Previous Services

Sunday Service 

12/26/2021

Christmas Eve Worship 

12/24/2021

Join us for a festive Christmas Eve service at 7:00 PM, Friday, December 24. Hear an inspiring homily from Rev. Jay Atkinson, listen to many beautiful Christmas carols sung by the UUCSC choir, as well as several sung by ensembles. End the evening with a moving candlelight procession of “Peace, Peace.” Take part in this joyous holiday service with your church community.

The Winter Solstice: A Time to Rest, Recover, and Replenish

Guest Speaker Joshua Irving Gershick

12/19/2021

The Immigrant Experience in Our Democracy

12/12/2021 

Babu Shankar, a long-time member of the UU Church of Studio City, and a first-generation American, will share his journey in coming from Chennai, India, and then finding a whole new life in the United States. Babu’s experience, unlike that of many newly arriving immigrants, is a very positive and uplifting story. His experience will restore your faith in the beauty and hopefulness that so many newcomers dream of when they first see the face of Lady Liberty.

Prayer: What Is It? To Whom Do We Pray?

12/5/2021

 Frank Dungan and Laurel Ross, two members of UUCSC, will explore some weighty questions about prayer, its dimensions, and its controversies. Perhaps you’ve thought about some of these questions yourself.

Ecotones with Michael Eselun

 11/28/2021

Oncology chaplain Michael Eselun speaks about the liminal spaces between life and death, comparing them to the borders where one ecosystem encounters another. 

Music: 

On the Sunny Side of the Street by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields

Blessed Spirit of My Life #86 

La cathedrale engloutie by Claude Debussy

A Vigil Commemorating TransDay of Remembrance

11/21/2021 

“This year, the Transgender Day of Remembrance is Saturday, November 20th. Please join us for a vigil on Sunday as we honor those of the transgender community in the United States whom we have lost in this past year.”

Coming Back to Ourselves

11/07/2021

Rev. Dr. Amy Rowland, one of the consultants of the “Healthy Congregations” group, will be speaking to the UUCSC church community.

Breathing: The Spirit of Life  

10/24/2021

Breathing is such an automatic process that we sometimes fail to pay attention to it. Yet, breathing is the essence of life! Join with us as Nancy, Len, and Karen explore the many ramifications of breathing–meditation, mindfulness, and stillness. They have gathered meditations, music, readings, and videos that will put you in a thoughtful, contemplative mood. Come! Breathe!

Gun Violence in America and What’s Being Done

10/10/2021

The UUCSC Gun Violence Prevention Promise (GVPP) group will host a “teach-in” presenting a wide-lens view of the gun violence issue, what’s going on across the country in response to it, and what we as individuals and communities can do to address it.  We will show how tied together are the various problems we face today. While not a happy topic, we present this in the firm belief that knowledge is power.  We are encouraged by the many ways people, young and old, throughout the country are working to move us into a new, safer, more reasonable place.   We take this to heart: “I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.” 

Abortion: What’s It To You?

10/03/2021

I’m very excited to be featuring music from our new Music Director this Sunday, John Bergquist! Welcome John! While I will be in the Sanctuary to preach from the pulpit, we may have a very bare bones presentation for Zoom worship this week as we have little to no tech support volunteers! Running a television show for worship is challenging, especially when there is no one behind the scenes! 

Our theme this Sunday is an exploration of the most controversial subject of our times, the right to safe and legal abortion. Just in that clause, I’ve already framed it in such a way that tells you where I stand. Is it a religious issue? Yes, most definitely. It’s worth exploring why liberal faith has been so quiet on the subject – unfortunately, that’s a luxury we can no longer afford, but maybe it doesn’t have to be drudgery. Tune in to my POP! Talk podcast this Saturday at 10 AM when Ellen Snortland and I shoot live from the steps of Pasadena City Hall for Planned Parenthood’s Caravan for Reproductive Rights! Along with electeds, story-tellers, and poets my colleague UU minister Rev. KC Slack will represent us. Go KC! www.facebook.com/radiojornalera

The Only Constant is Change 

Dan Cragan, Aviva Heston, Nancy Holland, Gene Paulin, Mary Rose, and Julie Widman 

09/26/2021

How do folks get through the life challenges we’ve each faced during difficult times like the last year and a half? In our current pandemic moment, as we wait for the Delta variant to play itself out, we wonder what’s next?  How do we cope in the meantime? Come to our lay-led service to hear how some of us have dealt with diverse situations, including divorce, adoption, retirement, and relocating.

Welcome Home

Rev. Hannah

09/19/2021

Hello friends!  Here’s what’s happening this Sunday for worship at 10 AM.  Please note we are all on Zoom – you can find the Zoom link at the top of our web site.  We are actively in the stages of planning our first Sunday open to the public October 3, and detailed guidelines will be communicated on our web site and social media platforms.

Now back to our worship service for September 19.  If you have kids, they’re back in school.  If you had a summer break, it’s long over.  The weather, thank goodness, is beginning to cool.  In other words, it’s turned to Fall.  This is the time of year when we begin to turn as well.  Turn inward, settle into routines that are hopefully not too stressful or demanding, but rather bring comfort like our favorite, worn-in shoes.  All this settling into the new school year or work year should feel like a homing in.  And so I say to you, “welcome back home.” 

This Sunday, I’m going to be exploring this concept of home within ourselves.  We often make the mistake of defining home by factors outside ourselves:  by the people around us we want to think of as home, or the status symbols, or our credentials.  But the true comfort of home can only come from within, by virtue of our self-acceptance and self-awareness.  If this sounds self-helpy, it is – I found a wonderful book I read over the summer called, “Welcome Home” by Najwa Zebian, whose lessons I’m looking forward to sharing with you.  It’s a guide to building a home for your soul – one you can take with you, wherever you go.

Days of Awe

Rev. Hannah

09/05/2021

Happy Labor Day Weekend,  Members and Friends of the UU Church of Studio City!

There is so much going on in the world right now.  These are Days of Awe, and while the High Holy Day is indeed this Monday, the Jewish new year celebration that kicks off ten days of deep contemplation toward our personal atonement, I’m also talking about days of  . . .  awesome suffering.  Between climate disasters and a pandemic that won’t quit, between a tragic end of a tragic war to Texas making abortion impossible, it’s hard not to feel quite sad and concerned for all the suffering we witness in today’s world.  

But even so . . . 

We gather as a community of faith each Sunday to renew our faith in ourselves and each other.  We gather to find inspiration, hope, determination, and to remind ourselves we’re not alone in our struggles.  We gather . . . in whatever way we can, and so we will continue to gather on Zoom this coming month, even though we had ardently hoped to at least offer hybrid worship in September.  

This Sunday we will contemplate what it means to end a 20 year war at the 20 year anniversary of 9/11.  The world is changing fast, and so must we.  What does it mean to be pacifists, by and large, yet see the hopes and dreams of women and girls go down the drain, both in Afghanistan AND here in Texas?  What are we called to do as Unitarian Universalists, as we navigate a world of awesome oppression?  

Thank goodness it’s also a world of awesome beauty and sweetness.  So dip some apple slices in honey, and be grateful for our many blessings – not least of which is the joy, hope, and sustenance we find in our spiritual home, this community in which we love and are loved, no matter the venue. 

How To Do Nothing

06/06/2021

Remembering Our Fallen Heroes

05/30/2021

Pompous Vs. Pompous

05/16/2021

Mother's Day

05/09/2021

Volunteering for the Red Cross" - Mark Stapf

05/02/2021

If you've ever given blood to the Red Cross, you know they are experiencing a critical need for blood donations at this time. We are proud to host regular blood drives in our building - even during Covid. Guest speaker Mark Stapf will share his experience of volunteering on the Red Cross as Board President of his local chapter for inspiration. Mark is Health Advocate Program Instructor for the California Institute of Technology.

Music Service

04/25/2021

Don't miss this annual treat of a worship service entirely dedicated to music, produced and performed by our very own choir members and Music Coordinator Anthony Concepcion.

Radical Compassion

04/11/2021

Easter Sunday

04/04/2021

Join us for Pandemic Easter Sunday 2.0! Let us rejoice in rebirth and renewal, despite all that has been lost. Let us be grateful for ancient traditions that are yet relevant today.

Four Legs of the Liberation Table

03/28/2021 

After decades of inquiry of the elements of women’s liberation- - indeed any marginalized people’s freedom -- there are 4 main pillars that create freedom and interdependence. If you visualize stability as a table, the legs of the table in this metaphor are: 1) Financial,  2) Self-Expression, 3) Self-protection, and 4) History. If any of those legs are damaged or even missing, instability is almost guaranteed. Given that March was declared Women’s History Month in 1987, and so few people even know that, the exploration of those four legs are useful as a lens to view women’s lives historically. I emphasize the sweet spot between dependence and independence -- namely interdependence -- that is a hallmark of partnership, not domination/dominated.

Spring Equinox: Goddesses in Every Woman, Gods in Every Man

03/21/2021

The Pagan tradition of honoring the transition of seasons helps us honor transitions in our own lives.  We will look at how we can identify archetypes within ourselves that empower and strengthen us, using the seminal work of Jean Shinoda Bolen.

Daring Greatly

03/14/2021

After one year of pandemic, vulnerability is a state we're all familiar with. Using the work of Brene Brown, we'll explore how the harsh lessons of the pandemic can make us stronger, more grateful, and more open to new experiences.

Generation to Generation

03/07/2021

This is the title of the seminal work by Rabbi Edwin Freidman about family process in congregations.  One of my semi-specialties is knowledge of Family Systems Theory, founded by psychiatrist Murray Bowen in the early 1950s.  I will be offering a four-week class about it and this service serves to whet the appetite about this fascinating school of thought.

Abraham Lincoln: Leadership in Turbulent Times

02/21/2021

This Sunday we engage the second installment in a three part series on the traits of a real leader - qualities that inspire us as UUs to be the best leaders we can be in our own lives. It's interesting that February was chosen for Black History Month, the same month that is home to Presidents' Day, honoring Washington and Lincoln. Lincoln is deeply intertwined in American Black History, and the example of his leadership lifts up themes for present-time Reconstruction, as we seek to correct course and heal from the turbulent events of January 6.

Valentine's Day: A Celebration of Friendship

02/14/2021

For many, Valentine's Day is no fun - more and more people are single these days. But, if we consider all the different types of love, friendship is prominent among them. We love our friends, and can have the same highs and lows in these relationships as we do in our romantic ones. This Sunday we will reflect on this, and celebrate our friends new and old, silver and gold.

History in Black and White

02/07/2021

A few weeks ago we looked at the topic of the 8th Principle, which seeks to dismantle white supremacy within our congregations. If you haven't seen it, you can check out the guest minister's sermon from that day, by Rev. Leonisa Ardizzone, on YouTube. Simply search "8th Principle." This short sermon did a good job of explaining the brief history of this worthy endeavor. This Sunday, we will continue to whet your appetite with all our great 8th Principle activities coming up, and since it's Black History month, review some of the entrenched historical landmarks of white supremacy, further reminding us why this work is so important.

The Traits of a Real Leader

01/24/2021

Goodness willing (or God, if you will), we will have observed the peaceful transfer of power to President-Elect Joe Biden four days earlier. I have been studying the traits of Winston Churchill during the blitz in the book, "The Splendid and the Vile" by Erik Larson. While historians say he was best as a war-time leader, many also compare the pandemic to being in a war. What traits do we want to see in Biden and all our leaders at the height of this war on illness?

The Call of Service, The Clarion Call of Democracy

01/10/2021

What a wild week in the history of American democracy. It's this time of year we do a big volunteer appreciation and recruitment Sunday. As we observe the rocky (the say the least) changing of the guard in our national government, we'll compare the call of public service to the call to volunteer in our church. Several seats are available, and it's an honorable way to use your free-time, as we continue to be stuck in the comfort of our own homes.

The World Needs Us at Our Best

01/03/2021

Happy New Year! Or is it? We are all tired of the pandemic and being stuck at home. Depression and things like overeating or over-drinking are common. Malaise is hard to snap out of. Our houses are a mess. Couples are at each other's throats. Children are already bored with their new Christmas toys. I could go on . . . but what is the antidote for all of this? I will explore this tomorrow, in a sermon about self-care. Join us!