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The Promise of Stone Soup
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ June 14, 2009
Today, with the help of children, youth and adults in our community we heard the "story behind the story" of how Stone Soup came to be. Rev. Peter shared a message relating to the promises made by those who received that special recipe, and the promises that we make throughout our lives.
Available in Text  and Audio  .
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The Greater Work of Social Transformation
Rev. Dr. Om Prakash, guest minister ~ May 24, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Om Prakash John Gilmore, Director for Racial & Social Justice for the Joseph Priestly District, speaks on the greater work of social transformation. What can we do to bring our greater ideals closer to reality?
Available in Audio only.
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Peace Be With You
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ May 10, 2009
As we celebrate Mother's Day, Rev. Peter examines the life of Julia Ward Howe. What was the spiritual journey that took her from authoring the Battle Hymn of the Republic to proclaiming the radical message of peace contained in the original Mother's Day Proclamation? What might her journey reveal for us?
Available in Text and Audio .
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Miracle of Miracles
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ April 19, 2009
Rev. Peter examines creation myths from different cultures and reflects on how the stories we tell ourselves impact our relationship with
the world.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Rolling Back the Stone
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ April 12, 2009
As Christians around the globe celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, Rev. Peter shares his thoughts about the meaning of Easter for Unitarian Universalists. With roots firmly planted in Christian soil and our commitment to honoring wisdom from the world's religious traditions, Rev. Peter challenges us to "roll back the stone" from our minds, hearts and spirits and discover our own relationship to the Easter holiday.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Arise and Greet the Day!
Rev. Lisa Kemper, guest minister ~ April 5, 2009
Every day we are bombarded by expectations and stresses and worries which make it difficult to sustain a positive outlook. The limits of the human mind can distract us from the big picture. Managing this tension is more complicated than simply "thinking positively," but perhaps it isn't as difficult as we sometimes make it! Rev. Lisa Kemper is the Consulting Minister at the UU Church of Loudoun in Leesburg, VA.
Available in Audio only.
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A Descent Into Hell
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ March 29, 2009
In our continuing series of sermons that seek to tackle particularly thorny theological issues, Rev. Peter addresses the question of evil. What is evil? Does it exist? How does our Unitarian Universalist faith approach and respond to it?
Available in Text and Audio .
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Moments of Truth... and Meaning
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ March 22, 2009
We've all faced them: those moments of decision, where the choice we make will have a significant impact on the future direction of our lives. It is in these moments, and in the choosing itself, that we find and make meaning. As we kick off the Annual Fund Drive, Rev. Peter reflects on such "moments of truth" and the meanings they have for us individually and as a community.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Adventures of A Hindu UU
Rev. Manish Mishra, guest speaker ~ March 8, 2009
Rev. Manish K. Mishra, Senior Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saint Petersburg, Florida, leads our service, sharing his experience of coming into Unitarian Universalism as someone from the Hindu faith. How might those of us who did not grow up UU bring our religion of origin with us into UU'ism? How might Unitarian Universalism help us understand other faiths? How are each of us religious explorers? Rev. Mishra explores these and other questions.
Available in Audio only.
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Wrestling With God
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ March 1, 2009
On this, the second in our series of "Big Question Sundays," Rev. Peter explores different concepts of the Divine. Most of us were introduced to God when we were children and carry with us an image of God as "the man with the beard in the sky." Many of us have rejected this image, and perhaps the notion of God altogether. What might a mature image of God look like for you?
Available in Text and Audio .
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Keeping Our Balance
Rev. Libby Smith ~ February 22, 2009
This Sunday, Rev. Peter and Rev. Libby Smith engaged in a practice that was common in the early history of our faith: they exchanged pulpits. Rev. Smith grew up in the Unitarian Society of York, PA. She received her M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and was ordained in 1992. Currently she serves in two half-time ministries: She is the chaplain at Unitarian Universalist House in Germantown; and she is the consulting minister to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lower Bucks in Langhorne, PA.
Rev. Libby examines the "Slow Movement," which advocates a more balanced approach to life than most of us manage to capture in our frantic lives. She discusses how, in these tense times, we might adjust the pace of our lives - even if only a little - to bring greater balance and calm.
Available in Audio only.
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Loving the World
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romantic love, but we know that love takes many other forms as well. Rev. Peter looks at love in all its guises and explores the questions: "How can we bring the many forms of love to all our relationships ~ with other people, with other living beings, with the planet, with all of creation?" and "What would it be like to be in love with the world?"
Available in Text and Audio .
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Brown Paper Packages, a Homily
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ February 8, 2009
With the story "The Paper Bag Princess" as a backdrop, we explored how looks can be deceiving and how beauty is only skin deep. Members of our congregation presented this much-loved tale of a prince, a princess, and a rather cranky dragon. Rev. Peter offered his reflections through this homily.
Available in Text only.
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Finding God/dess in Autism
Heather Gehron-Rice ~ February 1, 2009
Every 20 minutes another person is diagnosed with autism. Autism is a word that is still rather mysterious to those who do not know someone who lives with autism. It is important to honor and recognize not only the challenges, but the gifts of these people. Our guest minister this Sunday, Heather Gehron-Rice, shared her thoughts on this subject in her sermon.
