Easter can be complicated for UUs. As an amagam of ancient Earth-centered and Christian practices celebrating rebirth, resurrection, and renewal, it was designed to be a mash-up by the expanding Holy Roman church as it encountered non-Christian cultures. Add in some of the personal and … read more.
This Sunday we are invited to notice how easily we miss our own lives while dreaming of someplace more dramatic. Using Walter Mitty as a mirror, we’ll consider how paying attention can reveal meaning and wonder in the ordinary. What might change if the real … read more.
For this service, we’ll spend some time thinking about what Parker Palmer and others have called our Inner Teacher. Where does it come from? How do we come to pay attention to it and, ultimately, to trust its guidance? Once we do, how do we encourage its … read more.
The idea that every gift counts is counter cultural. We live in a culture that promotes a myth of scarcity and isolation. It claims: “We may not have enough.” It lies: “There’s nothing you can do to change the way things are.” It spews: “We … read more.
International Women’s Day means different things in different countries. In the United States, being a woman is super complicated! Emotional, physical and other kinds of labor sometimes define the parameters of what women can accomplish. All the labor that goes into womanhood can lead to … read more.
Appreciative Inquiry is a process of organizational development and change developed by a man named David Cooperider, a Professor at Case Western Reserve Business School in Cleveland, Ohio. The basic idea is that humans—and importantly the organizations and systems they create—respond more actively and forcefully … read more.
In a world that seems to be coming down around us, how do we maintain a disposition of forgiveness amidst age-old angers and wrongs? Maybe with forgiveness, we have to start small and work our way up. We may never learn to forgive the world … read more.
Evergreen trees and plants have to be more careful than deciduous plants about how they allocate their resources, and which edges they really want to grow, because they don’t get the same opportunity to restore through dormancy. The choices they make inform how they make … read more.
“Building Cathedrals: 185 years of Progressive Religion in Rockford.” The morning’s anthem plays with the idea “we may be informed by our past, but it doesn’t own us”! Our church’s historical timeline in Deale Hall just came down after more than a month, and using … read more.
Burn out is real! This message is for those who hold the reality and pain for others while needing this same holding. Dr. Teresa Barnes will talk about the importance of self-care for those who minister and attend to others’ needs while sharing … read more.
