December 2024
The Practice of Presence

December 29, 2024. Lisa Furr, Elana Brooks Perkins, and Kendall Nordin of Worship Team: Year-End Reflection. A time to share our joys from the past year and hopes for the new one.

December 24, 2024. Rev. Sara: 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 22, 2024. RE Director Adena: It’s a Holiday Party (service), and you’re invited! Festive wear is encouraged. Enjoy all your Holiday Party favorites… singing, dancing, merriment, and….. a mystery? It’s a Holiday Party (service), and you’re invited! Festive wear encouraged, and come enjoy all your Holiday Party favorites… singing, dancing, merriment, and….. a mystery? It’s not Christmas without the UUCC Children & Youth Holiday Program!

December 15, 2024. Call Process Task Force: Hear our call! Why does our church call ministers?

December 8, 2024. Rev. Sara: Showing up is more than half the battle. How do you show up for your loved ones, your church, your community?

December 1, 2024. Rev. Sara: Your Presence is Required. No, not your physical presence in the pew, but your whole self present in your life this Thanksgiving weekend.

November 2024
The Practice of Repair

November 24, 2024.  Rev. Sara: How do you mend a broken heart? People we love sometimes hurt us, even in a beloved community committed to doing better. How do we repair harm when our hearts are broken?  

November 17, 2024. Ted Lewis, Director of Youth Well-Being for the Human Rights Foundation: Honoring the trans community. In this difficult time of transition to what we know will be a harmful administration for all of us, and especially for the LGB TQ+ community, we will take time to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance.

November 10, 2024. Rev. Sara:  Grace Under Fire.  We’re still here and asking “Now what?” 

November 3, 2024. Rev. Sara: It’s Not Too Late. It’s not too late to make a difference. It’s not too late for the upcoming election, and it’s not too late to repair what’s broken.

October 2024
Listening

October 27, 2024. Rev. Sara: The Veil is Thin. On All Hallows Eve the veil between the worlds is thin, allowing us to communicate with our beloved dead. Bring in or send photos in for our altar. Haunted Houses and Costume Parties abound, and there is a deeper truth if you listen closely to the stories. Everyone is invited to come in costume for the chili cookoff afterward!

October 20, 2024. Bill Fogarty: Deeds and Creeds, a New UUA Motto. One unofficial UU motto is “deeds not creeds”, but aren’t our actions built on a foundation of beliefs? How do we acquire our “moral compass” that can guide our actions? Bill will explore these issues within the context of specific UU history from the 1950’s, which has echoes in our present time.

October 13, 2024. Rev. Sara: What grounds you? Where do you find your connections? To humans? To animals? To nature? The web of life is woven fine – where do you fit?

October 6, 2024. Rev Sara: Practicing tools to connect to the deepest parts of ourselves and each other.

September 2024

September 29, 2024 — UU Climate Justice Revival — Rev. Sara Goodman and the Worship Team: A very exciting Climate Justice Revival is sweeping the UU world this September and we’re going to be part of it. On September 28-29, congregations will host UU Climate Justice Revivals to collectively reimagine a spirit-filled and liberatory future. Through conversations, worship, and advocacy, congregations will work together to realize climate justice and collective liberation in our communities. On Saturday, we’ll engage in transformative discussions and activities for children and youth. Sunday, our worship will be focused on climate justice.

September 22, 2024 — Welcome Autumn — Rev. Sara Goodman, Adena Dannouf: Celebrate the turning of the seasons with an outdoor worship service (weather permitting) on our land.

September 15, 2024 — Get Out the Vote! We are delighted to welcome Jennifer Richardson to our pulpit. Jennifer is the Voting Campaign Organizer for the UU the Vote Project for DC, MD and VA. She will be speaking with us about the UU the Vote by Reeb Voting Rights/UUSJ Project and the many opportunities available to turn out the vote this year.

September 8, 2024 — Rev. Sara Goodman: What will you bring to the feast? Join us for our annual water communion service – with a twist!

September 1, 2024 — Rev. Sara Goodman: And So We Sing. For Labor Day, we recognize the American Labor movement with songs and stories.

August 2024

August 25, 2024 — Rev. Sara Goodman: Unplugged. Join us as we take an hour to unplug electronically and plug in spiritually. Circle round for some acoustic music, stories and singing for our last worship service of the summer.

August 18, 2024 — Rev. Sara Goodman: A Headstart from the Dog Days. As we head into the dog days of summer, we’re also preparing for the beginning of a whole new church and school year. What tools do we need to prepare ourselves for another new beginning?

August 11, 2024 — Rev. Janet Onnie: At the Corner of Church and State. Why are we so reluctant to speak our values in the public square? Can we truly separate church and state? How do we find our prophetic voice in the context of our national political scene?

August 4, 2024 — John Countryman: La Lughnasa: A Time for Harvesting
We celebrate the ancient Gaelic festival of Lughnasa. This is a time to consider what we’ve “grown” this year, what we now may “harvest,” and how we might share our bounty with others. In honor of “the day that’s in it,” as the Irish would say, Ruthy Countryman will bring her famous soda bread for us to enjoy following the service.July 2024

Find past Unitarian Universalist Community Church service topics listed below. Recordings of services, including Sermons and Messages for All Ages, are available on our YouTube channel.

