It’s a common question among Unity parents: "What about the Bible?" Do the stories of the Old and New Testaments have a place in the religious upbringing of our children? Why does the Bible elicit a wholly different response from Unitarian Universalist adults than other sacred texts? Drawing wisdom from our liberal religious ancestors, William Ellery Channing and Sophia Lyon Fahs, worship leader and Director of Religious Education Kerri Meyer will frame a possible approach to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, useful to parents and Sunday School teachers and of interest -- Kerri hopes -- to all.

At age 6, Sophie discovered that time moves effortlessly from "now" to memory. It’s a wonderful insight, but how important is "now?" What does it mean to be in the moment? Why do we live our lives in "future mode" while clinging to the past for guidance? If we are open, we can discover the "now" that calls us to play and to "dance in a spring wind." Then we can realize that "Only this moment is life."

Hear from several youth who -- in the eyes of their church and community -- are turning out to be fine human beings in a generation subject to our doubts. We will explore what ingredients contribute to the growth of a whole person in this moment in history. How are parents, other adults and the youth themselves cooks in the kitchen that is adolescence? Recipes and tasty morsels of young wisdom will be provided by worship leaders from among the youth of the church.

Mindfulness meditation encourages us to recognize the inevitability of pain and struggle in daily life - the embracing of this reality allows us to let go and find peace. This is the essence of what the Buddhist nun Pema Chodron calls "letting go of the story line." She writes, "real life problems are the material for waking up, not the reason to stop trying" - holding our struggles with the same honor that we hold our joy is the essence of waking up to life. But how do we learn to just "be" while still needing to do the "do"? Jenny explores the challenges in reaching this state of awareness, the journey to find peace there, and the role of faith and religion in this process.

Our liberal religious tradition values the role of rational inquiry more than other traditions. But careful, rational inspection of the best of our information and deepest of our intuitions can lead us into strange places. What happens when familiar truths are shown to have disconcerting implications? Some examples from the history of mathematics can be both cautionary and enlightening.

Unity Church encourages us to create lives of integrity, service and joy. How do we engage in this effort within our own lives, with each other, and beyond the walls of Unity Church? What holds us back and what drives us forward? Laura Smidzik takes a thoughtful look at the journey our faith calls us to take.

At the center of German philosopher Hegel’s construction of logic is the concept of Aufhebung, a word which carries three meanings: to lift up, to preserve and to destroy. This is a look into the spiritual practice of dialectics, or accepting seemingly contradictory ideas to be true, and the practical implications for those on the journey to integrity, service and joy.

Extraordinary rendition, denial of habeas corpus, enhanced interrogation tactics, waterboarding, torture. We have been hearing and reading these words too often since September 11, 2001. It has been difficult to follow the recent history. It’s tough to sort out facts from spin, and for some, the issue is too abhorrent to think about. CVT and the National Religious Campaign against Torture have determined this June to be Torture Awareness Month and have charged religious communities across the country to recommit themselves to their most deeply held convictions and act in this effort to ban torture. Come hear what this means for our church and the larger Unitarian Universalist community.

In the Buddhist tradition, the first of the three marks of existence is impermanence. This idea that reality is constantly flowing has become embedded in modern, Western theological thought as ‘process’. In this continual flux, is there anything permanent and unchanging? What is our place in this transient world? Where is the joy?

Did you know that Irma Rombauer was a Unitarian? And that Joy of Cooking has its roots in the Women’s Alliance of the Unitarian Church in St. Louis? Janne and Worship Associate Jean Olson will lift up the unique contribution of Joy of Cooking and the importance of kitchen wisdom.

Did you know that the "K" in K-rations refers to U of M professor, Ansel Keyes? During World War II, Keyes was asked to devise a compact, nutritious packet for use by the troops. What did he include and why? What do soldiers need and why? Rob and Community Intern minister, Jacqueline Duhart, a retired Air Force officer will offer a service for Memorial Day.

Come celebrate the affirming, uniquely Unitarian Universalist ritual of Flower Communion. Developed by Czech Unitarian minister, Norbert Capek who died a martyr at Dachau, the ritual celebrates the intrinsic beauty of each and every soul. Bring a flower for the arch. This Family Sunday service is for the whole church family.

Barry Lopez asks, "How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but with oneself?" How do we embody the generous spirit of mothering in this troubled time? The answers may lie in the workings of an anthill or the language of our very DNA. Ruth MacKenzie is a student of theology at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, as well as a professional creative and performance artist.

Increasingly, we are not only conscious of the nutritional value of the food we eat, but also its source and sustainability. We are also increasingly aware of the ethical and political dimensions to the food we eat. Explore the dynamics of the food chain and what is healthy eating when the well-being of the whole planet is considered.

We conclude our series on covenant and creed with a service to honor those who are Coming of Age this year. Building on the Saturday night ceremony at which each participant will offer their theological statement, the services will highlight those practices, which are essential to our liberal faith. Community Ministerial Intern, Jacqueline Duhart, who has been working with our Coming of Age class all this past year, and Kerri Meyer, Director of Religious Education join Rob in conducting the service.

"Although there are considerable differences between American UUs and Transylvanian Unitarianism - because we live in different societies and in slightly different kinds of cultures - I am more and more conscious about our common passion for justice, human dignity, true fellowship, real peace and love – and I know that we all feel responsible for these values. As a progressive liberal from Transylvania, being here gives me the unique opportunity to learn from your experience, spirituality, and social involvement. "  Rev. Bela-Botond Jakabhazi

The liberal church was founded upon the understanding of covenant as the central binding agent, not creed.  Given that historic understanding, Janne and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander will explore the promises the liberal church makes to its members and friends.  

An introduction to our way of being religious. Who were our spiritual ancestors? What do we promise each other? Covenant for us is more a verb than a noun, a way of being religious together rather than a set of fixed beliefs.

The entire church family will gather to "practice resurrection." Easter celebrates far more than simply the coming of spring. Easter is the joyful recognition of the ministry of Jesus and the many ways his work lives on in all our lives.

Theologian James Luther Adams identified five smooth stones of liberal religion. These stones can be thought of as the stepping stones that we walk upon as we move forward into the future. Explore the smooth stones of our liberal religion that speak to what we might become in the future.

There are times in life when only faith will suffice. Rob and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander have collected stories of such times in the lives of church members and will offer them in collage as part of the service. Even though we know that spring is on the way there are times when even the resilience of the seasons seems in doubt.

How do we keep our heart attuned to the harsh realities of what happens in the public squares of our sacred world? How do we become more and more conscious and spiritually engaged? Explore the road toward becoming an Active Witness; a tool that may reawaken/reconnect us to the fullness and wholeness of life.

Sometimes our efforts at keeping our lives in balance are not enough. With a chance misstep, the world tilts, and we take a tumble. Can we fall with grace, or do we resist the inevitable outcome? Can we recover, and how? Who is there to help us, and can we accept that help?

The Blues tradition embraces the reality that some times "just gettin’ down" with our blues can be the wisest thing to do in response to our disappointments.

There is no work (outside of serving as an instrument of evil) that cannot be made worthwhile. Both suffering and joy are largely a matter of consciousness. Gandhi taught that caste was a matter of karma. In other words, know your place and find happiness there. That approach is in direct conflict with working for human liberation. Or is it?

W. E. DuBois states, "Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the play-time." In justice-making work is there room for joy? If so, how do we find joy and sustain it? This service will be led by Jacqueline Duhart and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith.

Every great tradition points to the fact that compassion can take root in a heart that’s been broken. There is work we do that we know won’t be accomplished in just one generation. We do it anyway because we know it’s right. Rob and Worship Associate Estelle Brouwer will speak of their own heartbreak and of why good work is sometimes worth the risk.

The first service dedicated to the theme of "Work Worth Doing" will explore the important work of raising and mentoring our children and youth.

With the joy of birth and hope that the Christmas season offers us, there is another side. Holy Innocents Day, an ancient Feast Day, recalls the story of the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem as described in the Gospel of Matthew. How can this apparent evil be part of the Christmas story? How do we face the fact that we live, and many around us suffer and die, daily? Come explore how we may navigate a world full of suffering, violence, and despair.

The long midwinter nights seem almost out of time. We rush around in hope of pleasing those we love the best while the world around us slows down to starlit stillness. A quality of spiritual surrender is forcing ourselves to slow down.

The title of this service comes from the poetry of Sufi poet, Rumi. But folk wisdom posits that guests, like caught fish are welcome for about three days.

All creation sings the secret told to Mary by an Angel. Soon God will be born again through you. Soon love will come to you in human form.

In a quest for efficiency, order and even survival, we compartmentalize our lives, separating work from family, from church, from leisure. We know that some boundaries are necessary, but when do we go too far? What is the spiritual cost to such dis-integration?

