2001 |
December 9, 2001
Hannukah:
What Can It Mean for Adults? Part II
Rev. Elizabeth
A. Lerner |
This service will review the Hannukah story and continue
the theme from last year: What does Hannukah hold for adults? |
December 2, 2001
Mistakes
I Wish I Had Made
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
This Sunday will focus on how we handle life’s
journey and what makes for a meaningful life. Is it better to be lighthearted
and carefree or sober and earnest? Is it better to take chances and
make mistakes or be careful and avoid them? A theme for all stages
of life, not everyone’s answers is the same, but the questions
are important. |
November 25, 2001
Is
Love the Answer?
Colleen Meiman |
The word “love” is used very casually in
our society, to describe everything from the trivial—e.g. our
feelings about certain foods or movies—to the overwhelming—e.g.
the most important element for raising a child. Recently, many thoughtful
persons have pointed to “love” as the most appropriate
response to the events of September 11 and its aftermath. Yet despite
how often this term is used, there is little discussion about what
it means. This service will explore the many meanings of the term
“love” and will propose a framework for thinking about
love as a set of concrete principles and actions for responding to
challenging people and situations. |
Novermber 4, 2001
Multi-whatchamacallit?
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
Today’s service will look at some of the challenges
and possibilities of multiculturalism in Unitarian-Universalism. We
talk a lot in recent years, especially in recent weeks, about pluralism
and interfaith connections—what might they really mean for us?
What do they require of us and what do they offer? |
October 21, 2001
Sermon
on the Amount
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
This year’s canvass sermon will address aspects
of the complicated, fascinating, essential relationship between religious
community and money. |
October 14, 2001
War
Is Not a Path to Peace
William E. Hartung |
War is not a path to peace. In some circumstances, it
seems that, to maintain the freedoms we so cherish, we are forced
to engage in war-like activities. While we do this, we also make every
effort to avoid the more heinous acts of war, such as the mass destruction
of public and private property and of innocent lives. William says
we were forced into war; but are we really forced to do it. Come and
hear William’s thoughts on these weighty topics. |
October 7, 2001
Like
Water For God
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
At a time when many people are asking and speaking about
where God is, this sermon addresses some of the implications of our
theological longings and perceptions. Whose side is God on? As religious
liberals, how can we understand our sense of God's presence, or absence,
in the wake of world events and personal experiences? Rev. Lerner
offers her own reflections on these issues, summed up in her simile
theology: like water for God. |
| Septmber 30, 2001
The
Women's Rights Movement: Where It's Been, Where It Is
Sonia Pressman Fuentes
This link will take you to the article “Sex
Maniac” on Ms. Fuentes’ website, which, according to
Ms. Fuentes, is nearly identical to the talk she gave at UUCSS. |
Ms. Fuentes will discuss the Second Wave of the women's
rights movement in the Sixties and early Seventies and her role in
it, the changes wrought since then, and some of the issues facing
women today both in the US and worldwide. She was the first woman
attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a founder of the National Organization
for Women (NOW). She is the author of “Eat First—You Don't
Know What They’ll Give You: The Adventures of an Immigrant Family
and Their Feminist Daughter”. There will be a book signing after
the service. |
September 23, 2001
The
Discipline of Community
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner
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| September 16, 2001
Called To Be More
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner
|
A special service in the wake of the attacks
on the WTC in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, September
11, 2001.
