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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.**

Jesus: The Radical
Monthly Theme: Integrity
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

We celebrated the birth of this important person in our liberal religious tradition, now let us consider some of the radical teachings that new research into early Christianity and ancient scriptures are illuminating. Join us as we consider the "secret teachings" of Jesus that the empire tried to destroy. 

 

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Ecotones
Monthly Theme: Awe
Michael Eselun

Michael Eselun will explore those liminal spaces in which we sometimes find ourselves on life’s mysterious journey--- thresholds that are neither one reality or another, and yet may open a path to our deepest truths.  Possibly even the sacred.

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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - 8 p.m.
Monthly Theme: Awe
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

Join us for the lessons and carols of Christmastime as we celebrate this holiday with our traditional service.

Christmas Candlelight Service - 6 p.m.
Monthly Theme: Awe
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

Join us for the lessons and carols of Christmastime as we celebrate this holiday  with our traditional service.

Children's Pageant - 4 p.m.
Monthly Theme: Awe
Cleo Anderson
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Monthly Theme: Awe
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

We honor the Yuletide season with this special service commemorating the Winter Solstice and Hanukkah. We are invited us to greater  introspection as we consider what it means to live through the cold and dark seasons of our lives and of the wintertime.

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A Home for the Holidays
Monthly Theme: Awe
Kikanza Nuri-Robins
We are officially in the Season of Unmanaged Expectations.  Nostalgia, Hallmark Movies, and our own hopes and dreams create for us a vision of celebrations that involve, at least metaphorically, home and hearth.  Each year we hope and plan and wait, and each year, we are disappointed in some way.  The disappointments are so frequent, that it is rare and necessary to exclaim, “This is the best [fill in the blank] ever!”  Spending an ordinary day on a holiday is anathema to so many of us that we embellish the stories of what we did to celebrate.  On this Sunday, we will talk about what home is, and what it means to have a home, especially for the holidays.

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Transcending Mystery and Wonder
Monthly Theme: Awe
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
Our first source of faith is transcending mystery and wonder which renews our spirits and opens us to life. This week we will explore the monthly theme of awe in worship and consider what the world's religions teach us about connecting to the transcedent dimensions of life and being transformed by them.  
Al-Rahman: The Infinite Compassion
Monthly Theme: Awe
Dr. Ghazala Anwar & Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

This morning we will be led in worship by Dr. Ghazala Anwar. Dr. Anwar is one of the leading queer/feminist Islamic Quranic scholars in the world and a practitioner of Sufism. She will share some of her life’s journey and encounters with the divine in the Islamic mystical path with us. Dr. Anwar is one of the first women to lead mixed-gender people in prayer in the modern era and remains controversial for her work to this day. Our special service will include Dr. Anwar leading us in the Islamic Call to Prayer, Quranic reflection, and an opportunity to learn some simple sufi zhikr (chanting).

Thanksgiving/Thanksgrieving
Monthly Theme: Attention
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

How do we hold gratitude in our hearts and also acknowledge the pain and grief this holiday invokes for so many? Join us for this special holiday service as we reflect upon our lives and learn more about what it might mean to celebrate and to grieve on this day. 

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