chair Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Picnic at the Graveyard What makes us more vulnerable than the ultimate loss, than death? Nothing, I think. Different cultures have different ways of putting us in relationship to death. Let’s look at some of those and see what the blessings and burdens of those ways are, what relationship we would choose, and how. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister D...

Big Music Sunday: 500 Years Since Reformation Began! We've all found ourselves lost in the state of limbo at some point in our lives, caught between its borders of the known and the unknown, unsure which way to go or where to turn. When you are stuck in limbo, your resilience is compromised, limiting your capacity to act. How do you resist the abyss and move forward? Keep calm, no small thing; lis...

Sitting in Limbo We've all found ourselves lost in the state of limbo at some point in our lives, caught between its borders of the known and the unknown, unsure which way to go or where to turn. When you are stuck in limbo, your resilience is compromised, limiting your capacity to act. How do you resist the abyss and move forward? Keep calm, no small thing; listen for that still voice within. Gat...

Resistance: Symbolic Acts To deal in symbols is complicated business. Religion and State have done it for millennia, literature too. But we do so because symbols have the power to unmake power. How can symbolic acts be transforming acts of resistance? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Susan Anthony, Worship Associate Brady Anderson, cello Jasmine Nag...

Resistance: Making Lemonade or The 614th Commandment One way we act out of resistance to hurt or evil in the world is go make good of it. Why? And what can that look like? Here are some stories to prime the pump of your own thinking. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Reiko Oda Lane, orga...

Healing, Resistance, and a Hole in the Roof What does it take for us to be healed, as individuals and as communities? What does healing have to do with resistance (or with a hole in the roof, for that matter)? Stories from the Faithful Fools weekly "Conversation of Biblical Proportions." Rev. Mary Ganz, Assistant Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Dr. Ma...

Written But Not Yet Sealed These are the Days of Awe. It is time when the work of atonement (at-one-ness) is supposed to be our focus. It's our last chance to fix a year's wounds, wrongs, missteps. What would it mean to live that way? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Richard Davis, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, piano Asher Davison, song leader...

The Perfect Day Sabbath seems like such an old word, but particularly as articulated in the Jewish Tradition it is a gorgeous, but forgotten, notion of what helps shape and ground a rich, full life. What is Sabbath? Perhaps more countercultural and radical an idea than we think. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Ben Bear, Worship Associate Dr. Mark S...

Coffee in the Desert The ancient rite or obligation of hospitality is just that, ancient and sacred. From the Bedoin people and the Greeks, to the Jews and then the Christians; on the Indian subcontinent and everywhere where people once were strangers and could not forget how powerful it was to be welcomed. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Rev. Mary...

Work That is Real In honor of Labor Day, we will be hosting Rev. Ben Meyers , who will share what he and his congregation in San Mateo learned in their experience working with local labor and partners for justice for workers at SFO. Effectively lobbying the Airport Commission to break a wage freeze on food workers. Rev. Ben Meyers, Guest Minister Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate The San Francisc...

Fresh Starts We've all had particular moments in our lives that stay with us. A time where we felt alive, awake, open and present. Full-bodied moments. Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Took a stand for justice? What about those beginner steps that set you on a religious path? This Sunday we'll reflect on the meaning of time, how we move through it, trying to feel the fullness of ea...

In the Present Moment If seasons of the year invite different seasons of the soul, what about summer invites us to focus more on being in the present moment? How do we do that? What gets in the way? And how do we take the best of that practice into the frenetic busyness of the year that waits just beyond Labor Day? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Phil Marshall, Worship Associate Ted Ru...

Together: A Reflection on Small Group Ministry At the start of UUSF's new ministry with Reverend Vanessa Rush Southern, an exploration of what it means to come together, to gather, in an intentional way. What do we give up? What do we gain? In Small Group Ministry, we commit —for a specified time—to meet in small groups, to explore and share our spiritual journeys, and deepen our friendships. Mill...

The Enduring Purpose of Religious Community All specific congregational mission statements aside, why do we come together and what is it we're supposed to be doing here? What is it communities like ours have been about for centuries and should always be about? What is our enduring purpose for being? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Reiko Oda Lane, p...

Thriving in Difficult Times Difficulty can arise in any arena of our lives: partners, children, friends, work, health, finances, church, community, politics or the larger word. When things are really bad we just hope we can survive. This morning we’ll explore possibilities for thriving in difficult times. Rev. Doug Kraft, Guest Minister Kat Liu, Worship Associate Jennifer Peringer, piano, accordio...

Surrender to the Weight of Being Healed Surrender to the Weight of Being Healed: what does it mean to bear witness and change worlds? Issues can't be repaired; problems can. How do we recognize the beauty and the wounded within and beyond us, and make real and lasting change for the good? C'mon, good people! Let's to it! Rev. JD Benson, Assistant Minister Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Worship Associa...

What Do A Billion Muslims Have To Teach Us About Unitarian Universalism? Islam, the second largest religion in the world, could be thought of as a Unitarian heresy. Like American Unitarians 1200 years later, Muhammad and his followers regarded Jesus as a prophet, but not a God. They believed that the kingdom of God belonged to all people, not just a chosen few. In many ways Islam and Unitarianism...

Strange Foolishness: Meditations on Political Correctness “Strange Foolishness: Meditations on Political Correctness.” -- Is Unitarian Universalism "a chapel of political correctness,” as some have charged? -- (and is that a bad thing?) ... We try to untangle the cultural, theological, and political threads that impact our thinking, our speaking, and the way we are together. Rev. Mary McKinnon Gan...

Mend Thine Every Flaw, A Sermon for America's Birthday What makes America great? And what exactly do we need to go back to make it great again? The Reverend Dr. David Keyes finds parallels between the ancient Israelites’ desire to ignore Moses and go back to what they knew, even if that was slavery, and the American citizens whose discomfort with a changing world prompted them to elect Donald Trum...

Not Knowing - The Resistance to Certainty Rev. Sonya, now Minister to the UU Congregation of Tuolumne County in Sonora, preached an earlier version of this sermon to the UUs of Oakland as part of a recent UUA “teach-in” series on the issue. If you have any lingering concerns, questions, or thoughts on this topic, please do feel free to e-mail her at sonya.sukalski@comcast.net - she'd love to hear...

Confessions of A Curious Cleric: Reflections On 45 Years of Ministry We each bring our own gifts. Ministry is something we all do. John will confess what he wishes he had done differently. Perhaps to inspire us to stay curious and open to what the future may unfold. The Choir will end with the Forman Benediction by Daniel Pinkham, composed in John’s honor for his last service as UUA President. Rev...

The Curious Case Of This Congregation and Of Schrodinger’s Cat These last three years have been among the happiest and most satisfying of my professional life. Yet UUSF still suffers from some self-defeating understandings of itself. As “Developmental Minister” I will play therapist to try to help you to change the narrative. Worship will include a covenant with Lay Chaplains. Rev. John Buehrens,...