In a book called Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown, they describe the three most commonly held stories in the industrialized world of today: Business As Usual; The Great Unraveling; and The Great Turning. Join Rev. Laurel and worship associate Dick Bailey in lifting up The Great Turning, suggesting that we … Continue reading Sunday March 3, 2024 – The Great Turning
“Those who would silence doubt are filled with fear; their houses are built on shifting sands. But those who fear not doubt, and know its use, are founded on rock.” (Robert T. Weston) Join Worship Associate Corless Smith and Rev. Laurel to explore the essential role doubt can play for courageous people of faith. Music … Continue reading Feb. 18, 2024 – A Holy Rhythm
The title of this service is from a poem called Listen from Zero by Stan Baker – “Turn off your cell phones relax your vocal chords please put down your swords and you’ll begin to hear about the pain and fear when you listen from zero.” Rev. Laurel will share her transformative experience in retreats … Continue reading Feb. 4, 2024 – Listen from Zero
How do we actually go about addressing climate change? Most of us individually do the little things like recycling, composting, reducing car usage, and eating less meat. But the very large sources of greenhouse gasses are not us as individuals but businesses. While altering our consumer habits is relatively easy, educating and convincing businesses to … Continue reading Sunday Jan. 28, 2024 – You Don’t Have To Do It Alone – Reflections from Youth Climate Activism
A longstanding tradition of this congregation is to dedicate the first Sunday of the year to remember and honor those who have died. Join Rev. Laurel and Piper Swim for a ritual of remembrance. Children will participate in the beginning of the service. Music will be offered by the Crescendo Choir. There are two ways … Continue reading Sunday Jan. 7, 2024 – Tolling of the Bells
Join Rev. Laurel Liefert, Worship Associate Sarah Watts and musician Susan Keiter for this Christmas Eve morning service when we will raise our voices together in singing traditional carols of the season. There are two ways to attend this worship service: In person: Worship service starts at 10:20 AM. We strongly recommend that you wear … Continue reading Dec. 24, 2023, 10:20am – Gladden Our Hearts With Song
As the days grow shorter, we begin a month filled with an abundance of interfaith celebrations, including Advent, Bodhi Day (Buddha’s Enlightenment), Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Kwanzaa. Our first Sunday service this month will be a Unitarian Universalist celebration of Advent, the season of anticipation. Rev. Laurel Liefert and Worship Associate Jeanne … Continue reading Dec. 3, 2023 – Four Candles of Advent
The First Unitarian Church of Oakland has a longstanding tradition of having a multigenerational “bread communion” on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day. The ceremony is an open invitation to commune together by taking turns offering a basket of bread to one another. The communion will be facilitated by Rev. Laurel Liefert and Worship Associates Sarah … Continue reading Nov. 19, 2023 – Breaking Bread Together
We live in a power-over world. How can we learn and model another way – power with, also called relational power. Instead of having winners and losers, can we be together and help one another in mutual cooperation? Rev. Laurel Liefert will lead the service with the assistance of Worship Associate Emily Stoper. The service … Continue reading Nov. 12, 2023 – The Exquisite Risk
Trust, our November worship theme, is an essential quality for this faith community to thrive and grow. Each of us, in our own ways, has experienced the pain of having our trust betrayed, of losing faith in something or someone we counted on. As we seek to rebuild, to heal ourselves, our congregation, and our … Continue reading Nov. 5, 2023 – Regaining Trust
