Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County Sermons

Earth Day Festival Earth Day Festival Festival: Gardening With Gaia  ~~ Festival Sunday Team, Lynda Sutherland (WA) Join us for this Festival celebrating our Mother Earth. To Listen to this service click here.

Community Gardening: Sprouting ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) On this Sunday where we celebrate resurrections of all kinds and sorts, Rev. Eva will speak on the ‘art of pluckiness’. To listen to this service click here.

Some people seem to capture the public imagination. When leaders become Superstars, what does that mean for the cause(s) they promote?  To Listen to this service click here.        

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Bill Chene (WA) Apparently I didn’t get the “timing” right on this one the first time around! A January blizzard kept us all at home. Part of planning a successful garden is figuring out what to plant when, when to start your seedlings, when to harvest. . .you need to understand the […]

Planting the Seeds of Modern Religion: The Long Shadow of Zarathustra ~~ Al Browne, Del Carpenter (WA) Do you teach Zoroastrianism to your children? If you practice any Abrahamic religion, you may be surprised to find that the answer is “yes”. This presentation describes how some of the core beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Maureen Murphy (WA)Each year at the annual Treats and Talents Auction, attendees have the chance to bid on a sermon to be based on a book of one’s choice. This year’s winner was Jan Gallagher, who chose the book Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver by Diane Ott Whealy, about the history of the […]

~~ Lynda Sutherland, Karen Impola (WA) Have you ever reached out to help someone, and received so much more in return than you ever gave? We’ll take a look at the book Tuesdays With Morrie, a poignant example of the power of relationship to bless and heal hearts. We explore ways in which the seeds of compassion […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Lynda Sutherland (WA) Last month we explored our climate conditions; exploring what it’s like here in the Cedar Valley. This service is about authenticity, and accepting who we are, what we have to offer our world. Growing a strong community means starting from the ground up! To listen to this service click […]

 Stewardship Sunday ~ Stewardship Sunday ~~ Rev. Eva CameronOnce you’ve settled on what you are doing with your garden, the next step is commitment: you buy the seed. For our Iowa farmers, this can be many thousands of dollars, but also a commitment to what kind and variety of seed to choose. For the home […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Karen Impola (WA)  One of the challenges of gardening is coming to terms with the idea that no matter how lovely the certain flower or fruit looks in the catalogue, if it is zoned for the deep south and you live in Iowa, it’s just not going to grow. Or if […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Bill Chene (WA) This Sunday we continue to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of living a life of purpose, as we explore how he used this tool to build a community of justice seekers. To Listen to this service click here.

Worship Associates Bill Chen and Del Carpenter bring us today’s message about how Dr. King and others in passive resistance movements displayed both courage and restraint in leading America’s civil rights movement. This will be the first of a two part series with Rev. Eva completing the message on the 19th.| To listen to this […]

Community Gardening: Remembering What Grandpa Taught Us ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, John Miller (WA) Join us for our Anniversary Sunday communion, and a message about how we grow community as we remember those who have gone before us. To listen to this service click here.

Worship Associate Del Carpenter and Lay Minister John Miller presented this service regarding what is transient and permanent in UU beliefs.  To listen to this service click here.

  Once you’ve tucked your garden in bed, the winter darkens and you have to wait for the light. The advent season invites us to slow down and enjoy the anticipation. How can we use anticipation to help nurture and grow community?  To listen to this service click here. 

Community Gardening: Spirituality of Eating Community Gardening: Spirituality of Eating ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Festival Sunday Team, John Miller (WA) Join us for our special Thanksgiving service. We will celebrate with the children for the beginning of the service. Then as they finish up in their classes, we’ll have a message about how eating can […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Deblyn Russell (WA) A healthy community survives over the years if it figures out how to take the inexperienced and grow them into seasoned leaders.  As we live in our various communities, part of our personal challenge is to develop an increasing capacity to help lead our communities. How do we […]

An Alternate Look at the Book of Job  Lynn Brant, Del Carpenter (WA) The Book of Job raises the question, “If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil in this world?”   Lynn believes the question arises out of an ancient cosmology and an elevated view of ourselves.    This talk  presents his thoughts on […]

Community Gardening: Saving the Seeds ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, John Miller (WA)  An exploration on immortality and our compelling desire to leave our mark on the world.  To listen to this service click here.

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Festival Sunday Team, Karen Impola (WA) Our annual service of remembrance. We honor those who are gone from our lives within the congregation and in our personal lives.  To listen to the service click here.

Rev. Eva Cameron, Maureen Murphy (WA) As the seasons shift, sometimes we feel a bit of dread as the cold and darkness creep closer and closer. Even if we are a “winter-lover” sometimes we have times in our life where we feel dark times coming over us. How do we create lasting goodness and energy […]

~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Bill Chene (WA) How can we UUs understand the idea of Grace, which is a bit mysterious to even the most religious? We explored this idea a bit, and how its presence helps us grow community. This was also Clergy Appreciation Day. To listen to the opening words,the Clergy appreciation and […]

~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) From the beginning of time, we have gone out into market places and met different people, bumped up against new languages, new goods and products, new ways. Some of this acts to reinforce our sense of “self” and some of it encourages a strong sense of “other”. This […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Bill Chene (WA) There is a real discipline in asking for help, but the crop won’t come in all on our own. Sometimes asking for help seems so hard, and many of us have experienced that when we were in need; but we have also experienced other’s joy when they have […]

~~ Lynda Sutherland, Maureen Murphy (WA)Come meet our new intern for the next two years! She will tell us a bit about why she has decided to enter the ministry and her experiences in growing a community. To listen to this service click here.

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, John Miller (WA) The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is the 13th this year, after a month of fasting and reflecting on their year. The Jews seek forgiveness, and wholeness with others, as they finish off their year. As we consider growing an amazing community, let’s consider what the fullness of […]

~~ Al Hays, Rev. Eva Cameron, Karen Impola (WA) We kick off our spiritual theme with a look at all it takes to grow a rich and vibrant community. We started Sunday School with an installation of teachers, just before they (and the kids) head upstairs for the first day on the new schedule with […]

Member Russ Campbell shared with us his take on Work on this Labor Day.  He recalled that in 2002 President Bush called on Americans to commit at least 2 years or 4000 hours over the rest of their lifetime to the service of their neighbors, which is the equivalent of 2 years of 40 hour […]

Water Communion ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Festival Sunday Team In us for this annual ritual of community building, we are invited to bring water from a place that is meaningful to us. Together we join our sacred waters, as we think about the many places that water is special to us—from our backyard rain barrels, […]

~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Deblyn Russell (WA) Join Rev. Eva for this year’s auction sermon purchased by Karen Kitchen. The book Karen chose–Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years – Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber–is a fascinating look at many aspects of what women’s work has been like down through the ages, uncovered through […]

~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Bill Chene (WA) Many churches gather together around a common creed. Our Unitarian Universalist faith doesn’t have a common creed, but we gather around a sense of mutual understanding of the purpose of our community. This week we will look at covenants, our covenant, and what this all means for our […]

April 21st Festival Sunday: In Service of. . .the Earth ~~ Festival Sunday Team, Karen Impola (WA) Join us as we celebrate Mother Earth! The Festival Sunday Team has put together a service that helps us honor our place as tree-huggers, green-lovers, recyclers, environmental activists, alternative transportation geeks, garden-growers, and more. To Listen to this service […]

April 14th In Service of. . .Family  ~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) It seems families often arrive here looking for help and support in raising their kids in the religious culture of our larger community. How does our religion help support and strengthen the family? What exactly is “a family” and what are “family […]

Our community joins together to celebrate the Easter holiday. How has Unitarian Universalism helped you transform your life? What meaning can we make of the risen Christ?  To listen to this service click here.

