Sermon Archive
"Power Sunday: Leveraging Our Collective”, Rev. Peggy Clarke
Rev. Peggy Clarke, Senior Minister at the Community Church of New York and Board Chair at Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ)
Our democracy is in danger, but we are not powerless; we all have meaningful ways to save our democratic system. One way is to commit to being an active part of civil society, which means committing to our institutions. This includes our home churches and Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) as the only national UU organization lobbying for our values on the Hill. It is our hope that people will leave worship on Sunday feeling empowered, connected, and more hopeful about what’s next for our collective work and our nation.
The Rev. Peggy Clarke is the Senior Minister at the Community Church of New York and serves as the Board Chair for UUSJ. This “Power Sunday” service was recorded in October of 2023 and offered to UU congregations to help leverage our collective power at the federal level as a people of faith. It seems appropriate to share it with Wy’east Members & Friends in the month we celebrate the social justice legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Family Service at 9:30 AM
Join Our Virtual Service Sunday at 10:30 AM
This service will be offered ONLY as a virtual service.
Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom
Meeting ID: 275 194 110
Phone In: (669) 900-6833
"Heatwaves in the Concrete Jungle: Tackling Urban Heat Islands”, Yashar Vasef
Yashar Vasef has served as the Executive Director at Friends of Trees for the past three years. He brings a passion for community engagement, environmental sustainability, and human rights.. Prior to Friends of Trees, Yashar served as Development Director at the Community Cycling Center. He also has a background in international human rights advocacy through roles with United for Iran and various chapters of the United Nations Association (a program of the UN Foundation). Beyond his professional commitments, Yashar finds joy in the simple pleasures of life, spending quality time cuddling with his two feline companions, nurturing an array of houseplants, embarking on adventurous bicycle tours, and indulging his love for the cosmic wonders of Star Trek.
Special Collection: The theme of 2023-2024 is “Climate Crisis”, and ”Friends of Trees” is our recipient this month!
“Weaving Community and Imagining Our Future: Conversation Circles” Facilitated by Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx and the Committee on Ministry, via Zoom
This will be a different kind of service! We will have interactive conversation circles on Zoom for anyone who did not participate in the In-person version on January 7th.
The Wy’east Committee on Ministry (CoM) wants to know more about how well we are achieving our mission as a UU congregation in our shared ministry with Rev. Leslie.
Using an interactive process, we will gather as a community for conversation circles to describe and celebrate what we appreciate about Wy’east and share our personal hopes for our congregation’s future.
The CoM will also use all that we learn from the conversations to draft a vision statement for Wy’east. Come to share your perspective and be inspired by others. Please join us! We want to hear from you!
We appreciate your RSVP in this short form: https://forms.gle/pRTWfMHVHEAbu4N7A
Click here to learn more about the details and logistics for this service.
OR for those who attended the January 7th In-person Conversation Circles, please attend this alternate service:
“Seeds for the New Year”
Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, President, UUA
What seeds are you planting for the new year? How are you weaving your magic into your relationships with others? How can we center beauty and goodness and love in all that's ahead? These questions are at the heart of this worship service offered to all UU congregations from the Rev. Dr Sofia Betancourt, the new President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
This is the worship service offered to those Members & Friends attending via Zoom on January 7th.
“Weaving Community and Imagining Our Future: Conversation Circles” Facilitated by Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx and the Committee on Ministry, In-Person
The Wy’east Committee on Ministry (CoM) wants to know more about how well we are achieving our mission as a UU congregation in our shared ministry with Rev. Leslie.
So this will be a different kind of service! We will have Conversation Circles for the people attending in person.
Using an interactive process, we will gather as a community to describe and celebrate what we appreciate about Wy’east and share our personal hopes for our congregation’s future.
The CoM will also use all that we learn from the Conversations to draft a vision statement for Wy’east. Come to share your perspective and be inspired by others. Please join us! We want to hear from you!
We appreciate your RSVP in this short form: https://forms.gle/pRTWfMHVHEAbu4N7A
Click here to learn more about the details and logistics for this service. On January 7th, this program will be offered to in-person participants only. And then on January 14th, the program will include an opportunity to participate in Conversation Circles on Zoom.
Or for those attending virtually via the Zoom link: “Seeds for the New Year”
Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, President, UUA
What seeds are you planting for the new year? How are you weaving your magic into your relationships with others? How can we center beauty and goodness and love in all that's ahead? These questions are at the heart of this worship service offered to all UU congregations from the Rev. Dr Sofia Betancourt, the new President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
Those Members & Friends attending on Zoom this Sunday will participate in this service. We will offer a Zoom version of the “Weaving Community and Imagining Our Future” conversation circles facilitated by Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx and the Committee on Ministry at the January 14th online service.
