AUUC Sunday Sermons

“Facing Fear with Faith” with guest minister Rev. Rebecca Benner. These are extraordinary times — times filled with challenge and conflict, change and uncertainty, and, for many of us, fear. Fear is a natural and universal experience but just because we all feel it doesn’t make it an easy or comfortable emotion. How can we respond to the fear we feel with faith and open-heartedness? How can we respond to the fear of others with the same grace we hope to offer ourselves? Please join us as we explore how to live faithfully in this frightening time.

“To Let Love In” with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker. June is Pride month, and people all over the world are longing for their family and friends, communities, and countries to accept and welcome them for who they are. What does it mean to be a people who welcome individuals who are marginalized or excluded by society? How is this complicated by systemic issues like race and class? Let us explore the transformation needed in each heart and each community.

Join this service with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker and stretch your mind and heart with loving support as we embrace what is swirling in our world.

Join this service with Rev. Pippin Whitaker and stretch the “Better Normal” concept from the personal to the relational. This service celebrates all that Accotink UU Church has accomplished this year for social justice, and imagines how we move into the year ahead in a way that transforms our lives and our community toward a better normal..

This week our guest speaker Rev. Alexa Fraser will begin an exploration of how we can be now, and how we can be moving forward through this pandemic. What does today’s journey look like? Part 1 will focus on interpersonal right relations while Part 2 will explore wider community and even global themes. Rev. Pippin will continue the theme next week with Part 2.

Service led by Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker

Mother’s Day brings many images, histories, joys, and struggles for community. This is because mothering is extremely important, and it doesn’t always go as needed. Join this service and explore a place where we can mother ourselves, as we honor the historical impetus for the Mother’s Day holiday. Come, discover how mothering pertains to how we move through thresholds in our lives. Worship led by Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker.

There are times we have direction, know what to expect, and our long term plans even "work out" occasionally. And then there are times like now, when we drift in a sea of uncertainty. Yet, there are skills to navigate the sea, and lessons to learn from drift. Join this service with Rev. Pippin as we dive into ways to navigate this time together.

With Earth Day approaching on April 22, we reflect on our place in the planetary web. The AUUC church calendar has been filled with climate action this year. What have we learned, and where are we called to next? Join this service as we reflect on what we’ve accomplished, and examine our rights and responsibilities as human beings on this shared planet.

In this service, we draw on the ancestors’ songs, stories, and metaphors to re-imagine our journey toward collective liberation. Service led by Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker.

“Building Bridges,” with Brenna Clanton and Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker. In this service, we look at building bridges as a way to make connections within ourselves, with each other and beyond our community. During the service, we will also be able to view the unveiling of the new “Black Lives Matter” sign!

Join this service with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker to explore the paradoxical power of water as a metaphor, as an essential element of life, and as a teacher.

What is the role of play in your life right now? Join this service with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker to explore the transformative power of play in our lives. Come, unlock new possibilities amid what may feel like a compressed reality.

Please join this recorded worship service brought to you by Sacred Wheel and with a special message from Rev. Pippin Whitaker. Allow this half-hour worship service to bring you calm, groundedness, and a sense of connection to the AUUC community and to nature. The service includes ideas for finding joy in springtime, and updates on connection in our community in the weeks ahead.

Join Rev. Pippin Whitaker in this service as we explore the role of generosity in our lives and in the life of this community. What gifts allow this community to be resilient? How does generosity allow you to become more resilient? Find something to inspire all ages in this service about gifts and giving. Key resources referenced in this sermon: - "Not Your Parents' Offering Plate: A New Vision for Financial Stewardship" by J. Clif Christopher - "The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life" by Lynne Twist - "Public good or private wealth?" and "Time to Care" by Oxfam

Imagine yourself at a fun event, it can be anywhere. At least four generations are present and you are loving it. Then you overhear someone complaining... and it's about your age group! What does this do to the joy you felt? Join this service and shift into the perspectives of different age groups in our community. Expand your empathetic imagination and help us weave an even more joyful intergenerational community!

Sometimes, we save the best for last in order to enjoy it. Perhaps you do this with your favorite part of a meal or favorite daily activity. But what happens if we make a habit of this throughout our lives? Join Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker for this service and explore how habits like this influence our capacity for resilience. Key resources referenced in this sermon: --The Talmud --"Emergent Strategy" by Adrienne Maree Brown --"Continue: a poem" by Maya Angelou --"Doorways to the Soul" Edited by Elisa Davy Pearmain

Civic discourse is the act of seeking to understand others. It is a gift we can give to each other, to be fully present even when we don’t always agree. AUUC member Brenna Clanton led this service where we explored how to engage in being present as part of our spiritual journey.

