Services MAY SERVICES May 6~“Bearing with Goldilocks” Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro When can “tolerance” of certain behaviors be a disservice to everyone involved? Should the Three Bears have simply tolerated Goldilocks— after she commandeered their bowls, chairs, and beds—without ever speaking up? It’s the simplest stories that can sometimes teach us the most! Worship Associate: Denise Pitts Musician: Ellen Fillion & Sean Truex May 13~“Gnosis = Insight” Speaker: Frank Anderson The Gnostic tradition has much for us to consider. Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Ellen Fillion May 20~“Is Religion Good for Children?” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro That’s a question worth asking. We can be even more specific: is your religion good for kids? Was your childhood religion good for you? What does the child’s point of view help us to see more clearly than we might see otherwise? Worship Associate: Scott Wilson Musician: Ellen Fillion May 27~ “Wartime deeds” Speaker: CUUC Members Unitarian Universalists and war? Yes, Unitarian Universalists have made their contributions during wartime. Today we’ll explore some of the ways this has happened. Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Mike & Shannon Truex APRIL SERVICES April 1~“Saint Peter and His Momma” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro It was bound to happen eventually. Palm Sunday and April Fools Day come together this morning along with the task of paying honor to the serious and the silly on the very same Sunday. Where do we even begin? How about right at the Pearly Gates of Heaven where we find a priest and a taxi driver who have both just died? St. Peter says to the taxi driver, “Come with me.” You’ll have to come this morning to hear the rest of the story. Worship Associate: Vickie Fausz Musician: Ellen Fillion April 8~“The Seven Veils” Speaker: Mike Truex April 15~“Beautiful City” [Listen Now!]Do we filter our experience of the “real world” with veils? If we remove the veils what will be revealed? Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Ellen Fillion Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro The book of Revelation is filled with intense imagery—both horrifying threats and beautiful promises. It is a big favorite with many on the so-called “Christian right” who try to steal its thunder to use for their own purposes. Today let’s look at what religious liberals can find to treasure in this strange and powerful book. You might be surprised! Worship Associate: Denise Pitts Musician: The Truexperience April 22~“Community Focus” Speaker: Broetje Orchards April 29~“Unitarian Universalist Heroes”Broetje Orchards has a unique and socially responsible way of running their farm. Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Special guest, folk musician Joe Jencks and his band Brother Sun Speaker: Diane Reed, Dave Anderson, Kay Scheidegger, and Henry Kidwell You’ll be surprised and enlightened by learning about our own Unitarian Universalist heroes. Join us as we get acquainted with them. Worship Associate: Diane Reed Musician: Mike & Shannon Truex MARCH SERVICES March 4~“Faith, Hope and Silly Little Songs” Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro Surprise! According to the Bible the first hymn was not sung in praise of God. Rather, it was in praise of human connection—body to body—like so many songs we sing today. Was it just a silly little song, or something more profound? Find out this morning, when we will also hold our… 10th Anniversary Renewal of Vows as a Welcoming Congregation! In 2002, CUUC became a Welcoming Congregation. Five years later we renewed our covenant to embrace full participation by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. Now after 10 years, the Washington state legislature has voted to affirm marriage equality, and the governor has signed the bill. Let’s celebrate by affirming our vows as a Welcoming Congregation once again this morning! We will also dedicate a plaque in honor of the Rev. James Stoll, CUUC minister from 1962-69 and the first openly gay clergyperson of an established denomination. Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Ellen Fillion March 11~“The Book of Ruth, Unpacked” Speaker: Jean Jacobsen In exploring this short, but meaningful book of the Hebrew Bible, we find that the story of Ruth has something for everyone: it's a window for understanding the history and culture of iron age Palestine and has a message of kindness, with a happy ending. Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Mike & Shannon Truex March 18~“Four Hundred Shekels for a Tomb” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro March 25~“To Be Announced”Abraham and Sarah were travelers who came away richer from every place they visited. Their movement—the journey itself—was sacred for them, yes. But a time came for them to invest themselves in a sacred space to share with future generations. Our annual stewardship season is a time for us all to do the same. Worship Associate: Denise Pitts Musician: Ellen Fillion & CUUC Choir Speaker: Rev. Jim Dyson Join us in welcoming Rev. Dyson as our guest speaker. He is a former minister at Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland, one of our partners for interfaith activities. Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Fran Handy FEBRUARY SERVICES February 5~ “Ten Bad Reasons to Believe” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro Hearsay, rumor, tradition and more: you’d better believe that these are bad reasons to believe a religious teaching—the Buddha himself is said to have said so! But you may be surprised by some of the other reasons on his list. This morning we will also have a ceremony of child dedication. (Child dedications are an old Universalist tradition, initiated as an alternative to baptism by the Rev. Jonathan Murray well before the time of the American Revolution!) Worship Associate: Denise Pitts Musician: Ellen Fillion February 12~ “Kinds of Love” Speaker: Woman’s Poetry Circle: Sharon Faletti, Gretchen Harder, Irene Hays, Jean Jacobson, Leiloni Mahoney, Kendel Smith, Teri Robertson Some people think there is nothing that needs to be learned about love, that love is simple or easy. One way to question that premise is to explore through poetry (sometimes called the "language of love") the many kinds of love we humans encounter and enjoy. Worship Associate: Diane Reed Musician: Fran Handy February 19~ “Eklavya” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro India’s Mahabharata is the longest epic poem in the world, more than ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Eklavya may be only a “minor” character in this long account of a great civil war, but those who hear his story can never forget it, or the message that it teaches. (This morning’s order of service will feature cover art by our own Vivian Martin.) Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Ellen Fillion & CUUC Choir February 26~ “Is Forgiveness Always Called For?” Speaker: Rev. Bruce Bode The matter of forgiveness is close to the heart of daily living. What is forgiveness and what isn’t it? Does forgiving mean forgetting? Does forgiveness imply reconciliation? How does forgiveness relate to justice? What’s the basis of forgiveness? What’s the process of forgiveness? Bruce A. Bode, a native of Lynden, Washington, is serving in his eighth year as the minister of the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Port Townsend, Washington. 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 as an associate minister at the Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a large, independent, religiously liberal congregation. One of his interests has been facilitating study groups in adult religious education on poets such as Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Robinson Jeffers, and Billy Collins. Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Mike & Shannon Truex JANUARY SERVICES January 1~ “Memories and Visions” Speaker: CUUC Members and Friends This year, Sunday falls right across the line between the old and new years. A good time to share memories of old and visions for the new. Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Mike & Shannon Truex January 8~ “Get There By Yesterday” [Listen Now!] Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro Good science fiction deals in big ideas. It imagines whole worlds, their origins and their destinies, much like religious scriptures do. It suggests possibilities and alternatives to what we see around us. Let’s travel through time and space to explore some of these together. Worship Associate: Chrissie Noonan Musician: Ellen Fillion January 15~ “Mightier Than The Sword” Speaker: CUUC Members and Friends When words manifest values, there is real power. Let’s look at what was behind the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Associate: Mike Truex Musician: Ellen Fillion & CUUC Choir Note: Today we will collect the “Guest at Your Table” donations. January 22~ “Why Would Amos Shame Us?” Speaker: Rev. Craig Moro Amos is known as one of the “minor prophets” of the Bible, but his message is a big one. Are we big enough to hear it, and take it to heart? Worship Associate: Denise Pitts Musician: Fran Handy January 29~ “Inherent Worth and Dignity” Speaker: Guests from the local Parent, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) organization Marriage equality and more. Worship Associate: Alex Emig Musician: Ellen Fillion |
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