Complete Service-first Unitarian Universalist Society Of San Francisco

Wrestling with Time (January 27, 2019) One of our UU Saints, Charles Darwin, wrote: "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” We are all destined to wrestle with time, it's passage, its limits, what it can be and what it can devolves into, and the refrain of the modernity since it began: how to be in a world of "speeded up.” Let's look this morning at at what it means to be forever engaged in wrestling with time, and how to thrive in the midst of it. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ Eric Shackelford, Trustee Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

The Myth of Inevitability (January 20, 2019) Sometimes in the telling of history backwards, everything looks as if it was leading to the place we arrived at -- a kind of foreordained destiny. But it is rarely so in people's lived experience. On this MLK Sunday we will look back at some of the stories and chapters of the American Civil Right's struggle and this myth of inevitability, as we prepare ourselves to live into the next chapter of it. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ Eric Shackelford, soloist Wm. García Ganz, piano Judy Payne, Trustee Gary Lorentzen, auction Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

Healthy Lives, Healthy Institutions: Love and the Limits of Kindness (January 13, 2019) I have been reading and thinking a lot about “kindness” as a virtue — when it is the thing that knits the world back together and how it is a balm for all the storms of daily life, and where it’s benefits stop. Where love and health require a tougher way of being to serve the good. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Sam King, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, organ David Jones, tenor Peter Gross, Trustee Susan Anthony & Julia Wald, auction Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

In An Ideal World (January 6, 2019) Let's be real, living up to our ideals isn't easy, sometimes it's downright dangerous. When we think of the ideal, often, we picture perfection, the ultimate, the unattainable. Why bother? But in today's reality, particularly political reality, we harken for something better - something more ideal. Are there examples of the ideal that are attainable, inspiring, useful for us mere mortals? ?Ideals that might guide us out of the mess we are in? Is there an ideal story that can show us a way forward? Today's service we will explore some of the central ideas about ideals (Plato anyone?) and why they matter, now more than ever. Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Phil Marshall, Worship Associate Asher Davison, song leader Larry Chinn, piano Scott Benbow, Treasurer Linda Harris, UUSC Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Saved from Perfection (December 30, 2018) You are enough. I am enough. I could do a little better. We can do a little better together. Our American Unitarian fore-bearers split from our Puritan roots over a number of theological differences, including the controversial idea that human beings have the power to both do good and do better. Along with this doggedly hopeful belief about our ability to improve ourselves comes the freedom to no longer need to prove that we are already good, already perfect. Our liberal tradition teaches that we are already saved from perfection. Let's start there. Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Lisanicole Sarkasian, Worship Associate David Jones, song leader Andrés Vera, cello My-Hoa Steger, piano Rochelle Fortier Nwadibia, Vice Moderator Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Holy Families (December 23, 2018) We'll gather the day after this to tell the ancient story of love made real in a particular infant, and yet as Unitarian religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs taught, "Each night a child is born is a holy night." We might even say that every child, every person, every family is a miracle. In this multi-generational Sunday morning service, we celebrate families of many types, each statistically unlikely collections of stardust, DNA, histories and former strangers that miraculously came to be. Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Reiko Oda Lane, organ Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Lori Lai, Story Shulee Ong, Story DJ Quinn, Story Shannon Warto, soprano Alan Alpert, tenor Eric Shackelford, Trustee Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

Joy! (December 16, 2018) You know, of all the spiritual practices, there is fasting and study and prayer, why not joy? What does it look like to put joy at the center? Fun to try! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Lucy Smith, Worship Associate Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Reiko Oda Lane, organ Wm. García Ganz, guest conductor   Asher Davidson, soloist Alan Alpert, soloist Ariel Andrew, soloist Gayle Reynolds, Trustee Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, Percussion

The Gaudy Curtain (December 9, 2018) Just as we string lights against the darkness at Solstice time, we construct of our lives a "gaudy curtain" that covers over the Abyss, toward which we all inexorably travel. If we cultivate an honest awareness of our inevitable death, what gifts might we find for our living? Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz, Assistant Minister Sam King, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organ Mark Kapner, piano, guitar and vocals Carrie Steere-Salazar, Moderator Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

The Season of Waiting? (December 2, 2018) Sunday, December 2nd begins what in the Christian tradition is known as the season of Advent. It is a season of waiting, watchfulness, preparation. The preparation period probably feels appropriate, but how distinct is the waiting and watchfulness -- the quiet, still, attentive quality -- from flurry of Black-Friday-though-Monday, Giving Tuesday, and shop-til-you-drop madness of the next three weeks? Rare, perhaps, but the truth is that you and I need to know how to do advent times in our life. Life is full of them. And religion has found a way to help us be in them and get through them. Come Sunday. You deserve the break. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Alexander Rameses Taite, soloist UC Alumni and Men's and Women's Chorale Wm. Garcia Ganz, piano René Minneboo, soloist Amy Kelly, Trustee Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

What is True? (November 25, 2018) How can we know what, and who, to believe? With so much fake news—not to mention lies— from public figures, including some politicians and religious leaders, many people have to ask themselves, “How can I know what to believe?” Our focus will be what is truth in the spiritual dimension. Scientists tell us that everything is matter, there is no Transcendental Reality, no God, out there or in here. Yet, many of us have experienced a time when we felt as if we were opened to a new dimension of beauty or love, that changed us. These times of transformation— which can only be described in the language of poetry or religion—are they real? Are they true? The question we are posing is, what is spiritual truth for you. Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita Sister Sheila Flynn Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Asher Davison, song leader Gayle Reynolds, Trustee Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Jim Jones and the Nature of Cult (November 18, 2018) Forty years ago on November 18th, 1978, news spread around the world, but reverberated especially in the San Francisco Bay Area about the People's Temple, which had been located right in the heart of the Filmore, but relocated to Jonestown, Guyana, when over 900 residents took their lives. It raised the question about what happened there, and what are the signs and dangers of cults. We will honor the lost and reflect together on Sunday. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, Organist and Hand-Bell Choir Director Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Christopher Rodriguez, Trustee Linda Harris, UUSC Chair Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

