As we all come back together for our Ingathering and the new church year, we also welcome back Reverend Dr. Betty Stapleford, our Minister Emerita, into our community as a member. How does being in community transform us? Can we allow the crucible of community to teach us how to be wiser human beings in our relationships with one another? Join us for this celebratory service honoring our community and the possibilities for transformation that lay within.
Continuing an annual tradition at CVUUF and borrowing a title from a poem by Marge Piercy, “To Be Of Use”, members of CVUUF – Erica Escalante, Andrea Steffan, Anahi Quiroz and Jason Hall – will speak of work they have found meaningful. Please join us as we celebrate Labor Day.
For many, poetry is their sacred scripture. Whether we think of Rumi, Hafiz, the Psalms or Mary Oliver, poetry has the ability to move, instruct and transform us. For others, writing poetry is their spiritual practice – a way to express their deepest thoughts and questions. Join Rev Nica and poets from our congregation to explore the use of poetry as spiritual practice and sacred art.
On this day before a rare solar eclipse we are going to honor nature and our relationship with it. Do you find spirituality in nature? You have probably heard people say that nature is their church. We will explore this thought in a sensory and music-rich worship service, growing out of Frances Pardee’s purchase of a sermon topic at this year’s auction. She, Katie Morgan, Rick Wells, and Thelma Williams also participated.
Popular guest speaker and UCLA Oncology Chaplain, Michael Eselun will explore our relationship to strangers. We are often told from a young age, “Don’t talk to strangers,” only to find that sometimes such encounters might be “perfect.”
12 members of CVUUF attended our UU General Assembly in New Orleans this June. Important matters for our faith and our wider world were discussed. Join us to hear the experiences of members who attended, as well as Reverend Nica’s message about our wider Unitarian Universalist movement.
In the midst of the busyness of this world, it is important to cultivate times of silence to be able to hear the murmurings of our soul or inner voice. This meditative service will look at the gift of silence and how we might intentionally cultivate more reflection time.
Renewal. What does it mean to begin again? How do we overcome despair, disgust and detachment to find the strength and courage to try again? Civil discourse may be the key. In today’s highly charged, social media driven, exaggeratedly partisan world, how do we renew dialogue and our rhetoric to connect with those outside of our echo chambers? Michael Guinn explores how we might renew our effort to reach across the aisle and renew real dialogue with our different thinking friends and family.
Life sometimes leaves us spinning. When is it time to stop and hit refresh? How do we renew our spirits and begin again with intention?
Four members of our congregation describe one of their core beliefs using the format of “This I Believe”, an organization that presents programs on National Public Radio. Hank Crooks, Jenny Schipae, Gaye Allan and Susie Thackston will be sharing their beliefs.
