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The Poetry of Mary Oliver

Poet Mary Oliver lived a long and rich life, much of it in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she wrote about the beauty of the natural world and her beloved Cape Cod. This morning we will learn about her early life, her philosophy and spiritual outlook. Some of her lesser known work will give us insight into Oliver's private and magical world.

The Promise in the Desert (Online Service)
 
Some have begun calling 2020 “The Great Reckoning,” a time when the systemic injustices in our society are fully being called in by the promises of our possibility. It is a powerful, scary, tense, creative, and uncertain time in our lives, and we are being invited to listen, tell, and write new stories together. Drawing inspiration from the story of Hajar in the Islamic Traditions, we will explore what it can mean to expand our collective story, believe in the promise of our faith in these times, and deepen our resilience as Unitarian Universalists manifesting justice and love.
 
Rev. Ranwa Hammamy (they/she) serves as the Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California, which supports UUs around the state in their various justice ministries by providing advocacy, education, and witness opportunities to live out our UU values (uujmca.org). Ranwa has previously served as President of DRUUMM (Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries), a national organization for UU People of Color. A self-described “UU-Muslim,” Ranwa seeks to serve both living traditions in her ministry, encouraging others both to grow and learn from each other’s gifts. When not working, Ranwa enjoys spending time baking absurd concoctions, singing for liberation, and relaxing with their spouse and five fur babies.
 
 
 
 
The Promise of America
Interfaith leader Eboo Patel writes, “the [pluralist] movement I belong to has failed to replace the image of Muslims as terrorists with that of Muslims as neighbors.”
 
What would it look like for interfaith work to succeed in fulfilling “the promise of America” for people of all faiths and no faiths, including Muslims?
 
The Prophethood of All Believers

Many of us find ourselves engaged in community work one way or another - through the arts, service, advocacy or other leadership.  Sunday's sermon will explore the connection between this work and our Unitarian Universalist tradition. How does claiming our faith identity in public change the very work we're doing? What's "our faith" anyway? Mid-century Unitarian theologian James Adams (1901 - 1994) wrestled with this same question nearly 75 years ago, ultimately articulating a transformed and transforming liberalism that can guide us in our work today.

The Queer Art of Failure (Summer Hours Begin - One Service at 10 a.m.)
Scholar Judith Halberstam writes, “The queer art of failure turns on the impossible, the improbable, the unlikely, and the unremarkable. It quietly loses, and in losing it imagines other goals for life, for love, for art, and for being.” Would it mean to reject our notions of success and embrace our failures in new ways? We will send off our LA Pride marchers with a “Blessing of the Bus” in worship at 10:15, so they can get to the LA Pride parade on time.
 
The Quest for Truth: A Stone of Hope - MLK Sunday
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 17 Sermon: A Stone of Hope: MLK Sunday
 
How can we carve a stone of hope from the mountain of despair that is the lived reality of white supremacy in our country? 
The Quest for Truth: First Things
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical with a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 10 Sermon - First Things
 
The poet Philip Levine wrote, “Some things / you know all your life. They are so  simple and true / they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme / they must be laid out on the table beside the salt-shaker, the glass of water…” Join us as we  welcome Rev. Rebecca home and return to the simple truth of spiritual growth, giving, service to others, and walking together into the new year.
 
The Quest for Truth: True or False
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 31 Sermon: True or False
 
The physicist Niels Bohr tells us “The opposite of a fact is a falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.” Where does paradox belong on our spiritual journey?
The Quest for Truth: True Sight
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 24 Sermon: True Sight
 
When you are up on the mountaintop, you have a different perspective than those on the ground. 
 
The Quest of Truth

Both services with conclude with a groundbreaking ceremony to launch our building program!

The Quest of Truth is Our Sacrament
The Rainbow Sign (Online Service)
What does our covenantal faith mean for our relationship with the wider world? What is our duty regarding justice? What happens when we fall short of that promise?
 
We welcome back the Rev. KC Slack, who serves as minister of our neighboring UU Church of the Verdugo Hills, and continues their work as a hospital chaplain, their work as a sex educator, and as an individual spiritual director. In addition, KC is a UU scholartivist (scholar, artist, activist, and spiritual leader). They’re about all multiple everything: bi/pansexual, polyamorous, and pantheistic. Their work blends their mystic UU Pagan faith (don’t worry, they’ll happily tell you too much about it if you ask), ministry, radical politics, heavy theory, joy, art, and living a queerly fabulous life in LA.
 
Born and raised in small-town North East Ohio, our guest preacher comes from a large extended family and what they will tell you are “very rust belt” roots. The grandchild of factory workers and the child of factory managers, KC received a B.A. in Political Science from Case Western Reserve University. After graduation in 2016 from Starr King School for the Ministry, KC completed a year-long Clinical Pastoral Education residency at a mid-sized hospital in Burbank. KC was highly regarded by their peers and supervisors, as well as by medical and administrative staff throughout the hospital. They brought their broad education in world religions and their knowledge of liberatory theologies to their patients and classmates, and worked within the peer group to help future chaplains better understand how to care for LGBT+ patients.