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Sermons

This is a full list of sermons presented at UUCCSM since mid-1999. Links to sermon texts are included when made available by their authors. Audio recordings are also available for most sermons presented after September, 2007 by our staff ministers and others directly affiliated with our church (just click the speaker icon next to each sermon where it's available*). Audio from guest speakers is posted only when we have their permission to share it.

Hard copies of sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae are available in the church office. Contact office assistant Sibylla Nash at office@uusm.org if you have a request.

"Leaving Room for Hope: Sermons for Uncertain Times," a book of Minister Emerita Judith Meyer's sermons, is available here.

**Please Note: Video recordings are available for sermons with a small TV icon showing at the bottom of the sermon listing. Just click the icon to watch the service.**

Keep Turning the Pages (Online Service)
Monthly Theme: Deep Listening
Mylo Way
What do we do when the truth is hard to face and the outcome is frightening? How do we stay in community and get ourselves through the hard truths, together?
 
We welcome to our pulpit Mylo Way, a lifelong UU who has served as a chaplain in congregational, conference, and hospital settings. Mylo studied at Starr King School for the Ministry and is transmasculine genderqueer.
 
 
Blessing of the Animals (Online Service)
Monthly Theme: Deep Listening
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
 
 
We gather on the Feast of Francis of Assisi — patron saint of animals and the environment in the Christian tradition — to celebrate and digitally bless our non-human animal companions and the natural world.  Our Seventh UU Principle is “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”  And our Six Sources affirm and promote many ways that this world is so much more than just the humans in it.
Yamim Nora’im: The Days of Awe (Online Service)
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have arrived on the cycle of the Hebrew calendar, and we explore this sacred time of taking inventory of our lives and making amends to refresh our souls and renew the world.  Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides.  We live out these within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
The Masks We Wear (Online Service)
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
 
As the popular saying goes: “I can’t believe it’s September — it literally feels like it was March just sixteen years ago!”  Developmental ministry in the midst of a pandemic offers many unique challenges and opportunities for congregations.  Join us as we explore developmental ministry in this new context, in the new church year.
Ingathering Water Communion (Intergenerational Online Service)
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
Join us for our annual ingathering service to celebrate the new church year! Rev. Jeremiah returns to the pulpit and we honor our water communion ceremony this year from the safety of our homes.
 
You are invited to email Jeremiah and Saunder hopes, inspirations, and blessings for the new year — either as a video with water being poured into a bowl or as text to be read during the ceremony.  We need these videos by Tuesday evening (September 8th) to hopefully include them in the service.  Please be sure to record in a quiet and well-lit space with HD (720p) if possible.
Quilting Lessons (Online Service)
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
Sometimes in the midst of doing something that has you focused in one direction, you realize that you are learning things that apply to other aspects of your life.  That was the case when I made my first quilt.  I thought I was learning about quilting; I realized later that I was learning about life.  Has that ever happened to you?  We have been in quarantine for six months now.  Some of us have been in our homes the whole time.  Others have ventured out; all have learned new ways of doing things.  And learned new things as we did the mundane.  What have you learned about yourself and about life in the past six months?  As we bring our summer sermon series to a close, come and share with one another lessons you have learned while quilting, or gardening, or …. whatever you have been doing in the past few months.
 
The Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins is a member of our congregation who preaches across the Southland.  When she is not working with churches she is helping other mission-driven organizations — and people — learn and use the lessons that the Universe presents to them.
The Promise in the Desert (Online Service)
Rev. Ranwa Hammamy
 
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.
 
 
 
 
What Matters? (Online Service)
Michael Eselun
 
Moving together through these challenging times, we find ourselves, perhaps on a daily basis, reassessing our priorities. We have a lot of questions these days. UCLA Oncology Chaplain and popular guest speaker, Michael Eselun will share reflections on the question, “What Matters?” We look forward to his return to our pulpit.
 
Michael Eselun serves as the chaplain for the Simms/Mann‐UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology. Two-time TED-X speaker, Michael speaks extensively to healthcare professionals, patient populations, and faith communities across the country. He’s also worked as an activist/educator addressing anti-LGBTQ bias in the larger community for over 30 years. Michael was recently inducted into the UCLA-Semel Institute Eudaimonia Society, in recognition of having lived a meaning-driven life. He has four volumes of CDs available for purchase through his website, www.michaeleselun.com.
Great Expectations (Online Service)
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
 
If you don’t expect anything then you won’t be disappointed. But you might be surprised. Under promise; over deliver. If you don’t want, you won’t get. Managing expectations is an important life skill. How can it be a spiritual practice?
 
The Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins is a consultant to people and organizations in transition. She works with non-profits and faith-based organizations around the country helping them address issues of leadership, communication, and cultural competence. Her most recent book is “Fish Out of Water” and she is currently collaborating on a book about gender identities. She is a member of our UUSM community. www.KikanzaNuriRobins.com
The Poetry of Grace (Online Service)
Rima Snyder
 
Rima SnyderGrace means different things to different people. We will explore poems that depict grace as a diving blessing, an inner state of being or a guide for how to live. What does being in a state of grace mean? How does this relate to daily life?
 
Rima Snyder has been a member of UUSM since 2006. She is a member of the choir and a former worship associate. In the past she has served on the Music Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the Hunger Task Force. She loves poetry and will be doing a small group ministry group in the fall on poetry as a spiritual practice.