Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

Jim Jones and the Nature of Cult (November 18, 2018)

Forty years ago on November 18th, 1978, news spread around the world, but reverberated especially in the San Francisco Bay Area about the People's Temple, which had been located right in the heart of the Filmore, but relocated to Jonestown, Guyana, when over 900 residents took their lives. It raised the question about what happened there, and what are the signs and dangers of cults. We will honor the lost and reflect together on Sunday.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Dennis Adams, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, Organist and Hand-Bell Choir Director

Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director

Christopher Rodriguez, Trustee

Linda Harris, UUSC Chair

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

The Soul of Genius (November 11, 2018)

In remembrance of our recent musical programmes, evidenced by our Reformation concert last year and our observance on April 4th of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, these times have provided our chorus with plenty of inspiration to lift up and honor these occasions through music. The theme for today's music is almost the same as my first Bay Area concert 22 years ago-----Hallowe'en. This time however, I am much more informed and grounded, thanks to the many observances of Dia de los Muertos witnessed in our communities and the recent and worldwide influence of the movie Coco. For me, our programme has become an opportunity to publicly and demonstratively honor loved ones who have passed.

This occasion has also provided an opportunity to take another look at Mozart's unfinished Requiem. There are many reasons to make use of a requiem setting in a concert but for today's I thought it timely to feature a completion of Mozart's by one (Robert D. Levin) who can lay claim to a piece of Mozart's spirit by finishing his masterwork AND receive a passing grade for it---that is, it could indeed pass as Mozart's. My primary hope is that you can find moments in our music today to summon the good spirits around you, and may you, those spirits, the spirit of Mozart and the spirits of all loved ones enjoy today's ofrendas/offerings.  

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director, conductor

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Bill Ganz, piano

Gilead Wurman, soloist

Kate Offer, soprano

Ariel Andrew, mezzo soprano

Seth Arnopole, tenor

Asher Davison, bass

Mark Abdilla, guitar

First Unitarian Universalist Chorus

Guest singers from UC Alumni Chorus, Berkeley

UC Men's and Women's Chorales, Berkeley

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Invitations Across the Veil (November 4, 2018)

In pagan tradition around Samhain, Day of the Dead and All Souls' and All Saints' Days, this idea of a day when the veil is thin has persisted as an observance. A time to connect with ancestors, literally or in our hearts, a time to acknowledge loss and the what persists across loss.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Phil Marshall, Worship Associate

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Bill Ganz, piano

Los Arribeños are Marilyn Merlino, Ron Cohen, Jim Letchworth, Ron Esparza, Jane English, Judith Berlowitz, Lorna Baird, Anna Boersma and Lance Beeson, music director

Scott Benbow, welcome

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Foundations: Our Pagan Roots (October 28, 2018)

As we approach October 31st it seems a great chance to turn to the Pagan wisdom and practices that both influenced the formation of the Christian tradition (and so Unitarian Universalism) and that deeply sustain some of our members still. What, for instance, does the Gaelic festival of Samhain say about the season that is upon us and what invitations does it offer?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Sam King, Worship Associate

Carlowe Connelly, Message for all Ages

Joe Dellert, Message for all Ages

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Reiko Oda Lane, organ and bell choir director

Carrie Steere-Salazar, welcome

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Living Hope. Living Justice (October 21, 2018)

Since UUSC’s founding, Unitarian Universalists have been fundamental to UUSC’s work to advance human rights. With our shared values under threat, there is an even louder call to collaborate and even more we can accomplish together. The Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUSC’s President and CEO, will share a sermon about the need for hope and justice in the face of some of today’s greatest human rights challenges.

Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUSC President and CEO

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Christine Tulis, harp and vocals

Dr. Mark Sumner, piano

Asher Davison, song leader

Linda Harris, UUSC Chair Welcome

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

Loved Into Being (September 30, 2018)

Each of us is the unique interweaving of the stories of the people who came before us, and who we are as people is born, at least in part, out of the dance of others into and out of our lives. One new dance partner for the year in the UUSF community is the ministerial intern, Shari Halliday-Quan, whose ministry will be shaped, will be loved into being, in part by the people here. As we reflect on the people who have shaped how we walk in the world, we too are invited to imagine how our love shapes the world to come.

Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Lisanicole Sarkisian, Worship Associate

Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director

Reiko Oda Lane, Organ and Bell Choir Director

Rochelle A. Fortier Nwadibia, welcome

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Lost and Found in America (September 23, 2018)

This month the Minister’s Book Group is discussing Jon Meacham’s “The Soul of America”. It is a timely dive into the challenging chapters in our history when we rose to reclaim our best self, and what those chapters have to say about hope and the sources of resilience that we can draw on in these days.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan, Intern Minister

Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate

Wm. García Ganz, piano

Laurel Sprigg, soprano

Shandra Steimert, obo

Ariel Andrew, Song Leader

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Lay the Burden Down (September 16, 2018)

Yom Kippur is the day in the Jewish Liturgical Year that the book of life is closed for the year, our deeds written in permanent celestial ink, and so the ten days before, The Days of Awe, we make amends (if we are wise) for our wrongs. The metaphor of death and new life is part of that ritual time. Why? What does it mean to lay our burden of wrong or hurt down? What does it make room for and how can we get there?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Shari Halliday-Quan. Intern Minister

Richard Davis, Worship Associate

UUSF Choir

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Bill Klingelhoffer, shofar

Scott Benbow, welcome

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound and Drums

Carried Through Time (August 26, 2018)

Summer vacation took me to Blue Hill Maine to a cottage on the edge of Bagaduce River where we watched the tidal waters flow in and out to the Penobscot Bay. Tall stands of trees - Eastern Pine, Fir, Oak, and Birch – stood in quiet witness while birds fed on crustaceans buried deep in the pockets of the emptied mud flats. Time feels different on tidal waters, like a long, slow breath moving in and out, again and again. In these times, these uncertain and oh so busy times, let’s pause at the edge of the tidal river, breathe in the briny air, look deep into the forest, and feel ourselves carried through time, witnessing to the delicate beauty of life unfolding all around us.

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate

Laurel Sprigg, soprano

Daniel Lockert, piano

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Asher Davison, song leader

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Awakenings (August 5, 2018)

“...the great end is to awaken the soul, to excite and cherish the spiritual life.” So wrote the early nineteenth century Unitarian minister, William Ellery Channing, about the education of children, but I believe it holds true of many others of us too. In Small Group Ministry we try to make place and a process, for people to come together on a regular basis, to explore that it means to awaken the soul and cherish the spiritual life. In small groups people can develop the trust to explore their own, individual, spiritual paths. Through the sharing of our experiences and thoughts, we learn to listen deeply to one another, and see the holy in the ordinary of our daily lives.

Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita

Elaine Pratt, Small Group Ministry  co-chair

Anish Johnson, Small Group Ministry  co-chair

Laura Pedersen, Small Group Ministry

Susan Gordon, Small Group Ministry

Tristan Hembree, Small Group Ministry

Alan Constant, Small Group Ministry

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Giacomo Fiore, guitar

Ariel Andrew, song Leader

Eric Shackleford,Trustee

Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound