December 24, 2000 - 4:00pm
A Ritual Memory, A Hanukkah Observance
The Rev. Judith Meyer
(One morning service at 1030 a.m.) Many holiday activities are rituals that tie us to tradition and leave us with lasting memories. Our Hanukkah observance includes lighting our new menorah. Music Adult and Youth Choir Christmas Eve Services Family Vespers - 600 p.m. This service of carols and stories is especially for children and their families. The children?s choir will sing. Candlelighting Vespers - 800 p.m. This quiet service of reflection and music concludes with a candle lighting ceremony.
December 17, 2000 - 4:00pm
Winter Holiday Pageant, An Intergenerational Service
Ann Swanson, Director
This year our pageant is a readers' theater filled with witty and tender moments, insight and holiday spirit. The Friendly Beasts will once again grace our service with song and costume. Please join us for this ingathering for the holiday season.
Music: Christine Mourad, singer
December 10, 2000 - 4:00pm
Character
The Rev. Judith Meyer
How do we measure moral worth? And how do we get it?
December 3, 2000 - 4:00pm
Belonging
The Rev. Judith Meyer
If there's one thing we all agree on after the election, it?s how much voting means to us. Such an individual activity is also fundamentally communal. It helps us to understand what it means to belong - not only to a democratic society, but also to a democratic church. Music Michael Lamb
November 26, 2000 - 4:00pm
Stress, Serenity, and the Good Life
The Rev. Dr. John Alexie Crane
A life entirely without stress is inconceivable. A life overburdened by stress is unbearable. Stress may press us to creation or drive us to destruction. It may press us to acts of heroism or to acts of self-destruction. Excessive, sustained stress may ruin our health, both mental and physical, if we fail to respond to it in life-giving ways. What is stress, exactly, and what can we do to ensure a constructive response? Lex Crane, who was minister of the First Unitarian Church of Santa Barbara for sixteen years, has also served our congregation, and many others, as interim minister.
November 19, 2000 - 4:00pm
Giving Back
The Rev. Judith Meyer
(Thanksgiving Sunday) Our Thanksgiving service will celebrate the act of giving back as a way of giving thanks. The choir will sing at both services.
November 12, 2000 - 4:00pm
Of Memory and Hope
The Rev. Jay Atkinson, guest speaker
The willingness to die for one's country and its values challenges all of us to ask what is important enough to risk our lives for. On this Veterans' Day weekend, our guest minister will offer some reflections on what it means for the church to be a community of memory and hope. The observance for Veterans Day will include a chalice lighting reflection by John Medlin, Bob Tull and Milton Holmen.
November 5, 2000 - 4:00pm
Why I Pray
The Rev. Judith Meyer
Although my own beliefs about God have changed a lot over the years, my prayers have hardly changed at all. I've never asked myself why. Perhaps it's time to do so.
October 29, 2000 - 4:00pm
After a Loss - Dia de los Muertos Observance
The Rev. Judith Meyer
What does it take to move on after a loss? Can we love again without fear that we are betraying the memory of one who is gone? Religious and cultural practices offer some answers to these questions. Vilma Ortiz will create the traditional Día de los Muertos altar to commemorate those who have died in the past year.
October 22, 2000 - 5:00pm
The Happy Liberal
The Rev. Ernie Pipes, Minister Emeritus
Surely high among the tasks of our church is to help each one of us become a better person. But what might be our UU model of an ideal person, one that connects caringly to other people and strengthens socially engaged communities? One such model was depicted by the late Bonaro Overstreet, whom she called "The Happy Liberal." Our church works within a tradition that has some very clear visions of who that person would be.