The story of the first Thanksgiving may well be mostly myth. We know how quickly gratitude gave way to conquest. But seeds of possibility and hope were planted with the corn when spring finally arrived after that terrible first winter. For years now we’ve been planting seeds of hope in Transylvania. We’ve exchanged visits, struggled for mutual respect and gained far more than we could ever have imagined as genuine, lasting friendships have taken root.

We welcome Vivek Pandit, freedom fighter, community organizer and the visionary founder of Vidhayak Sansad, an organization at work freeing slaves in India. Vivek, who is in Saint Paul to explore partnership possibilities with Unity Church, asks us to contemplate the following question. How can liberal religion help newly liberated people to achieve inner freedom? Breaking physical chains is easy when compared to confronting the oppression of self-doubt.

To miniaturize another human being is a violent act. When we make assumptions about others on the basis of some singular aspect of their identity we diminish and marginalize them. Rob and Worship Associate Mary Baremore will wrestle with this all-too-human tendency.

College education, money, sound body and mind, heterosexual, male, physically attractive, white skin, English speaking, socially skilled…do these characteristics separate us from beloved community and contribute to our collective suffering or bring us together in a spirit of love that is healing and liberating? Worship and reflect on how sins of privilege can be transformed and blaze a path toward freedom and justice for all.

Kabir says, Go over and over your beads, paint designs on your forehead, wear your hair matted, long and ostentatious. When deep inside you there is a loaded gun, how can you have God?" We live at the intersection of spiritual development and right action in the world. Urgency is understandable but so often its also an indication that we’re hiding behind the troubles of the world as a way to avoid confronting our own troubles. We run from church to church or from crisis to crisis hoping against hope to find an all-consuming cause. Such behavior can perpetuate the very injustice its intended to combat. Rob and Worship Associate, Craig Allen will begin our series on "Identity and Violence."

Evil prospers and wrongdoing asserts itself; loved ones disappoint us and fall short. Even our own dreams die and our courage often fails us. In the face of this often cruel reality, how dare we lay claim to hope? Rev. McNatt invites us, and our faith, to endure. This Celebration Sunday join us as we renew our financial commitments to our church community.

As part of our series on faith, Janne and Worship Associate Karen Palmen will examine where we look for validation of our faith. Do we look inward for our own sense of truth or do we look to outside sources? Or is it ever that clearly delineated? Emerson’s essay on self reliance will be a primary source for this service.

What does faithful living look like? What does faithful living feel like? It must have to do with living aligned to our values. What questions should we be asking ourselves? How can we most usefully serve one another in living faith-filled lives? Rob, Janne and worship associate, Estelle Brouwer will each offer reflections on these essential questions.

What is the role of faith in a noncreedal religion that is so attractive to skeptics? In what ways is faith different than belief? Janne and worship associate Don Brunnquell will examine the role of faith in today’s world.

In Jewish tradition the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called "the Days of Awe." That awe is inspired by the sure knowledge that you and I can move beyond our brokenness, beyond our dissolution and begin again. Each year we celebrate the Jewish High Holy Days in a service, which culminates with a "Litany for Atonement." Rob Eller-Isaacs will offer a sermon on faith. Jean Olson will serve as worship associate.

First lines explores the importance of beginnings and what it means to have a beginner’s mind.

Is it possible that starting a backyard flock of three chickens could be a meaningful response to the human crisis of inequity in food production and distribution? What does producing our own food at the really local level reveal to us about the relationship between feeding our communities and nourishing our souls? And what are you supposed to do when one of your hens begins to crow? Kerri Meyer reflects on the growing trend of keeping chickens and the ‘inexpressible satisfaction’ that comes from more than just fresh eggs.

We in America are immersed in a culture of violence, and in general we don’t even notice. Our news, our entertainment, and our societal norms lead us to accept horrific violent acts as normal, acceptable, business-as-usual. As Unitarians, as people seeking to lead a religious life, should we be concerned? What response can we offer?

In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. It may also be a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person’s beliefs and faith. Lyn Burton will share joys, hardships and insights from her seven-year journey of faith as a Unity Church sponsored candidate for UU parish ministry on the path to Preliminary Fellowship in the UU Minister’s Association.

For many people, working in corporate America seems both necessary and unavoidably numbing. Is workplace spirituality really an oxymoron? Must it be so? Come for some observations about the alleged conflict between work life and personal essence based on Craig’s 15 years working for large Minnesota businesses.

