UUABQ Voice

Our pulpit guest series continues with Reverend Randy Granger—a professional musician, storyteller, workshop facilitator, educator, and licensed massage therapist—speaking about moving from "Othering" towards understanding differences in our world's rich tapestry. Healing through hearing each other's stories, stories of grace and transformation. We will also have our Backpack Blessing today for ch...

You are not your thoughts. You are so much more than the fleeting thoughts you experience, and the world is more than what we see; reflection can help put self and the world into perspective. Music: Spare Parts: Vance Bass, Tania Hopkins, Keith Morris, Chris Paul, and Susan Peck.

Community Leader and performer Cathryn McGill joins us with a sermon that explores our personal responsibility to overcome conflict and confront biases. It calls for both individual and collective efforts to foster understanding, unity, and connection, emphasizing that building bridges within our communities is essential to transforming division into harmony. Music: Cathryn McGill will be joined b...

The sabbatical guest preacher program continues with Rev. Erica Lea-Simka of the Albuquerque Mennonite Church. August 28, 2024 will be the 61st anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most famous speech- I Have A Dream. In these times of global unrest and interpersonal uncertainties, it is extra challenging to "hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope". How might Elijah's Dark Night of t...

The sabbatical guest preacher program commences with Rabbi Celia Surget of Albuquerque’s Congregation Albert. Even the Rabbis of the Talmud agreed- it can be difficult to live in community- as individual members, we often risk facing the challenge of not being truly seen, of feeling (or being) ostracized, and yet… they also acknowledge that there is power and strength when we take the time to look...

Places of refuge are important for nurturing our spiritual lives. But what counts as one, and where do we find it? This is Angela’s last Sunday in the pulpit before her sabbatical. She will return November 3.  Music: Guest musicians Sue Young and Rusty Nelson

What happens after death? We don’t know for sure, but many people believe in reincarnation (including a surprisingly high number of Christians!) Let’s explore this ancient idea. Music: Spare Parts, with Laura Bartolucci, Vance Bass, Keith Morris, Chris Paul, and Susan Peck.

We each have spiritual autobiographies or stories of the spiritual influences and growth that have shaped us. So does the church itself! Our Minister Emerita the Rev. Christine Robinson will join Angela in the pulpit today to tell that story. Music: Lydia Clark

Have you heard the good news? There are great things happening in the world. They don’t make the headlines as often as the bad stuff. Come and be lifted as Angela preaches “the good news” today. Music: Susan Peck

Healing Sound Bath with Lydia Clark

On this Pride weekend, a sermon for everyone who dreams of embracing courage, vulnerability, playfulness, and self-expression. Music: Susan Peck

Some of the most important things we can do for our youth to support them into adulthood are to keep them connected to Unitarian Universalism, and to continue to minister to them as they become adults. Our Bridging Ceremony celebrates this important transition and reminds the congregation of our commitments to our youth. We will honor Yony Mostoller and Evan Sadek. We will also celebrate Founders...

There are countless names for the Ultimate or Divine. Let’s explore some! How do they help us understand existence? In what ways are they true? Music: Chalice Choir

Sometimes we have to break a few rules. Good thing there are so many good role models!

How does change happen in a person’s life? How much change is possible? A sermon about the spiritual and the psychological. Music: Lydia Clark

As many of you know, our trans and gender expansive beloveds are under attack and being criminalized in many US states right now. This is so serious that they fit the criteria to be designated as internally displaced people (IDPs) by the United Nations. This isn’t the first time fascism has reared its ugly head, and we at UUSC know how to respond. UUSC has been dedicated to aiding people being tar...

If you wonder what hope there is, if you’re feeling hopeless, if you’re afraid being hopeful will only lead to disappointment, or if you think of hope as a form of wishful thinking, then this intellectually honest, nourishing sermon is especially for you. And everyone else will probably appreciate it too! With an uplifting message and an easter egg hunt for kids, this is a great day to invite new...

In a few months UUs will have a big decision to make at our denomination’s annual general assembly: whether to transform the Seven Principles into a new kind of statement for our new era. Here’s what’s being proposed, and how our congregation can get involved. Music:Chalice Choir, Nicia Rae, piano

In the polarized rhetoric around Israel and Palestine, each side gets dehumanized in the service of “justice.” Fathers Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, a Palestinian and an Israeli who both lost daughters to the violence, want us to know that another way is possible. Music: Lydia Clark

“Repent” is a religious word with a lot of baggage. It brings to mind shame and threats of punishment. But there is another side to it: one that has to do with healing, repair, and peace. This sermon draws from the UUA’s Common Read, On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg. You can learn more about the Common Read program here. (https://www.uua.org/read) Music: Lydia Clark & Tom Godfrey

We all want to thrive, and what that means differs during our lifespan. There are plenty of hints and tips about that, and I have a few of my own, especially about the life stage of “retirement.” However, almost all the thinking I can dig up about thriving assumes that we can thrive all by ourselves, and I doubt that. We believe we are all connected, after all… and that would mean that we need to...

The popular, annual service dedicated to regular yet notable people who died in the last year. We’ll celebrate some of the people whose lives touched ours, even if we never knew their names. Inventors, activists, scientists and more… come for good music and good stories; leave with a spring in your step.

The Rev. Angela Herrera & The Rev. Bob LaVallee You’ve got questions, and we’ve got... well, we’ll do our best! Today the ministers draw your questions out of a hat. Music: Susan Peck

Love is a liberating gift, but it doesn’t come for free. A sermon about what love—especially self-love—asks of us. We’ll also collect questions today for next week’s “Question Box” sermon. Music: Chalice Choir, directed by Susan Peck. Nicia Rae, piano. Anthems include O Love by Elaine Hagenberg, and Show Us How to Love by Mark Miller