The great prophets of our time have called us to change our laws to live up to our dreams, to embody the change we long for in the world, and to care for earth’s water as our mother, among many other prophets’ messages. Do you believe that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and the Standing Rock Water Protectors meant what they said? Join this service with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker in a deep exploration of the call to integrity in our lives.

What might you be creating with your words, and what does it look like to say what we mean? Join this service with Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker and consider the power of your word.

A new year begins, and all are invited to our first service on the monthly theme of integrity. Imagine yourself in April, amid the blossoms. In April, what might you wish you had done, or started doing, in January? Join this restorative service to reflect on this question and find nourishment for the soul. Worship leader: Rev. Pippin Whitaker.

As we turn the page on another year, consider how we measure the passage of time, the rhythms of the seasons and the cycles of our lives. Do we live within linear boundaries or can we find a way to join in a circle of wisdom and sharing? Sermon by AUUC member Judy Robison.

As we approach the end of 2019 and the shortest day of the year, let us find deep sustenance for the journey ahead. Many of us encounter stress, sadness, or grief during this season. The coming months may also strain our relationships with family and friends as we enter a contentious election year. Yet, there is hope along the way. Join this service to receive blessings from Rev Pippin and from the entire community. Let us be sustained and buoyed along our journeys.

Listen to this sermon by Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker as she helps us explore an opportunity for awe amid the quagmire of privilege and oppression.

Science is now asking the question “Why do we humans need Awe?” This is a question we approach in two ways. First, we must consider the long arc of evolution: Why did Awe became part of our species’ makeup through years of evolution? A second answer to the question of “Why do we humans need Awe?” is relevant to the world in 2019: What does awe do for you and me today? By AUUC member Jenn Carlson.

There are many roots of the climate crisis; one root lies in who owns the narrative. Who gets to declare something is hurtful, a crisis has erupted, and a policy or practice is destructive? In this service, Rev. Pippin Whitaker brings our attention to who declares there is, or is not, a climate crisis. Let us consider who we each are willing to listen to, and when we personally will witness deeply and recognize another’s crisis call.

Have you ever ignored a painful sprain, illness, or emotionally hurtful experience? How did ignoring this illness or event impact your well-being? Join this service and explore attention to our deepest needs.

Rev. Dr. Faith B. Harris joined AUUC today to deliver a sermon on environmental crisis.

Reverend Pippin and Sacred Wheel will present a fun and meaningful Halloween/Samhain service. Please join this service in the annual Samhain ritual, and explore how remembering ancestors and dressing in costume both can contribute to a broader and deeper sense of belonging.This will be a muli-generational service for the entire congregation. Children will parade in the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF tradition! More information below.

As a religious community, we seek to create belonging, and newcomers and new members need to know where they belong. In this service we will formally recognize our new members who have joined since June! Don't miss this opportunity to create belonging with your presence! Join this service to explore the many ways we create belonging.

Kathryn Adams leads worship in this service that explores the need for deep roots of belonging to support our spiritual journeys and challenging work in the world. All are invited to explore the question: "Who (if anyone) taught you that it is safe to show your whole self? That every part of you belongs?"

There is much that can divide us: age, income, culture, religious beliefs.... As individuals, we may each find comfort in the presence of people who are similar. Yet, there are parts of ourselves we will never know, and depths our hearts we can scarcely reach, except through the bonds we make across our divides. Join us as we gather to explore the dignity of difference.

Have you ever tried so hard to change a bad habit that you became overwhelmed, angry, or overwrought with the effort? What were you seeking in the change, anyway? Join this service and explore the opportunities in different ways of seeking change.

This service explores how we cope when our hopes must adapt to new expectations, whether these are expectations about physical ability, relationships, communities and societies, or the planet.

Accotink’s annual Ingathering Service followed by a community brunch. Ingathering is an all ages worship service to celebrate and bless this community and the beginning of the church year. All are invited (never required) to bring a small amount of water from your home or travels to add to a community water vessel as part of this service. Please join in the celebration and stay after service to share food and conversation.

Work sustains us, and can even fulfills us. But how are we protected in our chosen line of work? As we celebrate Labor Day weekend, let us remember that we have inherent rights as workers. Those rights include the right to a safe workplace, the right to fair wages and the right to be free from discrimination. This service explores those rights and how they sometimes fall short in many workplace environments.

For thousands of years, rivers have flooded human lives with meaning: nourishment, boundaries, adventures. Both this congregation named for a river, and your new minister have river histories. Come let us reflect on what the river teaches us, and imagine where it will take us!

Rev. Pippin will join our Director of Spiritual Development in leading the service.

Whether you are a Lorax who speaks for the trees or a Onceler who sells thneeds, each of us can protect the environment if we are mindful of our interconnected web of [social, economic, scientific, political and environmental] existence.

Welcome to your new minister (from your new minister)! What makes you feel welcome? How do you know you are welcoming to others? In each welcome, we navigate a mysterious dance. This service explores what is in a welcome paradox.