During the month of May, our ministers Rob and Janne Eller-Isaacs made their way along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage trail that culminates at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compestella. They return to Unity Church to tell us why they chose to go beyond Santiago and to end their pilgrimage at the sea.

In this 4 part sermon, Rob and Janne reflect on their sabbatical, on making a pilgrimage, and on the importance of "taking time" to truly reconnect with ourselves and our deepest callings.

We were all born — and we all have mothers. Some of us are mothers and grandmothers. We’ll explore having a mom and being a mom — times funny and sad; moments poignant and irreverent. Mothers of all kinds should be remembered, if not honored. Some mothers are nurturing, some mothers are stifling, some mothers always loved us, some didn’t know how, some mothers we never met, some mothers are our best friends. Come and and honor motherhood with us.

Melissa served a Unity Church’s second Hallman Ministerial Intern. She is currently serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, Ohio. Melissa served as Unity’s Intern in 2003 and 2004. Melissa is married to Ellen Carvill-Ziemer. In addition to her full time parish ministry, Melissa has been focused on Conflict Resolution and is currently exploring religious themes in children’s literature. Sharon Hogenson will join Melissa as her Worship Associate.

Join Justin Schroeder and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith as they explore the fundamental questions of “identity.� Are our identities fluid or static? Who determines our identities and labels? What are the politics of identity and is it possible to ever be without an identity? Or are we forever creating the identity we show the world?

Neil is the author of two acclaimed books, VoiceMale, and Fatherloss. He is writer-in-residence at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Rev. Kelly Flood, and their 13-year-old son, Evan. Neil is co-founder of the Unitarian Universalist Men’s Network. Justin Schroeder will join Neil as his Worship Associate.

Rev. Jennifer Crow, First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York  delivered at www.unityunitarian.org

Effective leadership requires genuine concern, curious listening, humility,and bold vision - a tricky combination whether your find yourself seated in the oval office, around the board room or at the family dinner table. How can we, as leaders and as members of our country, our church, and our families, encourage one another to embrace this difficult balance? What can past leaders teach us about how to proceed — either by way of warning or by way of example? How might we offer and earn the trust required for the emergence of a humble vision in our relationships? Let us explore these tricky questions together

As we move into the New Year, and all the promise and hope that it holds, let us pause to reflect on the year just ending. What innocence in us has died in the past year? What have we lost in the past year that cannot be recovered? What innocents in the world have suffered unspeakable violence and even death? And how might we move forward into the New Year with strengthened commitment and resolve?

In this season of endless to do lists and rushing around, Janne and Worship Associate Ginger Reynolds will explore how we might bring more kindness to our dealings with friends, family members and ourselves in the season of high demands.

Inspired by the poem The Third Body by Robert Bly and the theology of Martin Buber, the service will explore the spirituality of relationship and its implications for hospitality. Janne and Hallman Ministerial Intern Justin Schroeder will be joined by Worship Associate Sharon Hogenson.

Why do we fear what we fear? Beyond hard-wired aversion to poisons or pain there are more subtle triggers. Particular costumes, a certain swagger or even just the color of a person’s skin can set off our interior alarms, speeding up our heart-rates, closing down our minds. Rob will be joined by Kerri Meyer and Worship Associate Mary Baremore for a descent into the underworld.

Huston Smith said that the first step in human flourishing is empathy and compassion. Janne and Worship Associate Neely Crane-Smith will examine the role that justice making activities and our own community outreach play in our own lives. This service is part of the Privilege of Place series.

For the first of our High Holy Day services, Janne and Worship Associate Elizabeth Alexander will explore the dimensions of the classic text used for the beginning of the new year, the sacrifice of Isaac at the hands of his father. In addition they will address this in the light of the immigrant experience in our country.

A lifelong career of studying the world's religions has made the world-renowned Dr. Huston Smith especially gifted in illuminating the dialogues that are timeless. His conversations touch upon many Big Questions: what is the meaning of God? Where do science and religion meet? How can we teach children about the sacred in everyday life? Join Rob Eller-Isaacs and Dr. Smith for an insightful look into this field of study.

Every river flows down to the sea. And we will merge the waters of the world as we begin another year together. The whole church family will gather bringing water they have brought back from around the world. We'll sing songs old and new. We'll pray for peace and be at peace together. Please note that this Sunday begins our new service schedule of 9:00, 11:00, and 4:30.