This Sunday, I have been told, is one of our most popular services for our kids and youth – the Feast of Bread and Cider! I mean, a double-long table filled with all different kinds of bread…what’s not to like? (There will also be gluten-free offerings.) This is an annual...
- Nov2022
Celebrating the Common Table
November 16, 2022
The Times That Try Our Souls
November 9, 2022
So … how are you feeling about the election? I have a friend who noted recent political history (there is usually a congressional “flip” at midterms when the president’s party has been in the majority) and that the predicted “wave” didn’t occur. He wondered why liberals/progressives were feeling disappointed. He...
How Are Your Values Showing Up?
November 3, 2022
Last Sunday, I talked about people who are operating under a mental model of “fear as motivation.” I think we can see right in our own geographical community people whose core values are shaped by a fear of going to hell. No surprise, then, that when they attempt to motivate...
- Oct2022
Halloween and Lessons Learned
October 25, 2022
Halloween has become one of the best opportunities for gaining intercultural competence. But it has often included a steep learning curve, especially if you grew up – as I did – when conversations about misappropriation were not common. As a child, it was not uncommon to see other kids dressed...
Where Are You Finding Renewal?
October 19, 2022
When I was a kid, we had a cat named Sam. Like most cats, he spent most of his days snoozing in sunbeams. But on the morning the first Autumn cool front hit, Sam would go racing out the back door, across the yard, and up a tall oak tree....
Building a New Way
October 13, 2022
We are rebuilding, as a church. On March 16, 2020, we closed our doors and began doing church in a completely different way, with computer screens and occasional drive-thru events taking the place of all the other ways we were accustomed to connecting. More than two years later, it should...
Becoming More Visible
October 6, 2022
While I was on sabbatical, I played around with the app “TikTok,” an entertainment and educational app especially popular with younger generations. (I quite enjoy it, and have found it to be a wealth of knowledge, especially around social issues. If you have any interest in learning how to use...
- Sep2022
Live Oak 2052
September 28, 2022
With celebrating our 30th anniversary this Saturday, I have naturally been thinking about the beginnings of Live Oak. I am so grateful to those brave souls who planted this church! The early days of Live Oak meant a lot of being “always in beta” as they figured out how to...
UU Identity and Inviting Others
September 22, 2022
So, a fun thing happened this week in our social media world. I uploaded a short video to Facebook, and it’s been shared over 200 times: In terms of history, this is actually sort of a big deal, in that it represents a change in Unitarian Universalist culture. For a...
What if 100 New People Walked Into Our Sanctuary Sunday?
September 15, 2022
What if we suddenly got an influx of visitors to Live Oak, people curious to see what this liberal religious community was all about? This is a question I sometimes ponder, but especially this week. See, our musically gifted accompanist, Darja, skillfully wove a piece of music that is currently...