What does it look like to practice resilience in times of deep suffering and injustice? How can we claim and embody spiritual practices that support us in transforming our world, as we also transform ourselves? We will explore Nwamaka Agbo’s concept of “revolutionary resilience” and imagine what that could mean as a path of renewal … Continue reading Revolutionary Resilience
Join worship leader Tara Miller and worship associate Kem Tetlow as they explore the Hindu tradition of Varalakshmi Vrat. Mahalakshmi grants our wishes, or varas, with the response “So be it!” or “Tathastu!” With purity of heart and sincerity we will explore the 4th priciple and appropriate “wisdom from the world’s religions to inspire us … Continue reading Prosperity: What Does the Hindu Tradition Have to Teach Us About Renewal?
Humans are natural storytellers and the act of storytelling can help us navigate the world. Yet, often, we may find that we are stuck in telling ourselves and others stories that do not serve us–or, even worse–stories that harm us or others. Please join worship associates Kem Tetlow and Amanda Smith along with Musician Geoff Ullerich as we explore the power of the stories we tell to either harm or heal.
Questions? Please Contact office@uuoakland.org.
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How do you keep on keeping on when things get rough? Does faith play a role? What the heck does faith mean for a UU, anyway? Join our guest minister, The Rev. Sue Magidson, affiliated with the UU Church of Berkeley (Kensington), who serves as a hospital chaplain, Worship Associate Kem Tetlow and Music Coordinator/Pianist Trente Morante.
We are joined in worship this week by a special guest minister, Rev. Tamayo, Olosha Efun T’ayo, who is an Afro-Cuban Priestess of Obatala. Rev. Tamayo will explore the origins of the Lucumi tradition and delve deeper into its embodied practices, cultural significance, and relevance in these times. Please join Rev. Tamayo, Worship Associates Kem Tetlow and Jim Briggs, Church Musician Geoff Ullerich and Joyful Noise for this special multireligious worship service! This is a Time For All Ages Service.
Cultivating spiritual practices can enliven, challenge, and transform our lives. They can become the steps we take on the spiritual path to liberation. What disciplines inform our liberal religion? What might we learn from the multitude of practices of the world’s great wisdom traditions? Join Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, Worship Associate Kem Tetlow, Musicians Stefan Schneider, Geoff Ullerich, Joe Cristofalo and John Shinnick, for transformative worship! Daylight saving begins this Sunday. There is Children’s Chapel.
Binaries are basic to Western thinking, language, and teachings. We learn about hot and cold, good and bad, sweet and sour, right and wrong– the list is endless. Yet, languaging things this way sets up and continually reinforces a false dualistic template in our minds that informs our ways of moving through the world… Please join worship associates Amanda Smith, Kem Tetlow, Jim Briggs and E.N. Hill, pianist Geoff Ullerich, and Joyful Noise Band (playing in acoustic mode) as we search for ways to go beyond and between the extremes. There is Children’s Chapel today.
“Holy Lessons from OUR Mysterious Skies” Yes there is a divine mysterious nature to our shared cosmos.The holy appears in the humblest of places. Do you feel the “holy” in our cosmos? Do you see the “holy” everywhere? Please join Pastor Jacqueline, Worship Associates Kem Tetlow and Alessandro Gagliardi and Rev Sheri, as we grapple … Continue reading “Holy Lessons from OUR Mysterious Skies”, Worship at 9:20 and 11:20
“Look -There Goes & Here Comes Generosity”. Let us welcome the Reverend Maria Cristina Vlassidis, the guest preacher for our stewardship celebration Sunday. Rev. Cristina serves the Starr King UU Church in Hayward, CA. She states, “Now more than ever, we need to celebrate community, to be united, to show generosity, and support the transformative work of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. On Sunday, Nov 5, her sermon will call us to celebrate by being together and remembering those who came before us. To remember those who took risks to uphold our Unitarian Universalist values. Those whose generous contributions sustained our sanctuary so that it is open today. Open as a holy place to practice our values, to offer each other compassion, to conspire against hatred, to rekindle hope, and practice unconditional love. Please join Joyful Noise (acoustic praise & worship opening), Crescendo Choir, Pastor Jacqueline, Rev. Sheri and Worship Associate Kem Tetlow as we celebrate the bounty that is the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. During worship we will share in a ritual to receive our stewardship pledges.This is a Time For All Ages Service. Immediately following worship we will gather in community for a celebration brunch. All are welcomed to join us for brunch. Please RSVP on the church website.
Reverend María Cristina immigrated with her grandmother and her mother to the United States from Chile in the late 1970s. She holds a Law Degree from the City University of New York School of Law, where she specialized in Immigrants’ Rights. She holds a Master of Divinity and Doctoral degree in Theology from Harvard University.
Reverend María Cristina has more than three decades of work experience related to social justice, including working with mothers in prison, immigrants, survivors of domestic violence, people living with traumatic brain injury, and children with disabilities. Her volunteer work as advocate and community organizer includes working with the LGBTQ community.
She received her call to the ministry while working in an AIDS hospice as a legal advocate, was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist Ministry at at First Parish Unitarian Universalist church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and now serves Starr King UU Church in Hayward as their Settled Minister. She lives with her mother, Lily and their two cats Tobias and Rafiki.
