Past services
July 18, 2010, "How Inherent is Worth?" Chris Celata (pictured here) from LiveOak UU will be in the pulpit. Members of the Live Oak choir are participating in the service along with accompanist, Debra Temple. Sumi Hosiko coordinates. Chris Celata and Bonnie Richmond of Live Oak have led this service for their own congregation and some members enjoyed it so much they are coming to experience it a second time. Below is an introduction from Chris about the service:
According to the first UU principle we affirm the inherent dignity and worth of every person. Does that mean that everyone, including barbaric torturing murderers has inherent worth? Then maybe I shouldn't feel so good about having it myself? Surely babies have worth, but can you forfeit what you have due to bad behavior? And how much worth do you have to have to deserve healthcare? a comfortable jail cell? What is "inherent worth" anyway? And what is it that are we all worthy of? Christine Celata, physicist, mother, and presently a member of the Live Oak Fellowship in Alameda, and Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena, will give her thoughts on these questions
July 25, 2010, 10:30am. This I Believe. Participants are Tom McAninley and Cecilia Owen. Sophie Mengele on piano.
August 2010
August 1, 2010 10:30am "Between Trapezes", Linda Laskowski in the pulpit with Tom McAninley coordinating. A special reflection from a much loved and respected member of the UU Bay area community, Linda Laskowski, and our own congregation president coordinating the service.
June 6, 2010 Spiritual, But Not Religious?” Rev. Ben Meyers. Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
More and more people in this country identify themselves as “SBNR”(Do you?) Our UU faith tradition embraces the notion that there are truths to be discovered and respected in each of the world’s religions as well as in the tenets of science and through self-discovery. We don’t usually use textbook definitions to define our terms. This is especially true concerning the two terms in the topic, above. How do you define them? The Rev. Ben Meyers, preaching. Music by Sophie Mengele, a classical pianist, from Munich, Germany. and Chris Diggins, who is also an accomplished clarinetist.
June 13, 2010 Celebrating Community:An Intergenerational Service Led by Rev. Ben Meyers & Beth Dana, DRE and Others. Children are invited to join with the entire congregation this Sunday to celebrate the Unitarian Universalist Flower Communion. The Flower Communion is a tradition in many UU congregations. It is a celebration of the way we come together to build world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. We will also honor our Religious Exploration teachers and children.
June 20, 2010 This I Believe with Kevan Jenson & Brett Torres. Shirley Adams coordinates this service and Julia Haverstock reads the Story for all Ages. Kevan's homily is entitled "Uncomfortable" and promises to be an engrossing exploration of the challenges of living well. And Brett plays the music and delivers a homily entitled "A Wretch Like Me" about his religious path to Unitarian Universalism.
June 27, 2010 Oral History Reflections Led by the Oral History Young Adult Interns. Coordinators: Cecilia Owen & Lena Richardson. The photos will again be mounted in the Fellowship hall this Sunday.
Members of the interviewers/young adult team include Lauren Aczon, Katie Coffey, Moriah Cohen, Mary-Angela Fatta, Olivia Levins Holden, Maria Michaelson, Kathlyn York.
In this service, the BFUU oral history project interns will speak about this year of oral history gathering, what they have gleaned and why listening to stories matters to them. They will also speak about their own life journeys thus far and the key events that led them to seek out the realm of story and intergenerational community. We will take some time to honor the interns' contribution and recognize their ongoing connection to the Fellowship community as bearers of history.
Children's Religious Exploration Topic: "Asking Questions" Unitarian Universalists believe that everyone should be free to ask questions and make up their own mind about what we believe. This week, we will play Twenty Questions, share our "wonderings," and hear a story about Unitarian astronaut and scientist Maria Mitchell, who wondered about the stars and told her students to "question everything."
April 4, 2010 (Easter Sunday) “What Springs Forth: A Sermon On Renewing Our Community,” by the Rev. Ben Meyers, Tom McAninley, co-ordinator.
Easter and Passover can be a tricky holidays for Unitarian Universalists: our faith is deeply rooted in Christian and Jewish teachings and traditions, but many of our members do not feel a close affinity with the particulars of the resurrection and liberation stories as they are told in the Bible. Many carry wounds from encounters within traditional forms of orthodoxy and the emphasis that is placed on the violence, or the mythology, or the irrelevance of the stories to our times.
However, we are called as Unitarian Universalists to “look beneath” all religious teachings and stories for “the kernel of gold, the core truth, still there underneath the layers of dogma.” That kernel, our faith maintains, can be found within our own hearts.
We invite you to come prepared to examine where we have come and where we are going in the next phase of this radical leap of faith called the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Special music for the occasion. Kickoff for our Annual Stewardship renewal and drive.
Children's Religious Exploration (RE) program: Easter. Easter is a time to share the stories of our Jewish and Christian heritage and to celebrate rebirth, renewal, and growth. We will explore the Easter story, hunt for eggs, and then decorate them with our own beautiful designs.
April 11, 2010 “The Fate of Prophets” by the Rev. Robert Ballint, Hungarian Unitarian minister and Balazs Scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry. Coordinator: the Rev. Ben Meyers
‘Prophethood’ is not something that you choose. It is something that arouses with elemental power and compels you to walk a path, an adventurous path that is sometimes joyful, sometimes painful, and often both. But it is YOUR WAY, and you can't do otherwise. It gives you strength, for it is coming from the SOURCE OF LIFE.
The sermon invites you to get closer to the memory of Balázs Ferenc (1901-1937), Unitarian minister of Mészkő, Transylvania (Alabaster Village). He was a man with vision, a writer, a poet, a community builder, a parent and husband, and the misunderstood prophet of the Valley of God (Aranyos Valley).
The Rev. Róbert Bálint is the 2009-2010 Balázs Scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. Róbert is the minister to congregations in Mészkő, the Alabaster Village and Csegez. In addition to his theological studies, he has completed a degree in sociology at Kolozsvár Babes Bolyai University. He has been involved in the Unitarian youth movement, and worked with local social and charity organizations. With others, he has started the Francis Balázs Historical Preservation Project, designed to preserve and promote Balázs' spiritual and material heritage. He hopes to return at the end of his scholarship year having learned more about church organizational life and practices, new springs in Unitarian Universalist theological thinking, and ways of handling social issues.
Children's RE program: Teachers and Learners. "From you I receive, To you I give, Together we share, From this we
live." Throughout our lives, we are all teachers and learners. We never stop learning and we never stop growing. We will reflect on our favorite teachers, and play a fun game of charades to teach each other. Come learn and teach!
April 18, 2010 “We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For” Guest Preacher: Bill Scarvie. Worship Coordinator: the Rev. Ben Meyers
“The organizing principles of Earth Community are so closely aligned with the principles of my faith that I cannot affirm and promote one without affirming and promoting the other.” In this service we will explore the moral imperative of the Earth Community described in David Korten’s book, “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.”
Bill Scarvie was called to bring the good news of Earth Community to Unitarian Universalists after reading David Korten’s book. Bill serves as Coordinator of Outreach for the Earth Community Initiative of David Korten's People Centered Development Forum. Bill lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with his wife, Karen. They are members of the Cedars UU Church of Bainbridge Island.
Children's RE Program: "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees." "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss tells the story of the evil Once-ler who chops down the truffala trees for profit, and the Lorax who repeatedly warns the Once-ler of the dangers of
destroying the earth. Come hear the story of the Lorax, create your own truffala tree forest, and learn about why it is important to save the environment - because our lives depend on it!
April 25, 2010 Intergenerational Earth Day Celebration
Why we do what we do: A heart journey of social justice advocacy, self discovery, and my place in the world. What drives a social justice passion? What does the work teach us about ourselves? How can a spiritual practice empower our social justice? Jeffrey Melcher speaks to his journey as UULM organizer and lessons he has learned. Jeff Melcher is an Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Organizer and past-president of the BFUU.
Children's Religious Exploration (RE) Program: "Working It Out." We believe in working for a world that is peaceful and fair. Children will learn about the story of Unitarian peacemaker Emily Greene Balch and explore peaceful ways of working differences with each other and in the world.
12:30 to 2pm: ‘Together In Exploration’: Spiritual Growth Group with Rev. Ben and Kate Meyers. Session Title: “Taking A Stand For What Matters To You”
Sunday, March 14, 2010: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: ‘SPRING AHEAD' ONE HOUR OR YOU'LL MISS CHURCH!!! "Roots and Wings: Planting Seeds and Preening Feathers" by Rev. Ben Meyers & Beth Dana, DRE
The pioneering religious educator, Sophia Lyons Fahs, tells us "it matters what we believe." Some beliefs foster growth, self-worth, respect and gratitude, and other beliefs foster just the opposite. But, what happens when we stop fostering ANY beliefs? This service is about renewing our commitment to ‘teach our children well.' Please plan to stay for the workshop which follows...
Children's RE: "The Web of Humankind." We believe in caring for each other, and in caring for our earth, the home we share with all other living things to whom we are connected in the great chain of life. Through story ("The Little Red Hen"), discussion, and art children will consider the people chains they are a part of and write a thank you note to an important "link" in their chain.
12:30 to 4 pm: Congregational Startup Workshop For Religious Education
Jeanelyse Doran Adams, Director of Program Development for the PCD/UUA, will lead the congregation in further welcoming our Director of Religious Exploration, Beth Dana, deepening our understanding of Religious Exploration, and clarifying our commitment to the RE program at BFUU. Congregational leaders and all people interested in supporting Religious Exploration for Children at BFUU are encouraged to participate.
March 21, 2010: "Belonging" by Rev. Ben Meyers. NEW MEMBER INGATHERING SERVICE
What does it mean to ‘belong?' Webster's third definition gives a clue, "to be properly or appropriately placed." Where do you belong? Where do you need to be in the world to "properly placed?" Tom McAninley, coordinator.
If you have been contemplating becoming more involved at BFUU as a member or friend, please contact Shirley Adams
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, or call Rev. Ben: 510-841-4003...YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID! Joining this month is: Deena andrew, Sumi Hosiko, and Kathryn Thompson.
Children's RE: "Inherent Worth": We believe that each and every person is important. Through a movement game, stories, and a board game called In-HERE-ent Worth, children will explore what they value most. Children will each get a UU fortune carrying the good news that all people have inherent worth!
12:30 to 2pm: ‘Together In Exploration': Spiritual Growth Group following service with Rev. Ben and Kate Meyers. Session Title: "How Much Is Enough?" cancelled due to the Father Tamayo event.
March 28, 2010: Lessons from the Jewish genocide by Annette Herskovits
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live under military occupation, every aspect of their lives ruled by the Israeli army. Their land has been stolen to build homes for hostile and armed Jewish settlers. As a holocaust survivor and daughter of holocaust victims, Israel's destructive (and eventually self-destructive) path is a matter of constant interrogation and concern. I will share reflections about the need to understand how the past shapes the present, while, in the present, we make every effort to bring freedom and justice to Palestinians, and peace to both people. Service coordinated by Cynthia Johnson. guest musician is Max Ventura.
Children's RE: "Fair to Everyone." We believe that all people should be treated fairly and kindly. But how do we live this out in our lives? We often hear "that's not fair!" - this week children will explore what IS fair. We will hear the story of twins Tim and Tom struggling with fairness, and of two of our UU foremothers who had dreams of making the world more fair. Come share your dreams for greater fairness.
February 2010Sunday, Feb. 7 2010 “What (Else) Are You Missing?”, a sermon by the Rev. Ben Meyers
The organizational guru, Jerold Panas writes: “Before you leave this life, you want to be able to say: ‘I was given a certain talent—and I used it all.’ What passion, talent, or desire are you longing to use this new year? What is holding you back? How would life be different if you pulled out all the stops? The sermon is a personal reflection and an inspiring tale. A great service to bring a friend or family member. Open Circle following service: 12:30 to 2pm with Rev. Ben
Sunday, February 14, 2010: Intergenerational Service On LOVE, Coordinator: Beth Dana, Director of Religious Exploration and othersValentine’s Day is about more than romance, greeting cards, and chocolates. This Sunday, we will celebrate love’s power to transform people and communities. What do you love? How do you show love for the world? This intergenerational service will celebrate the many different ways we love. Margaret Hamilton is sharing a Story for all Ages. Tom McAninley tells about someone he has loved.
Sunday, February 28, 2010: “Making Time: A Sermon for the Hurried, the Harried, and the Hapless” by the Rev. Ben Meyers
Ghandi is attributed with saying: “There is more to life than increasing it’s speed.”
As a world citizen in the 21st century, I often find that the “time saving solutions” presented me also exact a cost to my sense of balance. I’m perpetually accosted with a false sense of urgency. And yet, it’s so tempting to think that a “two-minute bedtime story” might actually work! Spending time in virtual reality may be productive, but real connections take patience, presence and practice. Let’s practice. Open Circle/Together in Exploration following service: 12:30 to 2pm with Rev. Ben and Kate Meyers.
January, 2010
By Another Way?
Rev. Ben Meyers
Come start the New Year off in a good way with us at BFUU. Special music and a ritual for the occasion will be offered. Our children will focus on the UU Fourth Principle by exploring the idea of searching for truth by asking questions.
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson.
January 10, 2010
True Religion?
Rev. Ben Meyers
Reflections from one who had it, lost it, and later re-discovered it to be both essential and beyond belief! An excellent service to introduce UU to your friends or family members!
Coordinator: Syl Scherzer. Musician: David Udolf
Come meet our new Director of Religious Exploration, Beth Dana!
Also, please stay for a workshop:
UU WORSHIP PRACTICES AT BFUU, 1- 3:30PM
January 17, 2010
Tribute to Martin Luther King by Rev. Ben Meyers
Ingathering Ceremony during service for new members
Join in making the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday a meaningful experience.
Coordinator: Tom McAninley Special music for the Holiday by David Udolf
January 24, 2010
From Harvard, to Jerusalem, and back again led by Cecilia Owen
What do Harvard Divinity School and Jerusalem have in common? They both have become an integral part of my divinity school experience. From riding Palestinian bus lines in Jerusalem to studying Arabic everyday at Harvard, I found myself stretching into whole new areas of knowledge and experience. How could I make sense of these new challenges within my spiritual life? How do we all embrace the multi-faceted dimensions of spiritual and multi-cultural life without becoming overwhelmed and perhaps even become the better for them? Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
January 31, 2010
Where Love Is: A Biblical Case for Same-Sex Marriage," by the Rev. Ben Meyers.
Many of the arguments from the religious "right" claim to be Biblically-based. But, are these arguments either religiously or culturally sound? The sermon will offer both a critical eye and a spiritual interpretation to help us in our respectful and rightful engagement to counter these arguments and to support the rights of all people to marry, "Wherever Love Is." All are worthy, all are welcome. Musician: Carl Saffira Andrews. Worship coordinator: Shirley Adams
[NOTICE: The Rev. Paul Sawyer, originally scheduled to preach this day, cancelled. We will reschedule Paul for another date later this Spring.]
December 6, 2009
Gratitude: Carrying the Light, Entering the Darkness
Edie Hartshorne
Award-winning writer, peace activist and musician Edie Hartshorne invites us to inquire: How we hold a sense of hope and our own light during this season? As the world grows darker and the Holiday Season often presents challenges, how can we use our personal experience to support our intentions and commitment as activists? How can we respond to community and global challenges in a manner that sustains, rather than drains us? Edie will use music, poetry and readings from her book "Light in Blue Shadows" to share her insights. The Audible Light Trio with Edie (Japanese Koto) and BFUU members Nicole Milner (piano) and PhoeBe Anne (soprano) will offer related music.
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
While Standing On One Foot: A Unitarian Universalist Catechism
Rev. Ben Meyers
What do Unitarian Universalists believe? What is the essence of our liberal faith and spiritual grounding that compels us towards social justice and openness to religious pluralism? How do we articulate all this….succinctly? As suggested by its title, this sermon will attempt to do so. This is a very good service to invite your neighbors and friends to BFUU and introduce them to this UU community. Jazz pianist David Udolf will provide special music. Coordinator: Tom McAninley. A special story and children’s religious exploration program will focus on Hanukkah. A ‘UU 101’ orientation session will be offered by Rev. Ben and our Welcoming team after service.
A Reason for the Season?
Rev. Ben Meyers
As we stand poised before the mountain of expectation of this winter holiday season, I propose we pause to consider what is at the core of our celebrations and ask ourselves, “From whence comes our power to transcend darkness into light?” As this is the Sunday before Christmas and the day before the Winter Solstice, we will sing and share special hymns, carols, and stories. Bring your family and friends!
BFUU Poetry on Commitment
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
What kindles (or rekindles) the flame of your commitment? What is your experience of being committed to causes or relationships? What do you do that engages your whole being? Such questions as these will be explored in poetry by members and
friends of the congregation. In order to take part in the Poetry presentation, please turn in copies of the poem(s) you plan to read by December 20, either to the office or to Frances. Each reader gets three minutes.
All Soul’s Sunday Service: “Myths, Legends, and the Stories That Shape Us”
Rev. Ben Meyers
Halloween—All Hallowed’s Eve—is the night preceding the feast of all the venerated dead. These are the “saints” of All Saints Day, and the Celtic Samhain, and the Mexican Dia de los Muertos: It is a time to recall and honor those who came before us. In the words of “Breaths,” a popular song, “the dead have a pact with the living.” In this service of remembrance we will explore and celebrate our connections to our dead and their impact upon us. All are invited to bring a photograph or other appropriate item to place upon an “Altar of Remembrance.” Please plan to arrive a few moments before the service for this.
Sunday, November 8, 2009: "Justice, Equity, and Compassion in Human Relations"
Clovice A. Lewis, Jr., guest preacher.
Drawing upon the lessons and insights his parents gave him about how to live a spiritual life while coping with racism during his childhood, Clovice Lewis will talk about the progress we have made as a society emerging from the era of segregation in the United States. He also discusses the importance of the sixth UU principle on a global level. Lewis writes: “The spiritual and social yardstick regarding valuing others as yourself is, indeed, very high. Unitarian Universalists have been called to a very high standard. It is not necessarily the mandate to love others as you do yourself. Love is not a simple passive act. We have a much broader, more powerful requirement. We are asked to go beyond love towards activism.”
Clovice A. Lewis, Jr. is a member and past President of the Unitarian Universalist Community in Lake County. He is a professional composer and cellist, a former professor of computer music at UCSB, and a private pilot. He describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur” and is the CEO of a newly formed corporation called Advanced Housing Technology, LLC, which will manufacture small green emergency housing for disaster relief. He is also the owner of two multimedia companies: Technology Media Enterprises and Jazzical Music. Carol Cole-Lewis, an accomplished pianist and vocalist, will join Clovice in providing music for the morning.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
New Member Ingathering Ceremony. Sermon: “A Question of Religion: Have You Ever Thought You Might Be Wrong?”
Rev. Ben Meyers
More often than not, societal conventions convey religion as a set of beliefs which either confine, berate or even condemn human experience. Religion is usually relegated to strict doctrines that must be followed to the letter lest eternal damnation ensue. Religion could lead us to questions that aid in discerning life’s meaning but, too often, religious education is just a code word for indoctrination, unthinking and unquestioned. Unitarian Universalism offers a different approach to religion. It is an approach that sees religion as a "cradle-to-grave" experience, deepened by our doubts. This service will present some questions that religion must ask if it is to be an aid in living a full life.
We will welcome new members with an Ingathering Ceremony as part of this service. If you have been thinking of joining this congregation and are ready to do so now, call our minister, Ben Meyers at 510 841-4003.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Thanksgiving Sunday and Bring a Friend Sunday. “A Grateful Heart”
Rev. Ben Meyers.
There is so much to be grateful for; and this is the time of year when the abundance of our lives is noted and celebrated and shared. For we know that gratitude alone is not enough. We know that true appreciation requires giving back in some way. In order to keep our gifts pure we must develop a sense of generosity, which comes from participation in serving a cause that is greater than ourselves. This is a significant part of my understanding of why it is we gather in religious community... to make real and to live out our interconnections with life. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we pause to take stock. This Sunday is also an excellent opportunity to introduce your neighbors and friends to BFUU. Special music for the occasion and the children will prepare a Harvest Communion of pumpkin bread and cider in celebration and gratitude for our religious community.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Human Rights, Human Power, and Abortion: A UU Legacy
Darcy Baxter
UU congregations are some of, if not the, most pro-choice religious communities in the USA. Roe v. Wade was born in the basement of a UU congregation. What spiritual wisdom does our tradition provide in the face of the current shortage of abortion providers and the increasing restrictions and obstacles to reproductive healthcare? What does abortion teach us about the limitations of human power?
Darcy Baxter is a 3rd generation UU and 4th year seminarian at Starr King School for the Ministry. Darcy could not have done her work as an abortion counselor, a sexuality educator, or as a chaplain on a neo-natal intensive care unit without the solid moral and spiritual grounding of Unitarian Universalism.
October 25, 2009
UN Sunday: A Safe and Dignified Life for All
Rev. Ben Meyers
Following World War II, the United Nations (UN) was founded on 24 October 1945, in San Francisco. With aims to protect human rights and achieve world peace, it is a center for governments to communicate and develop strategies to reach these ends. Since its founding, October 24 has been called United Nations Day. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending that the day be observed as a public holiday by Member States. In celebration of this annual event, BFUU will join the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) who invites congregations and individual UUs to deepen their understanding of the United Nations by devoting one service in October to reaffirming the connections between UU principles and vital issues dealt with at the UN. A sermon by the Rev. Ben Meyers on this year's theme, "A Safe and Dignified Life for All" with an emphasis on human rights, will be given. Special music and Children’s Religious Education program provided.
Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
October 4, 2009
Until You Come Home: Making Music for Healing Our Veterans
George Mann
Labor Activist and musician George Mann has crossed the nation lifting up the elderly and the poor. Today, his focus is on veterans and families as a way to say "Welcome Home". He will explore with us how these individuals and families deal with loss and the impact of the horrors of war as well as how we as citizens can support the women and men who serve our country. Children’s Religious Exploration program offered for all ages.
Cynthia Johnson, Coordinator
October 11, 2009
Association Sunday: We Are Better Together!
Rev. Ben Meyers
On this Sunday, we join with UU congregations throughout the continent for the Third Annual “Association Sunday.” This years’ campaign is to build enthusiasm for the goals of growing our faith in numbers, spirit, diversity, leadership and social witness. A special collection will be taken to support the UUA’s Growth in Diversity initiatives. Rev. Ben Meyers will deliver the sermon and there will be special music for the occasion. Children’s Religious Exploration program offered for all ages.
Tom McAninley, Coordinator
October 18, 2009
Heritage & Change
Rev. Julia Kocs-Meyers
Heritage and change are the twin aspects of the phenomenon we call the history of our denomination. This Sunday we will explore this phenomenon through the connection of our historical roots in Transylvania, described by a Unitarian Universalist minister as ”the land of the Unitarian faith that has not changed in over 400 years.” Children’s Religious Exploration program offered for all ages.
The Rev. Julia Kocs-Meyers is a Hungarian Unitarian minister from Transylvania, Romania, a social worker and a business and executive coach. Prior to starting her consulting practice, she directed Connecting Point, the crisis center for homeless families in San Francisco city and county. She currently lectures on change management at the Functional Restoration Program in Emeryville and serves as the VP of Operations & Strategy for a small firm in Berkeley, CA.
Tom McAninley, Coordinator
September 20, 2009
Answering the Call
Rev. Earl W. Koteen
Cynthia Johnson, Coordinator
Who or what is calling you? What role, what ministry do you perform at the Berkeley Fellowship? in the community outside the Fellowship? How do you see the future and your future in this beloved community? Rev. Earl reflects upon these questions and and invites you to do the same as the Fellowship moves forward in its plans for the revitalization of its ministry to the greater Berkeley community.
Rev. Earl, the first minister we have ordained in many years, was our intern minister during the 06-07 congregational year and has been our organizational development consultant since Aug. 2007.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Teshuvah: A Service of
Forgiveness and Atonement
Rev. Ben Meyers
Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
The Jewish High Holy Days are traditionally a time of reflection of the year past and an opportunity to “set things right” for the coming year. The term teshuvah, or ‘turning’, provides us a context in which to do the difficult, but necessary, work of changing our patterns of behavior and letting go in order to move ahead. A ritual recitation of the Al Chet will be a part of the service.
Labors of Love: The Work That Makes Us Come Alive
Rev. Ben Meyers
Tom McAninley, President of BFUU, Coordinator
This will be my first ‘official’ sermon with you as your new full-time minister. I’ll share a little history based on the many one-on-one conversations I’ve had with many of you during the month of August…and a little prophesy, sharing my hopes and dreams for the
future of this religious community.
NOTE: Please plan on joining us after the service this morning for the All-Congregation portion of the planning session for the coming year with the Pacific Central District Executive, Cilla Raughley, from 1 to 3pm.
September 13, 2009
HOMECOMING Sunday: Gathering of the Waters Ceremony
Rev. Ben Meyers
Frances Hillyard, Coordinator
From one of my favorite Robert Frost poems comes this line: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” On this
Sunday which traditionally marks the beginning of a new program year for the Fellowship, the service will be a recognition of the role the religious community plays as ‘home’ in our lives and the part we play in making a spiritual home for all those who, when they need it, may find it here. We send a special invitation to all those who may have been absent for the
Summer (or longer!) All are welcome.
WATER CEREMONY: Please bring a small amount of water collected from the places you have traveled this summer (or from your own tap) to BRIEFLY share its source as part of a ritual ‘Gathering of the Waters’ Ceremony.
September 20, 2009
Answering the Call
Rev. Earl W. Koteen
Cynthia Johnson, Coordinator
Who or what is calling you? What role, what ministry do you perform at the Berkeley Fellowship? in the community outside the Fellowship? How do you see the future and your future in this beloved community? Rev. Earl reflects upon these questions and and invites you to do the same as the Fellowship moves forward in its plans for the revitalization of its ministry to the greater Berkeley community.
Rev. Earl, the first minister we have ordained in many years, was our intern minister during the 06-07 congregational year and has been our organizational development consultant since Aug. 2007.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Teshuvah: A Service of
Forgiveness and Atonement
Rev. Ben Meyers
Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
The Jewish High Holy Days are traditionally a time of reflection of the year past and an opportunity to “set things right” for the coming year. The term
teshuvah, or ‘turning’, provides us a context in which to do the difficult, but necessary, work of changing our patterns of behavior and letting go in order to move ahead. A ritual recitation of the Al Chet will be a part of the service.
September 6, 2009
Labors of Love: The Work That Makes Us Come Alive
Rev. Ben Meyers
Tom McAninley, President of BFUU, Coordinator
This will be my first ‘official’ sermon with you as your new full-time minister. I’ll share a little history based on the many one-on-one conversations I’ve had with many of you during the month of August…and a little prophesy, sharing my hopes and dreams for the
future of this religious community.
NOTE: Please plan on joining us after the service this morning for the All-Congregation portion of the planning session for the coming year with the Pacific Central District Executive, Cilla Raughley, from 1 to 3pm.
September 13, 2009
HOMECOMING Sunday: Gathering of the Waters Ceremony
Rev. Ben Meyers
Frances Hillyard, Coordinator
From one of my favorite Robert Frost poems comes this line: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” On this
Sunday which traditionally marks the beginning of a new program year for the Fellowship, the service will be a recognition of the role the religious community plays as ‘home’ in our lives and the part we play in making a spiritual home for all those who, when they need it, may find it here. We send a special invitation to all those who may have been absent for the
Summer (or longer!) All are welcome.
WATER CEREMONY: Please bring a small amount of water collected from the places you have traveled this summer (or from your own tap) to BRIEFLY share its source as part of a ritual ‘Gathering of the Waters’ Ceremony.
September 20, 2009
Answering the Call
Rev. Earl W. Koteen
Cynthia Johnson, Coordinator
Who or what is calling you? What role, what ministry do you perform at the Berkeley Fellowship? in the community outside the Fellowship? How do you see the future and your future in this beloved community? Rev. Earl reflects upon these questions and and invites you to do the same as the Fellowship moves forward in its plans for the revitalization of its ministry to the greater Berkeley community.
Rev. Earl, the first minister we have ordained in many years, was our intern minister during the 06-07 congregational year and has been our organizational development consultant since Aug. 2007.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Teshuvah: A Service of
Forgiveness and Atonement
Rev. Ben Meyers
Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
The Jewish High Holy Days are traditionally a time of reflection of the year past and an opportunity to “set things right” for the coming year. The term
teshuvah, or ‘turning’, provides us a context in which to do the difficult, but necessary, work of changing our patterns of behavior and letting go in order to move ahead. A ritual recitation of the Al Chet will be a part of the service.
September 6, 2009
Labors of Love: The Work That Makes Us Come Alive
Rev. Ben Meyers
Tom McAninley, President of BFUU, Coordinator
This will be my first ‘official’ sermon with you as your new full-time minister. I’ll share a little history based on the many one-on-one conversations I’ve had with many of you during the month of August…and a little prophesy, sharing my hopes and dreams for the
future of this religious community.
NOTE: Please plan on joining us after the service this morning for the All-Congregation portion of the planning session for the coming year with the Pacific Central District Executive, Cilla Raughley, from 1 to 3pm.
September 13, 2009
HOMECOMING Sunday: Gathering of the Waters Ceremony
Rev. Ben Meyers
Frances Hillyard, Coordinator
From one of my favorite Robert Frost poems comes this line: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” On this
Sunday which traditionally marks the beginning of a new program year for the Fellowship, the service will be a recognition of the role the religious community plays as ‘home’ in our lives and the part we play in making a spiritual home for all those who, when they need it, may find it here. We send a special invitation to all those who may have been absent for the
Summer (or longer!) All are welcome.
WATER CEREMONY: Please bring a small amount of water collected from the places you have traveled this summer (or from your own tap) to BRIEFLY share its source as part of a ritual ‘Gathering of the Waters’ Ceremony.
September 20, 2009
Answering the Call
Rev. Earl W. Koteen
Cynthia Johnson, Coordinator
Who or what is calling you? What role, what ministry do you perform at the Berkeley Fellowship? in the community outside the Fellowship? How do you see the future and your future in this beloved community? Rev. Earl reflects upon these questions and and invites you to do the same as the Fellowship moves forward in its plans for the revitalization of its ministry to the greater Berkeley community.
Rev. Earl, the first minister we have ordained in many years, was our intern minister during the 06-07 congregational year and has been our organizational development consultant since Aug. 2007.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Teshuvah: A Service of
Forgiveness and Atonement
Rev. Ben Meyers
Sylvia Scherzer, Coordinator
The Jewish High Holy Days are traditionally a time of reflection of the year past and an opportunity to “set things right” for the coming year. The term
teshuvah, or ‘turning’, provides us a context in which to do the difficult, but necessary, work of changing our patterns of behavior and letting go in order to move ahead. A ritual recitation of the Al Chet will be a part of the service.
Illness, Injustice and Hope: Health Care as a Human Right
Megan Dowdell
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
As UUs who believe in justice, equity and compassion for all people and the interdependent web of all existence, health and health care justice connects us all. Join Megan Dowdell, organizer for UU Legislative Ministry of California and GTU doctoral student, in exploring health care as a fundamental human right. Hear her story of family illness, injustice and hope, then learn how, together, we can promote federal health care reform here, now, and into the future. For more information check out UU Voices in Health Care, a program of UULMCA.
July 12
Inspiration and Ideas from General Assembly Tom McAninley
Coordinator: Christy Baker
Our Board president was our delegate to General Assembly in Salt Lake City from June 24 through June 28. Today he will report back on some of the significant ideas and speeches he heard.
July 5
Adversity, Affirmation and Activism
Kriss Worthington
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Kriss is the go-to guy when you want your justice vision to become a reality. He will reflect on being a citizen and his ongoing spiritual search. His pilgrimage goes from whipped and beaten foster child to homeless teen to international traveler to dedicated public servant. South Berkeley around the UC Campus is Kriss’s City Council district, but you’ll see him on his bike all over town, and he represents us all.
Rev. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
We have experienced four years of mutual ministry, tendering to each other support, care, respect, and essential co-ministry, a set of experiences that has forever changed the Fellowship in rich and profound ways. Come share in the joy and the sadness as Rev. Kuhwald says his last goodbyes to the Fellowship.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
June 21 Solstice service
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch
Coordinator TBA
Summer Solstice, known in pagan and religious traditions by many different names, occurs in the middle of June. A celebration of the longest day of the year, it is the beginning of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It has been a grand tribal gathering time since ancient times. The Goddess manifests as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. Colors are Yellow, Green, and Blue. It is a festival of community sharing and planetary service.
Today we will celebrate a Summer Solstice participatory ritual with music, poetry, singing, storytelling. Bring an item for a magical gift exchange. Bring a drum or a shaker if you have. Joining her will be members of the Spiral Dance Chorus and Band and the Taliesinatore (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids).
Evelie Delfino Såles Posch is an enChantress, ritualist, Pranic and sonic healer, women’s spirituality teacher, music educator and consultant. She is a sacred songwriter and recording heartist and plays many diverse instruments. She sings with 11 ensembles and directs four. Her music ministry is dedicated to her mother, Divinia, her first music teacher.
Poetry: Respecting the Web of All Life
Fellowship Poets
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
How do you embrace your part in the web of all life? Poets Adam David Miller, Frances Hillyard, Tom Ross, Marianne Robinson, Gene Sharee, Ardys DeLu, and Bob Randoph will share works exploring their relationship with the wider community of nature and all beings.
Max Ventura will share her musical talents.
Choosing Choice
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
One of the greatest functions of consciousness is making choices. Is it possible to choose Life, as the First Testament prophet said? What choices must be made to insure a future of relevance, love, and justice for the life of the Fellowship? What choices have you made that changed your life? What choices are still to be made that are pressing for resolution in your life? Join us as we honor the great human power of choice- making (and get a clue or two about good strategies for choosing). The Annual Congregational Meeting follows the Service today.
Spirit, Work and Money: A Partnership for Transforming Challenges into Opportunities
Pat Sullivan
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
How can current challenges around work and money be a catalyst for personal or group spiritual growth? How can new attitudes towards work and money help rebuild our economy on a more solid, more ethical and more just foundation? Spirit and work expert Pat McHenry Sullivan offers tips, resources and wisdom from all faiths, from all types of work and financial challenges. Handouts include a selection of her "Vision and Values" columns on spirit and work from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Age of Flowers: A UU Communion for Justice and Celebration
Rev. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
The Unitarian, Czechoslovakian minister Rev. Norbert Capek created a ritual of flowers that UU congregations across the continent celebrate in spring and early summer. Join with us as we, too, celebrate life and justice through the delicate and tenacious beauty of flowers . . . and the graceful ritual of communal exchange. Bring flowers to be shared for the ceremony.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide the music.
Honoring Our Mothers of Blood and Spirit
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
To commemorate Mother's Day, and in honor of her mother, Divinia, truly a divine mother on earth, Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will co-create the celebration with music, song, storytelling and ritual. Joining her will be members of the Spiral Dance Chorus and the Taliesin Druid Group.
May 3
A Matter of Principle[s]
Jamie McReynolds
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
What is at the core of our UU faith? Answers to this question have changed over the last two centuries. Are our UU principles, which we are considering revising next month at our annual General Assembly, a transient or a permanent aspect of our faith? Come join us as we explore these questions.
Jamie McReynolds is a seminarian at Starr King School for the Ministry who will be graduating with a Masters of Divinity degree in May 2009. He plans to serve as a chaplain in a hospital or hospice. Jamie is a member and a chaplain of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.
April 26
Ministry & The Deep River-Runner Path
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
This religious/ethical community, the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, has followed a deepening path in the last four years. Choosing to collaborate with a professional minister, Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald, has reconfirmed what he calls “The Deep River-Runner Path” as central to the congregation’s life. Join us as we journey that path as a gathered community, exploring the many ways we gift each others’ hearts and spirits.
April 19
There's A New World Coming: Songs in a Season of Hope
Betsy Rose
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Do you feel a new energy, a fresh wind at your back, despite these disastrous economic times? The Obama victory can be seen as a culmination of many years of Progressive organizing and activism in the U.S., and as a beginning of a new era in our country and our world. This service will include historic activist songs and songs envisioning a more just, sacred, and sustainable way of life, one that feels more possible now.
Betsy Rose is a singer, songwriter, and recording artist who has performed at festivals, ecological conferences, and spiritual gatherings. Spiritual leaders Thich Nhat Hanh, Matthew Fox, Joanna Macy, and others have included her music in their work. After 9/11 and during the Iraq invasion she gathered large groups of people to sing peace songs at BART stations. She co-leads the Family Practice Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and participates in their Path of Engagement program.
The new political era, ushered in on the democratic tsunami of Barack Hussein Obama’s entry into the White House, calls us to both accountability and holding him, others—and ourselves—accountable for the promises we have made. Join us as we use the work of Tavis Smiley, black progressive political commentator, to dance between the political dynamics of this national moment and the drama of our own inner journey’s elegance and struggle.
March 29
Voices from Women’s UU History: Herstorical Perspectives
Dara Kaufman-LeDonne
Coordinator: Aline Prentice
For Women’s History Month, we unearth and lift up voices from UU women’s history—or “her-story!” How do UU women’s her-storical voices challenge and inspire our movement today? Where do voices from the past resonate with those in the present? How are present dreams informed by past visionaries? Join us in celebrating, questioning, and contemplating together the legacies and promises of our movement this Sunday. Irina Rivkin will provide music.
March 22
Lilith Meets the Green Man
Elizabeth Fisher
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
These two ancient religious figures, Lilith and the Green Man, are often wrongly demonized or simply ignored in traditional theological conversation. What would they say to one another if they met? Would global women’s human rights be a focus? How would the battle of the sexes get resolved? Come join in a celebration of partnership, mutual aid, and intrinsic plenty at this pivotal time in the seasonal wheel of the year, Spring Equinox, when light and dark are even.
Elizabeth Fisher is a writer who explores issues of gender, earth-honoring spirituality and global human rights for women. She is author of Rise Up & Call Her Name and Gender Justice: Women’s Rights are Human Rights, and a Unitarian Universalist for 27 years.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
March 15
Celebration of Belonging: Crossing A New Threshold
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Our service will be dedicated to exploring the meaning and experiencing the joy of crossing the threshold into religious/ethical community. We will honor new members in a special ritual of welcome and recognition. Our affirmation of life as participants and members of a liberal religion committed to celebration, caring, challenge, centering and change will offer both the festive and the serious. Join us as we celebrate the important act of choosing to belong.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
March 8
Can We Save Unitarian Universalism?
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
This religious community, the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, has joined in a deep dialogue with its two sister churches in the North East Bay (Kensington & Oakland) and with the Starr King Seminary. The future of this liberal religious/ethical faith is at stake. What are the values we must carry forward? What legacies from the past will embolden and support us? What role are we called to play out of the values we hold to help heal and transform a world alive with both pain and beauty?
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
March 1
“This I Believe”
Judith Granada-Dewey and Richard Dewey
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
One of the ways to shift power from hierarchy to a “level playing field” is listening to each other’s life stories so that we can be seen and heard, thus appreciating the choices we’ve made and who we have become through the process. In our “This I Believe” series, initiated in the 1990s, two new Fellowship members will share their spiritual journeys.
Judith Granada-Dewey and Richard Dewey have been faithfully driving from Benicia for our Sunday morning services since early 2008. Max Ventura will provide music.
February 22
"Hope On A Tightrope"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Dr. Cornell West, inspirational, prophetic, Socratic visionary, has
called us all to explore the way of hope in his recent book, Hope on a
Tightrope. He asks, "What must happen for us to stay awake permanently
and commit to critically engaging the public interest or expanding the
common good?" Join us as we explore these and other questions of this
good and dangerous man.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
February 15
Everyday Spiritual Practice
Aline Prentice
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Aline will explore how we can bring spiritual practice into our
everyday lives. How can we connect with the Source of Love as fuel for
our way of being and our actions in the world? What is the quality of
deep listening that brings us closer to this Source? What is the
Presence that carries us through the difficulties�and the paradoxical
grace or kindness we can find even in the darkest of moments? How can
we bring sacredness into the everyday�particularly in our close
relationships, communities, organizations, and social justice work?
Aline works on socially engaged spiritually programs with Donald
Rothberg, author of The Engaged Spiritual Life. She is Member/Guest
Relations Coordinator at BFUU, where she also conducts young adult
programs with Lena Richardson. Max Ventura will provide music.
February 8
Where Is the Stranger?
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Aline Prentice
The practice of hospitality is a grace to which all cultures devote
abundant energy. What deep spiritual and ethical truths within the
human lead us to such a practice? Is anyone a stranger? What are the
key elements of authentic hospitality?
Join our Sunday Service and add your heart to the mix.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
February 1
African American Participation in Ending World War II
Burl Smith, Robert Edwards, and Lillian Edwards
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Burl Smith thought it would be fun to fly a plane, so when his buddy was selected to train as a pilot for the Tuskegee Airmen, he decided to apply. He was surprised to be selected for what he considered to be a rather prestigious group even though they were not recognized by their white peers.
Robert Edwards was a navy yeoman in 1944 when the service was
segregated. He wants to explain the facts of what happened when some
of the African-American men stationed at Port Chicago in Concord
refused to load munitions onto the ship. Lillian Edwards, Bob's wife,
has been a community activist since moving here from Chicago in 1992
where she had been active. She has been a member of Stagebridge and
chair of Healthy Living Committee at North Oakland Senior Center. BFUU
member Dolores Helman will engage the presenters in conversation about
their experiences.
Music by Marianne Robinson and Marty Rosman
January 25
Joys & Sorrows of Living in the Modern Age
Wes "Scoop" Nisker
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Wes Nisker explores the foolish human condition and the joys and
sorrows of living in the modern age. He places today's headlines in
the context of biological evolution and all of human history, and
thereby offers us the relief and laughter that only vast perspectives
can bring.
Wes is a well-known author, radio commentator, and Buddhist meditation
teacher at Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre. His books include The Big
Bang, The Buddha, The Baby Boom, and his national bestseller,
Essential Crazy Wisdom. Editor and cofounder of the international
Buddhist journal Inquiring Mind, his latest book is The Best of
Inquiring Mind. He will provide music as well.
January 18
By Our Blood & Tears
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
On the weekend that celebrates one of America's most courageous
prophets, Martin Luther King, Jr., we will explore the meaning of
being white in the 21st Century United States. The costs of racism for
Whites and for People of Color is beyond reckoning, but with the
swearing in of the first President of color for this country, there
may be new fruit on the tree of our national collective. Join us as we
step onto an old yet new path of reconciliation and rebirth.
Evelie Delfino S�les Posch will provide music.
January 11
Storytelling and Democracy
Lena Richardson
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Creating spaces for storytelling about our own lives and the lives of
our elders and ancestors can deepen and enrich our personal lives as
well as the social fabric of our communities. Storytelling and
art-making processes also have the potential to build more democratic
organizations and institutions that ultimately impact our political
future. In this service, R. Lena Richardson will draw on her work with
StoryCorps, the national oral history project; the Kitchen
Conversations Dialogue Program with the Lower East Side Tenement
Museum; and her work as a researcher with the Arts and Democracy
Project documenting arts-based dialogue civic engagement work around
the country.
Lena has a Master's in Adult Education. She is co-leading the dynamic
spirituality classes with Aline Prentice, and plans to offer a
four-part workshop related to today's presentation.
January 4
Entering the Century: Paying Our Hopes Forward
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Almost a full decade into the 21st Century, it has already taken more
than one wild turn. What are its true claims upon us and how can we
lay down a course that celebrates spirited renewal? The shape of
Unitarian Universalism in the East Bay is deeply affected by and
interwoven into this new time.
Rev. Kuhwald will share some of the work of the dialogue that is now
taking place between leaders from the Fellowship, Starr King School
for the Ministry (in Berkeley) and the UU Church of Berkeley (in
Kensington).
Evelie Delfino S�les Posch will provide music.
December 28
“The University, the Patriarchy, 9/11 and How I Recovered”
Batya Weinbaum, PhD
Coordinator: TBA
Batya Weinbaum is a Feminist who taught multicultural literature at
Cleveland State University from 1998-2003. Today she will speak of how
being a published feminist made her professorial career at Cleveland
State more difficult, and how she took her difficulty and created
literature about it. Ms. Weinbaum edits FemSpec, a journal discussing
and publishing feminist speculative fiction, and teaches at Eastern
Carolina University. After earning an MA from SUNY Buffalo, she
received her PhD from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is
also a visual artist. Yet another aspect of her creativity is her
daughter Ola.
December 21
Winter Solstice, Sweet Solstice
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Join us as we return to the source of winter celebration in the
Northern Hemisphere. Winter Solstice, Sweet Solstice . . . the time
of turning, turning from the nurturing and protective times of dark to
the reemergence of light-lit days and the rekindling of steady summer
warmth. Let us lift up the ancient and the present as we celebrate
Earth's journey.
December 14
"St.George and the Dragon", a mummers' play
Presenters: Entanglement Sword and Amy Baldwin
Coordinator: Ardys DeLu
Mummers' plays have been performed in England, Scotland, Wales, and
Ireland for hundreds of years. Amy Baldwin and Entanglement Sword will perform a version of "St.George and the Dragon"a mummers'play, which will include music and dance. Amy Baldwin will also give a brief history of mumming.
December 7
Endless War No More
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
On this anniversary of one of modern history's most infamous military
attacks, and at this time of hope for a new possibility in dismantling
the excesses of militarism, we will explore the meaning of peace and
war within the gentle and sacred crucible of our Sunday morning service.
November 30
Towards Freedon--Connecting the Dots
Elanne Kresser
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
How do we organize ourselves to meet a challenging world with fluidity and grace? What internal resources must we develop to experience an inner sense of stability amid the instability of our times? Feldenkrais, developed by the late Moshe Feldenkrais, is an approach to human development and learning through movement. Widely known for its ability to help people recover from pain and improve movement, its essence is a practical philosophy of freedom. Elanne Kresser is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and student of Zen Buddhism.
November 23
Association Sunday
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
This Sunday, in the midst of the weekend dedicated to thanksgiving, we
will celebrate the Fellowship's vital relationship with the Unitarian
Universalist Association. All across North America, congregations have
been dedicating one Sunday during this fall period to remembering the
ties we hold to the Association, a relationship that gives us strength
and a wider, richer connection to UUs across the continent. Let us
celebrate the UU web of interconnection.
November 16
A New World
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Ardys DeLu
After the election . . . we will celebrate our commitment to
transformation, no matter who wins or loses, no matter what we gained
or lost. Sunday is the time to ritualize our deep connection with the
world, each other and our sense of personal journey--that spacious,
precious journey that continues no matter what windstorms, what
earthquakes rock our world. Join us as we celebrate and mourn.
Guaranteed: here will be material enough for all.
November 9
Elders Community and Wisdom
Barry Barkan
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Barry Barkan, leader of the Elders' Guild, will speak about the Guild
and its work to energize those on the path to becoming elders to build
community, cultivate wisdom, and blend spirituality and activism as we
champion future generations. Particularly now, in these challenging
times, society needs its elders to stand up and become a force for
healing and renewal as we redeem our legacy to the grandchildren. It's
not too late to complete the work begun in the 1960s.
Barry will also describe the Elders' Guild workshop on "Championing
The Future"scheduled for November 16 at the North Berkeley Jewish
Community Center.
November 2
Election Un-spun
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Two days before the most important election of our lifetimes, perhaps
of the entire history of this country, we gather, as we always do on
Sundays: To lift up our spirits, to reconnect with those we care
deeply about, to ride the wild hour of "worship" deep into the
interiors of our hearts�-which is right where the political is most
vitally alive. Join us for a pre-election pump-up.
October 26
All Souls Celebration and Renewal
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Egyptians, pre-Spanish Mexicans and Celts of the ancient British Isles celebrated summer's end (Samhain) as a moment in the great cyclical round of life. In the Celtic worldview, Samhain is the time when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to reestablishing itself in a new order. During that time the veil between the visible and invisible worlds is thinned, and passage between them, as well as sight-lines into the future, are most possible. Join us as we celebrate those who have passed and as we divine our future pathways.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch and Marty Rosman will provide music.
October 19
Learn to Live Together or Perish as Fools?
Max Elbaum
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Humanity today is even more inter-connected—and more in danger—than it was
40-plus years ago when Dr. Martin Luther King spoke those words. Finding ways to resolve conflict through dialogue instead of war is not only a moral and ethical
imperative, but a more urgent political one than ever before. So is the
challenge of cooperating with people across the planet to tackle global warming,
water and food shortages, rising inequality, and other humanity-threatening
crises. The moment holds great perils, but also new possibilities for peace and
human betterment. Join in this dialogue about danger, change, and hope.
Max Elbaum, an activist in peace and anti-racist movements since the 1960s, is
an editor of War Times/Tiempo de Guerras, an antiwar education project at
www.war-times.org
October 12
Indigenous People's Day: Heart Drum, World Drum
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
October 13 is Indigenous People's Day. Calling it so affirms the insight that, as Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Democracy Now!, “I'm convinced that indigenous peoples are the moral reserve of humanity.”
Join us as we recommit ourselves to honoring the First Peoples of this land, seeking to ground our work for justice, and for a deepening path of wisdom, in the pathways extending from the depths of ancient times.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch and Marty Rosman will provide music.
October 5
Proposition 8 – Anti-Marriage Initiative
Why Same-Sex Marriage Should NOT Be Abolished
Kristen & Emily Montan
Coordinator: Ardys DeLu
Today Kristen and Emily Montan will speak about Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that would change the California constitution so that same-sex couples would no longer be allowed to marry. They will discuss the advantages of their marriage, and why all couples deserve such an advantage.
Kristen and Emily Montan became domestic partners in 2003. They had a big church wedding in July 2008 at the First UU Church of Oakland. They are a couple wrestling with all the plans and legal ramifications of getting older.
September 28
Autumnal Balance, Autumnal Edge
Rev.Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
How can this season, when the sun reaches its mid-way point between summer and winter, strengthen our resolve to live compassionately, yet with courage? What teaching does this season offer to our hearts and minds with the shortening of days? What joy can there be in knowing that the dark (death?) is nearing? Join us as we engage questions at the quick of our fragile lives.
September 21
Jeremiah:Then and Now
Coordinator and Presenter: Dolores Helman and Gene B. Herman
The Prophet Jeremiah admonishes the people of Judea: "They refuse
justice to orphans and the rights of the poor...stop your wicked thoughts and deeds, be fair to others, stop exploiting orphans,widows, and foreigners. And stop your murdering."
"God damn America," railed Reverend Jeremiah Wright at his
congregation..."governments failed, the United States of America
failed at treating its Native American citizens, failed at treating
fairly its citizens of Japanese descent, failed its African American
citizens..."
How do these two Jeremiahs, one an Old Testament prophet, the other a
21st century preacher, relate to us today in Berkeley and to Jews and
Palestinians in Israel-Palestine? Is there hope for peace and justice
for our congregation and our Jewish, Muslim, and Christian brothers
and sisters?
September 14
The Haitian People's Stand for Democracy & Justice
Pierre LaBossiere
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Two of our UU principles are about the dignity and worth of every human being and belief in the democratic process. We will explore with Haitian-American Pierre LaBossiere the spirit of the Haitian people in
their long, unrelenting embrace of freedom and dignity despite the
ruinous policies of the "neighbor to the North." We will examine the
inclusivity and strength of the spiritual tradition that sustains the
"poor" in Haiti.
Pierre is a dedicated justice and labor activist, a backbone of Haiti
solidarity across the country. With his wife Maria and children who
share his unique moral intensity, he has transformed the suffering of
many in his work with the Haiti Action Committee and the East Bay
Sanctuary Covenant.
September 7
"Liquid Like Life"
BFUU Annual Water Ritual of Welcome
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Joining waters from our summer sojourns is an old Fellowship and
Unitarian Universalist tradition. Bring some water from wherever you
traveled(around your neighborhood, across the planet) and we will
greet one another in this official ritual beginning of the new UU
year. Let the wonder of water reawaken visions of fluidity, clarity,
depth and life-giving mystery.
August 31
Labor Day
"Labor Activists Among Us"
Bill Balderston & Marianne Robinson
Coordinator: Marianne Robinson
We will honor departed Fellowship members Harold Rossman and Martha Roberts, who were lifelong activists in the Labor Movement. We will recall their lives as dedicated leaders in our congregation and in the significant workers’ struggles of the 20th century, and make links with today’s labor movement. Bill and Marianne will also touch on their participation in the labor movement.
Activist and musician Eliot Kenin will join us in singing well-known anthems of the Labor Movement.
August 24
“Qualities of the Contented Heart”
Eve Decker
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
The Buddha taught ten qualities that when engaged in as practices can lead to profound peace and transformation in individuals and communities. Buddhist practitioner and musician Eve Decker will invite us through word, poetry, and song to consider how we can deepen these qualities in our own lives.
Eve has practiced Buddhism in the Vipassana style since 1992. She is a member of the Berkeley radical folk trio Rebecca Riots, performs original “Dharma Music” for spiritual communities around the bay. She taught elementary school music and theater in the East Bay for more than 20 years.
August 17
"Information Warrior: Taking a Stand in an 'Anti-terrorist' Climate"
Josh Wolf
Coordinator: Ardys DeLu
Josh Wolf is an independent journalist and video blogger. He refused to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena demanding both his testimony and the footage he shot of an anarchist protest in July 2005. Josh was represented by lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild and the First Amendment Project. He was released in April 2007 after spending 226 days in a federal detention center—more time in jail for protecting source material in U.S. history than any other person. Today he will speak about taking a stand in our new “anti-terrorist” climate.
August 10th, 2008
"Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Age"
Cynthia Johnson, Gene Herman, and Congregation
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Today we will have a circle discussion on the effects of living in the
Nuclear Age. Do you remember seeing pictures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and the destruction left after the bombings? The air raid drills here
at home? What can we do to help heal the wounds caused by such massive
violence and our society's acceptance of it?
August 3
"Strength for the Struggle"
Carole Holtz with Congregation
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Today we will have a circle discussion on how we power up spiritually for activism. What practices have individuals in our community developed to stay centered and work from a place of joy and love as well as commitment?
July 27
"Sharing Our Words"
Fellowship Poets
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Today some of the precious spirits of our community will share, through their poetry, life experiences that influenced their spiritual journeys.
July 20
"Winter Soldier"
Rev. Meg Whittaker-Greene
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
This past spring Iraq Veterans Against the War held profoundly significant hearings in Washington DC on their experiences of the Iraq war and occupation. They hoped that our elected officials would pay attention to their experiences, the reality on the ground, and the dehumanizing and brutalizing impact of war. Their transforming courage to speak reality rather than spin remind us that the strongest warriors are those who speak the truth.
Rev. Whittaker-Greene is associated with the Faith Fools Street Ministry, Interfaith Peace Witness and CodePINK, and a member of Veterans for Peace.
July 13
"The Sacred in Siberia"
Presenter: Aline Prentice
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Aline Prentice will discuss how the sacred weaves into daily life in Siberia between Buddhist, shaman, and Eastern Orthodox traditions that have peacefully coexisted for over 300 years. Her reflections will tie together reverence for sacred sites, traditions of offering blessings, and lessons from living in the taiga forest: interdependence and connection with the earth, simplicity, acceptance, and a sense of wonder at the majestically vast expanses.
Aline spent the past four years living in the Lake Baikal region, working on environmental, youth, and non-profit development projects and going for several months on spiritual retreat in a remote Buddhist community.
June 29
"Pride! Pride! Pride!"
Speaker from the Pacific Center for Human Growth
Coordinator: TBA
Join us as we celebrate the pride in family. On this, the weekend of Gay Pride, we raise our banners high to affirm our commitment and our love for the Gay community. Our speaker comes from the Pacific Center for Human Growth, whose work has made an important difference in supporting all who “Stand on the Side of Love.”
June 22
"Navigating Towards Global Beloved Community—Reflections on True Development from Africa to America"
Sara Wolcott
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
How might we best navigate towards Global Beloved Community? How do we realize wholeness and justice as the dominant global paradigms? What is true human development? Quaker writer and speaker Sara Wolcott connects the dots from her journey of following these questions from East Africa to Memphis, Tennessee to Oakland, California, and offers her experience, strength, and hope in this growing global movement.
June 15
"Honoring the Legacy, Engaging the Present, Welcoming the Future"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
As Rev. Kuhwald leaves the Congregation for the summer (returning in September), the title of the sermon will guide our service: Honor what this mighty congregation has accomplished and survived. Engage our global/local/congregational moment with courage and zest. Offer a wide and wonderful Welcome to the future.
June 8
"Survival Through Community"
The Congregation
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Today is the Flower Communion, when we each bring a flower that represents something about our self to add to a bouquet representing our Fellowship community. Then we each receive someone else’s flower in the spirit of unconditional acceptance. Thus we celebrate our unity in diversity, as necessary a lifeline today as it was to its creator, the Czech Unitarian minister Norbert F. Capek, when he led members of his congregation in standing up against the Nazis.
Music will be provided by our friend and folk-style singer, Max Ventura.
June 1
"The Serenity Prayer"
Presenters from 12-Step Programs
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
The Serenity prayer—"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference"—has been mostly associated with the 12-Step recovery programs. However, this timeless prayer not only has been a life-saver for survival; it is also a spiritual touchstone and anchor as many strive to deepen the spirituality of their entire lives and their communities.
Members from 12-Step groups will speak about how this prayer has affected their whole lives. Respecting their anonymity, we are not publishing their names.
May 25
"Blessed Unrest"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
There is a powerful movement, underneath the radar of the major media and the national governmental bureaucracy, a movement for sanity, environmental integrity, and human equity that Paul Hawken (entrepreneur, international speaker and writer) reveals in his latest book. Blessed Unrest holds out powerful reasons for hope in our times that will be the basis for Rev. Kuhwald’s sermon.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will perform.
May 18
"Reflections on the ‘Stuff’ in Our Lives"
Ann Leonard
Today we will explore the fascinating hidden environmental and social impacts of the ways we make, use, and throw away all the stuff of daily life. Over the past 20 years, Ann Leonard has traveled to 40 countries investigating the factories where our stuff is made and the dumps where it is dumped, talking with communities and activists along the way. She will reflect on her own spiritual journey, which resulted in “The Story of Stuff,” the film that is becoming an internet phenomenon, generating over two million viewers in its four months.
Ann Leonard grew up in a UU household in Seattle and now lives in Berkeley with her daughter.
Cantor and Peace Troubadour Daniel Zwickel will provide music.
May 11
"In Such a Time as This"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
How are you being called to be present at this time on the Earth? How may we, in the words of the great minister/theologian/activist Howard Thurman, keep fresh before us the moments of our high resolve? In honor of his mother, and mothers everywhere, Rev. Kuhwald will deliver this sermon he offered to the students and faculty at the Starr King Chapel this year.
May 4
"May Day/Beltane"
Greg Harder
Coordinator: Nancy Feinberg
May Day/Beltane was an important holiday to many of our ancestors, and it is still important. Our speaker Greg Harder, with his wife Rachael, will give us some background about the holiday’s history and relevance today.
Greg Harder is a pagan priest.
April 27
"Walking Together"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Join us for a celebration of long-time and elder members, as well as those who have recently thrown in their lot with this band of creative, non-conforming, loving, and intelligent folk of the Berkeley Fellowship. What does it mean to "walk together" in this time of planetary peril and possibility? Share this Sunday with us as we walk together in celebration and inquiry.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
April 20
"Gratitude for Father Earth and Mother Sky"
Earl W. Koteen, Intern Minister
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
In Egyptian mythology, Earth is the god Geb, black as the mud of the Nile and green as the plants that grow from him. He is the brother and husband of Nut, the goddess of the sky, whose blue skin is covered with stars.
In this his last sermon as Intern Minister, Earl will express his gratitude for mother and father earth, father and mother sky, and for the hospitality of Fellowship.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
April 13
"I'll Pass"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Nancy Louise Feinberg
As we enter the great Jewish Passover season, what depths of tradition can Unitarian Universalists plumb? And what might it mean to put our faith in a sense of natural blessedness and integrity? How are our lives woven with both the present and the past so that we face the future with vitality, courage, and care?
April 6
"Jesus: Friends and Enemies"
Rev. Lee Williamson
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
If one cares about the way of Jesus, how will that shape engagement with both friends and enemies? If Jesus really is about love what should his enemies expect from/of him? What about his friends?
We will explore some of the ways Christians have, and have not, gotten it right. We will ask, in the context of war and terror, how we might respond to enemies in ways that are consistent with the gospel.
Rev. Lee Williamson is a United Methodist pastor (retired) and a graduate of the Pacific School of Religion. He has lived and worked in the SF Bay Area for more than 30 years as a pastor and a peace activist. In retirement he strives to "seek justice, love, and kindness, and to walk humbly with God." (Micah 6:8)
Maxina Ventura will provide music.
March 30
"Headache Spells and High Resolve"
Pamela Gehrke
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
Many people in our American culture would say that belief in reward and punishment after death is necessary in maintaining morality. In contrast, Howard Thurman's heart whispers, "Keep fresh before me the moments of my high resolve." Beginning with a story of a Chinese folk hero, the Monkey King, we will consider how religious tradition can guide us in making moral choices.
Pamela Gehrke is a third-year student at Starr King School for the Ministry, formerly a teacher of freshman English, literature, and mythology at UC Berkeley and SF State. She is a member of the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo and lives in Burlingame.
March 23
"Arcing Sunwise"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Gliding 'cross the intersection of up and down (the Vernal Equinox), we will begin the first of a series on spiritual/ethical practice. What does it take to live our life intentionally, arcing toward light, toward goodness, toward compassion and love? Join us as we delve into the meaning of Personal Practice.
Gael Alcock and the Cello Posse will perform.
March 16
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Poor People's Campaign
Rev. Dr. Gabriella Lettini
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
40 years ago the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. announced the Poor People's Campaign--a movement of poor Blacks, Whites, Native Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and others who came together to end poverty and to secure economic justice and human rights in the United States. After MLK's assassination, 7,000 protesters went to reflect on the present conditions of the poor in the US and globally.
Gabriella Lettini is Director of Studies in Public Ministries and Associate Professor of Theological Ethics at Starr King School for the Ministry--GTU. She is organizing a Bay Area Poverty Truth Commission at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, April 10, 2008.
March 9
"Spells and Resolve on the Yogic Path"
Alexandra McGee
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Today we will reflect on surrender and knowledge on the Yogic Path and living in our bodies. Alexandra McGee will offer insight on embodiment, spiritual practice, and origins of deep yogic philosophy. Ms. McGee is a third-year student at Starr King School for the Ministry, soon to complete her Master of Divinity with a focus on Sanskrit, chaplaincy, and Hindu theology.
Alex has practiced Yoga since 1989 and taught yoga in prison, corporations, churches, schools, and eco-villages since 1994.
March 2
"You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
What is grief? What is mourning? What does the death of a loved one mean for the living? How can we, how shall we grieve? Let us explore the experience of loss and the human ways of responding when "Now there is a hole in the universe."
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will perform.
February 24
"Dear Madame/Mr. President"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
After the major primaries for President this month, Rev. Kuhwald will offer words to the candidates. Seeking a vision to guide us in the post-Bush era, Rev. Kurt will directly address the powers that might be through a personal appeal, in letter form: Whither democracy? What will sustain us? Who is in control? What leadership is needed?
Join us as we search for truth amidst the detritus of a dying patriarchy.
Hali Hammer will provide music.
February 17
"Remembering Japanese Americans during the Internment"
Shizue Seigel
Coordinator: Nancy Feinberg
After Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States of America was gripped by fear, anger and racial prejudice. In the name of national security, 120,000 Japanese Americans--innocent men, women and children, citizens and non-citizens alike--were incarcerated in American concentration camps. Not a single one was ever found guilty of espionage or sabotage.
Author Shizue Seigel sketches vivid portraits of two dozen teachers, ministers, and just plain folks who advocated for the Japanese Americans in the media, worked in internment camps, safeguarded their property, or helped them start new lives afterwards.
February 10
"Being, Consciousness, Bliss, & Death"
Earl Koteen
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Asian Indian philosophy states that the nature of the Absolute is "being, consciousness, bliss" and that the personal Self and the Absolute are one. This philosophy powerfully helped to guide Emerson, Thoreau, and other Unitarian fore-bearers to develop Transcendentalism. Earl, our intern minister and a chaplain resident, will speak about how knowledge of our true Self prepares us to be present both in life and to death.
Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will provide music.
February 3
"Cultivating the Eye, the Ear, and the Heart"
Karina Epperlein
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Filmmaker and teacher Karina Epperlein will speak about her lifelong personal and artistic journey to explore that which is invisible or shrouded in darkness, labeled as "other," or excluded by mainstream society. With the eyes and ears of a poet, her work is always finding light and beauty, addressing the themes of transformation and healing. She will share her insights about witnessing and curiosity as a way of being.
A native of Germany, Karina Epperlein has worked in Europe and the U.S. for the past 30 years as a filmmaker, theater artist and teacher. She lives in Berkeley and has a Tai Chi studio in Oakland. Karina has made documentaries on women in prison and their children; survivors of genocide; Anna Halperin's expressive Art Therapy; young people's growth; and the award-winning "Phoenix Dance" on an imperfect body doing graceful movement.
January 27
"Teach the Children"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
At this critical moment in the life of the Earth what is it that we should teach the children? What will cultivate a sense of purpose, love for life, and a consciousness attuned to the deepest sources of creativity? What transformation must we undertake to live the maturity we seek to encourage in our children? What does the child that still lives within us need to feel safe, loved, and challenged?
Rev. Kuhwald will attempt to walk through some possible answers.
Maxina Ventura will offer her music.
January 20
"The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & The Longest Walk 1978 - 2008"
Wounded Knee De Ocampo
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
As we remember the profound legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., we are called to remember the indigenous holocaust, which, together with the slave trade, formed the basis of the 13 Colonies economy. Today we will be led by Miwok elder Wounded Knee De Ocampo, who works in the spirit of MLK Jr., Gandhi, and other great nonviolent leaders. Come hear Wounded Knee’s spiritual, nonviolent understanding of Protecting the Earth, including the whole human family and all our relations.
Wounded’s nonviolent practice includes spiritual peace walks: the Longest Walk in 1978 and the Sacred Sites Shell Mound Peace walks, praying at Bay Area burial sites of the Ohlone and Miwok peoples with Vallejo Intertribal Council and Indian People Organizing for Change. Wounded’s other practice with these groups is to preserve the ancient (1500 BCE) Miwok burial ground at Glen Cove Sogoratea in Vallejo against the powers that be.
January 13
"Holding On, and Letting Go"
Peter Olandt
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
By looking to the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, Peter Olandt explores how we might weather the storms in our lives.
Peter Olandt is a third-year seminarian at the Starr King School for the Ministry and is preparing for a career in parish ministry. He has a background in molecular biology and organic farming that he is combining with a commitment to UU principles and sources to build a dynamic ministry.
January 6
"Great 2008 New Year's Ritual"
Led by Evelie Delfino Sales Posch
Coordinator: Nancy Louise Feinberg
Join us for a celebration of the New Year, letting go of the Old, bringing in Freshness, Healing, Good Will, and Peace through music and ritual.
December 30
"New Beginnings"
Poets of the Fellowship
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
What changes are needed in these times of terror and hope? What is changing in our personal lives, and how can we make changes involve growth? Today some of the poets among us will share poems exploring these questions and celebrating new beginnings in their lives.
December 23
"Solstice: Holy Turning"
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Join us as we celebrate the turning of the Sun from its lowest point in the northern sky, toward its apogee in summer. Here at the beginning of Northern California’s winter, we honor and welcome light, love, hope and life itself. Evelie Delfino Sales Posch will grace us with her angelic voice and music.
December 16
Daniel Ellsberg
"Secrecy, Freedom, and the Spiritual Life"
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
One of the most significant whistleblowers of the 20th Century joined us and reflected on his spiritual life and the role of conscience. Daniel Ellsberg changed the course of history by releasing the Pentagon Papers. He shed light on his personal transformation since committing his life to exposing the deceptions of U.S. leaders.
Dr. Ellsberg grew up in Detroit with dedicated Christian Scientist parents. After Harvard, he became a U.S. Marine Commander, a Rand Analyst, and a high-level civilian in the Pentagon. While writing critically acclaimed books Risk, Ambiguity and Decision and Secrets, he remains a tireless international and local activist. He lives in the East Bay with his wife, Patricia Marx Ellsberg, an engaged Buddhist.
PhoeBe ANNE sorgen sang "Qui Respexit" from Vivaldi's Magnificat, accompanied by Andy Jamieson.
December 9
The Grand Design
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Taken from the title track of a CD by singer songwriter Greg Tamblyn, our service will focus on the new sciences’ (and old wisdom’s) expansive vision of the universe. The new/old deeper vision affirms that all things are in some fundamental way alive. Join us as we get cosmic! Gael Alcock and the Cello Posse will perform.
December 2
Chanukah and Christmas
Rabbi David J. Cooper
Coordinator: Helene Goodwin
Chanukah, Christmas, and Winter Solstice share similar traditions. Each holiday reflects an ancient response to the time of darkness, winter.
Rabbi David J. Cooper offers the Jewish teachings of history and thought in a non-authoritarian way. As the Rabbi for Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, he is part of a community that calls upon us to act tikkum olam, the healing and repair of our planet and our lives. He works to bring compassion, peace, and healing to our community and world.
November 25
Practicing Gratitude: Where Healing the Earth Begins
Esteban Myers with the Congregation
Coordinators: Frances Hillyard & Cynthia Johnson
Every great religion and spiritual tradition has the value of gratitude as a basic foundation on how to live. Our UU principles and practices direct us to the “paradise of this world,” as Rev. Rebecca Parker has eloquently stated. On Thanksgiving weekend we are called to reflect on the priceless gift of life we have all received. Joanna Macy says, “To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe—to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive, lungs that breathe, organs that draw nourishment from LIFE—is a wonder.”
Two members, Cynthia and Esteban, will reflect briefly on their feelings of gratitude of being alive at this moment on Planet Earth. Frances will then guide us in the small group experience to share our appreciation that “even in a dark time the eye can begin to see.”
November 18
Membership and Association Sunday
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Nancy Louise Feinberg
Join us as we celebrate belonging to this wonderful Fellowship and to the larger world of Unitarian Universalism, the Faith that aspires to put the power of the human heart, grounded in the Sacredness of the Earth, into a living, vital ethical/spiritual/activist practice. We will honor our new members, along with the Sages and Crones among us.
November 11
War, Veterans, and the Rule of Law
Paul Rockwell
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
More and more soldiers of conscience, like Lt. Ehren Watada, are refusing to obey orders to fight in Iraq. The growing GI resistance raises profound moral issues regarding the social contract which binds us together as a nation. Is it true that “in war the laws are silent”? National columnist Paul Rockwell will speak about war, veterans, and the rule of law.
November 4
Vote Your Way Out of Hell
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Rev. Kuhwald will provide some guidance from the pulpit on how to apply the power of our preciousness to the dirty ways of the world. It will be good to get in touch, once again, with the heart of democracy. We deserve it.
October 28
Dia De Los Muertos
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Helene Goodwin
Deep homage to those who have passed from our lives! It is good, it is necessary, it is one sweet way to strengthen our connection with the great flow of life. Join us as we build an altar of personal mementos and share the images and stories that touch the further reaches of authentic human relationship: how those who have died continue to live in the marrow of our bones, in the core of our hearts, in the ongoing pulse of our daily lives.
October 21
The 11th Hour: Practicing Sustainability
Babak Tondre
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
Today we will explore how we live greener lifestyles and create vibrant, urban sustainable communities. Can we be part of the shift from a globalized fossil fuel-based economy that enriches a few, to a localized green economy that strengthens all our communities?
Babak Tondre, a permaculture teacher at DIG cooperative and a curator of the exciting Green City Gallery at 1950 Shattuck @ Hearst, will guide us in making conservation, recycling and ecological design part of our lives.
October 14
Social Justice and the 7th Principle
Séon O’Neill and Lauren Renée Hotchkiss
Coordinator: Lauren Renée Hotchkiss
The 7th Principle is an affirmation of our UU respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. To truly achieve social justice, perhaps we need to look not only at how we treat each other, but also at the way we treat the other species with whom we share the planet.
Séon O’Neill and Lauren Renée Hotchkiss are Cochairs of BFUU’s chapter of UFETA (Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Please join Lauren and Séon in the Courtyard after lunch for a Blessing of the Animals service at 1:30 pm. Bring your animal friends (in a carrier or on a leash to keep them safe) or pictures or mementos of them.
October 7
Deep Democracy and The Path to Earth Community
Reverend Kurt Kuhwald
Coordinator: Sylvia Scherzer
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald will lead us in an exploration of the meaning and practice of Deep Democracy and how it is the underpinning of building Another World, a world many name as Earth Community. The first eight words of BFUU's Vision Statement create a focus for our Sunday Celebration: "Living in a time of great planetary challenge. . . ." Join us as we share another joyous step toward claiming our true spiritual-activist home in the heart of Democracy.
September 30
Out of the Belly of the Beast
Earl Koteen,
BFUU Ministerial Intern 2007-2008
Coordinator: Rev. Kurt Kuhwald
Our new intern minister, Earl Koteen, will introduce himself to us in this sermon. A lifelong UU, a retired Federal Government employee and a recent graduate of the Starr King School for the Ministry, Earl will describe some of the beasts in which he's ridden and the implications of beast riding for our futures.
September 23
For the Earth Forever Turning
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
The words of a favorite UU hymn joyously turn our hearts to the great solar event of the season: the Autumnal Equinox. What "wisdom" can we draw from the Earth's relationship with the sun, wisdom that calls us into a fuller love for life and a stronger rebellion against the forces that exploit and degrade it?
September 16
From Fundamentalism to Freedom
Marc Adams
Coordinator: Lauren Renée Hotchkiss
Marc Adams describes his journey, from being raised as a fundamentalist Baptist preacher's son to his time as a student and employee of Jerry Falwell's university. In his presentation he will share his story of coming out, emerging from fundamentalism, and becoming a Unitarian Universalist. All of Marc's books and resources will be available at the service.
Marc Adams is from Seattle and is an award-winning author of nine books. His autobiography, The Preacher's Son, garnered him much critical acclaim.
September 9
Return Again: Annual Water Service
Rev. Kurt Kuhwald
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
BFUU lives by many calendars--board, fiscal, seasonal. One of the most visible is the "beginning" of the Sunday Service/Liturgical year. One Sunday after the Labor Day weekend, we Return Again. We celebrate this returning by holding a special Unitarian Universalist service in which we add water gathered from our summer journeys (whether far away, or to our kitchen sink!) into a common vessel. It is a joyous service celebrating one of the primary elements of life, giving us rich symbols of our common life.
September 2
Sweatshops on Wheels: Chaos at the Port of Oakland
Speaker: Zachary Goldman
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
The East Bay Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice is taking on the chaos at the Port of Oakland with a powerful coalition of unions, non-profits, clergy, and citizens. Zachary a researcher at the ICWJ. The Port of Oakland creates $300 million in annual revenue, but the port trucking system is filled with inequities: Most truckers are immigrants who are forced to work as contractors. They are barely paid minimum wages, have no benefits, must provide their own trucks, carry their own insurance, and are lucky if they net $30K a year. The surrounding community is polluted by diesel, and the driver turnover is 130% each year! We celebrate Labor Day by re-visioning what it means to honor labor and human dignity.
August 26
Another World IS Possible!!!
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
In August, Rev. Kuhwald attended the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. This regional version of the World Social Forum is a grassroots gathering that began with the “Battle for Seattle” back in 1999. Join us as we explore the great movements for global change that are sweeping humankind into wonderful new creations of social transformation . . . all largely below the corporate media radar.
August 19
Songs Without Words
BFUU Composers
Coordinator: Lauren Renée Hotchkiss
We are all familiar with the feelings that can be communicated through song lyrics, but what of instrumental music where there are no words to convey emotions and tell a story? Lauren Renée Hotchkiss, Nicole Milner and Marty Rosman speak about communicating through music, and what they themselves receive. Lauren Renée Hotchkiss is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter and composer. Nicole Milner is composer/pianist. Marty Rosman has been playing his beautiful piano music at the Fellowship for over 30 years.
August 12
The State of Democracy
Suzanne Marsh
Coordinator: Tom McAninley
Many of us are concerned about the state of democracy in our country. We have heard quite a bit in the last few years about the idea that we must “Reclaim Democracy.” In this service we will explore what that might really mean and consider what effective actions we might be able to take to move us towards that goal. Suzanne helped us look at other periods in history where similar concepts have been discussed, and how to draw on the work of historical and contemporary thinkers such as Theodore Parker, Abraham Lincoln, Cornell West, Thomas Jefferson and Robert Bellah. Suzanne Marsh, a Candidate for the Ministry and the Intern Minister for the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, is working with Bay Area congregations on Social Justice issues.
