Gathering for Sunday services in person and online at 10:30 am. Campus Vision Construction Continues - learn more
Barbie didn’t win Best Picture at the Oscars, but that’s okay–it’s still in the running for Most Unitarian Universalist Movie. Not because director and co-writer Greta Gerwig grew up UU in Sacramento, but because her movie tackles many of life’s big issues in a fun way: issues of imagination, self-discovery, social change, patriarchy, and consumerism, … Continue reading Life in the Real World
The bylaws of an organization mostly focus on its “how”: the rules and procedures that govern its operation and decision-making process. With the Unitarian Universalist Association, the part of the bylaws most of us find most exciting is Article II, because it expresses the UUA’s “why.” Two weeks ago, the service asked about the “why,” … Continue reading Y U U A?
After months of input from people throughout the congregation, a team put UUCPA’s mission into these words: We gather, our different paths entwined, to deepen our spiritual lives: nourishing connection, learning from each other, caring for each other, tending to our world.
In brief, plain language, it communicates great spiritual depth and helps us each to recall our own mission or purpose. What is yours, and who helps you accomplish it?
What is a genius? Someone rare, we know that. Someone with extraordinary gifts that few of us can hope to have. Figures such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jordan. Or, descending slightly from the stratosphere, someone with an IQ of at least 140 and maybe far beyond. Or is … Continue reading Genie in a Bottle
Our annual intergenerational service in which we ask and answer questions such as: What is the origin of the flaming chalice symbol? What does the chalice mean to you? What happens when we put all those meanings together into one community? Why do we have this service at this time of year? Bring the spark … Continue reading Chalice Sunday
Habits go straight to the heart. When we’re trying to break an unwanted habit and failing, we often feel as if there’s something wrong with us. The same thing happens when we’re having trouble creating a better habit. It’s true that our habits say a lot about who we are and what’s important to us–but … Continue reading Ruts, Routes, and Paths
When we embrace mystery, we never know just what we’re going to discover. In this service, we won’t even know what order things are going to happen. A pile of wrapped gifts will be on the altar, and as each is opened by a volunteer from the congregation, it will tell us what we’ll do … Continue reading Mystery Gifts
Two attitudes, two ways to journey through the world. As Amy departs for the explorations made possible by a six-month sabbatical, she shares her thoughts on the doors each one opens or closes. What happens when we meet one another, meet ideas, meet the world, meet ourselves with an attitude of curiosity? This is also … Continue reading Judgment and Curiosity
Exactly 100 years ago, on June 4, 1923, the minister of the Unitarian Church in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Rev. Norbert Čapek, introduced the Flower Celebration. He asked the people of the congregation to bring flowers, and after they gathered them into one beautiful display and blessed them, each took away a different flower than the … Continue reading Intergenerational Flower Communion
“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid,” says Frederick Buechner. Here we are, plunked down in a life that encompasses devastating tragedies and transcendent joys. What shall we do? In addition to giving the sermon, Amy sings music by three artists who have ventured some responses–Bob Dylan, Emily Saliers, … Continue reading Beautiful and Terrible