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Sermons

This is a full list of sermons presented at UUCCSM since mid-1999. Links to sermon texts are included when made available by their authors. Audio recordings are also available for most sermons presented after September, 2007 by our staff ministers and others directly affiliated with our church (just click the speaker icon next to each sermon where it's available*). Audio from guest speakers is posted only when we have their permission to share it.

Hard copies of sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae are available in the church office. Contact office assistant Sibylla Nash at office@uusm.org if you have a request.

"Leaving Room for Hope: Sermons for Uncertain Times," a book of Minister Emerita Judith Meyer's sermons, is available here.

**Please Note: Video recordings are available for sermons with a small TV icon showing at the bottom of the sermon listing. Just click the icon to watch the service.**

October 31, 2021 - 10:30am
Whispers of Our Ancestors
Monthly Theme: Cultivating Relationship
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
Día de los Muertos, Allhallowtide, and Samhain all recognize this is the season of our ancestors. Join us for this special holiday service as we listen for the whispers of our ancestors and honor death in the midst of life. Please submit pictures of those who you would like to include in the service to worshipassociates@uusm.org by Thursday, October 28. If you would like to purchase a memorial brick to add to the Garden of Eternity, please contact the church office.
October 24, 2021 - 10:30am
Our 7 Unitarian Universalist Principles
Monthly Theme: Cultivating Relationship
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
 
Our liberal faith affirms and promotes 7 Principles that we hold as strong values and moral guides. Join us as we explore the history, meaning, and application of these liberal religious principles to our lives right now.
 
 
October 17, 2021 - 10:30am
Now What Do I Say?
Monthly Theme: Cultivating Relationship
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
Sometimes we just don’t know what to say.  We see something; we know it is wrong, but we say nothing.  The next morning we think of several things we might have said, but the moment is gone.  The perpetrators think we agree with them.  The targets feel alone and abandoned.  And we feel like failures as witnesses, allies, or advocates.  And then there are the times when “sorry” isn’t enough.  But we just don’t know what to say.  Join the chorus of a very human community of goodhearted people who want to do the right thing, but sometimes just don’t know what the right thing is to say.
October 10, 2021 - 10:30am
Telling Stories: Reflecting on a Fairy Tale by A. S. Byatt
Monthly Theme: Cultivating Relationship
Rev. James Ishmael Ford
 
Our guest, the Reverend James Ford, thinks we can learn a lot about a lot of things from fairy tales. But then he stumbled upon a revisioned fairy tale by A. S. Byatt, and finds himself pointed in entirely new directions.
 
We welcome back Rev. Ford, who has been a Unitarian Universalist parish minister for over 30 years. He is Minister Emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. He is also a Zen Buddhist priest, guiding teacher of the Empty Moon Zen sangha, writes the “Monkey Mind” blog, and has penned several books addressing Zen and Buddhism.
October 3, 2021 - 10:30am
St. Francis Day & Blessing of the Animals
Monthly Theme: Cultivating Relationship
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
 
 
Join us for our annual service dedicated to our beloved animal companions and the interdependent web of all existence. We are collecting pictures of our furry, feathered, and finned friends to include in our online blessing this year. Please send a picture of you and your friend to worshipassociates@uusm.org by 5 pm Thursday, September 30.
September 26, 2021 - 10:30am
Ingathering and Water Communion
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
 
Our new church year has arrived! We will gather together virtually as beloved community once again with our annual Water Communion Ceremony. Let us bring the blessings of our lives to our congregation as we name our intentions, hopes, and dreams for the church year before us. What is stirring in your heart?
September 19, 2021 - 10:30am
Developmental Ministry
Monthly Theme: Possibility
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae

 

Let’s take another look at our theme of “Possibilities.” We continue to make progress on our ambitious developmental goals! Come learn more about developmental ministry, the principles and objectives that are guiding our work together, and the progress we’re making in developmental ministry.

September 12, 2021 - 10:30am
The High Holy Days
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
 
The Jewish New Year — Rosh Hashanah — and the Sabbath of Sabbaths — Yom Kippur — arrive as we are about to set out on our new church year. This is a time of introspection, mending relationships, and seeking forgiveness in the Jewish tradition. Please join us for this special annual holiday service honoring this sacred time.
 
September 5, 2021 - 10:30am
Possibilities
Monthly Theme: Possibility
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins

What does it take to break out of what is, to embrace what is possible?Have you ever surprised yourself by doing something you thought was impossible?; Let us consider together the mindshift created by a spiritual practice of possibilities.

Join Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins and Worship Associate Alison Kendall this Sunday as we livestream the service, "Possibilities."
 
Just like last year, we ask all of our members and friends to remain at home and join us online at https://www.facebook.com/uusantamonica – for the time being. The latest UUA Delta-Guidance asks us to refrain from holding any large indoor or outdoor gatherings until LA County is no longer designated as “Very High Risk.” We’re excited to change things up though: we’ll be streaming LIVE at 10:30 am (instead of prerecorded) from our beloved church campus.
August 29, 2021 - 10:30am
UU Greater LA Ministry (GLAM) Virtual Summer Road Trip: "Spiritual Home" - Courtesy of UUSM
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
In order to give our amazing Sunday Worship Service production team a much needed break, UUSM is delighted to participate in the UU Greater LA Ministry (GLAM) Virtual Summer Road Trip, in which a different UU minister from around the local area will lead the service.  Services will be held each Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30 am in a common Zoom room (NOT on our Facebook page, as our services have been for the last year), with the link provided in our UUSM Facebook Group.  Please note that this link will be the same every week. 
 
This week's service, by Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, is courtesy of our own UUSM.
 
The full summer schedule is:
 
July 4 – Emerson UU – Rev. Matthew McHale
July 11 – Neighborhood UU – Matt Meyer, Director of Religious Education
July 18 – UU Santa Clarita – Rev. Megan Visser
July 25 – Throop UU – Rev. Tera Klein
August 1 – UU Santa Monica – Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
August 8 – Neighborhood UU – Rev. Terasa Cooley
August 15 – UU Studio City – Rev. Hannah Petrie
August 22 – UU Verdugo Hills – Rev. KC Slack
August 29 – UU Santa Monica – Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae
 
After each service, in the “coffee break-out rooms” hosted by the assigned congregation, we will have the opportunity to get to know members from other congregations. There will be no separate UUSM Zoom Coffee Hour.