"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
I live about 45 min out from KC (Kansas side). There is a local UU congregation where i live, but they are still closed due to COVID, and there were no people my age in the Zoom service I went to, and that makes connecting with others and making friends hard. So, I figured I would expand my search. Are there any good UU congregations in KC? I have been watching some services of All Souls Unitarian in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and noticed that there's a congregation of the same name in KC. Are they affiliated or similar at all? Thanks!
Wear a mask in public and get vaccinated in order to protect others from getting the virus?
"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
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.
Are there any children’s books about the nativity story that don’t assume the reader is Christian? Like that are told the way the Judeo-Christian cannon tells “myths” from other traditions? Maybe with like “their king” or “their savior” instead of “our/your savior”?
My wife and I are UU and don’t consider ourselves Christian. We celebrate Christmas and want to teach our children about Christianity as well as other world religions, and don’t want to treat the Christian perspective as the default.
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.
So, from what I've seen of it so far, I love UU. Very inclusive and socially open. However, I understand that there is not such an emphasis on God and the Divine. For me, I feel like it might be important to be a part of a congregation that emphasizes God more. But I do have a particular idea of God- namely, I would call myself a Unitarian (which already excludes most Christian traditions) Panentheist. A lot of traditions within Brahmanism, Sufism, Judaism, and others have similar ideas about God. I have been attracted to a few different religions- Bahai, Buddhism, Sikhism, even Islam and Hinduism- but when I dig deeper I usually find something or another that keeps me from converting. So my question is this: Is there a congregation/religion that is socially and intellectually open like UU, while maintaining intellectual honesty, while also emphasizing an approach to God similar to what I've described? Bonus if the congregation is not super boring (sorry for bluntness) and/or has a strong community and/or actually does stuff for their community. This may be a hard ask. Thanks in advance!
“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
WWUUD stream 