The Soul of Genius (November 11, 2018) In remembrance of our recent musical programmes, evidenced by our Reformation concert last year and our observance on April 4th of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, these times have provided our chorus with plenty of inspiration to lift up and honor these occasions through music. The theme for today's music is almost the same as my first Bay Area concert 22 years ago-----Hallowe'en. This time however, I am much more informed and grounded, thanks to the many observances of Dia de los Muertos witnessed in our communities and the recent and worldwide influence of the movie Coco. For me, our programme has become an opportunity to publicly and demonstratively honor loved ones who have passed. This occasion has also provided an opportunity to take another look at Mozart's unfinished Requiem. There are many reasons to make use of a requiem setting in a concert but for today's I thought it timely to feature a completion of Mozart's by one (Robert D.

Invitations Across the Veil (November 4, 2018) In pagan tradition around Samhain, Day of the Dead and All Souls' and All Saints' Days, this idea of a day when the veil is thin has persisted as an observance. A time to connect with ancestors, literally or in our hearts, a time to acknowledge loss and the what persists across loss. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Phil Marshall, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Bill Ganz, piano Los Arribeños are Marilyn Merlino, Ron Cohen, Jim Letchworth, Ron Esparza, Jane English, Judith Berlowitz, Lorna Baird, Anna Boersma and Lance Beeson, music director Scott Benbow, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Foundations: Our Pagan Roots (October 28, 2018) As we approach October 31st it seems a great chance to turn to the Pagan wisdom and practices that both influenced the formation of the Christian tradition (and so Unitarian Universalism) and that deeply sustain some of our members still. What, for instance, does the Gaelic festival of Samhain say about the season that is upon us and what invitations does it offer? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Sam King, Worship Associate Carlowe Connelly, Message for all Ages Joe Dellert, Message for all Ages Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Reiko Oda Lane, organ and bell choir director Carrie Steere-Salazar, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Living Hope. Living Justice (October 21, 2018) Since UUSC’s founding, Unitarian Universalists have been fundamental to UUSC’s work to advance human rights. With our shared values under threat, there is an even louder call to collaborate and even more we can accomplish together. The Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUSC’s President and CEO, will share a sermon about the need for hope and justice in the face of some of today’s greatest human rights challenges. Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUSC President and CEO Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Christine Tulis, harp and vocals Dr. Mark Sumner, piano Asher Davison, song leader Linda Harris, UUSC Chair Welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

Enshrined in Walls and Windows (October 14, 2018) This Saturday just prior to service will have been the 50th anniversary since our Center -- the Brutalist-style addition that partners with our sanctuary/church -- was built. What are the stories of how it started, and what is the life it has given shelter to, and what does it say about us. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Lisanicole Sarkisian, Worship Associate Alex Darr, Lead Teacher Reiko Oda Lane, organ Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Wm. García Ganz, piano Christopher Rodriguez, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Beloved Community (October 7, 2018) Unitarian Universalists are being called in this moment to live more powerfully and boldly into a vision of Beloved Community. What does this look like and how do we answer “Yes” to this calling in our lives and in our congregations? Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, Unitarian Universalist President Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Rochelle A. Fortier Nwadibia, Worship Associate Bill Ganz, piano and conductor Reiko Oda Lane, organ Gayle Reynolds, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound, drums

Loved Into Being (September 30, 2018) Each of us is the unique interweaving of the stories of the people who came before us, and who we are as people is born, at least in part, out of the dance of others into and out of our lives. One new dance partner for the year in the UUSF community is the ministerial intern, Shari Halliday-Quan, whose ministry will be shaped, will be loved into being, in part by the people here. As we reflect on the people who have shaped how we walk in the world, we too are invited to imagine how our love shapes the world to come. Shari Halliday-Quan, Ministerial Intern Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Lisanicole Sarkisian, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Music Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organ and Bell Choir Director Rochelle A. Fortier Nwadibia, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Lost and Found in America (September 23, 2018) This month the Minister’s Book Group is discussing Jon Meacham’s “The Soul of America”. It is a timely dive into the challenging chapters in our history when we rose to reclaim our best self, and what those chapters have to say about hope and the sources of resilience that we can draw on in these days. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan, Intern Minister Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate Wm. García Ganz, piano Laurel Sprigg, soprano Shandra Steimert, obo Ariel Andrew, Song Leader Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound

Lay the Burden Down (September 16, 2018) Yom Kippur is the day in the Jewish Liturgical Year that the book of life is closed for the year, our deeds written in permanent celestial ink, and so the ten days before, The Days of Awe, we make amends (if we are wise) for our wrongs. The metaphor of death and new life is part of that ritual time. Why? What does it mean to lay our burden of wrong or hurt down? What does it make room for and how can we get there? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Shari Halliday-Quan. Intern Minister Richard Davis, Worship Associate UUSF Choir Dr. Mark Sumner, music director Reiko Oda Lane, organ Bill Klingelhoffer, shofar Scott Benbow, welcome Jonathan Silk, Podcasting, OOS, Sound and Drums