July 28, 2024 — Resilience: Several church members present their own beliefs.

July 21, 2024 — Hope: Members of the Worship team offer essays from NPR’s This I Believe series.

July 14, 2024 — Director of Music Jonathan Corey: Hymn Sing! We explore the origins of congregational hymn singing and why we continue to refine the official UU hymnal.  Jonathan will lead us in singing BY REQUEST hymns.

July 9, 2024 — Pediatrician Dr. Danny Avula: Healthcare in Metro Richmond. Webinar on maternal and childhood health, reproductive care, community safety, and the root causes that shape health for all of us

June 2024 — Renewal

June 30, 2024—Rev. Molly Housh Gordon: Weaving Our Lives, a service from the UUA General Assembly 2024.

June 23, 2024 — Rev. Jennifer Springsteen: Soak, Sabbath, Nap. Renewal is imperative for health, relationships, and our journeys as spiritual beings. It could even be considered an act of resistance. The guest speaker, a hospital chaplain and writer in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was ill so Worship Associate Carrie Williams-Jenson presented the sermon.

June 16, 2024 — John Countryman: We explore Legacy and Renewal as we celebrate Father’s Day and Juneteenth.

June 9, 2024 — Rev. Sara: For the Beauty. We give thanks for the many people who have kept our congregation strong for 30 years, for the beauty that surrounds us, and for the changing seasons. Annual Meeting after the service followed by potluck. 

June 2, 2024 — Rev. Sara: Is it Nap Time Yet? How can Taking a Nap Change the world? Radical rest can create radical changes. Exhaustion is a real problem these days, and Trisha Hersey wrote the book on it: Rest is Resistance, A Manifesto.

May 2024 — Pluralism

May 26, 2024 — As we end another school year, we honor the transitions in our congregation.

May 19, 2024 — Join the worship committee as they share poetry from a variety of points of view, exploring how different people see the world from different angles.

May 12, 2024 — Rev. Sara: As we explore pluralism, we will honor parents of all genders as they navigate multiple worlds, and learn how to speak multiple dialects, including toddler

May 5, 2024 — Rev. Sara: Six Sources of Unitarian Universalism. Eighth in the series on proposed UUA values and covenant statements.

April 2024 — Interdependence

April 28, 2024 — Rev. Sara: More than the Sum of Our Parts. How can Interdependence influence our theology? What does it mean, spiritually, that we are connected? Process Theology asks this question – what if we are co-creators of life?

April 21, 2024 — Come celebrate Earth Day together! Rev. Lauren Levwood will join Miss Adena to lead us in this service for all ages.

April 14, 2024 — Our interdependence extends beyond people to our impact on our environment and other beings on our shared planet. How are we to face our role in the climate crisis? Can we come together to make a change in time?

April 7, 2024 — Rev. Sara: Invisible Thread, seventh in the series about the proposed UUA values and covenant statements.

March 2024 — Transformation

March 31, 2024 — Rev. Sara: The Easter story is one of transformation and regeneration. How do UUs live into the Christian message of the holiday? Do we wonder if sacrifice is needed for transformation?

March 24, 2024 — Rev. Sara: Come celebrate the Spring Equinox. We will experience the balance of the year with people of all ages, as we eat, dance, sing, and share following the frame of the four directions: earth, air, fire, and water.

March 10, 2024 — Rev. Sara: Ugh, another mistake, another failure, another opportunity to grow and learn. How many more times do I have to learn this same lesson? Transformation can be traumatic, how do we cope and move forward anyway?

March 3, 2024 — Rev. Sara: What can the Barbie movie teach us about transformation? Come to service to find out. And wear Pink! Sixth in the series about the proposed UUA values and covenant statements.

February 2024 — Justice and Equity

February 25, 2024 — Rev. Sara: The war happening in the Middle East is challenging to talk about. But it is worth wondering who gets to decide what justice looks like in this case. Is war ever justified?

February 18, 2024 — Living Legacy – Civil Rights Tour Members Diane Christensen, Vickie Dickinson, and Gail Murphy share their experiences on a UUA Living Legacy Pilgrimage, an intentional tour of the sites of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.

February 11, 2024 — Everything I learned about justice, I learned from Frozen II

Rev. Sara: Join us for all-ages service with our friends Elsa, Anna, and Olaf, as we learn how to live into our UU Values of Justice and Equity.

February 4, 2024 –– “That’s Not Fair” and other statements about Justice and Equity

Rev. Sara: Fairness is a principle close to our hearts, but what does ‘fair’ actually mean in the context of Justice and Equity? With society as it is, is fairness ever possible? Fifth in the series about the proposed new UUA values and covenant statements.

January 2024 — Love

January 28, 2024 — Is Love Really All You Need?

Rev. Sara: We all know the song, but is it true? Is love the solution to everything?

January 21, 2024 — Labrador Love, Being The Person My Dog Thinks I Am Our animal companions are a constant source of unconditional love. How does our interaction with them bring out the best in us?

January 14, 2024 — Our Bodies, Ourselves

Rev. Sara: We all live in a body. It may work how we want it to, or more likely, we are challenged by how our bodies function. One thing I know for sure: all bodies are sacred and deserve love!