The UU Church-Rockford, IL

01/25/2015: Integral

As well as right conduct, integrity also refers to a sense of wholeness. Indeed, in Spanish, integra also means "whole-grain." We'll celebrate a "whole grain communion" this morning, and reflect on what it means to be a whole person and to seek wholeness. If you can easily do so, please bring a whole grain bread product of some kind (and label it "gluten-free" if it is) to share. If you've never celebrated a Unitarian Universalist style communion, come try it out - it might be very different from what you expect!

01/18/2015: Integrity and the Real World

It's easy to live our values in the abstract. It's harder in the real world. How do we live with integrity when our values make our lives difficult, or when there is a lot at stake or even when they might lead us to fail? Do we reconsider and compromise, change course or go ahead anyways? We'll explore these questions through stories about justice and our history.

01/11/2015: Keeping Promises

To be a people of integrity, and to live a life of integrity, implies both that the parts of our selves are connected, and that we have some sense of moral code. There are thus four elements: personal integration, personal morality, communal integration, communal morality. What unites these things? I submit it is the idea of covenant. Covenants, promises, and pledges are about aligning all your parts with your purpose.

01/04/2015: Covenant, Integrity, Resolutions: Things I Probably Bent Today Already

What does integrity mean in the context of our covenantial faith? What do people of integrity do after we make a mistake? And who in the world keeps New Year's Resolutions, by the way? Does it matter? We'll explore the truth that even people of integrity get it wrong, and that's okay.

12/28/2014: What Is It Like to Be a Bat?

We'll be exploring what it means to be human by thinking about what we can know about what it's like to be other things. Like bats. Or cats. Or comets. Come Wonder at your place in this swirling, turning universe.

12/24/2014: Christmas Eve

According to the legend, on this night, 2014 years ago, a child was born in a stable, and angels and shepherds and magicians from afar came to honor him. We'll retell this ancient story, in song and word, and recall ourselves to the magic of incarnation and the longing, yet to be answered, for peace on earth and goodwill to all. Bring your friends and family and come celebrate with us.

12/21/2014: Let There Be Light

Midway through the celebration of Chanukah, and on this, the Winter Solstice, we will celebrate the returning and the sustaining of the light in our lives. Whence comes our hope, when all might seem lost?

12/14/2014: The Living Nativity

This is our annual Christmas Pageant. The pageant is a wonderful all-ages celebration of the ancient story, with drama, music, and joy. The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson shares a short homily on "the wonder of wonder."

11/30/2014: Learning Grace

Grace is a hard word to understand. I've found it easiest to grasp when I think about what grace feels like, both to receive it, and to give it, finding something loving and hopeful. When I do, it becomes clearer why grace has been talked about for centuries and why it still has a place in our faith today.

11/23/2014: Grace, Gratitude, God?

Reflections on giving thanks for the gift of life. What might it mean to affirm the idea of grace without affirming the idea of (an orthodox) god? A thanksgiving sermon for believers, doubters, seekers, and re-inventors.