Services

I started out in Unitarian Universalist Ministry believing that the groundwork for justice had been done. I believed that Dr King and the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s had secured the future for the American people. Well, it is time to take the rose colored glasses off. Join us as we take a look at the progress our nation has made and a closer look at where we have missed the opportunities to change ourselves, our congregations and maybe this nation of ours.

As Unitarian Universalists, we see our justice work as living out our values into the world. We covenant that "service is our prayer." What might it look like to create a justice spiritual practice?

In sermons and newsletters we often see references to our Unitarian Universalist "faith tradition” and some UU’s end their letters and emails with the words “In faith.” But faith in what? This sermon will be a summation of Bill’s reflections on that question and along the way he will introduce Roy G. Biv, whom he first encountered as a teacher in East Shore's RE program.

How do we think about work? How is it different from play? What is the nature of our (mostly) volunteer labor at East Shore. Board President Mike Radow and Rev. Furrer will explore these matters with the awesome participation of Eric Lane Barnes.

Reverend Furrer will lead this traditional service... virtually! Bring some water so you can visualize pouring it into the communal bowl.

What does it mean to make promises to ourselves and others? Join us to reflect upon the challenges and rewards experienced when we make promises to one another in our faith community. Presented by the Right Relations Team.

Bias is an inescapable part of the human experience, but what we do with, and how we react to our biases is very much in our control. While our natural instinct may be to put things into categories and boxes , there is a space that can enrich our interactions with everyone around us, the space beyond boxes. This Sunday, please join us as our BCT facilitator, Amanda Schuber, talks about the ways that identity and bias impact our relationships with each other and the wider world.

Let me begin this year by reminding everyone that it will be my last among you and that Carol and I will be leaving come June. Which is a good thing. New wine is not to be poured into old wineskins, else the new wine will burst them and ruin the whole project. New wine must be put into new receptacles. Citations from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Stephen Levine, Forrest Church, and more.

“A Thousand Names for Joy” is a book commended to me by church member Lassie Jordan. Lassie also made the top bid at last year’s auction, gave me a copy, and asked me to preach on author Byron Katie’s guidebook for healthy, wholesome living. Come for a synopsis and invitation to everyday spiritual practice.

Rev Furrer. on resisting the temptation to cut corners, fake results, or fudge data. And what one gains in the process. 

Rev. Furrer, preaching on the perilous state of democratic society in the current age, how we can defend it, and what are our prospects of success?

In 1925 Mohandas Gandhi published his Social Sins of the Modern World, the last of which was Religion Without Sacrifice. The celebration Veterans Day reminds us of our fallen veterans' sacrifices, but what can we say of their religion? 

Les McCann and Roberta Fleck’s hit protest song/single “Compared to What” was subsequently recorded by more than 270 artists, including Ray Charles and Brian Auger. Rev Furrer will use that platform to consider what we can and should be thankful for.