Complete Service-first Unitarian Universalist Society Of San Francisco

Of all the depictions of the birth of Jesus, or of Jesus as a baby, there are none that show him with his father, his earthly father, that is: the one who took in the pregnant young girl and promised a home for her and her child. We've got almost no historical record of this man, but given the fact his own father was named Joseph, Dave Sammons would like to put him back into the story on this Sunday before Christmas. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Christine Patch-Lindsay, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast

Evan will talk about how UUs in Calfornia have worked and can continue to work together to affect political decisions in our state on such issues as human equality, water rights and climate change. Evan R. Junker, Guest Preacher The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist and Bell Choir Director Madeleine Gerlach, Soprano Soloist David Jones, Pianist Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast

We celebrate the hope our children give us by performing two wonderful pieces of music.  John Rutter's Mass of the Children and Arthur Honegger's Une Cantate de Noel. Guest singers will augment our choir, Chad Runyon and Kate Offer are our soloists, the UC Women's Chorale from Berkeley will be singing the children's choir music featured in both masterworks, and a full orchestra will accompany all. You will not want to miss both Rutter's and Honegger's finest and most heartfelt contributions to the choral repertoire. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Combined Choirs of the UC Alumni Chorus and First Unitarian Chorus Chad Runyon, Baritone Soloist Kate Offer, Soprano Soloist UC Women's Chorale Madeline Wolf, Treble Soloist Orchestra made up of both professional string players and student players from UC Berkeley Symphony. Eric Rawlins, Sound Jonathan Silk, Order of Service & Podcast

A walk through the aisles of Macy's or any other such store, sometimes beginning in August there is no doubt that Christmas is on the way - not the Christmas that goes with the story of the birth that supposedly took place in Bethlehem a couple of millennium ago, but the Christmas that goes with exchanging gifts, from clay plaques into which have been pressed the hands of five year old's, to the BMW's and diamonds being hawked on TV, as though we could all afford them. Why are we so attached to all these things and is there something we should do about it that doesn't crush the spirit of Christmas? The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Emily Wilson, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Song Leader Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Katrina Walter, Flutist Wm. García Ganz, Pianist Eric Rawlins, Sound Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast

There is a lot to give thanks for this Sunday after our country's annual remembrance of the feast celebrated by the Pilgrims and their Native American guests that first harvest after their arrival. But we should remember the no thanks that should have gone with it - like the no thanks for forcing the local tribes off their lands those many years ago and the no thanks for turning what had become our country's one truly Interfaith Religious holiday - a time when our congregation used to celebrate with our Jewish and other neighbors, into a time best remembered for over- eating and football games. So, along with our thanks, to what should we be saying no thanks. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Derek Czajka, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist & Bell Choir Director Elena McIntyre, Mezzo Soprano Soloist Wm. García Ganz, Pianist Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast

Our guest speaker is Rev. Dr. Bonn Dlott,  Bonnie, left a career in science to raise her two children  with her husband Rick. a doctor working for Kaiser. Bonnie discovered Unitarian Universalism at the Mt. Diablo Church, while Dave Sammons was its minister, and discovdred there that she wanted to be a minister. She graduated from Starr King in 2005, and has been serving the Napa Fellowship for the past seven years, inspiring them to purchase a brand new religious home in which to worship. Bonnie describes herself as an earth-centered mystic who loves to do things like hike and fish along with her ministerial duties. The title of her sermon,   "Leaning in and Manning Up," has to do with what it's like to be women and men in this world in which we now live. The Rev. Dr. Bonnie Dlott, Guest Minister The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister The Rev. Alyson Jacks, Family Life Minister Dr. Mark Sumner, Pianist Radim Zenkl, Multi-Instrumentalist Kerry

The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Bruce Knotts, UU-United Nations Office Director Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast

