Sermons (Page 3)

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.

Empty Altars – Rev. Kristin G. Schmidt

Like a lot of families, mine celebrated our cultural and ethnic heritage in different ways. My mother lovingly made the traditional Hungarian and Slovakian foods her mother had cooked. No Christmas was complete for us without poppy seed stollen and cabbage rolls with sour cream, no family birthday conceivable without Chicken Paprikash and homemade galushkis.…

Who do we serve? A Pi Day Sunday Service – Rev. Caitlin Cotter Coillberg

During my study leave a few weeks ago I went, once again, to the Museum of African American History and Culture.  I went again in part to see the wonderful exhibit on Afro-futurism, eager to experience it without the distraction of two active curious toddlers.  If you missed our field trip to see that last year, it’s not too late! We need to find ways to celebrate imagination.

Celebration Sunday – Rev. Kristin G. Schmidt

Fourteen years ago this July, I went to the DC Marriage Bureau to get a license so that Christian and I could get married. The District of Columbia had passed marriage equality months before in March of 2010, but it wasn’t until July that the Court of Appeals upheld the decision, and the joy among the couples who finally trusted their marriages wouldn’t be invalidated was infectious. I’m pretty sure I was the only woman in line that day planning to marry a man, and I have never experienced such happiness and elation in any government building again since.