Unitarian Church of Los Alamos

The story of the first Thanksgiving, as we've come to tell it, glosses over the reality of Native American encounters with their colonizers. This week, how reclaiming and retelling the truth of the lives of our forebears is an act of gratitude for what has come before.

"Self-care" is rapidly turning into a commodity, with businesses large and small seeking to sell your soul-feeding back to you. This week, some thoughts on tapping into an abundance of the spirit without tapping your wallet dry.

Welcome back, Rev. John! As we celebrate a belated Ingathering, our minister celebrates his return from sabbatical with a story about big ambitions, humility, and rediscovering what is necessary.

Spirituality and conspiracy theories often cohabitate. Can we differentiate the two? Does the second coming place Christianity in one or the other category? Rev. Dr. Leona Stucky-Abbott is a UU community minister and has been a psychotherapist for over 40 years. She is semi-retired and loves to share insights with others, as she did when training pastors to become pastoral psychotherapists. She has watched meaning-making activities in people for many years and draws some surprising conclusions.

What is essential to living a good life? What non-essentials continue to receive our energy and time? In this historical moment filled with ambiguity, unknowns, and endless distractions, it's time to ground ourselves in the essentials. Join Rev. Elaine Aron-Tenbrink for a reflection on what really matters. The Rev. Elaine Aron-Tenbrink serves as Assistant Minister at Foothills Unitarian Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to this, she served both in congregations and as a chaplain in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Charleston, South Carolina. Elaine enjoys hiking and biking in Northern Colorado with her two young children and her husband, Jason, who grew up in the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos.

We all know that endings and beginnings are a part of life, and yet change often leaves us with feelings of grief and loss. Join me in exploring the complexity of emotions that comes with times of transition and change. Our prior guest speaker, Jenny McCready was married in August and returns to our pulpit today with a new last name, Jenny Amstutz. Jenny is currently serving as the minister of a small church in Littleton, Colorado, Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church, where she serves part time. Her part time schedule allows her to return to our pulpit. Jenny is the mother of five, ages 21 to 8 years and lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her new husband Jason and a menagerie of pets. She is grateful to continue to be a visiting presence in our church and looks forward to a continued relationship with UCLA.

The interdependent web of existence is central to who we are. We are all connected. We are entangled. These are scientific facts and theologically rich concepts worthy to be chewed on. So, quantum mechanics has a central place in our faith. The Rev. James Galasinski is in his sixth year of settled ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton, NY. Before that he served the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque and fell in love with the mesas, the mountains, and the red chile of New Mexico. James enjoys listening to jazz, growing tomatoes, writing poetry, and hiking with his wife, Ulrike, and their two sons, Miles and Oskar. He is excited to be back in Los Alamos as a pulpit guest.

Where is the meaning of life to be found? Join us in a recounting of a journey of discovery, including wild strawberries, hitchhiking, a smidgen of philosophy, and one too many electric fences. The Rev. Bob Janis-Dillon had the great privilege of studying with the Rev. John Cullinan at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. He has served a UU congregation in New Jersey before serving for six years in Northwest England, as minister for three Unitarian congregations in Wigan, Warrington, and Chester. He currently serves in New York as minister of Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, and as an accredited spiritual director.

Rev. Janet Newton is the senior minister at the First Parish Church of Berlin in Berlin, Massachusetts. Janet was born and raised Unitarian Universalist in the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM. She comes to ministry after many years as a high school English and philosophy teacher. Janet received a Masters in Divinity in May 2018 from Meadville Lombard Theological school.  For Janet, religion is a collaborative invitation to find, feed, and honor the spark of the sacred within every human heart, that we may know ourselves and our communities more deeply, and that we may make love more visible in the world. Her experiences have helped her develop a vision for church that uses worship, conversation, contemplation, and opportunities for lifelong learning and service to help us grow our souls, build community, and heal our world. She said she’s still a little amazed that her calling means she can live “an intentionally conscious spiritual life.”

A 12th-century Benedictine abbess, writer, poet, and composer, Hildegard had prophetic and mystical visions and is said to have been a miracle worker. How do mystical experiences fit into our UU faith? Our prior guest speaker, Jenny McCready was married last month and returns to our pulpit today with a new last name, Jenny Amstutz. Jenny is currently serving as the minister of a small church in Littleton, Colorado, Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church, where she serves part time. Her part time schedule allows her to return to our pulpit. Jenny is the mother of five, ages 21 to 8 years and lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her new husband Jason and a menagerie of pets. She is grateful to continue to be a visiting presence in our church and looks forward to a continued relationship with UCLA.

