Sermons & Talks

Presented by Eric LaFreniere 6.21.09 Chalice Lighting: “Olympism exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, mind, and will“ Good Morning! And Happy Father's Day. Father's Day. I hope that a service on the relationship between sports and religion makes good sense on today in particular. Actually, I was inspired by an associate who, knowing that I'm not a huge fan of either popular religion or popular sports, sent me a youtube link to a commercial for

Rev. Emma Chattin May 10, 2009 First Reading ~ from John 19:25-27 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, Mary, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son, " and to the disciple he said, “See, here is your mother." From that time on, the disciple took her into his home. Second Reading ~ from Nancy Friday in My Mothe

Responses to the Sermon on Evolution: Perpetual Easter. Looking for peoples' responses to the sermon but also to the topic of Evolution. What does it mean to you?

by Cheryl Talley, Ph.D. April 5, 2009 I began my 50 week negativity fast on Monday, November 26, 2007 as an act of desperation. The fast from all news media was an alternative plan from abstaining from all food for a year...which had been a very fleeting thought. I remembered the benefit of fasting from food from back in my early thirties. Back then I had been in a church that advocated periodic fasting as part of a spiritual discipline. The longest period I had fasted was

March 15, 2009 By Julie Caran When Kevin and I came to Harrisonburg in 2002 for his interview with the JMU chemistry department, one of my first tasks was to look at the church listings in the local yellow pages. Because I was leaving my position as a Director of Religious Education at another church in order to accompany him on his career path, he knew there was one solid condition to my moving: there had to be a UU church wherever we relocated. So while Kevin interview

March 8, 2009 by Rev. Emma Chattin First Reading ~ from Matthew 25:29 “To those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.“ Second Reading ~ from “On Giving”, in “The Prophet”, by Kahlil Gibran Then said a rich man, “Speak to us of Giving." And he answered: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are

J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. Presented February 1, 2009 Economics as a Faith System Economics is derived from moral philosophy. This is how St. Thomas Aquinas viewed in the 1200s when he introduced Aristotle's economic analysis into Roman Catholic Church doctrine in a society dominated by the Church. Aquinas reconciled the Church with Aristotle and his golden mean, a view of compromise as good in a complicated world in contrast with the purism and extremism of Platonic ideali

by James J. Geary December 7, 2008 Good morning Guess what! I've come to the conclusion that I'm a very old man. And lately I've been feeling my age. I read that the Czech novelist, Franz Kafka, wrote that the meaning of life is that it ends. Well, as I near that end, I've been looking back at the various periods of my life. The period of my grade school years, is one I wish I had the power of memory and of words to describe to you. It was a time you can't imagine, it wa

Presented by Beryl Lawson November 30, 2008 Uncle Murray was a hobo. Well that's not really true. He was a hobo but he wasn't really my uncle. He was my mother's boyfriend and I called him that even after they married and until he became Grandpa Murray when the kids were born. But he was a hobo during the depression. He rode the rails mostly in search of a spiritual home. He said he tried everything in his spiritual journey: Christian science, vegetarianism and who know

Rev. Robert T. Hughes, one of our regular guest ministers presented Beyond Capitalism on November 16th 2008 I appreciate all of our UU Principles. For many years now I've been particularly concerned with economic justice. I see our 2nd Principle - “We the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations." As I've mentioned before, I think one must have economic justice as well as l

by Julie and Kevin Caran November 9, 2009 Opening Reading: From There is No Me Without You by Melissa Faye Greene Our chalice-lighting reading today is from the book There is No Me Without You, by Melissa Faye Green. Dr. Rick Hodes is a white, Jewish, American medical director who has lived in Ethiopia for more than twenty years, serving the Ethiopian Jews, the Beta Israel. Hodes has five Ethiopian adopted sons and half a dozen foster sons. Dr. Hodes recently had a fa

Presented by Elizabeth Ihle 19 October 2008 Well, Halloween has just about rolled around again, and I've bought Hershey's miniature chocolates to give to my Trick or Treaters; that way I'll have something good to eat if I don't have many callers. It's an appropriate time to talk about witches, and I am going to focus on the Salem witch trials, which caught my interest about a year ago. I'd like to use what little about what I've learned to underscore the need for toleratio

by Elizabeth Ihle September 7, 2008 When I volunteered to do this service, I didn't realize what I was getting into. Yes, the end of our mortgages and coming together as a congregation are wonderful things, but what a responsibility to say something memorable and useful to the congregation, especially when we've invited former members and friends to join with us this morning!!! Welcome again to everyone! Let me say at the outset that what I say is entirely mine. I'll

Let America Be America Again Presented by Robin McNallie and Chris Edwards July 6, 2008 Readings: This reading is from the poem by Langston Hughes: Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be cru

Letting Go by Tom Endress June 23, 2008 This talk is the second in a series of a talk I gave on December 2 of last year. That talk dealt with an intense experience I went through in May of 1958. That incident might be called many things, a spiritual awakening, a little satori, an epiphany, grace, or just a strong dose of feeling good. Last May 18 was the 50th anniversary of that event. The original intention of this talk was to compare that moment with similar events in

Elizabeth L. Ihle 13 April 2008 Serendipity caused this sermon. Last fall my bird club book club was reading Annie Dillard's 1974 classic, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek , her Pulitzer prizing-winning account of her time living in a home near Hollins College and observing the natural world around her. Simultaneously, I was reading Henry David Thoreau's Walden in preparation for visiting Concord and Walden Pond. Ah ha, I thought, look at the parallels! There's a sermon here! And

Seeking Our Center: A Vision for Service Presented by the Shared Ministry Task Force. April 6, 2008 READINGS: The first reading this morning, about the Fellowship movement within UUA, is taken from the most recent UU World magazine and a new book, The Fellowship Movement: A growth strategy and its legacy. The story of the growth of Unitarian Universalism in the last sixty years is largely the story of the fellowship movement and its aftermath. Between 1948 and 1967 the main

EASTER SURPISES, 2008 by Rev. Bob Hughes March 23, 2008 For many years, as a Lutheran pastor, on Easter Sunday, the first words I would say were, “Christ has risen!" The congregation would answer in reply, “he is risen, indeed!" After nearly 25 years of Lutheran ministry I discovered Unitarian Universalism and eventually transferred my ordination. Now, as a UU minister, I wonder what I can say on Easter Sunday! I know that, if I were to say, “Christ has risen!" you wouldn’t

March 16, 2008 by Liz Ross, JMU Campus Ministry As I sat on a plane writing this sermon, I struggled to think of where to start and how to begin. There are many different angles to cover and things to talk about when it occurred to me-there generally is no starting point in a connection. When one forms-it just keeps going, similar to the phrase or feeling of being connected to someone or something and you don't know where you end and the other person or thing begins. It's co

Presented by the HUU Board of Trustees February 3, 2008 Story for all Ages John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind. The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: “God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!