January 2026
Practicing Resistance

January 25, 2026: Rev. Sara Goodman: TBD: As we are seeing some historical patterns emerging, we consider how can we resist falling into these patterns, culturally and within ourselves

January 18, 2026: Rev. Sara Goodman: Beyond the Dream: As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., we are reminded that the work of building the beloved community continues on. How do we fit in?

January 11, 2026: Rev. Sara Goodman: When Tomorrow’s Not Enough: Sometimes tomorrow is as far ahead as we can look when we are in survival mode. But if we are to change the world for the better, we need to have a vision for what it is we’re heading towards.

January 4, 2026: Rev. Kimberely Debus: Road Conditions: We begin the new year considering the ongoing journeys of our lives – individually and as communities: how do we handle changing conditions, detours, and rough terrain?

December 2025
Chosing Hope

December 28, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman:Burning Bowl: As we reach the end of our calendar year, we’re called to reflect on the year and begin imagining what the new year will bring.

December 24, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: What Star is This: Join your Unitarian Universalist Community Church family as we celebrate Christmas Eve! Come enjoy a festive holiday concert at 4pm followed by our traditional candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 5pm! In this season of unknowing, what star will lead us on?

December 21, 2025: Adena & Kids: Trouble on the Tree: The Holiday Season has come and it’s time for a seasonal favorite… decorating the tree!! There will be songs, lights, ornaments, and of course the star! But what happens when things don’t quite go as planned?? Come join in this annual and interactive “Children & Youth Holiday Service” to find out!

December 14, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: Hope is Hard to Find: It’s a hard time of year for many, as we move into the holiday season, some of us aren’t ready to find hope just yet. What helps you keep moving forward when hope is hard to find?

December 7, 2025: John Countryman: Hope and Meaning: Given all that’s happening in the country and the world at the moment, we’re all in need of a robust dose of hope, especially during the holidays. A groundbreaking new study from the University of Missouri has determined that hope may contribute more to our sense of life’s meaning than even happiness or gratitude. Join us to learn how!

October 2025
Cultivating Compassion

October 26, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: To Plant and Plow: What can we learn from gardening and farming about living into compassion. RISC Commissioning + Richmond Pledge.

October 19, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: The Give and Taking of it: What does it mean to be in a caring community? We need to both give and take care too – which is harder than it looks. Care Commissioning.

October 12, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: Notes from the Other Side: In our divided society, how are we communicating and finding common ground with those on the “other side” ?

October 5, 2025: Charlene et Al: SUUSI: SUUSI is the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute, an intentional community of UUs and kindred spirits. It is the second-largest gathering of Unitarian Universalists, after General Assembly. For more than 70 years SUUSI has come together for a week in July to explore interconnectedness, delight in the outdoors, enjoy music and learn new ways of seeing our world and each other. In today’s service, some of our UUCC members and friends will share about their experiences of the SUUSI magic!

September 2025
Building Belonging

September 28, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: Cherished Belonging: How do we give our love and offer dignity to all, in times of great divisions? Father Greg Boyle wrote the book on it, come hear Rev. Sara’s take

September 21, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: Longing to Belong: We are all longing for belonging. In a culture of isolation and exceptionalism, finding belonging is harder than ever.

September 14, 2025: Rev. Sara Goodman: Water Communion: The waters are rising, a storm is coming, and we need to prepare for it. Our annual Water Communion service invites folks of all ages to participate in this interactive ritual based service. Bring water from somewhere important to you – a favorite body of water, your tap, or from UUCC to add to the common bowl.

September 7, 2025: Adena Dannouf: Just One Stone: What does one stone have to do with EVERYTHING? Come to our annual fall Outdoor Service to find out! All ages are welcome to join in for this multigenerational, story-based and interactive service. We will ponder the answer to this question together, while enjoying the land we share at UUCC!

August 2025
The Practice of Delight

August 31, 2025: Rev. Sara: Fruits of our Labors: Have you seen the billboards around town? “We Make They Take” what does this mean for us on this Labor Day weekend?

August 24, 2025: Rev. Sara: Everything is Tuberculosis: Based on the Book Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green: Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. Tuberculosis has shaped our world and now our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

August 17, 2025: Rev. Sara: Walking on Water: Walking on water is impossible, but we can make the illusion of walking on water seem real. Illusions have brought us joy for centuries, does learning how the illusion works dim the delight?

August 10, 2025: Rev. Sara: Daily Delights: What Daily Delights are keeping you sane in this time of shocking transformation?

August 3, 2025: Shellie Smith, Amy McKnight, Adena Dannouf: Christmas in “July”: The message in almost every holiday special is to “keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all year long”. So, let’s try to honor that with a participatory, multigenerational service of fun and MERRY-ment. If you’re dreaming of cooler temperatures, break out your best (warm weather!) holiday attire and prepare to CELEBRATE “Christmas in July” (… in August)!

