What's New

This page lists pages we added, deleted or changed in the last six months. If you are one of our regular visitors, this will tell you what's new*.

March 2, 2010Added minister's sermon Have We Grown Up?
Mike Durall's latest book. Durall says that developing spiritual maturity is the underlying purpose of our congregations. What do you suppose that means? How can we encourage spiritual growth if we accept each other the way we are? Do we ever grow up completely? Should our congregations adopt that old Army slogan - "Be all that you can be!" - as spiritual advice?
(Delivered March 7, 2010)

March 2, 2010: Added minister's sermon It's Basic
A recent opinion column in the New York Times says that our basic human pleasures are food, sex and giving. Maybe that last is a surprise to you. But when you look more closely, we all want to be generous people - people who share the gifts of life in their many forms. I suspect it's actually about love - which we only get when we give it away.
(Delivered February 28, 2010)

February 23, 2010: Deleted Minister's sermons
Should They Be History? (March 8, 2009)
Ambiguity - Slippery, Sometimes Confusing Stuff (February 24, 2008)
What Makes a Gift? (December 16, 2007)
at her request.

February 18, 2010: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Intern's Insights, Sunday Services. Rotated portraits.

February 1, 2010: Added minister's sermon A Time for War, A Time for Peace
President Obama invoked the "Just War" tradition when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize last month. There's no small irony in receiving the prize while in the midst of fighting two wars. What is Just War theory? How does it relate to peacemaking? Are they opposites? Why is it so hard for people to live in peace? Can we do anything to encourage an outbreak of peace?
(Delivered January 24, 2010)

January 17, 2010: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Intern's Insights, Sunday Services. Rotated portraits.

January 14, 2010: Added minister's sermon Spreading the Word
How can we spread the word of Unitarian Universalism without being pushy? Without coming off as a zealot? Surely there's ground between secrecy and proselytizing! Let's find that! Do you remember when we talked about 'elevator speeches'? Maybe it's time to polish them up. When you say you're a Unitarian Universalist and get a blank stare in return, what can you say about us? What should you say?
(Delivered January 10, 2010)

December 16, 2009: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Intern's Insights, Sunday Services. Rotated portraits.

December 11, 2009: Revised Contacts and Staff page.
Added mini-biographies and a row of thumbnails across the top.

November 29, 2009: Added guest sermon Good Guys
Ted Pack. What is a good guy? What impels people to do the right thing? What is the right thing? Readings from "The Maltese Falcon", Leviticus, Mark and others.(Delivered November 29, 2009)

November 23, 2009: Added minister's sermon Truth and Fiction: Slanting Our Stories
You’ve often heard me say that Thanksgiving is about my favorite holiday. Yet my visit to Plymouth Plantation this summer set me to wondering about how far from reality the common Thanksgiving story has wandered. Why do we seem so reluctant to admit the misdeeds of our ancestors? And do the real stories get in the way of our ability to be thankful?
(Delivered November 22, 2009)

November 18, 2009: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Intern's Insights, Adult Classes (Added Caring Congregation), Sunday Services. Rotated portraits.

November 9, 2009: Added minister's sermon From Braided Roots
It’s no secret that Unitarian Universalism is quite a bit different from most Western faiths. Perhaps some the reasons can be found in the lived experience of our early European ancestors. Parts of Hungary, Transylvania and the more liberal of the Ottomans enjoyed a multi-religious culture that shaped Unitarian history. It offers lessons for us today.
(Delivered November 8, 2009)

November 6, 2009: Deleted minister's sermons:
The Flaming Chalice (Delivered August 26, 2007)
Making a Difference (Delivered May, 2007)
Affluence, Effluents and Population Growth (Delivered April 23, 2006)
UU Spirituality and Purpose (Delivered Feb 26, 2006)
Beyond Biblical Literalism (Delivered August 28, 2005)
Our minister prefers her sermons stay on-line for two years or so, lest custom stale her infinite variety.

November 5, 2009: Added minister's sermon Each One Unique
On the Day of the Dead - "El Dia de los Muertos" Rev. Grace talks about the place of death in our society; how we honor those we love who have died and how to recognize our own mortality. Each life is unique. So is each death.
(Delivered November 1, 2009)

November 2, 2009: Added pages for our Ministerial Intern, Paula Braxton: Biography, a guide to her selected sermons, the sermon Gratitude,(October 25, 2009), the sermon Yom Kippur (September 27, 2009) and Intern's Insights, a monthly column.

October 18, 2009: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Sunday Services. Rotated portraits.

September 21, 2009: Added minister's sermon Our Chosen Faith
Our religious community is very much formed by our choices. This morning's title is borrowed from a book of personal essays about the reasons behind the essayist's choice to be a UU. What about us? Why are we here? What are our hopes for this chosen faith and for this congregation?
(Delivered September 20, 2009)

September 17, 2009: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Sunday Services, Adult Classes.
Rotated portraits.

September 7, 2009: Added guest sermon Ramblings from the Sage
Fred touched on the invention of God and a few of its more profound absurdities. It cannot be described in a single precis, but is a rambling, disjointed diatribe on some of Fred's favorite shibboleths. A better title might be "A Condensed History and Fuller Explanation of Dam' near Everything." Fred writes that he is "a retired journalist and professional trouble-maker, especially active in areas of peace, environment, civil and reproductive rights."
(Delivered September 6, 2009)

August 25, 2009: Added guest sermon The Modern Creation Story
David J. Simons. David frequently hears his work in physics and atmospheric science described as cold, mechanical and lacking in deeper appreciation. He talked about ways in which understanding the complexity of the universe and its processes opens up a particularly expansive and nuanced sense of awe.
(Delivered August 23, 2009)

August 24, 2009: Updated Calendar and News, Grace Notes, Sunday Services.
Rotated portraits.

* [Ed. Note 1: You are welcome to read the old pages again, of course. I read the complete Sherlock Holmes every couple of years, and I've listened to Beethoven's Fourth, which always reminds me of kingfishers darting along a river, hundreds of times. In both cases I know how the work ends, but I still enjoy it.]

[Ed. Note 2: This page has two other purposes. It lets me keep track of what I've done for my quarterly report to the board, and the steady, regular "updated Services, Calendar . . ." entries every four weeks show the casual visitor how - dare I write it? Faithful this web master is to his task.]