"Good Job!"
Sunday, September 3, 10:50 am, 2023
On Labor Day, we celebrate workers - that is, the vast majority of people - and the work they do. We honor the struggle of workers organizing to make work sufficient and bearable. We ask: What is a good job? Is it having decent pay and benefits? Is it doing work that feeds your soul? Dare we dream to have both? The Covid pandemic has challenged our cultural view of work: what has shifted and what are the implications for social justice?
Rev. Millie Phillips, Affiliated Community Minister; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Galen Workman, Board of Trustees; Rockin' Solidarity Labor Chorus conducted by Pat Wynne, Director; Mark Sumner, Pianist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
Over the years we have developed myriad ways to navigate this world. We learn how to make our way from place to place. We learn habits to accomplish routine tasks. We learn problem solving techniques to tackle difficult situations. There are times, however, when we have no maps or when a problem surpasses our knowledge base. There are even those times when we know what we need to do, but don't know if we can muster the strength and resolve to move forward. This service probes the spiritual underpinnings of making our way through those wilderness times, those events and challenges when we find ourselves feeling lost, helpless and directionless.
"Connection Through Sharing"
Sunday, August 27, 10:50 am
One of the ways we find connection at UUSF is through the Small Group Ministry program. Groups meet twice a month to reflect and to share about a topic. We will explore this type of connecting during the service.
Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Linda Enger, Board of Trustees; Megan Lehmer & Ralph Fenn, Small Group Ministries; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Wm. Garcia Ganz, Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, songleader
Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk and Alicia Cover, sound; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
Matt Meyer is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist with a long background as a musician and worship leader for UU congregations. He lives in Boston but travels as an itinerant worship leader, bringing the good news of Unitarian Universalism to hundreds congregations all over the country. Matt serves as the Director of Operations for Sanctuary Boston, a contemporary UU worship community with rockinβ music and engaging worship that meets on Wednesday evenings online and in-person. Mattβs childrenβs story βDesmond Gets Freeβ was published last year as a book by Skinner House Press. It just recently won a Nautilus award for social justice in childrenβs fiction.
A substantial number of us prefer βchoosingβ to βbeing chosen.β Β Itβs all about the power. But as most of the great spiritual leaders have taught, power is not at the center of love, justice, sustainability, equity, or joy. Do we want the power? Or a whole and holy life?
This sermon podcast begins with a reading of Luke 4:16-21 by worship associate Jess Goff.
βRemember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.β Exodus 20:8 To the ancient Hebrews to sanctify and to make holy meant to set something apart. After laboring six days to create the world, the Hebrew god created the Sabbath as a day free from work, a day free from doing. It was created as a time for being. What are some of the ways we can keep Sabbath by separating ourselves for a day from the world and all of its busyness and constant doings? By keeping Sabbath we choose to ignore daily demands of production and consumption and make the time to just be. Sabbath time can become a time of countercultural resistance. Sabbath can become a time to rest and restore the soul.
This sermon podcast begins with a reading of Deuteronomy 5:14 by Rev. Kathleen Rolenz.
"La Dolce Vita in Motion" (also known as "Reflections on My Life as a Dancerβ)
Sunday, August 20, 10:50 am
In seminary we spent part of our first year in a class part of which entailed writing our "Spiritual Autobiography." We had to look back on everything as it related to our journey as a spiritual being or around our beliefs or experiences of religion and spirituality. It made me realize that you and I can write any number of versions of your life. So inspired by this week's "Extravaganza of Joy" party at UUSF I'm writing my Dancing Autobiography. The preacher can get away with a lot in Summer, can't she?!