Because of the events this past week, our service this Sunday,
will change from its Rosh Hashanah theme to a service of reckoning
and searching for the understanding and strength we must take forward
from the past days, both for our own lives and for the goals and
life of our nation. |
September 12, 2001
Lamenation
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
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September 2, 2001
The
Decline of Rationalism
Dino Drudi |
Larry McAneny, a life-long Unitarian Universalist, has
noted the gradual decline of rationalism within our churches. Larry
invited Dino Drudi to share his insights into why the decline is happening
and what may be some of the consequences. |
August 26, 2001
Symbols
In Religion
Rob Paulsen and Susan Marie Stedman |
There are numerous symbols used in religion: many stir
deep passions, some are scarcely recognized, and a surprising number
cross all religions. Pictures, embroidery, sculpture, and other art
forms are often used to depict some key element of the doctrine of
a particular religion. For example, The Cross, The Star of David,
and the Ying/Yang symbol each stir different feelings in different
people. There are also conceptual symbols that have no diagrammatic
fixture, such as resurrection, virgin birth, and ascension to heaven
or fall to hell, that cross religions and cultures. What does our
chief symbol, the Flaming Chalice, mean and how does it relate to
other symbols? |
August 12, 2001
The
Good News
Rick Lohmeyer |
Evangelism has been a required effort for Christians
for nearly two thousand years and evangelical Christians are now a
potent political force. Unitarian Universalists have left a concept
and practice of evangelism to others. We too must evangelize to replace
members who move or die and to carry for-ward our mission in the larger
world. How we do this as UUs is the topic of this service. |
August 5, 2001
The
Emerald City
Chris Lihou |
This service follows last week's with a vision of UUCSS
as the Eden where shared community and mutual support allow us to
develop the qualities we find missing in our lives. All will be invited
to contribute their own visions and hopes for the church in a multilogue
forum. |
July 29, 2001
The
Yellow Brick Road
Chris Lihou |
Chris Lihou explores the parable of The Wizard of Oz,
and its application to our lives. How do the stories we tell ourselves:
That we lack brains, hearts, and courage, hold us back, and what do
we need to understand before we can break free? How do we achieve
emotional and personal growth? If time permits, the congregation will
be invited to share stories of success. |
July 22, 2001
Knock Knock
Mary
Amato |
What is the meaning of a door? How has the symbol of
the threshold been used in mythology and religious ritual across cultures
and across time? Mary Amato will explore how acknowledging literal
and metaphoric doors can enrich our spiritual lives. |
July 15, 2001
Needle,
Thread and Fabric: The Tapestries of Compassion
Kevin Drewery |
| Since the first public display in 1987, the Names
Project Memorial AIDS Quilt has been one of the most sobering
and personal testaments to those who have dies as a result of
AIDS. The Quilt has help bring the humanity and totality of
this pandemic out from behind the impersonal facade of statistics.
I will talk about my experience working at a Quilt display in
Greensboro, NC in 1992 and my observations of how people attending
the display were affected by it. Actual Quilt panels will be
on display in the sanctuary for the service. |
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| June 24, 2001
Islam - A Brief Introduction
Qamar A. O. Kazmi |
More than one billion people from all races, nationalities,
and cultures across the world are Muslims. To them, Islam is not a
new religion, but the final culmination and fulfillment of the same
basic truth that God revealed through all of His prophets (peace be
upon them) to every people. In Arabic the word Islam means both peace
and submission--peace with God, peace within oneself, and peace with
the creations of God through submission to God and commitment to His
guidance. The talk will discuss the fundamental teachings of Islam
through examples from the Quran--the Holy book of the Muslims and
the Sunnah--the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Some comparisons between the teachings of Islam and Unitarian Universalism
beliefs will be presented. |
| May 13, 2001
Mother's Day
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
Mothers and our relationships with our mothers will
be the theme of the service—a complex topic with blessings and
burdens we’ll address in poetry and prose throughout our worship
hour. This service also features recognition of our senior high students
who will be moving on from our program this year. |
May 6, 2001
Sheltering
the Body, Comforting the Soul
Andrew Kleine |
In the midst of our region's remarkable economic prosperity,
the shortage of decent, affordable housing has reached crisis proportions.
