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Note: we are currently revising our library of sermons, we will provide a way to request the following sermons via email. For now, please send requests to 4uucc@liberalreligion.org.

Having My Way Versus Having My Say
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
"I Did It My Way," proudly proclaims the popular song. But in the effort to make things happen "in our own way" we sometimes find that we end up being IN our own way. Today we'll explore winning and losing and their ultimate consequences. -Carl

The Days of Forgiveness
- by Rev. Maureen Thitchener
For ten days, those between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the Jewish calendar, we will hear a lot about forgiveness. But, will we really understand and embrace the idea for the other days of our lives? This is where it gets harder. Our society isn't really geared toward forgiveness. We often have to swim against the tide. Let's learn how to perfect our strokes. -Maureen

Praising With Faint Damns
- by Rev Carl Thitchener
Are we more likely to affect positive change in others by praise or criticism? When, if ever, is it our responsibility to try to change others at all? My topic today will be the potential and pitfalls of persuasion. -Carl

The United Nations: Our One Last Hope
- by Rev. Maureen Thitchener
The pioneer psychologist William James coined the phrase: "the moral equivalent of war." He was searching for an alternative to armed conflict as a way to settle differences between nations. He wasn't naive. He felt there would always be differences, but he also felt we could not continue in our mad, relentless pursuits for power with the increase in sophistication in weapons of destruction, without the end of humanity, as he knew it, being the result. His dream was never realized, but his ideals lived in the formation of the United Nations. Today, let's support that dream. -Maureen

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
Conspiracy theories abound. They are out to get us. They meaning creatures from outer space, the CIA, the FBI the Tri-Lateral Commision, terrorists, muggers and a potpouri of perpetrators of miscellaneous malice. I have some sugggests on surviving in this dangerous world. -Carl

MURDER IN THE KITCHEN
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
No, I"m not trying to compete with Agatha Christie or Earl Stanley Gardner. This is a sermon about what we eat and the consequences thereof both personal and global...."food for thought" you might say. -Carl

"MAY I BE OF SERVICE"
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
My very first paid employment was in the food service industry, first as a bus-boy and later as a waiter. It was then that I learned some important lessons that have lasted to this day. I'll share some of them with you in this service on service. -Carl

CURBING THE PROPHET MOTIVE
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
Unlike most religious groups, Unitarian Universalism has no single founder, no one leader to whom we look for answers to life's ultimate questions. Some claim that this may be our greatest strength. Others say that it is our greatest weakness. What do you think? -Carl

LOVING THE QUESTION
- by Rev. Maureen Thitchener
We are sometimes difficult people to be around. Where much of society looks for answers, we look for questions, for our journey to freedom. Certainly, our world is full of questions, and recent events have added to the list, so our appetites are well wetted. Do we carry it too far? Can't we sometimes just relax and let others tell us what to do, and what to think? What do you think? I'll tell you what I think today, at least for today. - Maureen

THE STRUGGLE ENDS, THE STRUGGLE BEGINS
- by Rev. Maureen Thitchener
On December 18, 1865, the 13th amendment to the Constitution declared an end to slavery in this country. The struggle is still not over for African Americans. Today we'll see what that call to go forward really meant in 1865...and to where it has brought us. -Maureen

BORED IN THE USA
- by Rev. Carl Thitchener
Recently I enjoyed seeing the movie Groundhog Day in which the main character gets stuck in a time loop and has to re-live February 2 over and over and over again. Although it was pure fantasy, of course, it reminded me that for many of us, much of the time, each day often seems very much like the day before. We all, like the legendary Sisyphus, are caught in a time loop of our own. Today we'll look for a way out of these holes we dig for ourselves. - Carl

"GROWING UP WITH GOD"
- by Rev. Maureen Thitchener
Surrounded by some of my non-church going relatives, at a memorial service, I found that God language, as we had all known it, was now alien to us. It made me wonder what had happened in our lives and experiences that had changed us so radically. Today, I will look at the problem of God, and God-language.

"SEASONINGS FOR OUR SPIRITS"
- Rev. Maureen Thitchener
This is a wonderful and wonder-filled month. Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas are fast approaching. In our over-commercialized world we can often feel stressed sooner each year, it seems. This Sunday we will take some time to refresh and renew ourselves with the beauty of the music and tastes of the season. -Maureen

"THE GOOD SEED"
-Rev. Maureen Thitchener
Are people born good or bad? Do some of the seeds we plant fall on bad soil, or is the potential always there for goodness and harvest? This Sunday we'll explore the fantasy or fact of our first Unitarian Universalist principle. -Maureen

 

"THE RELIGION OF ANDREW CARNEGIE: THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH"
-Rev. Carl Thitchener
By a strange coincidence, today we officially kick-off our annual canvass I thought this would be a good time to take a look at the subject of money through the eyes of a man who had a lot of it as well as to check our own values about lucre, labor and love. -Carl

 

"IS IT TIME FOR A FAITH LIFT?"
-Rev. Maureen Thitchener
Today is Palm Sunday, celebrated by our Christian friends, and Tuesday, the 6^th is Passover, celebrated by our Jewish friends. Traditionally, these special days are meant to once again rekindle the flame of their separate faiths. I've often wondered what we should be doing, beyond recognizing the meaning and value behind their celebrations, to rekindle our own flame of faith. Let's look at some values that may be unique to us, and which we too should be celebrating. -Maureen

 

"ON THE THIRD DAY: A MEANING FOR EASTER"
-Rev. Carl Thitchener
Not the meaning of Easter, for there have been thousands of different interpretations by the religious and secular as well. Our mission today is merely to provide a meaning for this celebration which can be meaning-full to each of us in our lives today regardless of our different theological perspectives.

 

"THE GIFT OF FLOWERS" (part 1)
- Rev. Carl Thitchener
"THE GIFT OF FLOWERS"(part 2)
- Rev.Maureen Thitchener
This Sunday's service will be based on the "flower communion" begun by Norbert Capek in Czechoslovakia, during World War II, and which has become a tradition in many Unitarian Universalist Churches today. We'll focus, not only on our diverse theologies and philosophies, but on diverse lifestyles, as well. All are asked to bring a flower to church this Sunday, and take one from the vases as a symbol of our sharing with each other, and caring for each other.