The UU Church-Rockford, IL

What is Good and Evil?

Our theme for the month of June is "Good and Evil." We often struggle in our world to know what's good and what isn't. THere are many competing theories and abstract ideas, yet we also have a gut sense--but sometimes our gut is wrong. The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson-Doyle will give his sense of what is good and how we know it.

U/U/U/U

There are a lot of religious movements that start with U.  The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson-Doyle  explores the similarities and differences between Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Unification, and Universal Life.  If you’ve ever wondered, or been asked, what’s up with these other faiths, here’s your chance to find out.

Ain't Gonna Study War No More

When Unitarian Julia Ward Howe issued her Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870, she did so to call mothers everywhere to work for peace and oppose war.  She had seen the horror of the civil war, and, just a few years later, was dismayed by the new Franco-Prussian war.  How quickly we forget.  This Mother’s Day, I’ll be preaching about war and peace, and urge us not to forget the lessons of the war in Iraq, not even over yet, before we allow blood-thirsty and power-hungry politicians to start a new war with Iran.

You Are Not As Alone As You Think You Are

Some years ago Frank Warren started asking people to send him their secrets on postcards.  What he created, postsecret.com, has become the most-viewed advertisement free blog in the world.  It has historically been the function of religious leadership to provide a place to tell secrets, but that is changing.  How do secrets shape us?  How does sharing them change us?

The New Jim Crow

As part of the national YWCA Stand Against Racism weekend, we reflect on the provocative new book, The New Jim Crow.  Activists and scholars are increasingly recognizing how the system of mass incarceration, felony disenfranchisement, and the War on Drugs have constituted a formally race-neutral but in fact racially oppressive system of control.  The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson-Doyle shares his thoughts about this system and what our religious values call us to do about it.

04/22/2012: A Sense of Place

The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson-Doyle shares a sermon in celebration of Earth Day.