The UU Church-Rockford, IL

1/5/2020 "Like Cooking a Small fish"

Like Cooking A Small Fish
January 5, 2020
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
Lao-Tzu says that “governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.”  Why might that be?  What are the spiritual qualities of leadership and authority?

12/29/2019 "Celebrating the Spirit of Kwanzaa" Rev. Joyce Palmer

Celebrating the Spirit of Kwanzaa
December 29, 2019
Rev. Joyce Palmer
Kwanzaa is a holiday designed to honor and celebrate African American culture, values, and community. During the Kwanzaa celebration, everyone pledges to work together to improve themselves and to make their community a better place to live. This is a celebration that all are welcome to join. 

Joyce Palmer served as the Assistant Minister at Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield, WI. She received her Master of Divinity degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She served as Director of Membership and Lay Ministry at All Souls Church UU, in Washington, DC. Joyce is the lead on the Marjorie Bowens Wheatley Scholarship Committee through the UU Women’s Federation. Joyce and her family recently moved back to Rockford, IL to live closer to family. Joyce currently works at Lutheran Social Services of Illinois as a Child Welfare Specialist Supervisor. She is also a Community Minister at the UU Church of Rockford. She enjoys reading, teaching Nia dance classes, spending time with her husband Tim and sons Dorien and Antonio, and walking her terrier mix, Rosey.

12/22/19 "Compassion and Loving Kindness"

Compassion and Loving Kindness
December 22, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
As we reflect on the theme of compassion, we’ll draw on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn to consider the place of compassion in managing anger, making justice, and achieving peace. What is The Great Compassion, and how might we cultivate it?  How can we learn to love from a place of authenticity and care for self and others? 

12/1/19 "Weaving and Quilting Love and Justice"

Weaving and Quilting Love and Justice
December 1, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
Since 1988, December 1st of each year has been marked as World AIDS Day.  When it began, in the midst of a deadly and stigmatized pandemic, it sought to move people from judgement to compassion, and from compassion to justice.  As we begin our month on the theme of Compassion, we’ll reflect why World AIDS Day continues to matter, the work we are all called to now, and why compassion is the foundation of faithful justice-making.  (If someone you know has died of AIDS, and you have a photo of a quilt in their honor, or of the person, I invite you to bring it before the service and place it on the altar.) 

11/24/19 "Thanks-vision" Rev. Michelle Lattanzio

Thanks-vision
November 24, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Michelle Lattanzio
Spiritual practices of gratitude can help us discern and keep to our mission and vision.  How do we cultivate the spirit of thanks-vision?  

Michelle is currently serving as a Hospice Chaplain in Skokie, IL. Michelle is in Preliminary Fellowship with the UUA and a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School, and will be ordained here in Rockford next April. She holds a PhD in English from the University of South Florida and taught undergraduate classes at USF. She likes spending time with her dog Axel, creating art, reading, writing, dancing and rooting for her favorite roller derby teams.

10/17/2019 "A Fool's Errand"

A Fool's Errand
November 17, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
What is the role of the holy fool, the trickster god, the jester and the clown, in the mission of building a better world? How can comics and troublemakers help us get past our ideologies and illusions, and be agents for justice and truth? 

11/3/19 "One Wild and Precious Life"

One Wild and Precious Life
November 3, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
What is the purpose and meaning of your life? What’s your personal mission and vision? And how do you know if that purpose if faithful, worthy, and just? Reflections on deciding, and living, the meaning of your life.

10/13/2019 "Engaging Our Neighbors: Building Democracy in Practice"

Engaging Our Neighbors: Building Democracy in Practice
October 13, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Scott Aaseng
Crises like the ones we’re facing call for radical action. Not necessarily more extreme action, but radical in the sense of addressing the roots of these crises. One of the most radical actions we can take is to talk – and listen – to our neighbors.

10/06/2019 "394 Days To Go"

394 Days To Go
October 6, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
On Nov. 2nd, 2020 – in 394 days – many Americans will vote for a new President, as well as for other federal and local offices.  (Some, because of disenfranchisement, can not.) How might we navigate the time between now and then? How do we hold to our values – and not get lost in the fight of the day? As we begin our month on the theme of “democracy,” thoughts about the 394 days to come.

September 22, 2019 "Maw-waidge"

Maw-waidge. (Marriage).  
September 22, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson
One of the archetypal examples of covenant is the covenant of marriage.  Marriage – whether we’re in one or not at the moment – shapes all of our lives and our society.  What is this covenant about?  When is it worthy of tending and when not, and how do you know? What can all of us learn about healthy marriages that might make our lives, regardless of our status, richer and more full?