Author Archives: Rev. Bret

PODCAST COMING SOON! Having faith in supernatural miracles isn’t a tenet today of our commonly held faith. Yet, the word “faith” is still used by religious orthodoxy as a bludgeon against those who see faith as an invitation, not a … Continue reading →

PODCAST COMING SOON! This summer my head has been buzzing with some of the big questions: What is it that holds me in a grasp of longing to connect with something larger than myself? What is the origin of the … Continue reading →

In June I went to Boston with your church youth group. We visited historic sites and made a pilgrimage to Walden Pond. It’s important to look at the pillars of our faith and examine what has made us who we … Continue reading →

This week is the bicentennial of Margaret Fuller’s birth and UU churches throughout the country are celebrating her life and contributions that helped set the stage for women’s rights in the 20th century.  People would travel throughout New England just … Continue reading →

Many of us have complicated relationships with the Bible. We see how fundamentalists have used it to justify discrimination, and worse. We remember being told it was the “word of God,” and we recoil now that our understanding of the … Continue reading →

Fast Day is  a lapsed American tradition which sets aside one day in the spring for fasting, humility and reflection. A fast may be going a day without one, two or three meals. It may mean giving up a daily … Continue reading →

We often tell our children that we are a religion of the head, heart, and hands. Put another way, we choose to plug into Creation’s story through reason, feeling, and action in the world. This Sunday for Easter, we’ll explore … Continue reading →

I was once challenged to preach on “something really useful, like marriage”!  It’s not romance or fairy tales that makes a “Marriage That Works,” but there’s plenty to say about staying in relationship with another — for the long haul.

From Star Trek and Star Wars to the Matrix and Avatar, science fiction often serves as a barometer of human hopes and desires for the future. The Matrix is a film about choice, fate, and commitment to a path even … Continue reading →

This is a time when hope is in the air, yet significant things need to be done. Our country is facing immigration reform, health care reform, the upswing in the economy, rebounding markets, and so many things important to our … Continue reading →

Like a good “poker name,” our Unitarian faith did not choose its moniker.  At the turn of the nineteenth century, there was no organized group called the Unitarians in America, and the liberal Boston clergy who were opposing the Calvanism … Continue reading →

While saying more about the title will give away the punch line, I will say I will talk about “noble” friendship. It is written that Ananda, a senior disciple of the Buddha, spoke of noble friendship as being “half of … Continue reading →

Love encompasses all things, the Bible tells us, but it’s up to us to step out of its way. In this age when civil rights are still denied to large numbers of U.S. citizens (especially those denied the right to … Continue reading →

This service celebrates the beginning of Yom Kippur. It is the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days begun 10 days before with Rosh Hashanah. Words like atonement, reconciliation, and repentance may not be ones we talk about often, but put into the context … Continue reading →

As our congregation begins a church-wide process of “Appreciative Inquiry” we ask questions: What’s special about OUR Unitarian Universalist community? What touches our hearts? What are the core values through which we live ethical lives? Where are we powerful in … Continue reading →

As the river of life flows through and around us, it is in beloved community that we gather to shares its joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats.

A special service to commission our congregation’s new Pastoral Associate team.

Thomas Jefferson once said the day would come when all Americans would be Unitarians. Although Jefferson’s prediction may not have come true (yet), his legacy contains much that we value today as Unitarian Universalists.

What is it that gives rise the religious impulse: A human response to the mystery of unknowing? A sense of awe and wonder? Our need to make meaning in a world that contains both chaos and order? Or, perhaps, all … Continue reading →

Breaking bread at harvest time is an ancient ritual that reminds us that we are connected both to the cycles of life and to one another.