Rolling Down the Window The Rev. Dr. David Sammons This sermon will deal with why it's important to not forget those who have gone before us. It's not spooky for Mexicans, for instance, to visit the graves of the members of their families who have passed on. It's a way not only of honoring their ancestors, but of telling the Grim Reaper that he's got no sway over them. We all die, but death is never the end of it. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Rev. Károly (Kari) Vass, Balázs Scholar Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist John Meliska, UUs for Peace George Cavage, Membership Chair Alison Rittger, Allyne Circle Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast,

The Speckled Bird The Rev. Dr. David Sammons A minister in Maine found himself wondering, as Emerson once did, what he was doing in church when what attracted him most during the week were his walks in the beautiful woods that lay behind his house. He just loved the speckled birds that chirped around his pond. But though he loved his walks, and felt in touch with the divine when he was on them, the minister part of him found something of value in church, too. How does out faith relate to its history, tradition, and Sunday gatherings to the world outside, with both its beauty and challenges? The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Judith Stoddard, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Pianist Jiun-Chyi Yew, Soprano Soloist Laurel Sprigg, Soprano Soloist Kate Offer, Soprano Soloist Jonathan Silk, Sound, Order of Service & Podcast, Podcast

We are delighted to welcome Sister Sheila Flynn back to our pulpit this Sunday. Sister Sheila has been an annual visitor to our congregation since she first came here in 2002 at the invitation of our Minister Emerita, Margot Campbell Gross. Sister Sheila’s ministry to women, children and men, infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in the poorest communities in South Africa.She is the founder, and mentor to the women of Kopanang, a collective that makes beautiful embroidery work—including the World Religions panels in our Chapel.On this Sunday morning Sister Sheila Flynn and the Reverend Margot Campbell Gross will explore what it means to be faithful—to a moral code, to a relationship, to a religion, to a community, to oneself. Sister Sheila Flynn, Guest Preacher The Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist & Bell Choir Director Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

Most days our lives are fine, then BAM, something bad happens, often something really bad, then what? What do we do? How do we handle, pain, frustration, humiliation, loss? Particularly when we are in the midst of what's happening it's hard to figure out how we're going to get through it and move on with our lives. But that's our task. Life is a gift and we owe it - and ourselves - a commitment to live it well. This Sunday Dave Sammons will share  some thoughts about it. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Millie Phillips, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Kate Offer, Soprano Soloist Ted Arnold, Tenor Soloist Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

The metaphor of the interdependent web combines universalist love with unitarian wholeness into a vision of cosmic unity and goodness.  This is a large idea that lies at the heart of UU faith and asks us to stretch ourselves wide to be worthy of it. The Rev. Dr. Jay Atkinson, Guest Minister John Young, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Reiko Oda Lane, Organist & Bell Choir Director Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

September is the month of High Holy Days, a time when people are asked to think about the mistakes they've made and how to deal with them. Mistakes can be embarrassing, but people are embarrassed by a lot of things that have nothing to do with mistakes, like when our Interim Senior Minister was asked to join in a flash dance at his son's recent wedding. This Sunday he'll explore what it is that causes embarrassment, why it's such a troubling emotion and how we can deal with it. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister The Rev. Alyson Jacks, Minister of Family Life Derek Czajka, Worship Associate Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director & Pianist Leela Pratt, Young Performer's International Choir Director & Pianist Elliott Pennington, Vocalist Ushers led by Linda Messner Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

In an intriguing book called Why Does the World Exist? Jim Holt, an explorer of the intersection of science and philosophy asks: "Why is there something rather than nothing?" If the answer is: "because some thing created something out of nothing," does that something have to be God? Dave Sammons has been wrestling with questions like this for a long time. Discovering that God might not have to be the answer is one of the things that drew him and many of the rest of us into thuis peculiar faith we call Unitarian Universalism. The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister The Rev. Alyson Jacks, Minister of Family Life Christine Patch-Lindsay, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Toby Branz, Soprano Soloist Mark Johnson, Piano Accompanist Kerry Parker, Songleader Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

