"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" ~ James Balwin
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.**
August 28, 2016
Never Give Up
Monthly Theme: Surrender
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
August 21, 2016
Ingathering
Monthly Theme: Surrender
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur & Dr. Zanaida Robles
SUMMER SCHEDULE ENDS - REGULAR SCHEDULE BEGINS - TWO SERVICES AT 9 AM AND 11 AM
Please join us for a joyful gathering-in and a return to two services at 9am and 11am. In this experimental year, we are trying out realigning the church year with the calendars of many local schools, including the Santa Monica-Malibu School District and the Los Angeles Unified School District. We’ll introduce our new director of music, Dr. Zanaida Robles, at both services and launch the beginning of our Religious Education programs for the church year.
[Note: No audio recording is available for this service.]
August 14, 2016
Music and Poetry - The Language of Spirit
Monthly Theme: Surrender
Rima Snyder
SUMMER SCHEDULE CONTINUES - ONE SERVICE AT 10 A.M.
Join us for a special summer poetry service, with musical settings by Elizabeth Alexander performed by cellist Lynn Angebranndt, singer Jyvonne Haskin and pianist Daniel Gledhill. Rima Snyder will speak about the relationship between music and poetry, and how both can inform a spiritual practice.
August 7, 2016
Countering the Theology of Hate and Radicalism
Monthly Theme: Surrender
Ani Zonneveld
SUMMER SCHEDULE CONTINUES - ONE SERVICE AT 10 AM
Ani Zonneveld, founder and president of Muslims for Progressive Values, speaker
Muslims for Progressive Values is a faith-based international grassroots organization advocating for an inclusive and egalitarian expression of Islam.
A Muslim since her birth in Malaysia, Ani is an unconventional bridge-builder as she speaks-sings her message of social justice and peace from a progressive Muslim woman’s perspective. A singer/songwriter/producer, Ani is the first woman to release an English Islamic pop album in the U.S.
July 31, 2016
Native Vision: The Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples
Monthly Theme: Vision
Rev. Hannah Petrie
This sermon will delve into the worldviews and spirituality of native peoples, specifically Native Americans and the Aborigines of Australia, drawing heavily on the classic, "Mutant Message Down Under" by Marlo Morgan. We find in these worldviews universal truths of interconnectedness, gratitude, and faith in abundance.
The Rev. Hannah Petrie, a life-long UU, was affirmed and ordained at North Shore Unitarian Church in Deerfield, IL. She graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry in its centennial year 2004, and has served UU congregations in Texas, Michigan, Florida, and most recently, Pasadena, CA.
Note: Please mark your calendars - August 21 will be our Ingathering Services at 9am and 11am! In this experimental year, we are trying out re-aligning the church year with the calendars of many local schools, including the Santa Monica-Malibu School District and Los Angeles Unified School District, which begin well before Labor Day. This will give us an “early” Ingathering service on August 21, when kids are going back to school, and also allow us, especially our families with kids, to get into our rhythm of two services for a few weeks before our annual all-church weekend at De Benneville Pines on Sept 16-18.
July 24, 2016
Heart Land: Where Faiths Connect
Monthly Theme: Vision
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and GA Attendees
The theme for General Assembly 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, is “Heart Land: Where Faiths Connect.” Join Rev. Rebecca and our GA attendees as they bring home what they have learned and experienced at the largest annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists in the world.
[Note: No audio recording is available for this service.]
July 17, 2016
“How I Got My Vision of Humanist Community Building”
Monthly Theme: Vision
Bart Campolo
Bart Campolo is a secular minister, speaker, and writer who currently volunteers as the Humanist Chaplain at the University of Southern California (USC). He founded the Humanist Chaplaincy at USC in 2014 . Since moving to Los Angeles, Bart’s work has been focused on inspiring and equipping all kinds of people to make the most of their lives by actively pursuing loving relationships, social justice and a genuine sense of wonder.
July 10, 2016
Choose Love
Monthly Theme: Vision
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and Catherine Farmer Loya
Join us for a heart-felt farewell service celebrating our departing Director of Lifespan Religious Education, Catherine Farmer Loya, with reflections inspired by her thirteen years of service to our community. Please join us after the service for a festive Farewell Reception for Catherine; this will also be a last chance to write amessage of thanks to her and contribute to a farewell gift.
July 3, 2016
The Promise of America
Monthly Theme: Vision
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
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?
June 26, 2016
The Longest Day
Monthly Theme: Pride
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
We mark the summer solstice with an exploration of our Sixth Source, “Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.”