Sermons-First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

"How Do We Lead?"

Church has always been a place (and houses of worship in general) where the definition and understanding of how leadership shows up among us is broader and fuller than the world sometimes defines it. It's not so much that we loosen the definition but that we see so clearly how it takes so many different skills and gifts to make the whole of what we want to do together possible. This Sunday we will ask three leaders, in different tenures of leadership, to reflect on what calls them into the work and what they have learned and reflect on our own notion of and call to lead. The service is created and led with our Nominating Committee -- the group charged at UUSF not just of identifying leaders but equipping and developing and celebrating their leadership.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Courtney Young-Law; Ruth Grace Wong; John Meliska; Linda Enger; Gino Fortunato, Emma Wakeling, Membership; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, director

Shulee Ong; Eric Shackelford, Camera Operators; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Seeing Nature and Presence Through the Eyes of Robin Wall Kimmerer"

This sleepy Sunday of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend—one of the quietest times I know anymore (assuming you don't dive into Black Friday's melee)—is a great time to walk and wander with scientist, professor, mother, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Rami Bar-Niv, pianist; Akané Ota, songleader; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford, Camera Operator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, Sextons; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Breaking Bread"

As we prepare to gather at the tables to mark next week's day of gratitude, let's tell stories of what shows up on our tables, who and how we gather, and the practices that begin here. Bring a bread or baked good to share at our social hour afterwards, if you are baking or have the opportunity to do so!

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Linda Harris, UUSC; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, director; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Shulee Ong; Eric Shackelford; Francisco Castellanos; Eli Boshears, Camera Operators; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Forgiveness & Repair: A Ritual"

We will gather in our annual ritual to examine where in our lives repair and forgiveness might happen. How can we heal ourselves and each other from harms we have done?

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Lucy Smith, Secretary, Board of Trustees; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, director; Maggie McGrann; Lila Bailey, soloists; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Eric Shackelford; Eli Boshears, Camera Operators; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"The State of the Union and the Soul of the Nation"

No matter what happens in our election, as I write this, it is playing out in voting booths and polling places across the country. We will have work to do together. The divide is too big, the rhetoric too scary and angry, for us to think that we can just declare victory or defeat and bunker back down on our side of the issues or arguments. As a nation, we need to reconnect to each other, to what is exacerbating any legitimate differences, heal some old wounds, and perhaps get good at declaring what we will not, the majority of us, agree to descend into. In addition, we need some articulated notion of the common good wrestled into national consciousness to anchor us against the storms of climate change and international anti-democratic movements and all else we need to face off, creatively, against instead of using up our energy to fight one another. This Sunday we gather ourselves, as we are, to begin to attend to what we have just been through and are facing as the emerging state of our union.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Galen Workman, Moderator, Board of Trustees; Larry Chinn, jazz pianist; Mark Sumner, songleader; Ben Rudiak-Gould, songleader

Shulee Ong; Eric Shackelford; Eli Boshears, Camera, Camera Operators; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Uncertainty"

Among the hardest emotions to tolerate is uncertainty. And yet it is both so much a part of our lives, inevitably, part of the entire mortal condition, and part of a life that takes risks and reaches for the stars. It is also the river we wade into this election season. How do we live in the face of and dance with uncertainty? 

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Santana McBride, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, director; Andrew Kessler, baritone; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Listening to Our Ancestors"

On this day, we honor and celebrate the time of year held sacred in so many traditions to recognize our continued connection to our ancestors. Although it is not lined up with Samhain, All Saints and Souls Day, and Día de Los Muertos, we will hold that legacy and step into that sacredness of time. In the spirit of this time and sacred season, you are invited to bring a copy of a photo, a memento, or a favorite food of someone you lost to worship and be prepared to speak their name. The foods you bring will be shared during social hour. The service will be participatory.

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; Akané Ota, songleader; William Klingelhoffer, french horn; Marilyn Thompson, pianist

Shulee Ong, Eli Boshears, Camera Operators; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, and Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Skilling up for Love"

Being human is not just something we are born into; it is something we practice. Being human in a person who loves deeply and loves well is the same. And nothing is more crucial to a strong and loving relationship than deep listening—the kind that is seductive, gorgeously affirming, and brings us extraordinarily deep connection—the kind, I think, we dream of. 

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; UUSF Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera Operator; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

"Listening Deeply to Hear if We Got the Story Right"

Storytelling is powerful. Maybe the most powerful tool we have to move human hearts and wills—a nation, a family, people—all of us tell and live into a lot of stories and their truths. Which means stories also need to be interrogated, and we only do that by listening deeply, getting curious, and being willing, if need be, to change something as sacred as the stories we tell... and live by.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Kate Steinberg, Ministerial Intern; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Nancy Munn, Akané Ota, Ben Rudiak-Gould, Andy Kessler, soloists; Wm. García Ganz, pianist

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

"Accountability to What We Hear Inside"

As we enter into the Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and as we launch into an examination of the theme of Deep Listening, I find myself reflecting on how deep listening to ourselves, our inner voice and feelings, is foundational to our personal discernment. Perhaps the most foundational practice for it. What does it mean to listen deeply to ourselves and commit to doing so? 

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Kate Steinberg, Ministerial Intern; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Galen Workman, Moderator; Reiko Oda Lane, organist; UUSF Choir led by Wm. García Ganz, pianist

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Thomas Brown, Jose Matias Pineda, Francisco Castellanos, Sextons; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

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