Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

The pandemic has brought new revelations to us … about us. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you want the same things you wanted before spring of 2020? Who are you, and more importantly … who do ... read more.

Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

We complete our month’s theme of “Design Your Life” by lifting up an important part of living: FUN. Wear your costume and come ready to celebrate!

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

There is one thing you can change in your theological thinking that will allow you to live a happier and more fulfilled life and will also make you more effective at designing a world that you want ... read more.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on November 7, 2021. It is so easy to worry about the future, and it is easy to be weighed down by regrets about things you have said or done, or by anger at things that have been done to you. One cure for anxiety and regrets, the wisdom teachers say, is remaining in the now.

"We are the Thousand Winds that Blow" (November 7, 2021) Worship Service

This service is one that may be becoming a tradition for us -- a chance on this Sunday that coincides with Samhain, All Souls Day, and Dia de Los Muertos to call into our space the memory, an a snapshot of the lives we have lost this last year -- call them into the space to bless and mourn and offer gratitude.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody; Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Brielle Marina Nielson, Mezzo Soprano; Leandra Ramm, Mezzo Soprano; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Tenor; Richard Fey, Baritone; Boris Lieberman, Guitarist; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

Across the United States, people are showing up at school board meetings to protest various recent controversies. But there is an underlying battle that has been waged since 1848 when Unitarian Horace Mann said “Education ... read more.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on November 14, 2021. Stacey Abrams, at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly's Ware Lecture, said this: "I imagine what we need and then I demand what we must have and I don't do it alone because doing it alone means I will lose every time."

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 24, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 31, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, November 7, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, November 14, 2021.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

“The Pursuit of Radiance” (November 14, 2021) Worship Service

As the darkest days of the year arrive, lights appear everywhere: ropes of lights outline tall buildings, colorful Christmas lights brighten windows and trees, candles are lit reverently in Hanukkah menorahs, Kwansa kinaras and winter solstice rituals. We humans instinctively crave and seek out light when days are dark. This is true, metaphorically, in our personal lives as well. When our days are dark and despair fills our lives, we crave the light of hope, insight and love. The sermon will explore light as a symbol of the human spirit, and how we can bring more light into our lives.

Rev. Joy Atkinson, Guest Minister; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on November 21, 2021. On both an individual level and as communities and societies, the ways in which we tell or fail to tell our histories define who we become.

“What the Pecans have to Teach?” (November 21, 2021) Worship Service

I know -- What does Vanessa mean by this?! Drawing on a chapter in Robin Wall Kimmerer's "Braiding Sweetgrass" a little more about the pecans in your pie, and their life story and wisdom, to lead us soulfully into the week ahead.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Linda Harris, UUSC Chair; Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Maddy Gerlach, Soprano; Sylvie Jensen, Alto; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Morgen Warner, Soprano; Jon Silk, Drummer; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

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Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

We gather again as we have in years past for our annual Bread and Cider ceremony. Please bring a bread from your heritage, or that is significant to you in some way, to share.

Multiplatform – Outdoors and Livestreamed on YouTube, 9:30 am

There is so much anxiety, fear, and worry living inside and around us in these chaotic times. Creating intentional joy through resistance is a way to help increase our resiliency and secure sustainability – so we can ... read more.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on November 28, 2021. Today Rev Meg discusses "Right Concentration" which is the eighth part of the Eight-fold path in the Buddhist tradition. There are many ways to meditate.

"A String of Gratefuls" (November 28, 2021) Worship Service

A service of readings and songs on what gives us joy and for what we are grateful.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari-Ester Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Rev. Millie Phillips, Small Group Ministry Co-Chair; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Leandra Ramm, Mezzo Soprano; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader; Mark Sumner, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Don Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

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Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 5, 2021. Are there difficult people in your family? At work? Do you have any suspicions that you might be the difficult one? Here are some thoughts about what to do.

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"Big Music Sunday" (December 5, 2021) Worship Service

Walt Whitman was a man who lived a very rich life, finding beauty and divinity in all corners of the earth. We enjoy his words as set to some of the most beautiful music imaginable, but we also speak his words, we hear his words, we hear about the man. As a special element we also shall frame the service with that which gave him inspiration to conceive of those words. The aim on the morning of December 5 is to know Walter Junior better and to perhaps reincarnate a bit of him in this time and place.

Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Lucy Smith, Worship Associate; Asher Davison, Reading; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF and University of California Alumni Choirs; Richard Fey, Baritone; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Leandra Ramm, Contralto; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist; Elliott Etzkorn, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Sound; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, November 21, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, November 28, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, December 5, 2021.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 12, 2021. Perfectionism can be addictive and destructive. What is it about the holidays that brings out our sense that we should be living like the people on Instagram or in glossy magazines?

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"Being Alive" (December 12, 2021) Worship Service

We are welcoming the President of Starr King School For The Ministry, the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt preaching. And we are celebrating two rites of passage -- blessing the newest member of our congregation, Baby Eliot, and celebrating Thomas Brown who has served this congregation for over two decades and is formally retiring. Come join service and the party.

Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister; Rochelle Fortier-Nwadibia, Board Moderator; Scott Miller; Thomas Brown; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Giacomo Fiore and Bruno Bartalos, guitarists; Nancy Munn, Songleader; Asher Davison, bass-baritone; Wm. Garcia Ganz, accompanist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Roberto Delalo, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Thousands of years of evolution have wired us for a winter holiday season … and this past year has amplified the need. It’s a time for celebrating transformation, hope, and joy. 

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 19, 2021. We celebrate our annual Christmas Pageant.

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Note: There will be only one service on December 12th. “A Very Unitarian Christmas” will be held at 9:30 AM, in person and online, and it will be followed by a Congregational Meeting at 10:30 AM.

Join all ages as we explore the Christmas holidays through ... read more.

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Whose holiday is it, anyway? Historians point out the pagan roots of Yule amidst voices calling for a more religious and less inclusive Christmas. In truth, the holiday has always been a melding of traditions, a pluralistic celebration of humanity and the world in which ... read more.

Join us Christmas Eve for a night of classic Christmas readings, carols, and candlelight. 

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Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, December 12, 2021.

"Kwanzaa" Sunday, December 26, 10:50 am, Worship Service

This Sunday we will celebrate and deepen our understanding of Kwanzaa, an African American and Pan-African cultural holiday observed by millions of people worldwide. Please join us in honoring the symbols and significance of another important December rite that lends texture and meaning to this Holiday Season. We will be helped by Brotha Clinton Sockwell II from The Village Project SF and UUSF members Sam and Christina McCauley Hamner, who celebrate Kwanzaa with their family.

Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Board Moderator; Brotha Clinton Sockwell II from The Village Project; Sam and Christina McCauley Hamner; Larry Chinn, Jazz Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 24, 2021. Come join our annual Christmas Eve worship service of Lessons and Carols. We will read from the Christian texts the story of Rabbi Jesus' heralded birth as well as sing Christmas carols and hymns for the holiday.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on December 26, 2021. We will explore how, even during challenging circumstances, we may experience and share joy in ways large and small.

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Epiphany is the moment we knew our lives would be the same. In a thousand huge and miniscule ways, we experienced epiphany all throughout 2021. Now we are in 2022, knowing differently. What did we realize and when? What might we know next?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 2, 2022. We will whisper the things we would like to let go of in the new year and release them to the wind.

"Right Belief or Right Living" Sunday, January 2, 2022, Worship Service Livestream

On Sunday, January 2nd, the Rev. David Usher will be preaching “ right belief or right living“. David was the hula hoop champion Manchester before going on to write one of the greatest books of knock knock jokes and it’s probably most famous for his art exhibition at the Guggenheim of cotton candy sculptures. We hope you’ll join us for this wonderful Sunday with the Reverend David Usher.

Rev. Dr. David Usher, Guest Minister; Rev. Dr. John A. Buehrens; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Elliott Etzkorn, Classical Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

We begin our January “Ted Lasso” sermon series with an interactive, ritual-based service called the “Fire Communion.” Come in person Sunday at 10 am for an outdoor service at Live Oak (also Livestreamed) where we honor the past, and let it go. Please bring your ... read more.

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"'God' is not God's name"
Sunday, January 9, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

As a theist, a liberal theist, in a pluralistic religious movement, and a congregation with a significant humanist/atheist/non-theist members, I don't talk much about God. Today, I will, and what that word, that-which-it-points-toward, means for me, and has for other progressive theists too. And whether it is useful to us, even those of us, who don't think we are theists.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Jill Rachuy Brindel, Cellist; Brielle Marina Neilson, Songleader

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Reiko Oda Lane, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 9, 2022. We probably all would like to think we are living intentional lives, but how do we do that? Do we direct our sights toward goals for ourselves, our future and what we hope for our world? What about living with integrity and in congruity with our our deepest values and selves? We'll explore how living with intention may involve taking time for discernment - examining our lives from the balcony rather than the dance. floor.

In this second sermon in the “Ted Lasso” series, we examine our attitudes – which ones help us build strong relationships and move forward with our goals, and which are barriers?

"History is not History"
Sunday, January 16, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

On this Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend when we could focus on the history of the Civil Rights Movement, let's focus on the present realities. From the old deed to an old house to a new staff member's request for a simple lanyard, to modern civil rights leaders asking we celebrate MLK Day only one way this year, what does our bending of the moral arc of our nation today say about where history is not history, but right in front of us.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn, soprano; Brielle Marina Neilson, alto; Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor; Richard Fey, bass; Mark Sumner, Music Director

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

In this special all-online service, Live Oak members share their experiences of the pandemic and their hope for what lies ahead.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, December 19, 2021.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, December 26, 2021.

Guest Minister Rev. Lee Legault's sermon delivered on January 16, 2022. Lee Legault weathered the winter and summer 2021 COVID surges as a chaplain resident at Ascension Seton Medical Center of Austin, feeling privileged to walk beside patients and their families in the pandemic. She brings a grab bag of thoughts/advice/admonishments/assurances based on her time working with COVID patients and their families. As the Omicron variant rages, let's learn and grow together to the benefit of the interconnected web of existence of which we are all apart. Lamenting together, we may take heart that we are never truly alone.

Who are the “teammates” in your life? And what does it mean to be optimistic in 2022? We close out the Ted Lasso series by looking closer at some of the wisdom shared in the Ted Lasso show to see what we might find helpful ... read more.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 23, 2022. What does it mean to be a prophetic religion? The prophetic is often thought of as having to do with predicting the future, and it can involve projecting what current circumstance might mean for the future, as well as offering a vision of a more just and peaceful future. Might the prophetic also involve speaking truths in the here and now, embracing our struggles and our broken hearts even as we strive for creating that better world?

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"Some Joy Please"
Sunday, January 23, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This Sunday let's take a break from lockdown woes and worries and turn our attention to how we bring joy and pleasure into our lives. Is it a song, a favorite recipe, a good book? Hard times make us think that joy isn't possible. But we think joy and pleasures, and staying in touch with both, is the secret sauce that will get us through. Join Revs Southern and Jacks for a service with wonderful music by our Organist Reiko Oda Lane, Choir Director Mark Sumner and soloists Richard Fey, Leandra Ramm, Brielle Marina Nielson, Ben Rudiak-Gould, and Nancy Munn. A morning to ground our reflection on what gives us joy, what are our secret pleasures, what gets us through these days. More joy? Yes, please.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Richard Fey, Leandra Ramm, Brielle Marina Nielson, Ben Rudiak-Gould, and Nancy Munn, Songleaders; Mark Sumner, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Steven Kroeger, Sound & Livestream; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Jon Silk, editing; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

"The Many Faces of Leadership" Sunday, January 30, 2022 10:50 am, Worship Service

Two days from now the Lunar New Year celebrations will begin and the Year of the Tiger will begin with it. And although being born under one of the Chinese Zodiac signs or another is supposed to have some influence on your character or disposition, perhaps each sign can also be an invitation to all of us to explore some way we can also choose to be present in the world. The Tiger is in part about leadership. And there are stories from traditional texts around the world about the different faces of leadership. Could one be yours?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Lori Lai, Board Treasurer; Wonder Dave, Worship Associate; Andrés Vera and Elijah Lacin, Cellists; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader; Mark Sumner, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

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Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 30, 2022. We tend to think of our identities as clearly defined and stable over time. Research shows though that our identities are complex, sometimes self-contradictory, and adaptable, as well as that they evolve over time. And that may be advantageous. We'll explore this and claiming our full identity as individuals and as a religious community.

In today’s world, it can be easy to be angry, resentful, even hateful. Unitarian Universalism calls us to love boldly. Join Carrie Krause for her last sermon at Live Oak as she recalls her time here and shares her last lesson for us on living ... read more.

One of the things you need the most silently disappeared during the pandemic.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 6, 2022. Animals help us understand and feel our connection to nature, that we are rooted in the being of all beings.

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"Weaving Waters: Regional Assembly Worship" Sunday, February 6, 2022 10:50 am, Worship Service

This worship is an embodied, engaging, multi-gen service focusing on unity and interdependence. It is a testimony, boldly embracing the reality of Regionalization - combining resources and congregations to better and more equitably serve a vast geography from Western Nebraska through and to Alaska (and beyond). At its core, this worship is told as a parable in four voices, telling the story of a tetrad of rivers cascading together, while maintaining their individual sources, and yet also combining to bring nutrients, gifts, and life giving flow to something much larger than themselves. It is a “both / and” story of interweaving, while keeping one’s essence and culture. It is a story central to Unitarian Universalism, a movement founded on two magnificent things combining, with a new wonderful entity emerging as a result.

Sunday Service Coordinator: Matthew Clayton Davis; Rev Summer Albayati; Rev Justin Almeida; Marena McGregor, Assistant Director of Lifespan Religious Education; Jamili Omar, Director of Lifespan Faith Formation; RejUUvenation Youth Leadership Collective with Penelope Venturini; Pacific Western Region Emerging Adult Task Force with Amelie Heise and Charlie Mara; Eric Bliss; Music by Crispy Watkins

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 13, 2022. A New Year's resolution some years ago led me to the question: what if we were really loved. I have been pondering it since. So many people have that question underneath everything they do or say. Do you really love me? That is what they are asking.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, January 2, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, January 9, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, January 16, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, January 23, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, January 30, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, February 6, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, February 13, 2022.

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"To Relationships, with Love" Sunday, February 13, 2022 10:50 am, Worship Service

Over the years, we can learn a few things about what it means to be in relationship well. How to love well? How to get over the rough spots and increase the joy and depth of connection. What are some of the lessons of love?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. Garcia Ganz, Accompanist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

We talk about “Building Beloved Community” all the time. But what does it actually mean?

"To Sondheim, with Love" Sunday, February 20, 2022 Livestream Worship Service

This morning we celebrate the great composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim who recently passed away at the age of 91. His cool cleverness and skeptical, often ironic, intellectual character have long been commented on. It is not hard to find articles with titles like "The Case for Sondheim as Existentialist," or an obituary describing him as a "philosopher of music." A number of philosophers have taken it hard over the loss of so marvelous and so philosophical an artist. Cornel West: "His genius shall live forever! He was profound in content, subversive in form and always beautifully lyrical."

To honor his passing, and too feast on what he has "served up," we have chosen a couple of his beloved, familiar songs and, for some, adding a few more new favorites to cement and enlarge his fanbase. No matter how many times you listen to Sondheim, you find yourself taken to new places emotionally. Because of his singular command of music and lyrics, the second you absorb any of what is there, what was first intellectual immediately cuts straight to the heart.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Dr. Mark Sumner; Music Director; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; UUSF Choir; Nancy Munn, Soloist; Richard Fey, Soloist; Brielle Marina Neilson, Soloist; Leandra Ramm, Soloist; Asher Davison, Soloist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Soloist; Gilead Wurman, Soloist; Wm. Garcia Ganz, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Amy Kelly & Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Helping others often brings to mind feeding the homeless or digging a well in another country. But there are different needs right in our own neighborhood.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, February 20, 2022.

"To Change the World, with Love" Sunday, February 27, 10:50 am, Worship Service

In her book "Pleasure Activism" author adrienne maree brown questions whether activism needs to look like suffering and opens up the invitation for this piece of what we do to be not just more sustainable but life-giving, pleasurable!! What does she mean by "pleasure activism" and how can it change more than just our social justice work but our lives?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist & Bell Choir Director; Richard Fey, Baritone; Brielle Marina Neilson, Songleader; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader; Michele Kennedy, Soprano; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Mark Sumner, Pianist & Music Director

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

What is the ministry we do in the wider community? Join Live Oak members Joel Bercu, Audrey McCann, Chris Milhealsick, and Judy Reynolds, as they discuss taking action with school board issues, reproductive justice and anti-racism, voting, and climate justice.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 20, 2022. What makes a good goodbye? Our goodbye is going to be a long one. How can we talk about our gains and losses? How can we talk about the grief and the love that we share?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on February 27, 2022. Liberation theology helps us understand that we all can fulfill our greatest potential when we open ourselves and our institutions to all people - greater and greater perspectives. Unitarian Universalism proposes that walking together in covenantal community, in the ways of love, is our way toward widening that circle, maybe even bursting it wide open so none of us left on the inside or the outside.

The world right now looks scary and its easy to imagine enemies around us. But the math says otherwise.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 6, 2022. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; Our sixth principal is broad and demanding. How in the world do we promote this, much less make this happen?

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, February 27, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, March 6, 2022.

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"The Ecology of Generosity"
Sunday, March 6, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Our preacher this week, The Rev. Vail Weller, has served congregations as parish minister in West Virginia, Michigan, and most recently San Mateo, California, where she still resides. She is also the Congregational Giving Director at the Unitarian Universalist Association and we are so grateful to have her with us on this Sunday when we kick off our 2022-23 annual giving/pledge drive for this community. This week's sermon "The Ecology of Generosity" draws deeply on the thoughts of Robin Wall Kimmerer and her book “Braiding Sweetgrass” and explores the cycles of nature and the cycles of generosity.

Rev. Vail Weller, Guest Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Sam King & “Wonder Dave” Crady, Canvass Co-Chairs; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

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"Rites of Passage Service: Big Life Questions"
Sunday, March 13, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

We are excited to welcome our 4th and 5th graders for this year's Rites of Passage Service. The service will include wonderful music, performed by our bell and church choir, we'll have special songs, and a few surprises. And of course, the Big Life Questions! Our eight young people have waited an extra year for this service so we want to make this one extra special. And wait till you hear their questions!  Join us for this special celebration.

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Marigold Birch, 4th-5th Grade Lead Teacher; Dennielle Kronenberg, Canvass Testimony; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist & Bell Choir Director; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jon Silk, Drummer; Nancy Munn, Soloist; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Alex Darr, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, March 13, 2022.