Church of the Larger Fellowship UU Worship

Beth Murray has served CLF and provided leadership for our Worthy Now Prison Ministry for 20 years, and is retiring at the end of the month. We will celebrate Beth and her example of leadership and service as we say goodbye.

If the purpose of our service is to give rise to the world that we know is possible, we must learn how to make it a reality. Inspired by a new book co-edited by Elandria Williams, we will tap into what E called “collective and ancestral wisdom” in order to explore the qualities that we can cultivate in ourselves and our communities to move everyone forward.

White supremacy culture relies on people embracing a savior complex that names them as the only people capable of addressing a problem. Fascism requires us to believe that we are isolated beings. Healthy leadership helps us realize that we are in this together, and that each of us can bring our gifts to the team that is necessary for liberation.

The tech team is on winter holiday, so Lead Ministry Team members Aisha Hauser and Christina Rivera bring us the lowest-tech online worship as they inspire us to begin the new year with their annual live tradition.

Do the shadow sides of ourselves need to be bad? Exploring winter, mental health, and political theology, we will find powerful magik in the shadows.

We carry the flame for one another, and pass that flame to others in creating Beloved Community. CLF member Rev. Sarah Pirtle explores the magic that we create when we pass the flames of community, love, and justice.

Celebrate the darkness on this, the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Rev. Michael leads this brief and meditative journey into the healing dark to reclaim its power.

Illusion is ruined when one learns the secret behind it, but magic is not. Journey with us from charm quarks to the Island of Misfit Toys to the love at the center of our faith as we explore the science of magic.

Magic happens in the moments when we are present to life. We are always invited to make our own magic. We will explore the ways magic happens when we are present to life.

When I was a child I wondered at the magic of the seasons. And not being sure I sought the counsel of my grandmother. And she helped me believe in....

Does our definition of or orientation to "family" serve our healing & thriving? This week we interrogate and complicate understandings of "Family" through the lens of queer theologies.

This week's sermon will take a deep dive into the book, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, using the ancient Christian method of lectio divina, in which we examine passages of the book with our hearts. The book is written for writers and talks about how learning the stories of who we are shape how we view the world and what we value.

June Jordan's "Poem for South African Women" commemorates a 1956 protest against apartheid by some 40,000 women and children, who used their bodies to protest their lack of a voice in opposing their own oppression. We remember the poem's final line, "we are the ones we've been waiting for" as we summon the courage to move forward on the journey toward liberation.

The fall or harvest season is a time celebrated across many cultures as time to commune with and honor our ancestors. Our worship this week is inspired by the Day of the Dead, a multi-day ancestor tradition widely practiced across Mexico and Mesoamerican communities.

Rev. Kelly Dignan, Executive Director of UU Ministry for Earth (UUMFE), and members of the UUMFE Board lead us in worship to continue the work of the Climate Justice Revival, grounding us in faithful interdependence and love.

This Sermonic Performance/Performative Sermon, centers bodies, queerness, joy, desire and art as a constructive departure from theologies that diminish the sacredness of our flesh.

In the Northeastern United States, the Earth reminds us at this time of year of the possibilities and challenges of transformation. As we honor the Jewish High Holy Days, we can embrace the what comes when we make the choice to turn toward each other in love. The rhythm of the Earth and the lessons of our faith cousins will help us integrate turning into our spiritual lives.

Joy is an act of resistance. Some days, it is challenging to remember that we need joy, connection and celebration to sustain us the more the world feels chaotic. I will share some of the ways I find joy that feeds and sustains me as a faith leader and human living in some very interesting times.

Our congregation is joining with about 300 other UU Congregations to participate in the UU Climate Justice Revival. Let us collectively reimagine a spirit-filled and liberatory future. Through conversations, worship, and organizing, congregations will work together to realize climate justice and collective liberation in our communities.

This sermon will highlight the tension between making and breaking promises and the importance of maintaining trust and integrity in our commitments.