Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

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...

All of us need “good boundaries?” But in an age of both constant electronic communications and firewalls, of more border-crossers, refugees and asylum seekers than ever how do we – how should we – respond? The service will be followed by a Town  Hall meeting about plans to make our 50 year old UU Center and historic church sanctuary more hospitable. Rev. John Buehrens, Senior Minister Al...

A prayer in our hymnal includes the line, “Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded.” Columbus Day (otherwise known as Indigenous People’s Day) seems a good time to ponder what it is that lies behind arrogance, even in ourselves. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Phil Marshall, Worship Associate Mark Johnson, piano Thomas Yee, violin Jeuen Yee, piano Jim Valent...

No one wants to “lose face, much less be humbled or humiliated. Yet few humans can escape it. What matters is how we respond. On the feast day of Francis of Assisi, some stories of spiritual response. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Kat Liu, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Reiko Oda Lane, organ and bell choir director Bill Klingelhoffer, Welcome and Announcements Jonathan Silk...

Minister Emeritus of the Mt. Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek, Rev. Sammons served UUSF as Interim Minister before John Buehrens arrived. Let’s give him, and his wife, Jan, a warm welcome. His sermon will compare the recent book on "Character" by columnist David Brooks with the ideas of the spiritual founder of Unitarianism in America, William Ellery Channing. Rev. David Sammons, Guest Minister Re...

We mark the Jewish High Holidays with adapted liturgy and appropriate music. The central theme of the Days of Awe is teshuvah, turning and returning. John’s sermon will reflect on the need for a spirituality not of one-time repentance, but rather of continuous self-renewal – which sounds far easier than it often is. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Alison Ri...

The morning will begin with a breakfast for families and children, old and new. The service will not only kick off a new church year, but also “Bring a Friend Month” at UUSF. There are many longing for a non creedal community of spirit, service, friendship and critical thinking. Invite someone to come try us out! Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Rev. JD Bens...

Remembering his own years as a member of the United Mine Workers, John’s sermon will mark Labor Day weekend and discuss the increasing attacks on all forms of unionization. New member Bruce Neuberger, author of  Lettuce Wars: Ten Years of Struggle in the Fields of California , will offer a reflection on his years with the United Farm Workers. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Bruce Neub...

Our Unitarian heritage is full of examples of wise and foolish ways to understand our faith. Rev. John Buehrens will draw on his broad experience as a historian and as a leader of our denomination. Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Galen Workman, Board Secretary Dr. Mark Sumner, piano Martha Rodriguez Salazar, flute and voice Sarah Bonomo, clarinet Jennifer Peringer, piano Jonathan Silk, Sound, O...

When we are young, we are taught to look both ways before crossing the street. By midlife, we’ve probably learned to look at life from both sides now. How do we keep spiritually alive when, as we age, there is so much to look back upon but life’s end is drawing closer? Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Amy Kelly, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organ Hans York, guitarist/vocalist Dr. Mark Sumne...

When we are young, we are taught to look both ways before crossing the street. By midlife, we’ve probably learned to look at life from both sides now. How do we keep spiritually alive when, as we age, there is so much to look back upon but life’s end is drawing closer? Rev. John Buehrens,Senior Minister Milo Hanke, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organ Nanette McGuinness, soprano soloist Mark Jo...

We often say how important it is to welcome the stranger, and indeed we do try to practice hospitality. But a closer, deeper connection is not so easy to risk. Growing up, many of us learned things about other people--some true, some false--but these teachings can make it more difficult for us to really see, and love, our neighbors as our selves. Sometimes we have to learn to shut our eyes to thin...

"What is essential is invisible to the eye" says the fox in "The Little Prince". In a world of matter and form, what is this knowing that lives with only the shape the human heart may offer? Intuitive understanding is essential to the human condition. How shall we cultivate and value this kind of knowing, and why should we? Rev. JD Benson, Assistant Minister Phil Marshall, Worship Associate David...

Face it, humility doesn't come easily to most of us Unitarian Universalists; it doesn't come easily to Americans, either, especially to those of us living here in the most beautiful city on Earth. Yet, there it is on the wall. A hard look at an often-forgotten virtue. Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz, Guest Minister Kat Liu, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organ Mark Johnson, piano Kate Offer, soprano Ka...

Many of us are comfortably among the affluent and rich Americans who hold 87% of US wealth. As people who wish to be responsible and want to diminish unfair privilege, how much of the necessary change and sacrifice are we willing to participate in so that the US may become an economic and political democracy again? Rev. John Young, Guest Minister Sue Anthony, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, orga...

We are bound together with strong threads of inspiration, reverence and love. Our stories are those of individual lives woven together with our shared lot in life. We have made the choice to be in this intentionally diverse and inescapably interdependent religious community. How shall we grow even more deeply into its fabric? Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel, Guest Minister Kat Liu, Worship Associate Reik...

Theologian Kortright Davis explains that true hospitality requires us to move beyond our boundaries and to extend the spirit of welcome to the stranger, to those easily seen as ?Others?. But do we want to step away from the ease and comfort of congregational homogeneity? If so, how do we set The Welcome Table for all to be fed? Come join us to listen, share and learn. Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel, Gue...

Dawn began contemplative practice  in 1997. She is currently earning an MA (MDiv equivalent) in Buddhist Studies and Chaplaincy from the Graduate Theological Union. Dawn was ordained in Burma in 2009, and was authorized to teach Buddhist practice, from the perspective of loving-kindness, by her Burmese teacher that year. She teaches meditation, mindfulness, and loving-kindness in Buddhis...

We have just celebrated the involvement 50 years ago of hundreds of Unitarian Universalists in Selma, Alabama, in support of Black voting rights. But we should also know about and learn from Unitarian Universalists living in the South whose work on racial issues preceded and followed the voting rights demonstrations of 1965. Gordon Gibson was part of the Selma civil rights campaign, served as&nbsp...