Available in Audio only.
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Spiritual Intimacy
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ January 25, 2009
As we journey along our spiritual paths, we all need fellow travelers to guide and support us. These can be family members, therapists, friends and those we meet in our church community. But to serve as guides and companions, we and others must grow into deep relationship with each other. What does it take for us to grow from passing acquaintances to "spiritual intimates" in our relationships? Our Small Group Ministry program offers the opportunity to build deep and meaningful relationships with others while exploring one's own sense of self. Rev. Peter helped us to celebrate Small Group Ministry, and showed how people can take advantage of this wonderful program!
Available in Text and Audio .
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Dear America: a Letter to Our Nation
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ January 18, 2009
As we stand at the convergence of our remembrance of this great civil rights leader and the inauguration of our first African-American President, Rev.
Peter shares his reflections on this historic moment in time during our worship service.
Available in Text and Audio .
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On Becoming a Person
Tara Stephenson ~ January 11, 2009
Carl R. Rogers is considered to be the most influential psychotherapist of the 20th century (yes, even more influential than Freud). What did he have to say about the nature of human beings and the conditions needed for human growth? What would he have to say to contemporary Unitarian Universalists? Tara Stephenson shares her thoughts on these topics as our guest minister.
Available in Audio only.
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Our Search for Meaning
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ January 4, 2009
This is the beginning of a monthly sermon series called "Big Question" Sundays. On these days, the sermons seek to explore and address topics of deep theological significance, such as the nature of the Divine, discovering the purpose of our lives, and where we find salvation. In "Our Search for Meaning," Rev. Peter uses the writings of Victor Frankl as a jumping off point for the questions: What is the nature of our existence? Why are we here? What gives our lives meaning?
Available in Text and Audio .
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What Are We Waiting For?
cNovember 30, 2008
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent on the Christian calendar. Advent is the period of waiting for the arrival of the Christ child on Christmas Day. Rev Peter reflects on how we, as Unitarian Universalists, might find meaning in the concept and time of Advent.
Available in Text only.
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Gathered Side By Side
Gini Courter ~ November 16, 2008
Today we celebrated, through words and song, our relationships with our sister and brother congregations and our link to the larger Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Gini Courter, the Moderator of the UUA Board of Trustees, was our guest speaker.
Available in Audio only.
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Giving Up Bananas
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ November 9, 2008
Some people enjoy many food choices while others remain hungry. The food industry produces wealth, but small farmers and farm workers are often poor. Food production and transportation contribute to many environmental problems. While we serve Fair Trade coffee during Fellowship Hour, what more can we do to support small farmers and care for our environment through our food choices? Rev. Peter delves into the spiritual side of buying and eating the foods we consume by introducing the topic of "ethical eating." This topic was selected as a "study action issue" by the congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the 2008 General Assembly.
Available in Text and Audio .
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If You Plant Ice, You're Gonna Harvest Wind
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ November 2, 2008
To say that we're in "troubled times" these days may be the understatement of the century. With a divisive election but days away and financial markets hitting all time lows, is it any wonder that we experience daily emotions of fear, anger and anxiety? This Sunday Rev. Peter examines how we might maintain a sense of balance in these times of apparent chaos, and celebrate the community that lifts us up and supports us in times like these.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Sinners, Saints and Scoundrels
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ October 26, 2008
We all inherit more than just our genes from our ancestors. With the converging celebrations of All Souls Day, All Saints Day, and the Mexican observance of "El Dia de los Muertos" ("The Day of the Dead"), Rev. Peter reflects on the history and heritage we gain from our fore-fathers and -mothers.
Available in Audio only.
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From Fundamentalist to Freedom
Marc Adams ~ October 12, 2008
Author and speaker Marc Adams helped us commemorate and celebrate National Coming Out Day. More information on Marc is available via this link.
Available in Audio only.
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Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ October 5, 2008
As we join our Jewish brothers and sisters in recognizing the High Holy Days, Rev. Peter shares his thoughts about facing temptation, responding to it, and ultimately forgiving ourselves and others when we succumb. (Notice that it is "when we succumb," not "if."
Available in Text and Audio .
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Freethinking Mystics With Hands
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ September 28, 2008
UU Minister Tom Owen-Towle uses the term "Free-Thinking Mystics with Hands" to describe Unitarian Universalists. Rev. Peter explores this characterization of our faith, and comes up with a few of his own.
Available in Text and Audio .
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From the Inside Out
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ September 21, 2008
As we embark on a long-term congregational program toward becoming an anti-racist, anti-oppression, multicultural congregation, Rev. Peter shares his thoughts about the deeply personal, deeply spiritual, and deeply transformative work that is required of each of us before we can begin to address issues of institutional racism and oppression in our culture. We must first change ourselves before we can begin to change the world.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Radical Maneuvers
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ September 14, 2008
Have you ever had a feeling of unease when you looked out the tiny window of an airplane and saw nothing but gray? Life often finds us in holding patterns, waiting for a break in the clouds.
Available in Text and Audio .
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Fearless Faith
Rev. Peter Friedrichs ~ September 7, 2008
During the intergenerational service that started our church year, the Stone Soup story was related by members of our church. In this homily, Rev. Peter connects the story to our lives, today.
Available in Text only.
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