"5th Sunday Day of Service Project -- Supply Drive for Lilac Meadows”
The final day of the year falls on the 5th Sunday of December 2023. As part of our lay-led ministry, we gather on 5th Sundays for a service project in lieu of holding a service, either in-person or on Zoom. Our December 2023 project will be a supply drive to support Our Just Future and the Lilac Meadows Family Shelter.
The Shelter Manager has assembled an "Amazon Gift Registry" with their most pressing needs -- school supplies and lunch/snack items for kids, bedding and toiletries. You may purchase items directly from the Amazon Gift Registry, or update the registry with the purchase of similar items from elsewhere. Order early to get the gifts in time!
We will gather on Sunday, December 31st to assemble and consolidate our donation, enjoy some social time & snacks -- maybe even a sing a bit -- before delivering our gifts to the shelter.
Learn more about this project HERE.
5th Sunday Day of Service, 10:30 AM - 12:00 Noon
There will be NO regular service (either in-person or online) this Sunday.
"Christmas Eve in the Morning”, Wy’east Members & Friends and Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx
Each year, we offer a “traditional” Christmas Eve service at 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve – no matter on what day of the week it falls. This year, Christmas Eve is on a 4th Sunday so we will bring our Christmas Eve service to the morning. Filled with story and song, we will “gather for renewal and fellowship” as called for by our mission. We’ll do so virtually, alongside our covenant to be cared for and to care for others. In community together, though separated by screens, we will lift up our hopes shining through the darkness and grieve for losses felt heavily during the Christmas Season.
Family Service at 9:30 AM
Join Our Virtual Service Sunday at 10:30 AM
This service will be offered ONLY as a virtual service.
Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom
Meeting ID: 275 194 110
Phone In: (669) 900-6833
"Annual Celebration of Light”, Wy’east Children & Youth
Our Annual Celebration of Light returns in its traditional form for the first time since 2019! Our children will once again be presenting the Winter Pageant, which features them in adorable costumes acting out the solstice stories of eight different religious traditions. This Wy’east creation celebrates how we all find meaning in the darkness of winter, no matter which stories are told and which holidays we observe. This pageant is being coordinated by Anders Liljeholm and other religious educators.
Special Collection: Our special collection this month will support our sustained partnership with Rahab’s Sisters.
Multi-Platform Worship Sunday at 10:30 AM
This service will be offered as BOTH a virtual and an in-person service.
Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom
Meeting ID: 275 194 110
Phone In: (669) 900-6833
"Living Into The Living System”, Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, Congregational Life Staff for Pacific Western Region
So many of us want to make positive change in our lives, our families, our communities, our world. But sometimes the forces of inertia and “the way it’s always been done” makes it feel like the system is conspiring against us. With inspiration from gardens, nature, mystics, and radical systems thinkers, we are invited to reframe the ways we create change and “live in” to the living systems that surround us.
Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh joined the Pacific Western Region's Congregational Life staff in July 2016. With experience as a parish minister, curriculum developer, and lay leader, she serves as the primary contact for several congregations across the western US. Sarah works with all PWR congregations as a specialist in conflict transformation, safety, professional boundaries, and misconduct. Additionally she serves on the UUA Mosaic Team, which is creating and curating resources for anti-racist/anti-oppressive/multicultural transformation in our congregations. Sarah lives and works in San Diego, CA.
Family Service at 9:30 AM
Join Our Virtual Service Sunday at 10:30 AM
This service will be offered ONLY as a virtual service.
Click here to join the virtual service on Zoom
Meeting ID: 275 194 110
Phone In: (669) 900-6833
“Pluralism: Celebrating and Honoring Differences and Commonalities”, Speaker: Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx
The value that we are exploring in December is pluralism. The covenantal promise attached to this value is “to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.”
Join us as our minister Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx considers how this calls us to spiritual practice as individuals and community.
"We Bear Witness: A Transgender Day of Remembrance” Wy’east Members & Friends
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance on November 20th that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. On this Sunday after both Thanksgiving and TDOR, we will gather to bear witness to the record of human lives extinguished simply because they dared to live authentically, and to lift the voices and experiences of transgender and non-binary people and their families.
Family Service at 9:30 AM