Thousands of Washington area families are inadequately housed or face
housing costs that overwhelm their budgets. Since housing is inextricably
linked to dignity and opportunity, this is an issue that touches us
all. Andrew Kleine, UUCSS's representative to the UU Affordable Housing
Corporation, will discuss the meaning of home, why solving the affordable
housing problem requires difficult choices, and what you can do to
make it possible for everyone to have a house that “shelters
the body and comforts the soul”. |
| April 29, 2001
Margaret Fuller: Introducing a Foremother
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
This service will tell the life story and Unitarian
theology of one of our denomination’s most important and least-known
leaders: Margaret Fuller. A colleague and close friend of Ralph Waldo
Emerson, editor of the renowned Unitarian publication The Dial, world
traveler, educator, one of the first to translate Goethe’s work
into English—her life and life’s work are still affecting
UUs today. Don’ t miss the chance to learn about this remarkable,
tragic and inspiring woman. |
| April 22, 2001
Gratuitous Grace
Rev. Elizabeth Lerner |
Delivered in honor of spring when many instances of
nature’s benevolence are apparent all around us, this service
is based on a quotation from the writing of the essayist and novelist
Annie Dillard. It will explore experiences of grace that come to us
in life and especially in nature. |
April 15, 2001
Easter
Sunday
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
Easter is always a challenging holiday for UUs—because
we are officially no longer Christian, meaning that we do not, as
a denomination, affirm Jesus as our savior or that he died for our
sins, we have a struggle on our hands when it comes time to address
that theme every spring. But there is still more for us in that story
than just the symbolism of death and rebirth we find also in nature’s
cycles—come and learn about aspects of the passion which are
often overlooked. |
March 25, 2001
Gnostic Gospels
Rev.
Elizabeth A. Lerner |
Many people don’t know that the gospels in the
canonical bible aren’t the only gospels. A cache of ancient
gospel books were found 60 years ago in Egypt. Written in the Egyptian
Christian language Coptic, they tell a very different story about
Jesus, his message, and his followers. Our service will address some
of these ancient texts and how they can inform contemporary liberal
religion. |
March 18, 2001
From
Ancient Ireland: Lessons for Today?
Anne Blackburn |
Before St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland,
the natural world was held sacred, only men chosen by a goddess could
rule as kings, every child in tribal society was protected, and the
law sought to rebalance relationships after wrong-doings. Might some
of these older Celtic practices hold possibilities for our times and
our lives as Unitarian Universalists? |
March 18, 2001
Celebrating
Mrs. Alice Louise Miller's 100th Brithday
|
Alice Louise Miller, a founder of our congregation,
is celebrating her 100th birthday. After the service share a piece
of her cake and join in the ceremony planting a special tree in honor
of her lifetime achievements. |
March 11, 2001
Esther
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner
|
The Jewish holiday Purim falls this year on March 9th.
Our service will explore Purim’s story of Esther, one of the
most unusual in the Bible, and some of the traditions for Purim's
celebration—did you know cross-dressing was one of them? This
is a story and a holiday with some surprises—don’t miss
it. |
March 4, 2001
What
Just Happened Here?
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
And speaking of politics, this Sunday’s service
will be that post-presidential election sermon promised a few months
ago. Having had some time to reflect, and observe developments, this
sermon will examine what happened in our election, and consider where
we can go from here. |
| February 11, 2001
The Seven Deadly Sins Reconsidered
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner
Gluttony Will Out
Larry McAneny |
“Pride, Anger, Lust...no, I mean Envy, Covetousness,
Lust...and (pause for the mind to empty completely) did I mention
Lust? That makes seven, doesn’t it?” So wrote Wallace
Sheed in an essay called A Few of My Favorite Sins. Really, does any
enlightened person with a brain even believe, let alone talk, in such
terms as sin these days? Actually, many of us don’t know much
about the seven deadly sins. Among other things, the seven deadly
sins are tied to love in a surprising way, and so in honor of Valentine’s
Day we will examine how they have been understood in the past, and
ways that they apply, or don’t, to contemporary life. |
January 21, 2001
Filling
the Void: Eating Disorders and Spirituality
Rev. Elizabeth
A. Lerner |
This service will propose and explore some connections
between underlying factors in eating disorders and attention to issues
of the soul and its nurture. We will also dedicate a special part
of the service to welcoming all the new members who have joined our
congregation over the past months, enriching our growing and vital
church family. |
| January 7, 2001
Does Religion Have a Future?
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner |
When ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ first
aired, an early episode taught that though there was a bar/cafe and
musical instruments and fish and gardens and a holodeck for the living
out of fantasies and even a ship’s counselor, there was no chaplain
on the USS Enterprise because people had outgrown religion. Our service
will explore the questions: Just what is religion anyway? Is it possible
that we will mature or evolve beyond it? And should we? |
