Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

The Play's the Thing: Theater and Play

Some of you may know that I grew up in the theater, at least when I was small. My dad was an actor and so theater was part of our life. Moreover, it doesn’t feel like an accident that what I loved about theater often resonates with what I love about worship — the two feel, at their best, very kindred to me. Places of wisdom, laughter, grappling with meaning. The play is the thing, after all, in which you do, sometimes, catch the conscience of the king. Curtain at 11AM.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate

Faithful Journeys Class

Reiko Oda Lane, organ and bell choir director

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Chris Rodriguez, Trustee

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Improv for Life

One of the most lasting pieces of a ministry I served in Washington DC was an improv troupe we started. Actually, we just started with one workshop, but people fell in love. And I did too, in a way. The lessons of improv are more than a form of entertainment, they are lessons for life. Say, “yes” to coming to church this week and be prepared to color outside the lines a little.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz, Assistant Minister

Lucy Smith, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Dr. Mark Sumner, piano and song leader

Nancy Hardies, membership

Richard Davis, sermon play

Margaret Hill, sermon play

Galen Workman, Moderator

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Pilgrimage

Popular guest speaker and UCLA Oncology Chaplain, Michael Eselun will explore the idea of pilgrimage-- our pursuit of inspiration and enlightenment. Internal journeys and external ones-and some in between.

Michael Eselun, guest preacher

Sam King, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Gayle Reynolds, Vice Moderator

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Real Differences

There are, despite our most fervent hopes, some differences about how we can choose to frame our understanding of society, of family, of individual identity that are very different, and form us to be different people and different cultures with different agendas. Let's look at one or two and what they teach us about our dance with difference.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Reflection on Kay

Kat Liu, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

Amy Kelly, Vice Moderator

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

The Construction of Difference

What about those differences that we create or that are created in us? How does class background form us and how does it show up, not invisible but not stamped on our forehead in a way that separates us from one another? Or the idea of race, charted out with pseudo scientific semi-precision and then charted into law. Or gender differences, scripted at birth. To see is, maybe, to be liberated from them... from some.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister

Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organ

Dr. Mark Sumner, music director

The Yale Spizzwinks, all-male a cappella group

Carrie Steere-Salazar, Vice Moderator

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

A Legacy Worth Celebrating

The end of one year and the starting of another is traditionally a time of remembering, planning, releasing, and (re)committing. As is always the case, as a community and as individuals, the past year has contained both sorrowful and joyous milestones. And, though we live in times that occur to many of us as more troubled than usual, 2017 has pushed us toward growth, revealed our hidden strengths, and inspired us to live into transformational possibilities. Through it all, we persevere, building a legacy worth celebrating.

Millie Phillips, Guest Preacher

Richard Davis, Worship Associate

Mark Sumner, piano

Asher Davison, song leader

Annalisa Aitken & Gary Garrett, The Harmony People

Elaine Pratt, welcome

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Podcasting

The Alt Christmas

This afternoon we will tell the story of Christmas with mangers and the star and the kings and shepherds. That about all the other stories of Christmas we might tell, our own, quirky and fun and lopsided. They get at the spirit of the season too. How?

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Kat Liu, Worship Associate

Dr. Mark Sumner, piano

The Cello Street Quartet

Asher Davison, song leader

Peter Gross, trustee

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

The Miracle Stories: The Lamp and the Sea

This time of the year we are inundated with miracle stories -- old and new. Let's look at a few. The story of the lamp that stayed lit for 8 days, though there was only oil for one. Moses splitting the Sea of Reeds. Set aside the facts, what's the truth at the heart of the stories? That truth, after all, is why generations bother to retell them.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister

Alex Darr, Worship Associate

Reiko Oda Lane, organist and bell choir director

Choir Members, Quartet

Wm. García Ganz, Guest Conductor and accompanist

Galen Workman, Moderator

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Memories of Home

Why do people stay home? Why do they leave? What does "home" mean, anyway? What do we long for, when we long for home? And why is that longing so strong, this time of year?

Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz, Assistant Minister

Dennis Adams, Worship Associate

Asher Davison, clarinet

Wm. García Ganz, Guest Conductor and accompanist

Gayle Reynolds, Trustee

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting

Work That is Real

In honor of Labor Day, we will be hosting Rev. Ben Meyers , who will share what he and his congregation in San Mateo learned in their experience working with local labor and partners for justice for workers at SFO. Effectively lobbying the Airport Commission to break a wage freeze on food workers.

Rev. Ben Meyers, Guest Minister

Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate

The San Francisco Labor Chorus

Pat Wynne, SSFLC Music Director

Dr. Mark Sumner, piano

Asher Davison, song leader

Harry Moren, Family Faith Committee

Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting