Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

"Let Go of the Old & Ring in the New: Fire Communion"

Sunday, December 31, 10:50 am, 2023

We will gather to reflect on our past year, then set intentions for the upcoming year. This will be ritualized through a Fire Communion.

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Diane Allen, Board of Trustees; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Akane Ota, Songleader; Elliott Etzkorn, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Athena Papodakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Christmas Eve Night"

Sunday, December 24, 4:45 pm, 2023

Come let us join in community to celebrate the Christmas story in song, stories, and candles.

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Bree Shennum; Tad Hopp; Michael Bossier; Claire Cover; Tad Hopp, Worship Participants; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; William Harvey, Trumpeter; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Kate Offer, Soprano; Morgen Warner, Soprano; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Alicia Cover, Lights; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"What's Up With That: Interactive Christmas Pageant"

Sunday, December 24, 10:50 am, 2023

Join us for an interactive telling of the Christmas story. This service is for all ages and costumes will be provided for those who want them.

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Orianna Jooss Moren; Robert Jumonville; Callum Sanchez; Dahlia Tarou; Bree Shennum, Worship Participants; Akane Ota, Songleader; Mark Sumner, Pianist, Yuki and Haruka Ota, Cellists

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Hanging of the Greens"

We will gather as a full community to build connection through the ritual of creating the greens for our sanctuary. In honor of the sacredness of each person born, we will create stars that highlight each of us that are present. Join us for a lovely tradition of joy and merriment.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Christine Patch-Lindsay, Pagan Interest Circle; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Nancy Munn, Akane Ota, Singers; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Emanuel Class, Chat Moderator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"SACReD Stories, SACReD Decisions and Mary, Mother of God"

What is your faith story? What is your reproductive story? How is the Divine a part of both of these stories? How can we weave them together free from shame, judgment, and stigma? Join us as we examine our stories alongside one of the ancient stories of Mary, Mother of God. Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams from SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity, will lead an exploration of this Advent story and share some of the biblical support for Reproductive Justice.

Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams, Guest Preacher; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jon Silk, Drummer; Shannon Warto, Soloist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"I Will Meet You There"

For weeks, there have been conversations in our church forums, at movie screenings, and on the steps as people gather and leave to address the war in Gaza. On Sunday (I think!) we will talk about the struggle to hold these events and dig into one of the issues coming up around the events: the ancient evils of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. And find ways and places to dig into the hard moral and political questions of this day in the community, weathering them as whole as we can.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis - Lowell, Worship Associate; Bruce Neuberger, Lay Leader; Galen Workman, Board of Trustees; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Oh, We Give Thanks: A Bread Communion"

In this quiet service, we will make space to be fed, to reflect on our times around the table and how they have shaped us, to share some of the food we love, and to fill up on the nourishment of giving thanks. If you have a baked good to donate to the table (for sharing at a service or afterwards), please let Vanessa know ([email protected]). Others inspired at the last minute can just put it out at coffee hour after service!

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Jef Caers, flute; Andy Kessler, Songleader; Mark Sumner, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Alex Schofield, Sound; Jonathan Silk, Order of Service; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

LIVESTREAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYQJkQLwOs

OOS:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ulRhPa815BpqmL18j1NMN2PvUDpvKrSM/view?usp=sharing

PLAYLIST:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGWIRF9PinfxRgne1q7GBrjOLcoTsbzGs

"In Transition"

This week, the end of Trans Awareness week, we will hear voices of trans folx and be together in their stories and wisdom -- from people we know and love to writers from the United States to the hijra community in India.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Santana McBride, Worship Associate; Lucy Smith, Board of Trustees; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF/India Tour Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Asani Seawell, Chat Moderator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

LIVESTREAM

OOS:

PLAYLIST:

"The Enfleshed Life: What Life and Love of a Body Entails"

Sunday, November 5, 10:50 am, 2023

One of the biggest injuries that Christianity is part of in our journey to human wholeness is seeing the body as sacred—not in the sense of something pristine that could be defiled or whose urges were dangerous, but as something to be honored and trusted. We can blame St. Augustine for some of it. We can blame a world bent on extraction and marketing to us from piling on. However, the wholeness we seek to find in nurturing one another asks for a life that relishes and cherishes enfleshed life. Let’s talk about that!

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Galen Workman, Board of Trustees; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Gregory Stevens, Chat Moderator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Connecting Across Borders and Divides"

Sunday, October 29, 10:50 am, 2023

This is the time of year of the Pagan celebration of Samhain, and the Christian (no doubt borrowed and adapted!) witness to All Souls and All Saints, and to the celebrations of Día De Los Muertos in Mexico and across Latin America. All of these community and religious ceremonies and sacred times begin with the Samhain idea that at this time of year, the veil between the living and the dead is thinned. It is a season, therefore, for reaching across that veil and pulling those we have loved and lost—their spirit and their legacy—more intentionally into our world for a while.

In the spirit of this time and sacred season, you are invited to bring a copy of a photo or a memento of someone you have lost that we can put on the altar during worship. Be prepared to share their name. You are also invited to bring their favorite food to the worship. The foods that you bring will be shared during social hour.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Asscociate; Carlowe Connelly, The Pagan Interest Circle; Megan Lehmer, Board of Trustees; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Akane Ota, Soloist; Wm García Ganz, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Jackson Munn, Livestream Team; Asani Seawell, Chat Support; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher