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Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York

By Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York

Missed service? Don't worry. Starting September 2022, audio of the sermons each week will be archived here. Email office@uucy.org if you would like access to a sermon from before September 2022.

Stay up-to-date with happenings (and not just events) at UUCYork. Each month, Rev. Jen will talk about the state of the congregation, what's on her (and your) minds, and things to think about each month.
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April 2, 2023: “The Radiance of the Divine (Uncovering Our Stories)”

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of YorkApr 03, 2023

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Alchemy of Service

Alchemy of Service

"When in Doubt" by Sandra Cisneros When in doubt, Wear faux leopard. When in doubt, Err on the side of generosity. When in doubt, Greet everyone as you would the Buddha. When in doubt, Collect blessings from those who own nothing. When in doubt, Absorb biographies to avoid life’s major mistakes. When in doubt, Make life’s major mistakes. When in doubt, Pay attention to the vendor shouting ‘Diooooos,’ Even when you find out he was only shouting, ‘Gaaaaas.’ When in doubt, Carry a handkerchief and a fan. When in doubt, Thank everyone. Twice. When in doubt, Heed the clouds. When in doubt, Sleep on it. When in doubt, Treat all sentient and insentient beings as kin. When in doubt, Forgive us our myopia As we forgive those who are myopic against us. When in doubt, Unreel your grief to a tree. When in doubt, Remember this. We are all on a Caucus race. There is no start. No finish. Everyone wins.

Mar 26, 202419:13
March 17: Spring Takes Us to Another World

March 17: Spring Takes Us to Another World

Our youth practice a movement meditation as they turn from seeds into flowers. Adults consider what new things are hatching within you...what is awakening like the birds to create your sweetness...what can you do to bring more elegant balance into your rhythm? Beth Weaver Kreider offers insight during our service and suggestions of rituals to go home and practice to celebrate the beginning of Spring.

Mar 26, 202426:07
"Where Is Our Welcome?" - 10 March 2024

"Where Is Our Welcome?" - 10 March 2024

“We, who believe that revelation is not sealed, are writing sacred texts with our lives, with our smallest actions.”


“Our willingness to be invitational contributes volumes to this sacred, living text. Our willingness to extend welcome—seeing the humanity and divinity in another, honoring their culture, identities, stories, and deeply held truth —is part of what it means to embody this faith.”


“Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. [...] Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

Mar 12, 202422:06
For A Few Beautiful Minutes: Experiencing a Solar Eclipse

For A Few Beautiful Minutes: Experiencing a Solar Eclipse

We're warning you...once you see one, you're going to be chasing eclipses for the rest of your life.

Mar 07, 202424:57
February 25 - Nurture, Inspire, Act - Build!

February 25 - Nurture, Inspire, Act - Build!

Famous BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice is famous to silence, which knew it would inherit the earth before anybody said so. The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds watching him from the birdhouse. The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek. The idea you carry close to your bosom is famous to your bosom. The boot is famous to the earth, more famous than the dress shoe, which is famous only to floors. The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it and not at all famous to the one who is pictured. I want to be famous to shuffling men who smile while crossing streets, sticky children in grocery lines, famous as the one who smiled back. I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do.

Mar 05, 202414:33
Luminescence: Sharing Our Light

Luminescence: Sharing Our Light

"It Couldn’t Be Done"

BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done
      But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
      Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
      On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
      That couldn’t be done, and he did it!
Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
      At least no one ever has done it;”
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat
      And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
      Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
      That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
      There are thousands to prophesy failure,
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
      The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
      Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
      That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Feb 13, 202401:44:51
Holocaust Remembrance Day

Holocaust Remembrance Day

“Never forget.” What is the opposite of welcome? Disregard. Distrust. Ambivalence. Neglect. Abandonment. “I asked Brenner what he felt when standing on this platform and seeing these dates, these numbers, these words. He paused and looked around at the trees above us, his eyes moving slowly back and forth as if he were searching for the answer in the leaves. ‘I cannot process it. My mind cannot process it. And obviously,' he wiped at his eyes, ’my body can process it.’” There is a way that welcome feels in the body. And disregard, distrust, ambivalence, neglect, abandonment - the body carries those, too. We are asked not to forget the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews and untold numbers of Roma people, and LGBTQIA+ people. Just because we cannot forget the evils of the past does not mean we cannot work to transform them into dreams of a better future. Indeed, this is one of the deepest calls of being human. Our Unitarian Universalist values call us to the work of transformation - we cannot transform what we do not know. We cannot heal the hurt we do not recognize. We cannot bind the wound we cannot see. Never forget. Always welcome. Work to heal. So may it be.

Jan 30, 202419:26
Reproductive Justice

Reproductive Justice

In the shadow of Dobbs v. Jackson Trust Women.

Jan 30, 202419:10
The Moral Imperative of Nonviolence: A Service for King Sunday

The Moral Imperative of Nonviolence: A Service for King Sunday

Principle three: "Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people. The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil, not people.” “I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.” Hurt people hurt people. Healing people heal people. When the world feels too full of violence, think of transformation. When we think of interpersonal violence, politicized violence, the violence of war and the violence of legislation, the violence of neglect, and the violence of disregard, think of it as an invitation to transform our world from within our own hearts. Break the cycle of violence that you observe within yourself and you begin the shared work that we all have before us, that Dr. King called us to do, to break the cycle of violence that harms us all. Begin the work of healing the self and we begin to heal the world. And we begin, and we begin, and we begin, anew each day. So may it be.

Jan 16, 202422:46
From the Flames: Fire Communion

From the Flames: Fire Communion

We sometimes think of the power of fire as something fast. As our intentions went up in a puff of magician’s flash paper, as one candle flame may quickly spark a thousand other candle flames, as a bit of cooking oil splashing on the stove may send us scrambling for the flour... Fast. Fire can move fast. When we talk about the gifts of fire we think of light, we think of heat. Those are immediate and noticeable even with the smallest flame. When we talk about fire as a tool that can give us gifts and can also take things from us, we think of fire as destructive, even explosive. Fast, fast. This morning we talked about slow fire.

Jan 16, 202413:05
The Christmas Truce: A Call for Peace

The Christmas Truce: A Call for Peace

On Christmas Eve of 1914, as the conflict we have come to know as World War I raged, around 100,000 British and German troops facing one another on the front lines in Belgium chose to stop fighting, to leave their trenches and meet one another in the space between them - called no-man’s-land. Soldiers who experienced this pause, what we know today as the Christmas Truce, wrote of their experience in letters home. In one such letter, Captain Sir Edward Hulse recalled a Christmas sing-along that “ended up with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ which we all, English, Scots, Irish, Prussians, Wuttenbergers, etc. joined in. It was absolutely astounding, and if I had seen it on a cinematograph film I should have sworn that it was faked.” “Each night a child is born is a holy night— A time for singing, A time for wondering, A time for worshipping.” Every creation, every voice lifted in song, every time we choose to “create with our hands, offer hospitality, work for justice, or teach a child,” we are choosing to bring the holy into this world again and again and again. We are choosing wonder. We are choosing healing, delight, transformation, and peace. “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here.” We are here. We choose creation. We choose birth. We choose peace. We contemplate peace in our hearts so that we may not only envision its birth in the world but that we may act as its willing and joyful midwives. Peace on earth, goodwill to all. Peace be within each of you and let us turn our hearts to its constant creation. So may it be, amen.

Jan 09, 202417:01
The Longest Night: A Yule Service

The Longest Night: A Yule Service

“The tree is waiting. It has everything ready. Its fallen leaves are mulching the forest floor, and its roots are drawing up the extra winter moisture, providing a firm anchor against seasonal storms. Its ripe cones and nuts are providing essential food in this scarce time for mice and squirrels, and its bark is hosting hibernating insects and providing a source of nourishment for hungry deer. It is far from dead. In fact it is the life and soul of the wood. It’s just getting on with it quietly. It will not burst into life in the spring. It will just put on a new coat and face the world again.” Even when the stream is frozen in winter, it is alive. Even when the tree is dormant in winter, it is alive. When we speak of rest and of pause, consider not withdrawal from the activity of life but a deliberate turn to a different kind of activity. “But remember, my children, be grateful For my brother, the Darkness, and winter's deep chill For without them, there would be little reason For this holiday season of peace and good will.” Resting is not withdrawal, it is renewal. Peace cultivated within your heart allows you to prepare the ground to grow more peace in more hearts. In this time when we are pulled from one bright and shiny festival to the next, in the time when constant motion feels demanded, do not feel shame if slowing down is hard for you. Think not about what you cannot do but what you CAN do. You can rest. You can read, you can write, you can sing a song, you can curl up on the couch with a beloved human or a beloved companion animal (or both! Or several!), you can make a big pot of soup and share it with friends, and neighbors, and people you don’t even know. In the time of deep chill, grow a seed of hope in your heart, knowing that it is not dormant, it is merely waiting. Waiting is its own sacred act. May we wait for the return of the sun with the patience built of vital life getting on with it...quietly. So may it be.

Dec 19, 202315:15
Unexpected Gifts: Hanukkah

Unexpected Gifts: Hanukkah

The word “Hanukkah” means “rededication,” no matter how you spell it. It is the time when the second temple in Jerusalem was not only defended but rededicated and re-sanctified. The miracle that is described in the Talmud is the one that brings us the annual ritual of the menorah - that in the temple, there was only enough oil to last for one day, but it lasted for eight. “Creator of All and Rock of Ages, Too many lights have been extinguished. The world has grown too dark. Creator of Light and Dark, Teach us once more to see into the shadows, To shed our light in all the dark corners and to Create holy sparks for all humankind So that once more we can say It is very good.” Too many lights have been extinguished. The world has grown too dark. We pray for peace. We pray for peace in the face of hatred and oppression. We pray for peace and safety for every person threatened by war. We pray that the holy sparks we may create together will warm us, show us the way - even when the way is rocky and the air is cold. It is a defiant act to speak of the joy of unexpected gifts in this time. But we must speak joy, manifest joy, create and revel in joy now more than ever! Because we can see how good it is. Even more so we see how good it CAN BE. The profusion of candles up here could be seen as a hodgepodge or it can be seen as an invitation. This is the work of meaning-making in a mature faith. To understand when we might want to pick the easiest path but instead to choose to look for the truest one, even if that means facing hard things. The act of imagining a world where all light is warming and growing and all dark is creating and resting - the act of imagining a world where everyone has enough food, has access to clean water, where everyone can live safely and love who they will, a world where there is abundance not scarcity, health not harm, love not fear. We get to look at these candles and say what we are lighting them for. We are lighting them to honor the past and to kindle hope for the future. We are lighting them to remind ourselves how good the world not only can be but IS. Look and see how good it is. Look to your neighbor, your friend, your beloved. Look to each person and see not a stranger but a spark, not someone to fear but someone with hopes and dreams built in the dark working to bring them into the light. See the miracle. Choose to see the miracle and know that it is good. So may it be.

Dec 12, 202317:19
First Sunday of Advent: For What Do We Wait?

First Sunday of Advent: For What Do We Wait?

"Go slow if you can. Slower. More slowly still. Friendly dark or fearsome, this is no place to break your neck by rushing, by running, by crashing into what you cannot see. [...] I do not know what these shadows ask of you, what they might hold that means you good or ill. It is not for me to reckon whether you should linger or you should leave. But this is what I can ask for you: That in the darkness there be a blessing. That in the shadows there be a welcome. That in the night you be encompassed by the Love that knows your name." from Jan Richardson's blog, The Advent Door Mark, chapter 13 (verses 35 - 37) “Therefore, keep awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

Dec 05, 202315:57
Minister's Monthly Message for November: Kinds of Silence

Minister's Monthly Message for November: Kinds of Silence

"Kinds of Silence" by Elisabeth Murawski After heavy snow. After the last breath. Before lightning strikes. Before the first breath. In a spider’s web. In a musical rest. Of a sleeping dog. Of a stone general’s breast. With an old friend. With a favorite brother. From the mouth of God. From a cold mother. On closing a book. On fearing what’s to come. Under a witch’s spell. Under a dictator’s thumb. By a frozen river. By a stone that’s leaning. At the end of a war. At another war’s beginning.

Nov 30, 202301:38
Survival Is A Garden

Survival Is A Garden

“Because in every universe in which I am alive,

it is because of other people.

And I don’t always like them, but I love them.

In every universe in which I am alive,

it is less because I could fight…

and more because I could forgive.

Because I could cooperate.

Because I could apologize.

Because I could dance.

Because I could grow pumpkins in my backyard

and leave them at myneighbor’s door, asking for nothing in return.

[...]

Survival is not a fortress; it is a garden.

Survival is not a siren; it is asymphony.”


Let your heart sing to that symphony. Let your spirit dance. Dare to cultivate a generous heart in a hurting world. What wonders we might grow, together.


So may it be.

Nov 30, 202317:23
The Heretic's Journey

The Heretic's Journey

A heretic is someone that holds beliefs that are considered wrong by others. Our speaker today is a Mennonite and a Witch who used to hide one part of her life from the world. This is her journey of how she became "both/and".

Nov 28, 202339:30
Survival Is A Garden

Survival Is A Garden

“Because in every universe in which I am alive,

it is because of other people.

And I don’t always like them, but I love them.

In every universe in which I am alive,

it is less because I could fight… and more

Because I could forgive.

Because I could cooperate.

Because I could apologize.

Because I could dance.

Because I could grow pumpkins in my backyard

and leave them at my neighbor’s door, asking for nothing in return.

[...]

Survival is not a fortress; it is a garden.

Survival is not a siren; it is a symphony.” Let your heart sing to that symphony. Let your spirit dance. Dare to cultivate a generous heart in a hurting world. What wonders we might grow, together. So may it be.

Nov 21, 202317:23
"Season of Festivals" November 12, 2023 Service led by Rev. Jen Raffensperger

"Season of Festivals" November 12, 2023 Service led by Rev. Jen Raffensperger

Who among us doesn’t love a festival?

No, really...who? It’s okay if you don’t want to raise your hand. I bet there are plenty of us who struggle, sometimes, with these times that feel like mandated celebration. I’m remembering a college friend who hated to celebrate the New Year, who thought of New Year’s Eve parties as absurd glorifications of binge drinking based on an essentially arbitrary date. While this friend wasn’t wrong, they were also not always the most fun to have at your New Year’s Eve party.

But this is one of those complicated, both/and truths: As humans we need festivals and times of celebration, and for some people and at some times, they have the opposite effect. At a time when we are supposed to connect, we may feel increasing separation. At a time when we are supposed to be happy, we may feel sad.It is not wrong to speak of sorrow at times of celebration. For the festivals to free us, for the laughter of our hearts to ring out strong and clear, we must not be made to feel ashamed of our sorrow. For the festivals to connect us, for the celebrations to honor what went before and evolve to honor what we need now, we must be able to bring the truth of our full selves. It is what we enact each week when we share those matters most deep within our hearts. It is what we embody when we allow our fellow beings to cry with us as well as to laugh. You don’t have to be good. You don’t have to love a holiday the same way each year. Your place in the family of things is there for you always. The lamp of wisdom kindled in the comforting balm of darkness is a reminder that we do not have light without darkness, nor darkness without light. We do not have joy without sorrow nor sorrow without joy.

May you find a way of being this festival season that allows you to bring your full self, that allows you to be present for the full selves of others. When all of this is going on, why would we write about - speak about - sing about joy?

Because it is the truth of our hearts.Let us kindle our truth this festival season.

Let us celebrate.

So may it be.

Nov 13, 202314:02
"Honoring Our Beloved Dead" Delivered 29 October 2023

"Honoring Our Beloved Dead" Delivered 29 October 2023

“Glorious chant of remembrance

Praise the ability to feel this deep:

The goldfish. The grandparent. The ball player.

The children detained. The spoiled water. The

sewer spilt government. The son. The daughter.

The bullet. The gift of ghosting. The promise of

no more. The mother. The father. The empty

womb. The empty heart. The desertbranch throat

clenching tightly, a name no one will speak.”

I love you, I love you, I love you. The way not to grieve is not to love, and that is not to live. Today, celebrate all the love in your life so strong, so powerful, so overwhelming that its loss is your companion, your shadow, your friend. Make it a cup of coffee. Chant every glorious loving thing in your moving, living heart. Honor your grief, honor your love, and spill that full cup of life everywhere.

So may it be.

Oct 30, 202314:48
What Love Looks Like in Public: Justice as Spiritual Practice

What Love Looks Like in Public: Justice as Spiritual Practice

“learn to be here critique is a seductress her door is always open so what if you get some we are going further past reform, to wonder this requires comprehension that cannot fit in words” I wonder, how many of you here have what you consider to be a daily, personal spiritual practice? Or near-daily, or aspirationally-daily or even weekly? What does that look like? Prayer. Meditation. Journaling. Movement practices. Practices of silence and of song. Practices that ground us in the earth where we are, that guide our thoughts into a future that could be. “over and over again it becomes known the peace we seek is seeking us the joy a full bud awaiting our attention justice in our hands longing to be practiced the whole world learning from within” If we cultivate our joy and fill our cups deeply within our spiritual communities, with our soul-companions, we find that deep peace. We look at the justice within our hands and find we have the strength to practice it. We learn from within and take our learning into the world. And because I can’t ever resist poetry, I’ll end with this from Marge Piercy’s “The Low Road.” “It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again and they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more.” I am so glad we are here together. The “we” we are creating grows more wide, more broad, more deep. Cultivate wonder within yourselves, beloveds, and gather together for the strength to make it real in the world. So may it be.

Oct 23, 202323:32
October 8 - On Shame, Fear and Sacrifice

October 8 - On Shame, Fear and Sacrifice

What if the consequences of shame is simply pain...what if the consequences of sacrifice is the fragmentation of the person?

Oct 09, 202326:36
Minister's Monthly Message October: Animals Are a Blessing

Minister's Monthly Message October: Animals Are a Blessing

We missed doing an animal blessing this year...but there are other ways to bless the animals. Animals are a mystery and a wonder...and our trusted companion. Think about and give thanks for all of the animals in your life and give thanks for them.

Oct 09, 202301:12
October 1, 2023 "Our History of Welcome"

October 1, 2023 "Our History of Welcome"

“There is nothing in this heart of yours that ever needs to be healed, my beautiful child." The magic of poetry is that even these hypothetical words put in the mouth of Jesus can bring a tear to the eye. That tear comes in part because we know deep within ourselves how often the language of faith has been used to harm our beloved LGBTQIA+ siblings. I’m so glad and grateful that Kathy Helms, as the LBGTQIA+ representative to our social justice committee, has agreed to work with me to ensure that UUCYork meets all the criteria for renewing its Welcoming Congregation status in the 2023-2024 congregational year. It’s my hope that you will eagerly support and engage with us as our community rededicates ourselves again to the deeply rooted work of Love, the core of all our shared values. May each heart who finds their way here find loving welcome. May we prepare our hearts to learn, to grow, and to embody that sense of welcome. May it be so.

Oct 02, 202320:06
Yom Kippur: On Atonement and Forgiveness

Yom Kippur: On Atonement and Forgiveness

This time of year, for our Jewish siblings is the Days of Awe. What fills you with awe?

Sep 26, 202319:38
MMM for August...one more question.

MMM for August...one more question.

Rev Jen is back and answering her favorite question that didn't get answered at the Question Box Ceremony.

Aug 31, 202307:53
August 27 - "A World Without Static"

August 27 - "A World Without Static"

When’s the last time you went searching for something to watch or listen to, and were only met with static? ​What are the things that keep us from engaging with the world around us? How are we to find a path to spiritual grounding and spiritual practice if we don’t run into static once in a while? What possible gifts of interference, lack of access, and even straight-up boredom are we missing when our brains are always occupied?

Aug 28, 202321:27
August 6, 2023 - Back to School

August 6, 2023 - Back to School

"Back to School!" The phrase brings us images of pencils, notebooks, and laptops. Photos at the bus stop will be taken and posted. Children are excited. Teenagers are nervous. Teachers swim in a pool of joy and stress. And we turn on the news and hear about schools: censorship, arguments at school board meetings, lawsuits, charter schools, elections, diversity, equity, inclusion, values, ethics, college loan debt and on and on. So...where do we go from here, as parents or grandparents or community members, seeking healthy adult lives for ourselves and for the next generation?

Aug 08, 202320:24
July 23, 2023: The Wonders of Our Physical and Soul Home

July 23, 2023: The Wonders of Our Physical and Soul Home

Miracles abound in our natural world, and guest in the pulpit Rev. Ellen Dionna draws a spectrum of wonder as the solar system looks while traveling at 448,000 mph to the deadening of wonder in our culture. Have we lost contact with our deepest selves?

Jul 24, 202329:38
July's Minister's Monthly Message

July's Minister's Monthly Message

On the "Midpoint of the Year" Rev. Jen shares with us a poem and her thoughts on being more than one thing.

Jul 03, 202303:08
July 2, 2023 - Find your awe-some practice.

July 2, 2023 - Find your awe-some practice.

Awe can come in many shapes and sizes, so let's wake up and witness awe!

Jul 02, 202318:16
July 2nd: The Midpoint of the Year, this is a holy day.

July 2nd: The Midpoint of the Year, this is a holy day.

July 2. The precise middle. Half of the year lies behind us, half of the year lies before us. This is a holy day. Independence Day is also a holy day. Independence Day asks of us, begs of us, to examine the state of our nation, the state of our independence and our interdependence, the state of who our nation is serving and who it is failing. Holy days, beloveds, are complicated things. They must be.

Jul 02, 202315:12
Sunday, June 12, 2023: Flower Communion

Sunday, June 12, 2023: Flower Communion

The flower communion service originated in 1923 by Dr. Norbert Čapek, founder of the modern Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. You will hear some of Dr. Čapek prayers from that original ceremony. "May we cherish friendship as one of god's most precious gifts. [...] May we realize that whatever we can do the efforts of all of us are needed to do god's work in this world." "Children of the earth and sky" by Alice Berry Children of the earth and sky, we are nurtured, sustained, given warmth and light from above and below. Supported by earth's strong, firm crust, we build our homes, till the fields, plant our gardens and orchards. When we turn from self and seek to be aware, we will find holy light in human faces, in blossom, birdsong, and sky. Then earth is truly our home, and we are one with all earth's creatures, Parents of earth's children yet to be.

Jun 12, 202312:53
Sunday, June 11th: Happy Pride! We Affirm and We Celebrate You.

Sunday, June 11th: Happy Pride! We Affirm and We Celebrate You.

You are whole, holy, and good; the world is better with you in it. Praise be to the creator of queer and trans wonders. Of bodies made perfect through self-love. Of love that is expansive. Of the holiness of “strange.” Of lines blurred and certainty troubled. Of the particular beauty birthed from determination to be. Of becoming. Of multifaceted. Of community in knowing the joy and the struggles. Of generations of proudly weird. Of solidarity. Of tenderness. Of together. Of ever unfolding ways of being. Of families made in endless variations. Of “will not hide.” Of surviving in forced hiddenness. Of unafraid. Of trembling but persisting. Of sacred connection in flesh, in heart, in sharing resources, in being with and for one another. “What sorrow for those who say what is evil is good and what is good is evil.” -Isaiah 5:20

Jun 11, 202324:50
May 28 Service led by Lora Powell-Haney, Guest Speaker - Three Sacred Words: ‘I Don’t Know’

May 28 Service led by Lora Powell-Haney, Guest Speaker - Three Sacred Words: ‘I Don’t Know’

"As swimmers dare to lie face to the sky and water bears them, as hawks rest upon air and air sustains them; so would I learn to attain freefall, and float into Creator Spirit's deep embrace, knowing no effort earns that all-surrounding grace.” ― Denise Levertov What if you are an artist, and you just haven't though of yourself as one yet. Nothing is quite as intimidating– or exhilarating–as a blank page, unmarked canvas, or the instruction to “see what happens.” As humans, we are wired to avoid uncertainty, and yet must go to the place of unknowing in order to imagine different ways of doing or being. Let us apply uncertainty to our own faith, and through spiritual practice, music, and art open ourselves to the sacred. Lora Powell-Haney served for nine years as Director of Religious Education (DRE) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick (UUCF). She graduated from Meadville Lombard Theological School in May 2020 with a Master of Divinity; her study included a ministerial internship at Towson Unitarian Universalist Church in Lutherville, Maryland, and a chaplain residency in Hagerstown, Maryland. She currently serves as part-time interim religious education coordinator for the UU Congregation of Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, and as an itinerant preacher. Lora loves reading, drinking tea, creating stories, and standing barefoot on the earth, especially in springtime.

May 28, 202325:31
Minister's Monthly Message: Happy May! Happy Spring Indeed!

Minister's Monthly Message: Happy May! Happy Spring Indeed!

For those of us that work on a calendar schedule similar to a school calendar, you feel kind of done when May finally comes.

May 23, 202305:40
May 21, 2023: Volunteer Recognition Sunday

May 21, 2023: Volunteer Recognition Sunday

“The most important thing each of us can know is our unique gift and how to use it in the world. Individuality is cherished and nurtured, because, in order for the whole to flourish, each of us has to be strong in who we are and carry our gifts with conviction, so they can be shared with others. Being among the sisters provides a visible manifestation of what a community can become when its members understand and share their gifts. In reciprocity, we fill our spirits as well as our bellies.”


“Respect one another, support one another, bring your gift to the world and receive the gifts of others, and there will be enough for all.”


“It goes on one at a time,

it starts when you care to act,

it starts when you do it again

and they said no,

it starts when you say 'We'

and know who you mean,

and each day you mean one more.”

So may it ever be.

May 22, 202310:29
May 14 - Mother's Day: A Day of Complicated Emotions

May 14 - Mother's Day: A Day of Complicated Emotions

This is a holiday that brings up very large...and very complicated emotions. Today we consider and honor those that loved us into being: our biological mothers, step-mothers, mothers that adopted us, women who cared for us when our mother was absent...mothers that are absent...mothers that are gone from our lives for one reason or another...imperfect women who were imperfect mothers. Whatever your relationship with your mother or mothers...however you choose to remember her today...Whoever you are...wherever you are from. You are whole and holy.

May 14, 202314:21
May 7, 2023: Your sexuality is whole and holy, and you are welcome here.

May 7, 2023: Your sexuality is whole and holy, and you are welcome here.

Did you grow up with confusing messaging about sexuality and your body? Did you grow up being told that asking about sex was something that is shameful? As a child did you learn how to keep your bodies healthy and how it can and should bring you delight? Did you grow up associating sexuality with shame, doubt, and fear? Was giving your body to another person with enthusiastic consent part of "The Facts of Life" when they were explained to you?

May 08, 202318:11
Happy National Poetry Month

Happy National Poetry Month

Rev. Jen shares a book that scares her, and it's not a Stephen King book...it's a blank book!

Apr 24, 202301:23
April 23, 2023 - Earth Day Service: On Silence and Speaking

April 23, 2023 - Earth Day Service: On Silence and Speaking

We gather today with to renew our commitment to the vast wondrous planet that we call home and have a surprise visit from Johnny Appleseed!

Apr 23, 202324:12
April 16, 2023: Practicing Our Welcome

April 16, 2023: Practicing Our Welcome

What was the thing that made you feel as though you belonged right where you were?

“Boldly, you must hang your light. Neon,

buzzing, bright. And do not be chagrined when

your lights blinks. It is a silent song of yes, you,

you are welcome here. Boldly, give your love

and arrive at your joy.”

When you give welcome, you receive joy.

We welcome you. We rejoice with you. We invite you into the work of this community, and of the larger work of the community of Unitarian Universalism. Together, we will be the oasis. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s going to be pretty amazing.

Apr 17, 202319:16
April 9, 2023 Easter Sunday: The Morning that Brought Fear, Uncertainty, and Joy

April 9, 2023 Easter Sunday: The Morning that Brought Fear, Uncertainty, and Joy

What do you believe? Do you believe in life after death? Do you believe in God, or a creator god? Do you believe in many gods or none? How do you decide what or whom to believe? How willing are you to change your beliefs?

We are the faith that questions. Find us and you shall seek.

Apr 10, 202320:31
April 2, 2023: “The Radiance of the Divine (Uncovering Our Stories)”

April 2, 2023: “The Radiance of the Divine (Uncovering Our Stories)”

The cemetery is on a hill, the highest elevation in the surrounding county lands, a lookout through the overgrown woods and tall sturdy trees that block some, but not all, of the winds at the hilltop. It is a peaceful place, green lawn and stone markers all arrayed around a small white wooden chapel, the sort of thing you’d see worked into a cross-stitch or painted in watercolor, depicting a bucolic church scene. Although there are still some people being buried there to this day, part of this graveyard is old indeed - old, at any rate, for the United States. The small church and the earliest known occupants of the cemetery predate the existence of the country. If you were to explore this peaceful green space, you would notice that the closer you got to the woods behind the small chapel, the older the graves got. The stones are harder to read, some of them leaning at angles, beset by moss and lichen and looking even more ancient than the dates carved on them suggest, for those where the dates are even still discernible.Hold the image of what this spot looks like in your mind, please. Big sky overhead, tall trees surrounding, small white church with a red door, and gravestones from modern to colonial times.

The last time I went to visit, I noticed that the woods behind the chapel, heading past the last of the graves and further down the hill, were full of orange surveyors’ flags. “What’s that?” I wondered in the moment, but in short order I turned my attention to spending time at this place where I said goodbye to my father’s earthly existence.Soon, I learned what those flags were, along with many people - you may have heard this story, too, because it received some national coverage. The little white chapel is a historic building - first built in 1744, it is the site where John Carroll was installed, the first Catholic bishop to be declared such on North American soil. It is also the site of the Jesuit plantation called White Marsh.This plantation existed because of the labor of enslaved people, and the small orange markers in the woods represented hundreds of graves of those who worked this land, in bondage to others who did not see their humanity.There are stories on every part of this land, this land we now call home, this land that was home to so many before us and will be home to so many after us.There are the stories we know and tell again and again, and there are the ones that are buried. When we receive new information, when we dig down into the ground of our being and ask, at every age, “who are we? And how are we to be?” we must give our attention to that which is brought to the surface.In a recent update on the ongoing project at Sacred Heart - where parishioners are working with anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and the descendents of those enslaved at White Marsh - it is noted, “this is an important act of justice and work of mercy, to care for each of our brothers and sisters buried on our parish grounds, especially those who were not treated with respect and dignity during their earthly life.”Justice and mercy. Equity and inclusion. There are stories untold, there are stories erased, there are lives who were destroyed by systems that perpetuated this erasure. I am grateful that the place where I first learned about some of the many names of God is doing this work. And I implore all of us to examine the stories of our own lives, the stories of our own times. There are still stories untold, there are stories and lives erased, lives are still being destroyed by systems that have perpetuated this erasure. If we are to learn to tell better stories of how we are to be with one another, if we want to act with justice and mercy right now, in a direct counterpoint to these erasures, we must examine the truth in our hearts. Black lives matter. Trans lives matter. We must not allow the injustice of erasure to continue. “I am the one who cries out, and I listen.”May we listen.May we learn.May we answer.

Apr 03, 202317:57
March 26, 2023: Our Covenant, Our Promise (or "What the heck is Jet-Pig?")

March 26, 2023: Our Covenant, Our Promise (or "What the heck is Jet-Pig?")

Late in January of this year, I was on retreat with other ministers in our localchapter of the UU Ministers Association. Ministers can be pretty busy people, and it was lovely that so many of us could make time to learn and reflect together. I arrived a little late to our business meeting, since I had been teaching one of our new member classes on Zoom, and I settled into my seat next to the whiteboard. During the conversation, people kept making a joke that I clearly wasn’t getting - they kept using the word “JETPIG” and laughing.

Finally I said, “Hold on! What the heck is a ‘JETPIG’ and why are you talking about it so much?” They pointed to the whiteboard next to me, where they had written several things, but one of them was the list of Unitarian Universalist values as spelled out in the just-released report of the Article 2 Study Commission. The list spelled out:

Justice

Equity

Transformation

Pluralism

Interdependence

Generosity

And off to the right of this list of words was the word LOVE written in all capitals and circled.

We got very excited about this list, and about the mnemonic device to remember them - not just because the visual of a JETPIG (is that a jet shaped like a pig? A pig wearing a jetpack?) in orbit around a center labeled “LOVE” was fun to think about, but because this was a big deal. This was the culmination of years of work on behalf of the Article 2 Study Commission and thousands of Unitarian Universalists who sat for interviews and filled out response questionnaires all serving the radical end of possibly re-writing that part of our bylaws that are at the heart of our faith.

This is the fifth and final of my five-part sermon series on the work of the Article 2 Study Commission, all leading up to the initial vote on the proposed revisions - with possible amendments - this June at the annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, held close by this year in Pittsburgh.

Mar 29, 202321:02
March 19, 2023: Springtime is upon us, are you ready to face the Season?

March 19, 2023: Springtime is upon us, are you ready to face the Season?

Today we will be celebrating Ostara, celebrating the beginning of spring.

Mar 29, 202320:22
Minister's Monthly Message for March: On Adulting

Minister's Monthly Message for March: On Adulting

What are the unlovely realities of what we should expect as an adult?

Mar 23, 202302:38
March 12, 2023: On Trust and Naming

March 12, 2023: On Trust and Naming

Today’s sermon is courtesy Karen Wishart, our amazingly hard-working auction organizer who happened to win the raffle that was part of the auction, allowing her to request a sermon topic of her own choosing. Karen first wanted to talk about labels - about that way of naming and categorizing things and people in the world around us. Then, upon doing some more consideration and having new information, she came back to me with trust - how it is eroding in our world and what on earth we can do to get it back. Karen presented both of these topics to me by mentioning how divided our society has become. It’s this connecting theme that feels like the heart of the matter. How do we make decisions about one another? How often and how easily can we change them? If someone breaks our trust, it can take a long time to rebuild - and so the same must be for groups and institutions. In our reading today from adrienne maree brown, we hear: “trust the people and they become trustworthy.” And later we hear: “trust the people and you will become trustworthy.” adrienne maree brown wrote the piece on trusting the people as a part of her work on community organizing, which is called Emergent Strategy. Any community is made of people, and people are fallible. Trust must be able to reside where perfection does not and cannot. So when we fail, what do we do? Brown writes: “trust that each breach of trust can deepen trust or clarify boundaries.” If we take the time to examine the complexity of a trust breach, we can learn more about ourselves and about others. Now it feels hard to talk about complexity and deep learning in our current social environment. But let’s remember that trust builds. And that each of us is capable of being trustworthy. And that each time we do it, we feel good, and others feel good. And if we can demonstrate integrity - if we can recognize when trust has been broken and make amends, can be accountable for our actions that may have broken trust, then trust can be rebuilt. It might be easier for two people than an entire society - but it starts with us. It starts small. Trust yourself. Trust others. Build the muscle of looking past your first impressions. Build the muscle of learning that your assumptions may be wrong. Be open to a more trustworthy world and hold yourself accountable to be a part of it. When we learn to trust we all benefit. “trust the people who see and hold your heart. trust the people who listen to the whales. trust the people and you will become trustworthy. trust the people and show them your love. trust the people.” So may it be.

Mar 20, 202321:17
March 5, 2013: On Divine Timing

March 5, 2013: On Divine Timing

Joslin Kearse joins us in the pulpit this week to share with us about "Divine Timing".  Joslin Kearse is a performance artist and York City native, also known as Soul Cry.  She began writing and performing spoken word in 2005 and has featured in numerous venues and slams across the East Coast.  She was awarded Poet of the Year for 2007 and 2008 at the Central PA Hip Hop Awards and currently has two CD’s to her credit entitled “Destiny’s Calling” and “The Love Chronicles”.  Ms. Kearse also holds an Associates Degree in Business Management from Yorktowne Business Institute, a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University and a Master’s degree in Business from Eastern University in 2014.

Mar 14, 202322:55
February 26, 2023: It Matters What We Believe

February 26, 2023: It Matters What We Believe

We light our chalice this morning for our children.

Religious Education has always been an integral part of UUCYork.  In 1953, there were 29 adults and 26 children that met in individuals' homes.

There have been many shifts and changes over the years, but now we are thriving with our dedicated RE committee and volunteer teachers.

Feb 28, 202316:59