Universalist National Memorial Church

Sharing the Spirit

The UNMC choir shared the spirit at the Swann Street Art Gallery open house on Sunday, June 2. Many thanks to Dan Kuhn for inviting us, Pastor Jim, Darryl Winston, and everyone else who helped organize this wonderful afternoon event.

Sacred Music & Jazz on a Summer Day

Join the Universalist National Memorial Church Vocal Ensemble in a celebration of music and art on Sunday, June 2, 11am - 3pm, as Dan Kuhn and Marcy Logan offer an exhibit of the works of artist Robert E. Kuhn at the Swann Street Art Gallery, 1767 Swann Street, NW, Washington, DC. This event is free for all!

It is not often that an opportunity like this comes to a church. Dan has invited the DuPont Circle Citizens Association and the entire neighborhood. Many will have the treat of hearing our outstanding choir for the first time. Darryl Winston has selected some splendid sacred music, as well as excellent secular songs. For jazz lovers, the Herb Scott Hard-Bop Quintet also will be performing.

We are in for an outstanding afternoon.  It will provide us an opportunity to get acquainted with neighbors and learn more about how our congregation can make a difference in our city.

For more information on the paintings and sculpture of Robert Kuhn and on the Swann Street Art Gallery, check out this article from the Washington Post last December.

God Is Our Mother

Sermon preached by Deacon Dave Skidmore on May 26, 2013

I start this morning with a disclaimer: I am no expert in the feminine divine. We have two, at least, in this congregation. Both Sue Mosher and Jennifer Sandberg were presenters at last year’s Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF) revival in Fairfax on “Welcoming the Feminine in Christianity.” They have studied the subject deeply. What I have to offer this morning are my personal reflections on the topic. For inspiration for this week’s sermon, I looked to the lectionary readings and found the reading from Proverbs 8 about wisdom, or as the Greeks name her personification, Sophia--or, the feminine aspect of God. “To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.” (She sounds like a Universalist!) The reading percolated in my mind with what I heard at last year’s revival. The lectionary also noted that today is Trinity Sunday. What can I do with that, especially in a congregation that is part of the Unitarian Universalist Association--and how could I relate it to the reading from Proverbs?

Is God a Man or a Woman?

When my daughter Emily (now 23) was four she was in what anyone who has been a parent--or had the opportunity to spend time with young children--will recognize as the “why phase.”

Child: “Why is the sky blue?”

Child: (After a pause.) Why?

So the lesson here is that sometimes the best answer to the question, “Why is the sky blue?” is “Because blue is a pretty color.”

Anyway, one evening as I was picking Emily up from pre-school, her question du jour was, “Is God a man or a woman?” Now, I could have launched into a discourse on Paul Tillich’s concept of God as “the ground of being” or Thomas Merton’s concept of God as light shining through a transparent world. But somehow I sensed that would be the equivalent of explaining the color of the sky to a four-year-old in terms of the wavelengths of light. So I did what any thinking parent would do in such a situation--I stalled for time. “What do you think?” I asked her. She thought a moment and replied, “I think God is both.”

Push Me Higher

Mike Miller stepped in with only three days' notice when Shawn Logue, our scheduled preacher, traveled to Connecticut after his best friend died suddenly. Our deeply felt sadness is extended to Shawn, and we trust that he will find comfort and solace through his friends and God.

Mike brought an insightful sermon on God pushing us higher, higher. We, on the swing, keep urging God to do so. How little we know how much God wants to push us as high as we can go! We often miss the signals that God sends to nudge us skyward.

Mike illustrated this through his own life in the way God has "pushed" him through his longing to preach. He has taken a new look at spiritual growth and is saying to God, "Push me higher!" How high will Mike let God push him? How high will you or I?

It is that small, still voice that is so powerful. It is not the things that we can easily do to which God calls us - but the things we believe that we cannot do.

Shalom,
Pastor Jim

New Series ! Life’s Saga

Join Rev. Dr. Jim Morgan and David Burton for four evenings of exploration Wednesday evenings at 7:15 in May:

May 8 - What Does Human Mean?

May 15 - The God Particle

May 22 - One Powerful Seed

May 29 - Quo Vadis?

Curious? Come!

Sanctuary

Last Sunday Dave Gatton identified "sanctuary" as a place of radical acceptance.  It is a place where a person feels safe, loved, and able to be himself or herself. Participation in its life and liturgy may or may not be important. Our sanctuary has been given to its present worshippers as a gift to be treasured and a spiritual legacy to be enjoyed and celebrated.

There is a longing in me to capture that as a reality. It is so needed in these times of terrorists, rogues, those with evil intentions, and those lacking any spiritual interests. Few things are sacred any longer. Shrines, tombs, mosques, and other houses of worship have been invaded by authorities determined to "get their man". Even embassies are targets for those with no sense of morality.

Our sacred space is what we have decided to make of it. We need to hold it in trust for future generations, so they can pass it on to the next generation. It needs to reflect our beliefs and cherished ideals. Only we can make that a living reality.

Shalom, Pastor Jim

The Helpers and the Hope

"We are the Helpers and the Hope."

A prayer in the wake of the Boston bombings.
By Rev. Sue Phillips, Unitarian Universalist Minister

Video by Jessica Ferguson

"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)