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Jonah Berquist, Moderator; Larry Chinn, Jazz Pianist; Elliott Etzkorn, Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, songleader
Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Matias Salazar, Sexton; Gregory Stevens, Live Chat Moderator; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
βWorth and Dignityβ
Sunday, July 30, 10:50 am
Ever since the 1860βs, when led by our Minister, Thomas Starr King, this congregation has been notable for its commitment to Social Justice. We give scholarships to first generation students, we help feed people in need. We provide free after-school care for local children. We shelter those, who have none, during the winter months. We support ministries in the community, and much else. Today our firmest belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, is being assaulted by the forces of Capitalism, the increasing wealth of the rich, the ethos of materialism, and the coercive power wielded by the media. All this contributes to the widening gap between people who are wealthy and those who struggle to survive. How can we be true to our beliefs? This morning we will explore ways in which we can become more aware of the ecological, economic, and power dynamics which benefit the few, and keep us separate. Believing that study and reflection in community, can heal us, if we dare to face the truth.
Sister Sheila Flynn, Guest Preacher; Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita; Elliott Etzkorn, pianist; Bill Ganz, pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould or Nancy Munn, songleader
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Lessons on Community from Nature"
Sunday, July 23, 10:50 am
What are the important lessons humans can learn about leadership, adaptation and cooperation? In this sermon, guest preacher, Aisha Hauser will share her favorite stories and lessons from nature about how we can better support each other in community.
Aisha Hauser, Guest Preacher; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Radim Zenkl, multi instrumentalist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Desired Effect, audio support; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Living Joyfully"
Sunday, August 13, 10:50 am
Couldn't we all use a little bit more joy in our lives from time to time? We're surrounded by supposed ways to get joy: buy this, do that, follow these three simple steps. But when we chase it, it can seem more elusive than ever. How can we keep our minds and hearts open to happiness? How might we live more joyfully?
Sam King, Guest Preacher; Santana GonzΓ‘lez GΓ³mez, Worship Associate; Tommy Kesecker, Percussionist; Nancy Munn, Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader
Jonathan Silk, audio and video; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"WEAV: What is it?"
Sunday, July 16, 10:50 am
This past Spring, UUSF piloted a new program from Starr King School of the Ministry, WEAV. What is this program and how does it help with our 8th principle work?
Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Jayanti Chapot, Reflection; Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Reflection; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Michael Mandrell, guitarist; Richard Fey, songleader
Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Shulee Ong & Eric Shackelford, Livestream Cameras; Eric Wood (Desired Effect), Audio; Tom Brookshire, Live Chat Moderator; Matias Salazar & Tony Miller, Sextons; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Setting Boundaries"
Sunday, July 9, 10:50 am
I had a therapist years ago who said each day do one thing that makes you more of a self. What she meant was one thing that honored your needs, wants and/or named in a grounded way your expectations. As a country that flaunts human behavior without boundaries OR boundaries enforced to extreme (the right to shoot folks who wander on our property, for example) we seem to have lost the gentle, healthy frameworks and art of setting boundaries. Let's talk, from intimate ways, about the diversity and beauty of healthy boundaries.
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Christine Tulis, harpist and vocalist; Nancy Munn, songleader
Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Shulee Ong, Livestream Camera; Eric Shackelford, Livestream Camer; Eric Wood (Desired Effect), Audio; Gregory Stevens, Live Chat Moderator; Matias Salazar, Sexton; Tony Miller, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"The Quick Fix: A conversation about what is lost when we attempt to rush reconciliation."
Sunday, August 6, 10:50 am
August is a month in which people around the world celebrate the ascension of the Virgin Mary and mourn the horror unleashed in Hiroshima. What can these two events tell us about our capacity for causing harm to vulnerable populations and to our own spiritual development when we attempt to assuage our discomfort with the work required of us when we are faced with spiritual and societal strain or fracture? Please join Worship Associates Richard Davis-Lowell and Mari Magaloni Ramos for this one of a kind conversational service.
Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Mark Sumner, songleader, Elliott Etzkorn, pianist
Eric Shackelford, Camera; Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Jonathan Silk, Audio; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
Explore how specific, even ordinary, encounters can be a powerful window to spirit or to universal truths. Historically, both Unitarianism and Universalism come from theological arguments that had a certain level of abstraction, but more recently we seem to have a more grounded definition for these terms. They are no less powerful, though, for naming little "t" truths.
This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Carol Mahnke.