July 2025
The Practice of Creativity

July 27, 2025: Misha Sanders: Thirsty Prophets: Is it true that to help others we must not show our own vulnerabilities?  This week we will explore the idea that vulnerability, along with deep listening, might just be the best way to truly minister to each other. 

July 20, 2025: Jane Mitchell & Dorothy Fillmore Speakers: What’s It All About? Come reflect upon a diversity of ideas from key philosophers on the meaning of life and then share your own thoughts.

July 13, 2025: Cindy, Susan, Carol, Rev. Sara, Adena: Meet The Moment: The UUA held its General Assembly in Baltimore this year, with the theme of Meet the Moment. Members and staff of UUCC attended this meeting, both in person and virtually. Come hear reflections on what we learned.

July 6, 2025: Kendall Nordin: Small Moves: Lessons from the Studio: In a time of overwhelming events and circumstances, what can we do? Though we may feel powerless, we can always reconnect to our fundamental agency. What can we learn from artists, from their practices and observations in the studio, that can help us to live into this world moment with creativity, paying attention to the unique ways we can contribute, build a future we long for, and keep ourselves whole. 

June 2025
The Practice of Freedom

June 29, 2025. Kendall Nordin: Be Water: Lessons from the river. From a larger series of sermons and art about the James River, Seminarian Kendall Nordin will use observations from the river at the heart of Richmond to think about the practice of freedom, the constraints and myths of a river bank, surface tension, and the bonded cohesion required to reshape the world.

June 22, 2025. John Countryman: Humility.  It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble – it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

June 15, 2025:  Mary Shelden: Empowering the Spunky Girl Heroine. Our service will consider what can happen when we — all of us — embrace the spunky girl heroine within ourselves and in one another. Youtube Link

June 8, 2025: Rev. Sara: This Is Me! Reclaiming freedom to be authentically you while things aren’t so free out in the wider world. We will celebrate Pride month and embrace our ever-expanding definition of love. Youtube Link

June 1, 2025: Rev. Sara: From Bud To Bloom. Bring a bud or bloom to share for our annual Flower Communion, and help us celebrate the many folks living the transition from bud to bloom this time of year with graduations, retirements, and other life changes in this service for all ages. Youtube Link

May 2025
The Practice of Imagination

May 25, 2025: Rev. Sara: Beyond Our Wildest Imagination. Our religious ancestors founded the American Unitarian Association 200 years ago this week. Are we living their dream in the future? What is the future we can imagine into being 200 years from now? Youtube Link

May 18, 2025: Beth McKenzie-Mohr: Music & Arts Service. Come explore the monthly theme of imagination through the lens of the arts, with special musical guests Jim Mohr, Andrea Larson, and Izzy Craft, as well as “Pure Imagination” from the Sanctuary choir! Youtube Link

May 11, 2025: Rev. Sara: Imagine. Imagine all the people, living for today, and celebrating all parents and families, offering them the support they need and deserve. Can we make it so? Youtube Link

May 4, 2025: Rev. Sara: May Love Be With You. On May the Fourth, we will consider LOVE as the great FORCE in the Universe that connects us to each other and to all beings. Youtube Link

April 2025
The Practice of Joy

April 27, 2025: Rev. Sara: Transgressive Joy. Sometimes silliness and joy can transform us, or can de-escalate tense situations, or just keep us from going numb. What can we learn from joy that refuses to be silenced by hate or fear? Youtube Link

April 20, 2025: Rev. Sara & Adena: Roll the Stone Away. The Easter message teaches us about the importance of surprising, unexpected joy! This service for all ages will share stories and skits that explore joy. Youtube Link

April 13, 2025. Virtual Guest Rev. Misha Sanders Youtube Link

April 6, 2025. Rev. Sara: Chosen Family. We are all whole and holy, which means we get to choose joy, we get to choose how to spend our time, and we get to choose our family.

March 2025
The Practice of Trust

March 30, 2025. Rev, Sara:  Trusted Friends. On Transgender Day of Visibility, we ask, are we trustworthy enough for people to share their true selves with us?  

March 23, 2025. John Countryman: The power of song in marches, protests, and justice-seeking.

March 16, 2025: Rev. Sara: It’s the Spring Equinox, the pagan celebration of Ostara! Is balance possible?

March 9, 2025. Rev. Sara: In the Woods. Into the woods and out of the woods and home before dark! Or: when you’re in the thick of it, how do you decide whom to trust?

March 2, 2025. Rev. Sara: I am willing. How do we stay open and willing to love and hope when the world feels so strange?

February 2025
The Practice of Inclusion

February 23, 2025. Rev. Sara: Why DEI? 

February 16, 2025. Rev. Sara and RE Director Adena: Love can build a bridge. Join us for this active, multigenerational service on inclusion.

February 9, 2024. Worship Team: Fandom–Sports

February 3, 2025. Rev. Sara: Road Trip.