 Rev. Kali Hayslett, Karen Impola (WA) Join us as community minister and hospice chaplain Rev. Kali Hayslett shares stories about her work with families .  Palm Sunday is a celebration of the life of Jesus, the human life, the impact one person can make on their community.  Hospice ministry is about helping people live even when they are […]

March 17thtt Festival Sunday: In Service of. . . Festival Sunday: In Service of. . . In Service of. . .Awakening Awakening ~~ Festival Sunday Team, Del Carpenter (WA) Our celebration of spring! With any luck the bees are buzzing, the buds swelling, and days lengthening. How does our faith strengthen and sustain our awakening? […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Karen Impola (WA) Some religions are good at creating followers.  Our progressive faith encourages the development of leaders.  We look at some of the well-known UU leadership in our world, and explore how our theology invites us into a place up front, leading the way!  To listen to this service click […]

Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) In honor of Charles Darwin’s birthday, which some have declared as their own UU Holiday, this week we explored how the growth and love of knowledge has shaped our UU heritage. To listen to the service click here

Of That We Do Not Speak ~~ Lynn Brant, Lara Martinsen-Burrell (WA) Lynn will talk about abortion and make a stronger case for “pro-choice” in the context of our UU principles and values. He will argue that we should speak about abortion and not allow the other side to dominate the larger conversation in our […]

Rev. Eva Cameron and Al Hays co-preaching, Deblyn Russell (WA) Rev. Eva has always felt that wisdom was the practice of balancing what one knows from one’s head and what one knows from one’s heart, while always striving to enhance that knowledge.  One of the most powerful things we do as UUs is to teach people […]

~ Staci Chananie-Hill and Al Hays co-preaching, Del Carpenter (WA) For Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday  Staci and Al share their thoughts about non-violence, the movement, and spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.  How does what we learn from our past propel us into finding ways and means other than violence in an ever-increasingly violent world?  How do […]

~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Festival Team Listen to the celebration of the 138th Anniversary of the founding of the Universalist Society of Waterloo!  Each year we get out the old Universalist Communion silver, and share with our children some of our history from long, long ago.  This year, we will meet Rev. Dr. Effie McCollum Jones, […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Karen Impola (WA) Celebrate Winter Solstice!! Come be a light in our lives, as we look to the age-old traditions of this time of year. To Listen to this service click here.

What does our spiritual tradition teach us about children?  What do we as UUs offer to the greater community’s children? To Listen to this service including the Children’s story by Lara Martinsen-Burrell Click here.

The season of Advent invites us to consider the spiritual practice of waiting, and finding useful and productive things to do with our time.  Join us in the celebration of the virtue of patience.  To listen to this service click here.

We often give thanks for those things that make us feel good. But what about the things that make us beel bad, or that we perceive as negative experiences. How do we reframe those experiences? Let’s explore these thoughts and feelings together in this seasonal time of Thanksgiving. Lay Minister Staci Chananie-Hill shares her experiences […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) A tribute to the men and women who are serving and have served this country. Some of us are pacifists, and others believe in just war. . .but no matter our leanings, we all honor the humanity that serves at the core of military. To listen to this […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Maureen Murphy (WA) Just prior to our national elections, we will pause and reflect on the nature of politics, how our religion informs our politics, and send forth our good wishes for a clean, civil election. To listen to this service click here.

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Del Carpenter (WA) Come celebrate! We will have a Homecoming Service, as we invite all those who have been a part of our growth and development over the years to join us on this special day. To listen to the 50th Anniversary Service Click here

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Maureen Murphy (WA) One beautiful reason to belong to a religious community is that it helps us turn our focus beyond our own lives and towards something larger. The call to serve the Common Good rang in the lives of our founders, and still seems to be a vibrant principle today. […]

~~ Rev. Eva Cameron, Karen Impola (WA) Free-thought is a religious principle that has a long history with both Unitarianism and Universalism. Our doors have long served as a refuge where people could come and apply their own understandings of religion to their lives. As we near our Fiftieth Anniversary we celebrate a rallying cry […]