“Finding Calm in the Storm”
with Rev. Justin Almeida
Sunday, May 28, 2023
As we move further into the Summer season, join Rev. Almeida in exploring the spirituality of calm, rest and renewal to keep us centered amid the storms of life.
View the Order of Service here.
“Community Care: Reflections from the Pastoral Care Team”
with Rev. Mary Gear and PC Team members
Sunday, May 21, 2023
We explore how we care for each other in the OUUC community. Members of the Pastoral Care Team will reflect on their call to this ministry and their experience of service.
View the Order of Service here.
“Lessons from Encanto: Healing Family and Generational Trauma”
with Rev. Sara Lewis
Sunday, May 14, 2023
View the Order of Service here.
“On Vision”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, May 7, 2023
We explore the spiritual theme of vision. Is it possible to “see” clearly and what helps us do so if we can?
View the Order of Service here.
View the Sermon and Readings here.
“Trust: The Lost and Found”
with Rev. Vincent Lachina
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Few things are more important to a minister than to have the trust of others. It would be complicated, if not impossible to have any credibility if there is no trust. Sadly, once trust is lost, there is a vacuum of belief that has a lasting effect on a hearer. Almost everyone knows how trust is lost, but perhaps a lesson to learn is how to find or build trust. The message prepared for you at OUUC is a focus on how you as individuals and you as a body of church goers can establish and build trust in the world in which you live.
View the Order of Service here.
“Perfectly Imperfect”
with Rylee Uhrich
Sunday, April 23, 2023
In these uncertain times let’s overturn the myth of perfectionism and find the strength of turning towards community. For this Earth Day service we’ll consider what we want to do differently in our personal work towards climate justice.
“On Trust”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, April 16, 2023
We explore the spiritual theme of “trust.” What does it mean to trust? How do we regain trust when it has been broken and hope has been challenged? We also welcome new members to OUUC.
View the Order of Service here.
View the Sermon and Readings here.
“Trusting Re-emergence”
with Rev. Mary Gear and Rev. Sara Lewis
Sunday, April 9, 2023
On this Easter Sunday, we reflect on our re-emergence from a global pandemic, exploring how we wish to be in the world and with each other.
“When You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Going!”
with Dr. Mary Ellen Johnson
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Dr. Mary Ellen Johnson (she/her) holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Wisdom School of Graduate Studies. She is also a Religious Science Practitioner and a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator. Mary Ellen has been known to go hours and miles out of her way to seek out a labyrinth someone told her about. She’s also a voracious reader and is deeply inspired by stories of human triumph over adversity. As an avid pilgrim, Mary Ellen has completed the Spanish Camino and journeys on foot to Assisi in Italy to Chartres Cathedral in France. Mary Ellen’s personal credo is “Life is easy when you share what you love and teach what you know.”
View the Order of Service here.
“Love Will Guide Us”
with Rev. Mary Gear and Karmel Shields
Sunday, March 26, 2023
We wrap up our month of reflection on commitment, generosity, and stewardship with a leaf communion and celebration of love at the center.
“Ritual of Lamentation for Racism”
with Rev. Mary Gear and Rev. Sara Lewis
Sunday, March 19, 2023
In this month of commitment, we mourn those lost to racism and recommit ourselves to justice for all.
“On Commitment”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, March 12, 2023
In this month of generosity and stewardship, we explore the spiritual theme of commitment. What does it mean to commit to ourselves and to something beyond ourselves? And, in honor of Daylight Savings Time Spring ahead, it’s pajama Sunday at OUUC!
View the Order of Service here.
View the Sermon and Readings here.
“Committed to Generosity”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Many have said, “How we do anything is how we do everything.” This maybe-daunting statement invites us to see opportunities everywhere to commit to and practice the values we want to embody. Today we’ll explore paths toward a life of deepening generosity.
“Why I Support Updates to Article II”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Article II of the Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws contain the beloved seven principles and six sources as well as the purposes of the UUA. The Article II Commission has proposed significant updates and changes to the bylaws. Join us to explore these changes and how we are called to respond.
“On Liberation”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, February 19, 2023
We explore the monthly spiritual theme of liberation.
Are freedom and liberation the same? What are we as a people of faith called to do for collective liberation?
“The Better Angels of Our Nature”
with Rev. Carol McKinley
Sunday, February 12, 2023
On this date in 1809 Abraham Lincoln was born; on a cold March morning in 1861 he delivered his first inaugural address as president of the United States. Knowing the nation was facing dark times, he called people to heed “the better angels of our nature” if the liberation and justice for all proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence were to be realized. Today, as people of faith, we are urged to call upon the better angels of our nature as we face challenges in our world.
“The World Never Stops Turning”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Less than two months into the pandemic, Rev. Mary told this congregation that no one would go through that time unchanged, and we would need to learn again how to be together. Roughly two years later, Alicia Seegers Martinelli won the OUUC auction service and asked Rev. Mary to revisit that concept. This service will explore the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, how it changed and transformed us, and how the world keeps turning.
“The Power of Money”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, January 29, 2023
In this month where we grapple with the spiritual theme of power, we explore the role of money and its power in our lives and world.
View the Order of Service here.
“The Sacredness of the Flesh”
with Rev. Sara Lewis
Sunday, January 22, 2023
On this 50th Anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision, and in the face of current threats to both reproductive justice and trans-rights, we will explore the sacredness of all bodies and a call for justice, love, and care for every body.
“On Power”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, January 15, 2023
We explore the spiritual theme of “power” on this weekend when we celebrate the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
View the Order of Service here.
“Waste-Free Lifestyle”
with Rylee Uhrich
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Guest minister Rylee Uhrich leads this fully online service after an unexpected pivot due to a power outage at OUUC.
“Christmas Morning Celebration”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Welcome to all who wish to gather Christmas morning for carol singing and words of inspiration.
View the Order of Service here.
“Room at the Inn”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, December 24, 2022
Join us for music, poetry, stories, and candlelight. 5:30 pm service online and in-person.
“Refuge in the Dark”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, December 18, 2022
As we approach the Winter Solstice, we reflect on the gifts of darkness. This service includes a meditation to embrace the dark.
View the Order of Service here.
“A Rose in the Wintertime”
with Victoria Poling
Sunday, December 11, 2022
In the season of long nights and short days, we’ll reflect on the wondrous and ordinary miracles of peace and refuge that welcome us to come home to ourselves.
“On Refuge”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, December 4, 2022
In this month of holidays and holy days, we explore the spiritual theme of refuge. What does it mean to offer refuge–to ourselves and each other? Where do we find refuge?
View the Order of Service here.
“Lessons from Gate A-4”
with Rev. Mary Gear and the PWR-UUA Staff
Sunday, November 27, 2022
In her poem “Gate A-4”, Arab-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye shares an account of distress, compassion and community as she is called to interpret Arabic for a fearful traveler at an airport. As many of us take to the highways, airways and railways this November and December, the PWR Staff has put together a worship service that touches on the themes of the poem, and questions such as Who are we called to care for? When do we answer the call to serve? Where might we be surprised by grace?
PWR-UUA = Pacific Western Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association
View the Order of Service here.
“A Different Thanksgiving Story”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, November 20, 2022
As we enter a time of holidays and holy days, how do we reconcile a story of Thanksgiving that is false and harmful? What might we do to restore meaning to this time? What accountability does our faith call us to?
“Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?”
with Troy Fisher and the OUUC Choir
Sunday, November 13, 2022
A music service led by OUUC Music Director Troy Fisher.
“On Accountability”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, November 6, 2022
We explore the spiritual theme of accountability. What does it mean and what could it mean if we focus on calling in instead of calling out?
View the Order of Service here.
“We Are One”
with Rev. Summer Albayati and Rev. Carol McKinley
Sunday, October 30, 2022
“Reflections on Covenant”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, October 23, 2022
What does covenant mean to you? OUUC congregants of all ages reflect on the monthly spiritual theme of covenant and what it means in their lives.
“When Love Comes to Visit: A Quilted Covenant”
with Victoria Poling
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Our UU response to the religious question “How are we to live?” is to make a covenant: a sacred promise to one another about how we stay in relationship, care about each other, and work together in good faith. As we go about the work of covenanting, it can be useful to hold an image in front of us and step into it, trying on a vision of how that covenant might look and feel. Today we’ll invite in the story of a mysterious guest and a quilt and listen for that sacred promise.
View the Order of Service here.
“Celebrating Our Differences”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, October 9, 2022
We are different and we are one. We explore this paradox and how we bridge differences in a world that seems divided. This service includes music and a sermon requested by Atley and Sheila Ralston in honor of their OUUC annual auction purchases.
“On Covenant”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, October 2, 2022
This month we explore covenant, a foundation of Unitarian Universalism. As we enter into a period of revisiting our OUUC covenant, let’s build our covenanting knowledge and muscles.
View the Order of Service here.
“Head, Heart, and Hands: How we Inform, Form, and Transform in Faith Community”
with Rev. Sara Lewis
Sunday, September 25, 2022
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“Welcoming the Breath”
with Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Breathing is what keeps us alive. Our breath is always with us, a place of grounding and life itself. We explore the power of breath and breathing together.
Ingathering and Water Communion
Sunday, September 11, 2022
We begin a new congregational year with our annual ritual of water communion. We return home to ourselves and to our spiritual community as we begin once again.
What is the meaning of your water?