Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

"The Promise in the Desert" (August 2, 2020)

Some have begun calling 2020 "The Great Reckoning," a time when the injustices of reality are fully being called in by the promises of our possibility. It is a powerful, scary, tense, creative, and uncertain time in our lives. Drawing inspiration from the story of Hajar in the Islamic Traditions, we will explore what it can mean to believe in the promise of our faith in these times, and how to deepen our resilience as Unitarian Universalists manifesting justice and love.

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Executive Director, UU Legislative Ministry of California

Sam King, Worship Associate

Larry Chinn, jazz pianist

Asher Davison, sonleader

Mark Sumner, songleader

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"From Fragility to Accountability" (July 26, 2020)

This Sunday, there is a journey we'd like you to take with us.  Let us go as seekers. We will pack a little bag and wander along a less traveled path. It's a path that we hope, one day, will become well worn as others follow us into a new place. We won’t be following an easy trail, but the promise of this journey is that we will become less anxious and more steadfast in the work of anti-racism.  We have a responsibility that has been nagging at us for generation upon generation, and now is a very good time to take up the mantle handed to us by our ancestors. It is time to survey the landscape and ask ourselves, “How has this nation’s history of racism shaped my life and my community?”

And what if along this road we discover new possibilities that fuel us towards a more just society? What if the contentment that comes with facing the past illustrates for us—in bright, living color—what a stronger, healthier, more just community might be?  

How do we get to that place from where we are now? In the words of Antonio Machado, “Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking. By walking you make the path.”

Come then, join us, and let us make our way together through this difficult terrain moving from fragility to accountability. No, it won’t be easy, but it is necessary. It is what we are called to do in this time and place.

Carmen Barsody, Faithful Fools Street Ministry

Sam Dennison, Faithful Fools Street Ministry

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Dennis Adams, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Hugo Wainzinger, guitarist

Rita Fabrizio, flutist

Mark Sumner, Songleader

Brielle Nielson, Songleader

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"Poetry for Summer Musing" (July 19, 2020)

Periodically diving deep in the world of poetry is like asking someone to hold a frame around the ordinary or a magnifying glass against the small that holds universes. What better time for such presence to ordinary that is anything but ordinary than summer days -- bring a blade of grass to put between your teeth!

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Sam King, Worship Associate

Jill Rachuy Brindel, cello

Marilyn Thompson, pianist

Asher Davison, song leader

Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"The Power of Witnessing" (July 12, 2020)

In W.H. Auden's poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" the poet describes two Brueghel paintings and in both something about the witnessing or missing of huge moments in the human drama was/is the theme. It got me thinking about this act of witnessing, why and how it is important to us, a salve, a buoy. And how it might actually be one of the most important and not-so-difficult gifts we can give one another.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Alex Darr, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Joyce Lee, flutist

My-Hoa Steger, pianist

Asher Davison, song leader

Ben Rudiak-Gould, song leader

Jon Silk, drums

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

"Exquisite Risk" (July 5, 2020)

Following on our sermon on "Negotiating Risk" (May 17) we will look this Sunday at the flip side of risk -- that part of engaging life that is scary but gorgeous and transformative, that keeps us growing and alive.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Dennis Adams, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Gilead Wurman, baritone

Asher Davison, bass-baritone

Wm. Garcia Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

"The Perfect Day" (June 28, 2020)

In the story of creation told in Hebrew Scriptures, after six days of work creating heaven and earth, God took a day off. And so there’s a long tradition in Judaism and Christianity and Islam this day of Sabbath so the actual day that’s marked as such as different in each tradition. It is a day of mandatory rest. A day in which we are supposed to pretend that everything is perfect as it is and well in the gorgeousness of life at our feet. To me this is a genius creation by man or God who or whatever you want to credit it to. And I want to talk again about why.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Sharon Weld, Ministerial Intern

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Allen Biggs, marimbist

Asher Davison, song leader

Mary Jane Mikuriya, Internship Committee

Marie Kazan-Komarek, Internship Committee

Luanne Schulte, Internship Committee

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

"Lost Stories" (June 21, 2020)

June 19th, every year, also known as Juneteenth, Freedom Day, Black Fourth of July, is the day in The United States that we commemorate June 19, 1865, when two and a half years after the Emanciation Proclamation was implemented, enslaved African Americans in parts of the South finally got word of their liberation.  As we commemorate that date we will look at the history of lost stories, as part of the legacy of slavery and the founding fabric of the United States.  We will tell the story of Bilali.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Judith Stoddard, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Michele Kennedy, soprano

My-Hoa Steger, pianist

Jon Silk, drums

Carlton Ball, actor

Michael Bossier, actor

Jayanti Chapot, actor

Alyson Jacks, actor

Don Shearer, actor

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

A Welcoming Community (June 14, 2020)

We look at the importance of community and the power of radical welcoming - a celebration of the congregation and a thanks for priceless gifts. This will be Sharon's last sermon with us as our 2019-2020 Ministerial Intern.

Sharon Weld, Ministerial Intern

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Jennifer Peringer, pianist

Ben Rudiak-Gould, song leader

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

For Such a Time as This (June 7, 2020)

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Worship Associate

Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor

Asher Davison, bass-baritone

Wm. Garcia Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

“Apart/Together” (May 31, 2020)

One of the side-effects of physical distancing and shelter-in-place is loneliness. According to Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, research shows that more than 20% of the US adult population struggles with loneliness, and that was before COVID19. Social connection is baked into our nervous system. We need human interaction to survive. What causes loneliness and how can we help to alleviate it?  Faith communities, I think, are a great place to begin the conversation.

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist

Michele Kennedy, soprano

Brielle Neilson, mezzo-soprano

My-Hoa Steger, pianist

Jon Silk, drums

Eric Shackelford, camera

Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support

Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits