Summer Services at 10:00 a.m.

Sunday, June 18
Was It Only a Dream?
Juneteenth Sunday
Guest Preacher Gordon Bailey
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Join guest preacher Gordon Bailey, minister at the UU Church of Verdugo Hills and director of JUUSTICE-LA, for a celebratory Juneteenth worship lifting up our call to work for justice in our time. Featuring the sounds of New Orleans with Kenny Sara and the Buc Jump Brass Band, followed by our Annual Juneteenth BBQ, sponsored by Neighborhood People of Color.

Sunday, June 25
Zen Buddhism, Unitarian Universalism, and Finding a Life that Matters
Rev. James Ishmael Ford, guest minister
Our pulpit guest, the Zen priest and Unitarian Universalist minister James Ishmael Ford claims a “physiology of faith.” He says he has a Buddhist mind, a Christian heart, and a rationalist and humanist stomach. Today we can see what that might mean.
The Reverend James Ishmael Ford is minister-emeritus of the First Unitarian Church in Providence as well as a prominent Zen Buddhist priest. He currently serves as a community minister affiliated with the UU Church in Long Beach as well as guiding the Blue Cliff Zen community that meets at the Long Beach church and the Orange Coast UU Church in Costa Mesa. His most recent book is “If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break.”

Sunday, July 2
If Not Church, Then Where?
Kathleen McGregor, MDiv. Neighborhood Church Member
The current political climate is rife with abusive words and bullying that are trickling down to school yards. While the exposure, and privileging of abusive behavior in political discourse is new, the attitudes are not. What is the cycle and the consequences for our real lives? Would we recognize the signs? How do we care for the spirit. Let's start the conversation.

Sunday, July 9th
To Live Deliberately: Thoreau at 200
Rev. Lissa Gundlach , Senior Minister
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. “ –Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854. Over the two hundred years since his birth, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau's keen observations about nature, living simply and political engagement have left a lasting mark on our American culture and our Unitarian Universalist faith. Today we take up his life and writings in a service celebrating the transcendentalist spirit.

Sunday, July 16th
Headspace
Led by member Linda Doran’s Chalice Circle
Did you know one in five Americans live with a mental health condition? The good news: You can make a positive difference in your mental health or someone else’s. Good mental health is for everyone. Join Linda's Chalice Circle as we explore the ups and downs of mental illness through personal stories, prayer and song. After the service, come outside to the Mental Health Information Table, where you can talk to a representative from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and learn how you and your loved ones can experience better mental health.

Sunday, July 23rd
Cowboys and Choirs
Steve Stapenhorst, church member
No man is an island? Some try to be. The cowboy of legend saves the day on his own, and rides off, never to be heard from again. The choirs succeeds when everyone blends in a powerful whole. Loners and joiners . . . what are you? Do you feel guilty when you say "no" to the group? Are you scared when you say "yes" to going solo? Wherever we stand, we're all needed.

Sunday, July 30th
Staying Curious in Conflict
Megan Dowdell, candidate for Unitarian Universalist ministry
Sometimes living our values becomes a challenge when we find ourselves in passionate disagreement with someone who does not share our perspective, or at an impasse with someone we love. Conflict is often about communication, but it is also about culture -- the context of our lives shapes our relationships and patterns of interacting with people around us. Join Megan Dowdell, Visiting Assistant Professor of Ethics and Society at Starr King School for the Ministry, as we explore how to stay curious in conflict through story, sermon and song.