Speaker: Rev. Bruce Bode

Tectonic Plates & Gridlock

Where to start in the face of strongly opposing and intractable positions? This sermon will explore how the image of tectonic plates might be a helpful image in relation to gridlock, whether personal, political, or religious.

Guest Musicians: MaMuse (“Ma” as in “Mamma,” “Muse” as in the one who inspires) will perform a concert at QUUF on Monday evening, March 13 and will also – happily! – provide the music for our Sunday services. The roots of MaMuse’s music is in folk and gospel traditions, with their hearts in the present. MaMuse (Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker) have been co-creating music for nine years, producing four full-length albums.

Click here to listen to the reading and sermon.
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Liberal Religion and the American Creed

“The American Creed,” as the late Dr. Forrest Church speaks of it, has a lot in common with the values and ideals of liberal religion. The sermon message on this Sunday as we kickoff our annual pledge campaign will address the overlap of our American ideals and those of liberal religion, and it will ask what we as a Fellowship are called to do in a time when both are threatened.

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Post-Election: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

In this sermon, Rev. Bode reflects on this past week’s election results, addressing the following questions: How do you account for the election results? What have you learned? What do you think this means? What do you fear? What do you hope for? What do you intend? How are you sustained? Following his reflections, there will be a time of congregational sharing, inviting you to consider the same questions.

Click here to listen to the reading and sermon.

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Speaking of Walls

There’s been plenty of recent public conversation about walls. One wall I’ve operated with throughout my ministry in religiously liberal congregations is a “wall of separation” between “religious liberalism” and “political liberalism.” What has happened to that “wall of separation” in the last half-century and what are its current implications for us?

Listen to the reading and sermon here.

Shared Ministry

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On this Sunday as we return to two services and begin a new year at QUUF, we formally welcome the Rev. Florence Caplow as the second minister on our ministerial staff. She and Rev. Bode explore ideas of “shared ministry,” both specifically in their work together as a new ministry team, and, more broadly, how each of us can practice “shared ministry” in how we care for others and the world.

QUUF Member Victoria Pohling also speaks about her plans to attend seminary to become a UU minister.

Listen to the reading and sermon here.

The Upending of Establishment Religious Values

Establishment politicians have been swept aside in this bizarre political year, and so have what may be called “establishment religious values.” What does this upending of traditional religious values signify, and how do we live in the midst of such a churning? Listen to the sermon here.