Complete Service-first Unitarian Universalist Society Of San Francisco

“Healing and Hope" (November 1, 2020) Worship Service In this lead up to this election, which for many of us feels like the very future of our nation, of its best self, lies in the balance, let’s talk about what will be required of us on the other side. Let's talk about healing and hope. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Reiko Oda Lane, organist Mark Sumner, director VanNessa Hulme, soprano Brielle Marina Neilson, mezzo soprano Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor Asher Davison, bass Wm. García Ganz, accompanist Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Coffee Hour Zoom Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, drums

“Creating the Altar" (October 25, 2020) Worship Service This Sunday we are going to create an altar, a community one, filled with the portraits and stories of those we love and lost, who shaped us.  It will be our honoring of the spirit of what All Souls Day and Dia De Los Muertos has made space for for centuries -- paying homage, bringing the living spirit of life that endures back close to hold us. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Mark Sumner, pianist Andrés Vera, cellist My-Hoa Steger, pianist and songleader Asher Davison, songleader Asher Davison, bass Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Coffee Hour Zoom Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

“Breathing Room" (October 18, 2020) Worship Service The atmosphere is toxic – from both the devastating fires across the west and the increasingly inflammatory political rhetoric - leaving us gasping for fresh air, fresh ideas – a fresh start. More than ever, we need open space to help us recoup, rejuvenate, and regenerate our spirits. How do we channel our energies to ensure that those physical, spiritual and emotional spaces are available to all people?  For our personal, collective and planetary wellbeing, we all need breathing room to get us through. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.  - Arundhati Roy Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Mark Sumner, singer/director Sarah Rose Cohen, soprano Brielle Marina Neilson, mezzo soprano Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor Asher Davison, bass Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr,

“New Habits of the Heart: Seeing for Real" (October 11, 2020) Worship Service There is a Ted Talk by X called "The Dangers of the Single Story." Meg's mentioned it once already since she started as our Intern and then again this last week when the subject came up of how we fall into habits about the stories we tell.  And what gets lost in the telling of them. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Meg McGuire, Ministerial Intern George Wiepert, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Mark Sumner, percussion/director Sarah Davison, soprano Brielle Marina Neilson, mezzo soprano Ben Rudiak-Gould, tenor Asher Davison, bass Wm. García Ganz, pianist Kramer Dhal, percussionist Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Coffee Hour Zoom Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, drums and conga

“Big Love" (October 4, 2020) Worship Service This week is the 250th anniversary of Universalism and the day the congregation votes on its next settled ministry.  It is also a time of great upheaval.  What's the way forward and what anchors us as we go? Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Meg McGuire, Ministerial Intern George Wiepert, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Mark Sumner, singing/conducting My-Hoa Steger, pianist Michele Kennedy, soloist Brielle Marina Neilson, soloist Ben Rudiak-Gould, soloist Asher Davison, soloist Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Drums

"I'm Sorry" (September 27, 2020) Worship Service Never before has it been as important as it is now to take to heart the lessons at the heart of Yom Kippur and make it's annual practices, a part of our ongoing spiritual practices.  Humility and Atonement: The Great Turning. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Sam King, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Brielle Marina Neilson, mezzo-soprano Bill Klingelhoffer, french horn Wm. García Ganz, pianist Eric Shackelford, camera Shulee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"The Sum of Our Parts" (September 20, 2020) Worship Service The central task of religious community, according to Rev. Mark Morrison Reed, is to uncover the bonds that bind us to one another. So, what holds us together? Without the brick and mortar, the face to face connection we’ve long relied upon, how do we stay rooted in this deeper relatedness? Meg McGuire, our new ministerial intern, will reflect on religious community and what’s possible when we come together. Meg McGuire, Ministerial Intern Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist VanNessa Hulme, soloist Brielle Marina Neilson, soloist Ben Rudiak-Gould, soloist Asher Davison, soloist Eric Shackelford, camera Shullee Ong, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"Plow this Field... and other mantras to pull us through a wild and unfolding new year." (September 13, 2020) This Sunday is the Sunday we always launch, officially, the new church year. Sunday School with our kids and youth kicks off, folks return from their summer places (geographically and/or mentally) and we live and learn and serve and witness and weather and delight in another year of life together.  We are doing that again, but in a wild kind of year.  And I have been thinking about how to hold myself steady through it and all the uncertainty of what will come.  I'll share with you what I have been thinking and I'd love to know what you are thinking too! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Meg McGuire, Ministerial Intern Michael Bossier, performer Jayanti Chapot, performer Don Shearer, performer Reiko Oda Lane, organist Sarah Rose Cohen, soloist Brielle Marina Neilson, soloist Ben Rudiak-Gould, soloist Asher Davison, soloist

"What Do We Do When We're Under Attack?" (September 6, 2020) Rev. Millie Phillips, a member of this congregation, is currently serving the UU Community of Lake County. For this Labor Day service, she draws on her many years of experience as a union activist to celebrate worker resistance during these difficult times. Rev. Millie Phillips, Guest Minister Sam King, Worship Associate Select members of The Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus Pat Wynne, director Asher Davison, song leader Ben Rudiak-Gould, song leader My-Hoa Steger, pianist Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"Jonah and the Big Fish" (August 30, 2020) I love stories and their power to teach or invite us to let them speak to us wherever we are.  And I love the story in the Hebrew Scriptures of Jonah and his journey with that Big Fish. And what layers we might find for ourselves in it about how to face life and what it might insist on from us. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Gregg Biggs, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Eric Hamilton, guitarist Mark Sumner, pianist Asher Davison, song leader Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, drums