Turning sap into syrup takes attention and diligence and wouldn’t most of us agree it’s worth it? likewise, unfolding the meaning of our lives, sorting out one way of understanding for one that fits us better is a life-long undertaking worthy of our time and attention. Rev. Linda Whittenberg is no stranger to us. She was a member here during the first years of Dale Arnink’s ministry and has visited to read from her several books of poems and to speak on numerous occasions. She has called Santa Fe home for 42 years, even during the years she served as minister in California and Washington. After her husband, Bob Wilber’s death in 2020, she moved to Colorado to be near her three children who all live in the Denver Area.

"Now, anything that exists in history must have form. And the creation of a form requires power ... not only the power of thought, but the power of organization and the organization of power." Thus liberal religion rejects "the immaculate conception of virtue and affirms the necessity of social incarnation." These words of James Luther Adams, the great 20th century Unitarian Universalist ethicist, describe one of his "five smooth stones" - basic principles of liberal religion that stand in place of elaborate theological doctrine. Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to celebrate in story and song the achievements of the U.S. Labor Movement - a powerful example of "social incarnation." The Rev. Dr. Suzanne Redfern-Campbell retired from active ministry in July 2018, having served Unitarian Universalist congregations since 1985. Her most recent full-time ministry was at the UU Church of Las Cruces, where she served five years as Developmental Minister. This past year, she did a two-month sabbatical ministry for the UU Fellowship of Fairbanks, Alaska. Sue came to ministry from the practice of law, and has served congregations in six states and one Canadian province. During her ministries, Sue discovered a passion for helping congregations in transition and is an Accredited Interim Minister. She landed in New Mexico after marrying her late husband, Chuck Campbell, on New Year's Day 2012, and now lives in Albuquerque with a hyperactive rescue cat named Phoenix.

Many Unitarian Universalists exude a powerful love that moves us into the fullness of our spirits and integrity as Berkeley Process Theologian Bernie Loomer wrote about. In times of social stress and upheaval it is powerful and necessary to employ that love to marry the inevitable grief and loss that change brings with learning, growth, and the intangible gifts we usually uncover in challenging times. Rev. Sonya Sukalski who found Unitarian Universalism in the Los Alamos congregation has been working with a colleague to bring creative resilience to small groups in online retreats and trainings using this idea. The seeds for it may well have been planted by the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos during her time there around the turn of the millenium, and she will reflect on how those seeds took root and grew. Rev. Sonya Sukalski grew up in Los Alamos, went away to Sweden and Rice University after high school, and returned with her mate, Mitch, to raise their twins, Sierra and Cheyenne until she left for seminary in 2003. Sonya served several congregations as sabbatical minister in Northern California and started the Spiritual Activists Leadership Training (SALT - now Spiritual Activists Leading Together) with the help of young adults across California from 2009-2013. She served the UU Fellowship of Tuolumne County most recently and greatly enjoyed being the closest congregation to Yosemite as she explored the Sierra Nevada over the past decade. During the pandemic she served as sabbatical minister for the UUs in Chico last Fall, and now is taking her own sabbatical.

There are some moments when I get lost in resentment toward others -- I can tell because I feel like I'm covered in fish guts. I'm grateful that I have a way to get past those moments and reconnect with my life, with others, and with the world. The Rev. Joel Miller is currently the Interim Minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Indianapolis. Since his graduation from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1991, Joel's ministry has included opening and serving the Columbine UU church in Littleton, CO, for 7 years, serving as senior minister in Buffalo, NY, for 11 years, and serving as interim minister for 5 different UU congregations since 2011. He is an Accredited UUA Interim Minister and is also accredited as a Professional Transition Specialist by the Interim Ministry Network.

In a dominant culture that fetishizes crime and punishment while remaining apathetic to the failures of the penal system, our Unitarian Universalist theologies remind us that we can rely on deeper truths of goodness and mercy that still hold each of us accountable in and to the interdependent web of life. Rev. Allison Farnum is the Minister and Director at the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois, a statewide ministry that focuses on equipping UU's to in Illinois to transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex. An affiliated community minister with 2U, Rev. Allison lives in Evanston, IL and is loving partner to Andy and mother of their two children Joey (4) and Charlotte (7). For more information about UUPMI, please visit www.uupmi.org

As humans, we crave togetherness with others. But the key to the happiest relationships (as well as peace within oneself) is learning how to hold healthy boundaries and differentiate between what is our responsibility and what is the responsibility of others. Come hear what Dr. Murray Bowen and Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing can teach us about this liberating skill. 
 
The Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and a student and teacher of Bowen Family Systems Theory. She has served Live Oak UU Church in Austin, TX since 2014, following ministry at the First UU Church of Houston, and the Church of the Larger Fellowship. Her parents lived in Edgewood, NM, for many years, and she dearly misses visits there to load up on roasted green chiles and biscochitos, and to answer "Christmas!" when ordering dinner.

Balancing work and rest today often looks like squeezing in some down-time whenever work allows for that. Ancient ones had different ideas though, and their wisdom and discipline can help us find balance and joy today. Why is rest as important as work for our relationships, our happiness, and our spirits? Rev. Bill Neely in his 11th year of ministry with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, having previously served congregations in Detroit and near Memphis. He attended seminary at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. He currently lives in Hamilton, NJ, with his wife, three kids, and cat, where he enjoys running, reading, spending time at the beach, and watching most sports.

Throughout this pandemic, the lesson that keeps showing up in my life and maybe yours too, is to pause. There is wisdom in pausing during a traumatic pandemic year. There is wisdom in pausing and lessons in patience throughout the healing process. There is wisdom in pausing when it comes to determining what is best for your personal learning, growth, and moving forward. There is also wisdom in the pause when we look at collective healing. Let's explore how a simple pause makes a difference in our personal lives and how these same pauses can be applied to our collective and communal lives.

When we are young we think we have to figure out what we want to become, but becoming is something we do from the moment we are born until our last day on earth. We can't control the future, but we can control our intentionality around what we become. Jenny McCready returns as our visiting worship leader from Lakewood, Colorado. She is in the last stages of pursuing fellowship with the UUA and hopes to be an ordained UU minister by the end of the year.

What is July 4? For many, it is a chance to see family, fireworks, and celebrate our independence from the British crown, or more generally to revel in patriotic sentiment. However, if we look just under the surface, the US' 4th of July might mean many things to many people, some good, some bad, and some contradictory. Join Mix'alh Adams, and Mike Adams for the church's first in-person service since the great 2020 pandemic arrived. Mix'alh and Mike are Indigenous North Americans, they are Lil'wat people from the area near Whistler, BC, Canada. Both grew up in the USA, but have fostered relationships with their Canadian family. Mike works in National Security, and Mix'alh considers himself a modern socialist. Come explore the 4th of July, this year, with Mix'alh and Mike.

There’s a good reason this topic just won’t go away and can’t get solved: it involves a clash of two fundamental human rights. That makes discussion, debate, and legislation really hard. Understanding this is crucial to any hope we might have of civic peace and social justice. The Rev. Christine Robinson was the senior minister at First Unitarian in Albuquerque for 28 years until her retirement four years ago. Christine estimates that she has been a guest speaker in Los Alamos 30 times in those years, and we’re delighted to welcome her back for #31!

American physicist Alvin Weinberg was Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as a thoughtful amateur philosopher on the implications of his own work. One of the ways he made sense of his involvement in the development of nuclear weapons was to propose the concept of "The Sanctification of Hiroshima." Guest preacher Jake Morrill has served the UU congregation in Oak Ridge for almost twenty years, and knew Dr. Weinberg personally. This morning, he'll share Weinberg's concept as an invitation to reflect religiously upon the legacy of nuclear weapons. Since 2003, Jake Morrill has served as Lead Minister of the Oak Ridge UU Church in East Tennessee. A licensed therapist and former Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, he is Associate Faculty at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. He and his wife, Molly, have two school-age children, three cats, and a dog.

In Paulo Coelho’s novel, Brida, the main character says, “I’m afraid of committing myself.” Coelho writes, "She wanted to follow all possible paths and so ended up following none.” How can making commitments help us focus and keep us on the paths we choose to travel? Is it better to commit to the wrong thing than commit to nothing? Jenny McCready is our visiting worship leader from Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, her hometown. She just completed seminary at Meadville Lombard Theological School (Rev. John's alma mater) and is in discernment about her next steps into chaplaincy or parish ministry. She is in the last stages of pursuing fellowship with the UUA and hopes to be an ordained UU minister by the end of the year. Jenny has four biological children (Devon 21, Grainne 17, Conall 13, and Cliodna 11), and has become a mother to her fiance's 7 year old, Kyle as well. Jenny and Jason plan to be married this summer and continue to live in Lakewood with most of their combined collection of offspring, and a pet menagerie of three dogs, two rabbits and a pig named Maisy. Any moments that Jenny is not studying and working, you will find her learning to play her new banjo and hiking in the foothills. Jenny and Jason love New Mexico and visited UULA during the summer of 2019. She is excited to be back and nurture her connection with our UULA community.

News reports, social media and communications with family, friends and even strangers have been rife with malicious, harsh, judgmental, and unkind exchanges. Susan Gisler will be exploring some thoughts about skillful ways of speech that have come from the Buddhist tradition as well as recent works that deal with non violent communication. Can observing and changing our own speech habits be part of a practice that leads to a more compassionate world?

I like The Lion King, The Monkey King, and Horton the elephant. These stories tell me about humans. When I compare the stories with the real animals, I learn even more about humans. As a child, I learned from my friend Nellie, the elephant who lived across the street from my childhood home in South Africa, and I wonder why there is not a story about The Elephant Queen. Mike McNaughton was born in South Africa and has lived and worked in many places in Africa and Asia. He has been a member of our church for more than 40 years.

As a young white male in South Africa during apartheid, there is no doubt that my privilege sheltered and helped me. The stark injustices of apartheid were obvious, so I thought all I had to do was to leave South Africa in order to be free of racism. But my white privileges continue, and . . . → Read More: Growing Up in South Africa

Our expectations — our prayers —  as a community often have vague and fuzzy ends. We think we know what we need, what we want, but we often wind up with something completely different: a different thing we didn’t know we needed. Sometimes, the answer to our prayers . . . → Read More: Unexpected

Not the ones about women’s place in the world or Gay rights this time, but a more fundamental cultural change which younger generations of activists are bringing to their colleges, their activism, and the UUA.  Unlike past “culture wars,” which were arguments about end values (tolerance of difference, equal rights, non-discrimination), the . . . → Read More: Culture Wars

We name our expectations as people of faith week after week in our affirmations and our principles. But expectation is not a passive activity. It requires us to set an example . . . and it demands our persistence. In the words of the Brother Sun song: “Love is the water that . . . → Read More: Ingathering: Love Is the Water . . .

April’s theme is “Wholeness” – This Sunday, Rev. John takes a look at what it means to be whole as a person, a community, and a human family.

Reflections on our journeys through grief and loss.

A sermon on March’s theme of “Journey.”

[Multi-Generational Service] Join us for Won’t You Be My Neighbor? on March 1st, then hear Rev. John’s reflections this morning.

Possibility has its shadow side, too. Being a people of possibility means recognizing where we’ve taken a wrong turn.

On MLK’s birthday, reflections on how far we’ve come and how far we have still to go.

The story of Unitarian Universalism is the story of reaching towards what seems impossible – an experiment in diversity seeking unity. What does it mean to be a people of possibility?

Tina DeYoe brings us New Year’s reflections on January’s theme of “Possibility.”

They say the waiting is the hardest part . . . but what are we waiting for?

We begin this month’s theme of “Mystery” with reflections on growing comfortable with not knowing.

Every soul needs a reminder list. What’s on yours?

We begin November’s theme of “Memory” with an exploration and celebration of our ancestors and our history.

Rev. John returns to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld for a new lesson on truth-telling — the world may be make-believe, but the news is 100% NOT fake.

Africa feels to me like a sanctuary, sacred and safe, perhaps because I was raised by Cecelia, a Zulu woman, and I played with Nellie, a quiet and gentle elephant. Africa is not one place, it is a brocade, rich with diversity. It showed me a wealth of perspectives; it taught me to embrace . . . → Read More: Growing Up in Africa

We begin October’s theme of sanctuary with reflections on how we find places of inner peace.

Who we were. Who we are. Who we want to be – Vision cannot be fulfilled without trusting in the unknowns of its outcome. What gives us courage to take a leap of faith?

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – William Faulkner “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” To become who we choose to be, we must understand who we were – at our best AND at our worst – and know that we have . . . → Read More: Vision: Understanding our Past

[Service at 10:45 a.m.] Our vision as a community is a statement of faith in who we wish to become. But, to fulfill our vision, we must keep it in our consciousness. And we must know who we are now.  Join us for our annual Ingathering celebration to . . . → Read More: Ingathering: Present to Our Vision