Past Services

September 22, 2024: How might we soften to listen more deeply in a culture that devalues contemplation? How might we explore different levels of consciousness and dissolve limiting boundaries?   Deep Listening, as developed by Pauline Oliveros, explores the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the conscious nature of listening.  This practice involves going below the surface of what is heard, expanding to the whole field of sound while finding focus.   […]

September 15, 2024: Why come together on a Sunday morning (whether on site or on Zoom) when so many other possibilities abound? And what should we do once we do gather? Though we can get a little set in our ways sometimes, this is a perpetual and unfolding question for members of a community such as this. What is your response these days to such invitations? […]

September 8, 2024: With this month’s theme of invitation, the voices of the UUCM choir, and the magic of guest Mei Lin Heirendt’s amazing musical artistry, we consider our own sense of “home” our willingness to extend that sense of home, belonging, and welcome to others. […]

September 1, 2024: In the midst of Labor Day weekend vacations, we’ll turn our attention to vocations, and the ways that life has called to us, or is even now calling to us. As Parker J. Palmer puts it: “Vocation at its deepest level is, ‘This is something I can’t not do, for reasons I’m unable to explain to anyone else and don’t fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling.'” […]

August 25, 2024: These days we seem to be living the words of our hymn “it may be hard we know, and the road will be muddy and rough, but we’ll get there.” What options do we have to nurture hope as the maelstrom of this political season heats up? What tools are available for us to make a difference? Do we all have to be on the front lines? Is there room for us to be our authentic selves? This service explored a range of ways we can actively feed our spirits while being strong defenders of democracy. […]

August 18, 2024: Sometimes the things we fear the most can be our greatest teachers. While some of our congregants are away at the annual UUCM Campout, some of the rest of us will gather “around the campfire” at UUCM to explore what we might discover from facing our fears, especially around the sacred-yet scary-element of fire. Through music, readings, ritual, and personal expressions, let us kindle the possibilities that ignite when we pivot the power of “scared” to “sacred.” […]

August 11, 2024: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”  John Dewey (1859-1952) 

Here at UUCM, children, youth, and grownups co-create educational and transformational life experiences, both upstairs in our Kids’ Connection spaces and downstairs in the spaces where we all work, play, and socialize together. […]

August 4, 2024: Our guest speaker is Sidney Morrison whose new novel on Frederick Douglass has just been published to national acclaim. The book is described as a mesmerizing historical novel richly detailing Douglass’s life and the Civil War Era. Mr. Morrison will speak on Douglass’s life and dedication to social justice, including his early and radical support of Chinese migrant workers who labored in the gold fields of our region. […]

July 28, 2024: Join in charging and blessing the incoming Board of Trustees as we reflect on how we, together, make up this place called UUCM – we imagine it, we create it each day, we hold it to pass on to those who come after us. It is a whole greater than the sum of its parts; as adrienne maree brown says, “trust the people to do everything better than you could have imagined.” […]

July 21, 2024: In Unitarian Universalism, “God” can be a tricky word. Not all of us believe in God, and those of us that do have many different visions of the concept. In a pluralistic religion, we sometimes try to “address” this difference by avoiding the topic altogether. Alternatively, this Sunday is an invitation for us to talk about God(s) and our various relationships to Her/Him/Them/etc, while still leaving room for all of our various (dis)beliefs.[…]