Services

Giving Thanks in Thankless Times

One service at 10:00. The great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart famously said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Of the various kinds of prayers, prayers of thanksgiving might be the most powerful. How do we practice giving thanks, even in challenging times?

Liberating the Holidays

This holiday season brings many challenges. Some are personal–losses of loved ones, losses of relationships, illnesses, changes in employment status, and so on. Others are more political or societal—loss of a sense of safety, increased isolation, divisions among neighbors and organization

Bend the Road, Bend the Arc

 As we engage in discernment about next steps for Sunnyhill’s “Be the Future” project, we will focus on how we live into two key aspects of our mission: creating compassion and creating justice. How do we go about living into these aspirations? (One service at 10:00, followed by congregational meeting at 11:00.)

Building Up in a Time of Tearing Down

The book of Ecclesiastes famously states that there is “a time to tear down and a time to build up.” Sometimes both must occur simultaneously. In the current era of tearing down democratic processes and social safety nets, it is time to build something new. What are we building together in this congregation, and why … Continued

All Souls

All Souls Day is a time to remember everyone who has died, everyone who has been part of the gathered community. The phrase “All Souls” has a particularly Unitarian connotation because of something that one of our own “saints,” William Ellery Channing, said: “I am a living member of the great Family of All Souls; … Continued

Founders’ Day 60 Years of Sunnyhill

This Sunday we will celebrate the founding of Sunnyhill 60 years ago in 1965. What has changed, and what has remained constant? And what might the next 60 years look like?  

Pirates and Promises

While we often trace our Unitarian Universalist concept of covenant back to our Puritan forbears, are there other ways of conceptualizing covenant that might be helpful as we create our own covenant? This sermon will consider pirate covenants of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Consumerism vs. Compassion

Jonathan Murray, intern minister. Our addictive American consumer culture has not only negatively impacted our finances and environment, but it has also damaged our spirituality and compassion for others. Can society transition from an endless pursuit of more stuff to an authentic pursuit of happiness?

Theology of Pumpkins

As we prepare for our Sunnyhill Pumpkin Patch, what are the implied theological underpinnings of this task that builds community within the congregation while also reaching out into the larger community? How might this undertaking represent building alternatives to the dominant culture of self-centeredness and despair?

Power of Belonging

In an era of distrust of virtually all organizations and institutions, what does it mean to belong? How can a sense of belonging strengthen us as individuals and as members of a larger community?