Sunday Mornings at Cedars

Reverend Margo Rinehart, Cedars Minister

David Thomas, Worship Associate

During the fall, this time of change and in a time that can feel confusing and overwhelming, we will gather together to take a moment to remember those who have gone before us. Those who walked with us for a time.  Those who still inspire us with their courage and commitment, no matter how visible or quietly expressed.   Please bring a photo or other item that reminds you of your loved one for our communal altar.

Reverend Margo Rinehart serves Cedars by welcoming people from diverse theological and religious backgrounds and spiritual beliefs on their journeys to learn from one another, search for truth, and answer the call of love and justice.

Reverend Bruce Bode, Cedars Guest Speaker

Gregory Cook, Worship Associate

Death is an ordinary part of nature's cycle, yet for humans it remains one of life's most significant mysteries. As we enter the season when the “veil between the worlds is thinnest”, this sermon will explore our relationship with death through the dual lenses described by neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor in My Stroke of Insight: the “left-brain” (“ego- consciousness”) and the “right-brain” (“cosmic consciousness”) perspectives.

Bruce A. Bode is Minister Emeritus at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (QUUF) in Port Townsend, Washington, from which he retired in 2018 as the Senior Minister after serving the congregation for fourteen years (2004-2018). Before coming to Port Townsend, Rev. Bode was the Interim Minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, Texas (2002-2004) and the Hope Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma (2001-2002). Prior to that, he served for twenty-two years (1978-2001) as an Associate Minister at the Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a large, independent, religiously liberal congregation.

Reverend Margo Rinehart, Cedars Minister

Liz Motter, Worship Associate

This service explores Buddhist ideas on remaining faithful to one another during times of challenges. Explore what may be your bravest course of action when faced with difficult decisions and adversity.

Reverend Margo Rinehart serves Cedars by welcoming people from diverse theological and religious backgrounds and spiritual beliefs on their journeys to learn from one another, search for truth, and answer the call of love and justice.

Reverend Barbara Cornell, Cedars Guest Speaker

Gregory Cook, Worship Associate

We've been seeing in the news recently, that empathy is bad, even toxic. How could this be? Going to the research, we find three distinct empathies. They each have unique qualities that are worth exploring. This week, we'll reflect on the three empathies and find some ideas about how we can build our skills to use this awesome, human gift for Good!

Rev. Barbara Cornell is a board certified, union chaplain at Swedish Edmonds Hospital in Edmonds, WA. She was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2015. She served as religious educator at our Shoreline UU congregation for nearly 15 years ending in 2007 and has been working at Swedish since 2009. Barbara is married to Dane Scott and they have two adult children, Katie and Will.

Reverend Margo Rinehart, Cedars Minister

Nancy Philip, Worship Associate

Come and hear stories of everyday people who took on established, unjust policies. Stories include the return of land to Indigenous Tribes and Nations.

Reverend Margo Rinehart serves Cedars by welcoming people from diverse theological and religious backgrounds and spiritual beliefs on their journeys to learn from one another, search for truth, and answer the call of love and justice.

Cedars Guest Speaker - Reverend Dr. Barry Andrews

Worship Associate, Liz Motter

Unitarian Universalism is better described in terms of themes or strands than a bunch of names and dates. Although one or more of them have been dominant in certain periods, all are still present in our liberal religious DNA. These are, in my view at least, Liberal Christianity, Transcendentalism, Progressivism, Universalism, and Humanism.

Reverend Dr. Barry Andrews is Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset, New York. He has written numerous books on Transcendentalism and Transcendentalist authors, most recently "The Gospel According to This Moment: The Spiritual Message of Henry David Thoreau," published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Since his retirement in 2011, he and his wife, Linda, have been living on Bainbridge Island.

Reverend Margo Rinehart, Cedars Minister

Alan Miller and Joanna Munson, Worship Associates

Explore how our Unitarian Universalist values and the strength of covenant shape and strengthen who we are during these times of change and challenge. Hear what the Cedars community can offer you this year.

Reverend Margo Rinehart serves Cedars by welcoming people from diverse theological and religious backgrounds and spiritual beliefs on their journeys to learn from one another, search for truth, and answer the call of love and justice.

Chalice Reflection - Patricia Erdmann

Guest Speakers - Nancy Philip, Naomi Gary, and Sandy Spears

Worship Associate - Nancy Philip

This Worship will discuss service as a spiritual paradox where giving acts as a direct gift to the self. We will highlight how local, tangible actions of communal care allow volunteers to anchor themselves against the overwhelming brokenness of the world.

Reverend Margo Rinehart, Cedars Minister

David Thomas, Worship Associate

Join in the annual sacred ritual of the confluence of the experiences in our lives.  Come and celebrate the summer water that nurtured our gardens, flowed through our vacations and sustained our souls.  Remember to bring a small amount of water for the communal vessel.

Reverend Margo Rinehart serves Cedars by welcoming people from diverse theological and religious backgrounds and spiritual beliefs on their journeys to learn from one another, search for truth, and answer the call of love and justice.

Barbara Gilday, Cedars Guest Speaker

Gregory Cook, Worship Associate

At various times in our lives, we find ourselves, personally or communally, hitting a wall or falling off a cliff. In some ways, life seems to throw catastrophic imperatives at us. Then we have choices, and perhaps those are our greatest teachers. The values we live by give us the guardrails to recovery – not only to survive, but often to thrive. The ability to recover is one of the strongest signs of healthy aging.

Rev. Barbara Gilday came to professional ministry in mid-life, but her life has been full of inquiry, diversity, social justice, connecting and sharing with others: Teaching in Ghana, hosting Japanese Exchange Programs, developing peer tutoring programs, hosting a Ukrainian refugee, to name a few. Currently, she is exploring in new and deeper ways, how we continue to find joy in, and give value to life as our capacities change. Barbara is the grateful member of a loving, blended family.