"Launching the Fledglings" (August 23, 2020) It's an odd year to think about how to raise and launch adults (be they nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren).  It is also a process and one we are engaged in all along the way. It probably also has lessons about how we deal with some adults too!!! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Asher Davison, clarinet and song leader Wm. García Ganz, pianist Ben Rudiak-Gould, song leader Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, drums

"Turning Points" (August 16, 2020) Our history is full of turning points. So are our individual lives. As we live through a time full of both danger and opportunity, let us reflect on some of the great turning points in our national history – such as women winning the right to vote in August, 1920, or same sex couples winning the right to marry just five years ago, – and how they came about. John Buehrens is the past Senior Minister of UUSF, the past President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (1993-2001), a past honorary President of Religions for Peace, and was national co-chair of Freedom to Marry from 2002 t0 2012. He is the author of seven books, most recently, Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice. Rev. John Buehrens Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate Jennifer Peringer, pianist Martha Rodríguez Peringer, flutist Asher Davison, Songleader Brielle Neilson, Songleader Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media

"Story Time" (August 9, 2020) We are the stuff of stars. A collection of particles held together by the laws of physics and the forces of nature. We talk of free will but we move and act in accordance to evolution’s playbook. What sets us apart is our ability to reflect, to look back in time and imagine the future – to see ourselves as part of the unfolding story of time, and ask ourselves what does it mean to be human after all. Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister Don Wiepert, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Andrés Vera, cellist My-Hoa Steger, pianist Mark Sumner, Songleader Brielle Nielson, Songleader Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"The Promise in the Desert" (August 2, 2020) Some have begun calling 2020 "The Great Reckoning," a time when the injustices of reality are fully being called in by the promises of our possibility. It is a powerful, scary, tense, creative, and uncertain time in our lives. Drawing inspiration from the story of Hajar in the Islamic Traditions, we will explore what it can mean to believe in the promise of our faith in these times, and how to deepen our resilience as Unitarian Universalists manifesting justice and love. Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Executive Director, UU Legislative Ministry of California Sam King, Worship Associate Larry Chinn, jazz pianist Asher Davison, sonleader Mark Sumner, songleader Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"From Fragility to Accountability" (July 26, 2020) This Sunday, there is a journey we'd like you to take with us.  Let us go as seekers. We will pack a little bag and wander along a less traveled path. It's a path that we hope, one day, will become well worn as others follow us into a new place. We won’t be following an easy trail, but the promise of this journey is that we will become less anxious and more steadfast in the work of anti-racism.  We have a responsibility that has been nagging at us for generation upon generation, and now is a very good time to take up the mantle handed to us by our ancestors. It is time to survey the landscape and ask ourselves, “How has this nation’s history of racism shaped my life and my community?” And what if along this road we discover new possibilities that fuel us towards a more just society? What if the contentment that comes with facing the past illustrates for us—in bright, living color—what a stronger, healthier, more just community might be?&

"Poetry for Summer Musing" (July 19, 2020) Periodically diving deep in the world of poetry is like asking someone to hold a frame around the ordinary or a magnifying glass against the small that holds universes. What better time for such presence to ordinary that is anything but ordinary than summer days -- bring a blade of grass to put between your teeth! Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Sam King, Worship Associate Jill Rachuy Brindel, cello Marilyn Thompson, pianist Asher Davison, song leader Wm. García Ganz, pianist Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"The Power of Witnessing" (July 12, 2020) In W.H. Auden's poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" the poet describes two Brueghel paintings and in both something about the witnessing or missing of huge moments in the human drama was/is the theme. It got me thinking about this act of witnessing, why and how it is important to us, a salve, a buoy. And how it might actually be one of the most important and not-so-difficult gifts we can give one another. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Alex Darr, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Joyce Lee, flutist My-Hoa Steger, pianist Asher Davison, song leader Ben Rudiak-Gould, song leader Jon Silk, drums Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound

"Exquisite Risk" (July 5, 2020) Following on our sermon on "Negotiating Risk" (May 17) we will look this Sunday at the flip side of risk -- that part of engaging life that is scary but gorgeous and transformative, that keeps us growing and alive. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Gilead Wurman, baritone Asher Davison, bass-baritone Wm. Garcia Ganz, pianist Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

"The Perfect Day" (June 28, 2020) In the story of creation told in Hebrew Scriptures, after six days of work creating heaven and earth, God took a day off. And so there’s a long tradition in Judaism and Christianity and Islam this day of Sabbath so the actual day that’s marked as such as different in each tradition. It is a day of mandatory rest. A day in which we are supposed to pretend that everything is perfect as it is and well in the gorgeousness of life at our feet. To me this is a genius creation by man or God who or whatever you want to credit it to. And I want to talk again about why. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Sharon Weld, Ministerial Intern Reiko Oda Lane, organist Allen Biggs, marimbist Asher Davison, song leader Mary Jane Mikuriya, Internship Committee Marie Kazan-Komarek, Internship Committee Luanne Schulte, Internship Committee Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits

"Lost Stories" (June 21, 2020) June 19th, every year, also known as Juneteenth, Freedom Day, Black Fourth of July, is the day in The United States that we commemorate June 19, 1865, when two and a half years after the Emanciation Proclamation was implemented, enslaved African Americans in parts of the South finally got word of their liberation.  As we commemorate that date we will look at the history of lost stories, as part of the legacy of slavery and the founding fabric of the United States.  We will tell the story of Bilali. Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister Judith Stoddard, Worship Associate Reiko Oda Lane, organist Michele Kennedy, soprano My-Hoa Steger, pianist Jon Silk, drums Carlton Ball, actor Michael Bossier, actor Jayanti Chapot, actor Alyson Jacks, actor Don Shearer, actor Eric Shackelford, camera Joe Chapot, Social Media Chat Support Alex Darr, Zoom Remote Host Jonathan Silk, OOS, Sound, Podcasting, Video Edits