"In April at the Pacific Western Regional Assembly, Rev. Sarah Moldenhauer-Salazar preached a sermon that made waves across the Region inspiring a new way of thinking about Unitarian Universalism for the 21st century. She has agreed to come preach it for us. Please join us to hear Rev. Sarah's inspiring message. Rev. Sarah serves our movement as the President of the Pacific Central District UU Ministers Associating and as a Trustee of the Starr King School for the Ministry. She currently serves as a community minister for a non-profit working with homeless youth." The Rev. Sarah Moldenhauer-Salazar, Guest Minister The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Dr. Mark Sumner, Choir Director Maria Solis, Soprano Soloist William Klingelhoffer, Shofar Gayle Atkinson, Quartet Kerry Parker, Quartet David Jones, Quartet Mark Johnson, Quartet Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

"The idea of "home" has meaning for most people, but what is the meaning? Is home a place we're from and can come back to? Is it something in which we're rooted or something from which we want or need to escape? We'll explore the meaning of home in our lives on this, our "Homecoming Sunday," the time when we celebrate our new church year."

"Some say religion comes from a God-given revelation. But which of them is true? The one that came to Moses, the Buddha, Paul, Mohammad, Baha'u'llah Joseph Smith or Mary Baker Eddy? What if, instead of being based on revelation religion is just something that evolved from the time people began sitting around campfires and telling stories. If this is the case, how does Unitarian Universalism fit into that evolution?" The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Emily Wilson, Worship Associate Brenden Guy, Clarinetist Mark Johnson, Pianist Dr. Mark Sumner, Pianist and Song Leader Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service

"Small Group Ministries is an ongoing program to help us deepen our connections to each other, to grow spiritually, and to strengthen our San Francisco Unitarian Universalist community as a whole. Small Groups, each with about ten people, meet twice monthly to share important parts of their lives. They practice deep listening, which enables participants to form lasting friendships, a stronger community, and to minister to each other." The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister The Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Small Group Ministry Julia DeFranco, Small Group Ministry Kristen Gray, Small Group Ministry Stan Hartzel, Small Group Ministry David Jones, Small Group Ministry Megan Lehmer (chair), Small Group Ministry Margaret Levitt, Small Group Ministry Millie Phillips, Small Group Ministry Alison Rittger, Small Group Ministry Judith Stoddard, Small Group Ministry Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Nanette McGuinness, Soprano Soloist David Jones, Pianist Millie Phillips, Song Leader Jonathan Silk, Sound

"Dave Sammons often wears rather unusual garments when he preaches. They're called "chasubles." In the Roman Catholic tradition they are kind of over-garments worn by the priest in recognition of the liturgical season the church is now in. Dave's have  a different history and a different meaning. This Sunday he'll wear a chasuble whose design is taken from a painting by Alexander Calder with a tie to our city. In describing his  painting Calder says it was taken from an image of the red fiery fingers of the sun rising from a yellow sea while he was on board a ship headed for San Francisco. Dave will use this image both to introduce himself and to talk abvout the year he'll be spending with us as our Interim Senior Minister - a role he feels honored to have been asked to fill." The Rev. Dr. David Sammons, Interim Senior Minister Alison Rittger, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Kate Offer, Song Leader Jonas Magram, Guitarist, Vocalist, Pianist Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Ser

"What does it mean to live a religious life if you are not what most people would consider religious? Unitarian Universalism is a unique religion in that it not only welcomes people who follow other faiths, but also those typically referred to as non-believers: atheists, agnostics, those who have rejected other faith traditions, and those who were raised, like today's guest preacher, to reject religion altogether. In fact, these so-called non- believers make up a fair percentage of the people in our pews. What brings us here? What might we believe? UU ministerial student Millie Phillips, a self- identified "non-theist religious humanist," will address these questions."         Millie Phillips, Guest Preacher and Seminarian Judith Stoddard, Worship Associate Jef Caers, Flutist Greg Meissner, Tenor Soloist David Lee, Pianist Reiko Oda Lane, Organist Jonathan Silk, Sound and Order of Service