"Big Music Sunday"
Sunday, June 25, 10:50 am
Today we feature the AretΓ© Singers, performing the live concert premiere of a new work called Mass for the Eighth Day with its award-winning composer, Luke Mayernik, sharing a reflection on it, as well as accompanying the work on organ. Several other choral gems will surround the musical centerpiece of the service. Some of the finest singers in the Bay Area will be performing, including a number that our regular congregants will recognize. The Chorus is made up of artists from all around the bay each a part of the AretΓ© Singers Network β an organization that provides performers for concerts, operas, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, corporate, and other life events. More info at Aretesingers.com.
Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; AretΓ© Singers, Tim Salaver, conductor; Mark Sumner, songleader; Luke Mayernik, organist; Kassidy Mayernik, soprano; Leandra Ramm, mezzo soprano; Solo Quartet: Stephanie Collins; Leandra Ramm; Ben Rudiak-Gould; Asher Davison; Irene Cheng, conductor
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Steven Kroeger, Sound, Sound; Gregory Stevens, Live Chat Moderator; Alicia Cover, Order of Service; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Jonathan Silk, AV Remixes
"Our Authentic Selves"
Sunday, June 18, 10:50 am
To parent (officially or unofficially) we have to be our best selves, but also increasingly I realize the gift of being our authentic self -- as parents, more so perhaps than in any other role. That gift is not an easy one to offer, but we find ways to do it. And the world splits gorgeously open when we do.
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Michele Kennedy, Soprano; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Mark Sumner, Pianist
Eric Shackelford, Camera; Santana Gonzalez Gomez, Live Chat Moderator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Life is Pure Jazz"
Sunday, June 11, 10:50 am
There are so many metaphors for life: a journey, an unfolding (like a flower), a cycle (like the cycle of the seasons), a drama ("Lifeβs but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage"). And there are just as many metaphors about how to approach life so you weather it with grace, find some joy, meaning and come out on the other side having made something of it. How about life as jazz, pure jazz?!
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Wonder Dave, Worship Associate; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jon Silk, Drummer; Wm. GarcΓa Ganz, Pianist; Richard Saunders, Bassist; Lambert Moss, Soloist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Asani Seawell, Live Chat Moderator; Matias Salazar, Sexton; Tony Miller, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Extravaganza!"
Sunday, June 4, 10:50 am
Join us for this multigenerational celebration of the end of our year together. Bring a flower to be part of our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Flower Communion introduced by Unitarian minister Norbert Δapek of Prague, Czechoslovaki and hear the story of Δapek and the ritual. Let's sing, hear the bells, enjoy the choir and tell stories. Service will be followed by our Annual Meeting! Please bring a flower from your garden to be part of this Sunday's Flower Communion ritual!
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; UUSF Bell Choir led by Organist Reiko Oda Lane; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. GarcΓa Ganz, pianist
Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Gregory Stevens, Live Chat Moderator; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Matias Salazar, Sexton; Dan Barnard, Facilities Manager; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Nap Ministry"
Sunday, May 21, 10:50 am
Tricia Hersey, ordained and tired, got drawn to the idea of a ministry around rest, nap-in-happenings but also the larger idea of rest as revolution. Tied deeply to undoing some of the patterns of a culture that has made models of extraction more than colonial models abroad, Hersey unpacks what virtue around rest and work and justice embodied ask of us. It is all very fun and deeply powerful to consider. Note: This Sunday is the Sunday of the Bay to Breakers run so if you come to church in person (please do, if you are inclined!) just check your route against the route of the race!
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; The Bernal Hill Players: Martha RodrΓguez-Salazar, flute; Leah di Tullio, clarinet; Jennifer Peringer, piano; Richard Fey songleader; Wm. GarcΓa Ganz, pianist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Tom Brookshire, Live Chat Moderator; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"A Sacred Choice: Reproductive Justice"
Sunday, May 14, 10:50 am
On this day honoring mothers, what does it mean to truly support the choice to become a mother or not? What does the upcoming resolution call us as a congregation to do to support this choice?
Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Bree Shennum, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Peg Lisi, Soloist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Little Did I Know"
Sunday, May 7, 10:50 am
An anthology on caring for young people, a grief (or preparation project) around the Empty Nest Chapter that was on the horizon. That's how the book project began, but it took me places that were so different than I expected... as our journey loving and caring for the young people in our lives, I guess, always does.
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. GarcΓa Ganz, Pianist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Santana Gonzalez-Gomez, Chat Moderator; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"A May Day Convergence"
Sunday, April 30, 10:50 am
On May 1st, it would appear that everything is converging at the same moment, whether it be the international worker's holiday, the Beltane festival, or a desperate call for help.
Rev. Millie Phillips, Affiliated Community Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Santana Gonzalez-Gomez, Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Athena Papsadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"The Problem with God"
Sunday, April 23, 10:50 am
For a lot of people it's the notion of "God" that gets in the way of coming into a religious community. So I want to explore some of what the "problem with God" is and some ways folks have reframed that word -- or reclaimed it -- so that we can see what possibilities there are for God (and where we hit some limits).
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Rheinber Award Committee; Jennifer Peringer, piano; Mark Sumner, piano; Ben Rudiak-Gould, songleader
Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Asani Seawell, Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"Heartbeats"
Sunday, April 16, 10:50 am
I was 29 years old when I served as assistant minister to Diane Miller back in 79/80. 18 years in Hayward, then 17 in Columbus, 7 years retired. And bam! Just like that, I am 73 and have heart problems. Iβm afforded good care through Ohiohealth, Medicare and supplemental insurance, gratefully. But there is no obvious Medicare of the spirit to help me, and most everyone I know, through these present difficult times of tumult, hurt, anger, fear and escalating injustice in the US and the rest of the world. I know my own metaphoric heart hurts more and more daily, but there are many things I remember from earlier in my life to remind me how to move through the present world with my heart beating with courage, freedom and love.
Rev. Dr. Marco Belletini, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organ; Mark Sumner, Music Director; UUSF Choir; Nancy Munn, Soloist; Brielle Marina Nielson, Soloist; Richard Fey, Soloist; Bill Ganz, Piano
Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Tom Brookshire, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"What Prepares us for Sunrise?"
Easter Sunday, April 9, 10:50 am
Easter morning with its tradition of Sunrise Services is about the good news of life resurrected. You can hear that as the story of Jesus as told and passed down, as a reminder of the natural cycle of seasons, or as a metaphor for so much of life that moves from loss to new beginnings and to loss and new beginnings again and again. But like cheap grace, Easter without the days and nights before it, resurrection without loss doesn't make sense. What happens in the in between of all that that we need to remind ourselves of and then celebrate?
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; UUSF Handbell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organ; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jason Park, Trumpet; Bill Ganz, Piano
Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Jackson Munn, Camera; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"You Are Loved"
Sunday, April 2, 10:50 am
If folks from theologians to psychologists to wise elders are correct, love comes first. For all of us to be fulfilled, healthily liberated to be our full selves, we have to know and believe we are loved, for ourselves, as we are. How does it inform how we live, to take that necessity seriously?
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Tommy Kesecker, Percussionist; T. Mychael Rambo, Soloist; Mark Sumner, Songleader; Bill Ganz, Pianist
Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher
"What Need One?"
Sunday, March 26, 10:50 am
Shakespeareβs King Lear asked the perennial question, "What need one?" I remember it from high school AP English class. Mrs. Laster, who was a force of nature β and put the class at 8 am to discourage the lazy, the dilettantes, the weak β drove it home. The question, that is, not the answer.
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Jordan Ong, Canvass Testimony; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Bill Ganz, Pianist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour
"From Special Creation to Kin: How Scientific and Indigenous Understandings Call Us to a New Relationship with Nature"
Sunday, March 19, 10:50 am
For much of Western history, the dominant creation story has placed humans at the apex of the natural order. This Sunday we will look at how the scientific creation story calls us to a different relationship with life, one which is consonant with many indigenous understandings and with Unitarian Universalism as well.
Rev. Jamie Hinson-Rieger, Guest Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Sara Ferree, Canvass Testimony; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Bill Ganz, Pianist
Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher