Past Services can be found at the UUCSS YouTube page, https://www.youtube.com/c/UUCSS

Spirit of Life – Rosanne Douglas

Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea
Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me

There Is More Love Somewhere – Rev. Kristin G. Schmidt

I was appalled when I heard the news that schools in Louisiana are now required to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Along with exasperation and outrage at such a blatantly unconstitutional mandate, it raises a lot of questions. How and why did they choose the particular version of the Ten Commandments each classroom must display? And why waste time and resources on performative religion when they could be used instead to, say, provide free breakfast and lunch to all schoolchildren. 

Hymn Sing Sunday

This week we did not have a sermon but rather sang hymns that were suggested by the congregation together! You can watch and/or listen through the YouTube link below. Here is a list of hymns we sang: #1021 Lean on Me #212 We are Dancing Sarah’s Circle #1064 Blue Boat Home #34 Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire #1 May Nothing…

Superhero Sunday – Rev. Kristin G. Schmidt

Not long ago, a woman was robbed while walking on the sidewalk in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the victim of the crime, and yet when the police arrived, they arrested her. Despite her lack of a criminal past, the judge set her bail at $25,000, an impossible sum for a mother of seven. This meant she had to stay in jail until her trial, which didn’t come for two whole months. While in jail she lost her job, she and her kids suffered distress and anxiety, and her extended family all had to pitch in to keep the family together. That’s the story of how the cash bail system in Cleveland nearly destroyed one woman’s life and family.

What an Owl Knows – Rev. Caitlin Cotter Coillberg

Winnie the pooh says that “if anyone knows anything about anything, its OWL who knows something about something.”  

Owls, Jennifer Ackerman writes in her recent book “What an owl knows” have truths to tell us, from afar—from their perches and nest deep in old-growth forests, deserts, the Arctic—and from up close, in the hands of vets, rehabbers, researchers, and educators.  We would be wise to listen, she says.

Demands of the Age – Rev. Abhi Janamanchi

The title of my sermon is borrowed from Rev. William Ellery Channing, who used it to great effect in 1824 during the ordination and installation service of his associate colleague Ezra Stiles Gannett. Channing referenced a verse from Matthew that set an ominous tone to the proceedings: 

“Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

Across the Aisle, Across the Kitchen Table – Rev. Kristin G. Schmidt

Edwin Friedman was a rabbi, family therapist, and leadership consultant who is best-known for his work with religious communities. His book called Friedman’s Fables is a collection of stories he wrote to help explain family systems. I’m going to tell you one of those stories. It’s called “The Power of Belief” and it begins with a man who came home one day and announced that he was dead. 

Imagining Libertatia: Paradise, Pirates, and the Work of Mutual Liberation – Written by Rev. Caitlin Cotter Coillberg, Presented by Rev. Kristin Grassel Schmidt

This morning’s sermon, like the rest of the service, was written by Rev. Caitlin Cotter Coillberg, who is home sick today. It’s my pleasure to preach it in her stead:

“It is hard to be objective about Pirates.” That’s the opening sentence of activist, anthropologist, and anarchist David Graeber’s book Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia.