Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

"You Are Loved" Sunday, April 2, 10:50 am If folks from theologians to psychologists to wise elders are correct, love comes first. For all of us to be fulfilled, healthily liberated to be our full selves, we have to know and believe we are loved, for ourselves, as we are. How does it inform how we live, to take that necessity seriously? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shenn...

"What Need One?" Sunday, March 26, 10:50 am Shakespeare’s King Lear asked the perennial question, "What need one?" I remember it from high school AP English class. Mrs. Laster, who was a force of nature — and put the class at 8 am to discourage the lazy, the dilettantes, the weak — drove it home. The question, that is, not the answer. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum...

"From Special Creation to Kin: How Scientific and Indigenous Understandings Call Us to a New Relationship with Nature" Sunday, March 19, 10:50 am For much of Western history, the dominant creation story has placed humans at the apex of the natural order. This Sunday we will look at how the scientific creation story calls us to a different relationship with life, one which is consonant with many in...

"A Hermit's Life" Sunday, March 12, 10:50 am Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister, Preaching A part of me dreams of being a hermit -- not all year, but part of every year, and not completely alone but a lot alone. And so I spent part of sabbatical reading about hermit's lives and the pieces that feel most gorgeous. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of...

"Greatness" Sunday, March 5, 10:50 am I have been thinking about the notion of mediocrity and envy, good enoughness (and its power) but also greatness. As we head into thinking about and raising money for our next year of life together, I'd like to talk about greatness. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway; Worship Associ...

"Some of What I Learned on My Sabbatical: Reclaiming Time and Empathy" Sunday, February 26, 10:50 am The gift of sabbatical is supposed to be about time -- fallow time, time "on the balcony" of your own life, time to rekindle flames that burn low. What I found was a new thread in an ongoing tapestry I have been weaving about time and my struggles with and against it; and about empathy. The two are...

"Mourning and Celebrating" Sunday, February 19, 10:50 am At a recent trip to the DeYoung Museum, to see the exhibit by Black South African artist Lhola Amira, I was made aware of (at least) two parts of the righting of the heart and mind around our shared human history. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Sam King, Worship Associate; Shawnette Sulker, Soprano; Mark Sumner, Songleader; Jon...

"Keeping Love Alive" Sunday, February 12, 2023, Worship Service What does it take to keep love alive? What are some skills or practices that help us nurture the best in our relationships with one another? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jon Silk, Drummer; Bill...

Sunday, February 5, 2023, 10:50 am “Gongxi Gongxi: A Will to Hope in the Lunar New Year” The Lunar New Year loudly celebrates the spring amidst the chill of winter. What can a festival so focused on positivity tell us about our not-so-positive experience? Rev. Seanan Fong, Guest Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Lori Lai, Board Treasurer; Alexandra Lee-Jobe, UU Davis; Reiko Oda Lane, Or...

“A Religious Center With a Civic Circumference: Unitarians in San Francisco Since 1850” Sunday, January 29, 2023, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Our past Senior Minister returns to our pulpit to speak about the history of our congregation. Since his retirement five years ago, he has been working on a book, which will be available soon, about this history. When the book comes out, he will lea...

“Gaining Vision at the Edge of the Miraculous” Sunday, January 22, 2023, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream At this time of year in the Jewish community we read the text of the Burning Bush. Can Moses’s response to that encounter inform how we might vision our lives as we in the every day face barriers and fears that block us? Do the miracles of this textual tradition – a burning bush, a well of...

“Once to every Soul and Nation…” Sunday, January 15, 2023, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Their voices roll down through history -- cutting through like the thunder before a storm -- warning us, reminding us, showing us by the lives they lived/live that prophetic words can be met by life-changing deeds and that the future is not yet written, that there is another way. Ukrainian President Zel...

“A People Without Vision Shall Perish” Sunday, January 8, 2023, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, we realize that there is no turning back to what we once thought was normal. San Francisco has always been a destination for those who want to be their authentic selves and dream dreams. Sunday's sermon will speak to the challenges and opportunities of this time...

“Annual Hanging of the Greens Service” Sunday, December 18, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream 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 Sou...

“What I want for Christmas?” Sunday, December 11, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Cleaning out a box of old papers, the other day, I came across a chapter -- part of a chapter -- of a book from Theologian Stanley Hauerwas that felt very current. It was about the "wanting" at the center of our lives. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Sam King, Worship Associate; Larry Chinn, Jazz Pi...

“Oh, Family” Sunday, December 4, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream We will spend hours basting a turkey or readying the house for guests, but often not even a few minutes preparing ourselves to be with them. Having just, perhaps, had some time with family, biological or chosen, and maybe preparing to be with family in the Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa seasons ahead, let's talk about family. H...

"Little Things Mean a Lot" Sunday, November 27, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream My dad did a commercial decades ago. It is one of the stories you might hear us retelling when we gather around the table which we are still lucky and blessed enough to do. But, all laughter aside, the joke calls us back to some of what is essential to a life grounded in gratitude. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Seni...

“After the OObleck" - A Forgiveness Ritual” Sunday, November 20, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Forgiveness can be a sticky topic, especially when we refuse to grant forgiveness to ourselves or others. Let us gather this morning to hear a story about how messy and sticky it can get. Then, we can choose to participate in a forgiveness ritual to help us leave that stickiness behind. If you are...

"The Double-edged Sword of Faith" Sunday, November 13, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Someone asked me on the way out of service this fall what I meant, as a Unitarian Universalist, when I said the word "faith." Let's look at what faith is (and is not) and the role it plays in our lives -- the blessing and the danger of it. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, W...

“Across the Veil” Sunday, November 6, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream 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...

“Living with the Trouble” Sunday, October 30, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream The saga of our relationship with the nightly raccoons, as a metaphor for learning to live with the troubles in life. Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Soloist; Laurel Sprigg, Soloist...

“What Fuels These Fools?” Sunday, October 23, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream What makes Fools “faithful”? More than anything it is a willingness to hang in there, even when it seems like not much is changing. Futility, rather than fuel, seems to be what’s on people’s minds these days, but the Fools are committed to the faithfulness of fidelity and steadiness, keeping on even when it seems ra...

“Being Alive” Sunday, October 16, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream For months we struggled with the confinement required to avoid Covid, then the numbers went down and we began to move around again. Some said it felt 'Alive' again. What does being alive mean now that many of us now have more freedom? Rev. David Sammons, Minister Emeritus; Wonder Dave, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organis...

“Whose Land Is This?” Sunday, October 9, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Woody Guthrie sang, “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the Gulf Stream waters.” Yet Indigenous Peoples’ Day, observed on the second Monday of October (but not as a holiday), suggests that we acknowledge the unceded rights of this continent’s first peoples. Doing so might even shed light on...

“A Hope Worth Fighting For” Sunday, October 2, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream Exploring hope and despair in the context of the work the Dallas UU community has done for reproductive dignity and what you might ponder as you consider your callings to make a difference. Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter, Guest Minister; Rev. John Buehrens; Susan Anthony, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF C...