“A good book would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit.” – David Sedaris Censorship of written materials can be traced to the earliest documents in civilizations across the globe. Repeated waves of book banning have surfaced through history, always representing a power struggle between political divisions and/or religion. As UUs how do we fit in the world of banned books?
Rev. Beth Banks (she / her) currently serves as the Friendship Host Coordinator with the Humphrey Fellows Fulbright program. Beth served as a UU congregational minister for 34 years, and taught English as a Second Language in Washington State and South Korea. Long-time members will likely remember her sister, Phyllis Cassel. Phyllis was a dedicated member of this congregation, as are Richard Cassel and their adult son and daughter-in-law, Chaz and Jana Cassel.
Worship leader: Rev. Elizabeth Banks
Worship Associate: Barbara Saxton
Special music: The Aurora Singers, Dawn Reyen, director
If you prefer to join the community of those attending online, there are two options. One, join the service via Zoom bit.ly/uucpa_service_1015am_v3. To get the passcode, email sundayservice@uucpa.org or call UUCPA’s outgoing voicemail message, 650-494-0541. It is also included in the weekly update emails. Two, to watch the service live on our Facebook page (no passcode required), visit UUCPA’s live Facebook feed. You can follow along in the order of service, bit.ly/uucpa_oos_20250713.
Photo: Banned book display, Charles Hackey, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons