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"Something Always, Always Sings"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
4/20/2025
For Unitarians, who hold a conception of a strictly human Jesus, a physical resurrection is not possible. No human can die and later live again as that same person. But what if we think of Easter not as something that happens to individuals but as a lesson about life itself? Easter could celebrate an eternally existing spirit of life passed through communities, taking shape in collections of individuals for a time, and then taking new shapes in later times.
"Let Me Flower, Help Me Flower"
Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
4/13/2025
The story of Passover endures because it speaks to one of the fundamental aims of religion: liberation. We seek to be released from all that holds back individuals and groups from the full expression of our potential. The spiritual journey is the journey from oppression by others and by our own doubts and fears to the freedom of lives we make for ourselves.
"Please, Thanks, Oops, Wow"
Lay-Led
4/4/2025
Our worship service this Sunday is drawn from the program “Soul Matters”—in particular, the concept of “Repair.” This sermon looks at repairing our own relationship with the art of prayer, and different approaches to the practice that can help people in their daily lives. We have permission via Soul Matters and Rev. Dana Worsnop of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura, to share Rev. Dana’s sermon.
"For the Beauty"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
3/30/2025
As one of the three transcendentals: the good, the true, and the beautiful, beauty is an essential quality of being. All existing things are beautiful. Our spirits grow as we develop the ability to appreciate even the parts of existence from which we might otherwise be tempted to turn away.
"Praise the Power of Prose"
Lay-Led
3/23/2025
“Praise the Power of Prose” holds up the Unitarian Universalist spiritual practice of reading widely and deeply. The abiding lessons of “The Velveteen Rabbit” will be illuminated by Cricket Sloat; Drew Bastien will share how “Evolutionary Leadership” empowered his thinking; and Shannon Corder will speak to what she has learned about tragedy, humor, perseverance and human kindness from the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Chris Kirchner serves to shape this into a meaningful morning for all.
"Keeping it Real"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
3/16/2025
Although religion explores realms not available to empirical study, speaks in myths and parables, and, for some, includes the supernatural, to be valuable, religion must engage with reality. I've always appreciated that Unitarian Universalism is what I call a "reality-based religion." But it isn't just our foundation in reality that counts, it's also our commitment to end in reality, with real lives made really better for real people.
"Starting With Me"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
3/9/2025
The spiritual life is often described as a journey. It’s not the destination, we say, but the journey. But journeys have beginnings, too. We start from somewhere. And every pause we take along the path defines a new starting place: maybe still on the right track or maybe having wandered far afield. The season of Lent in the Christian tradition is about making a clear confession of where we are before we take a further step.
"Free to Be: Keeping Faith in Challenging Times'"
Lay-Led
3/2/2025
After thousands of people around L.A. had lost their homes in fires, and a new authoritarian POTUS with plans for revenge had been inaugurated, someone posted on Facebook that they’d tried the 2-week free trial subscription to 2025 and wanted to cancel it. Funny, but sad as well — and things haven’t gotten any better. How do we "keep hope alive” during times like this? How do we protect ourselves from despair?
"If They Say 'No'"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/23/2025
Universalism affirms that all creation is one. Ultimately, we will be together. But before we reach that goal, what responsibility do we have to hold on to those who would block our path or do us harm? When our invitation to love is refused, we must concede that for this stage of the journey some will walk separate paths.
"My Spiritual Journey"
Lay-Led
2/16/2025
Four new members of UUCSC will share their spiritual journeys with the congregation. Each person has a unique and often complex story to tell of how they traveled emotionally and spiritually from their birth religion to Unitarian Universalism.
"An Optimistic Faith"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/9/2025
Because leaders are human, they make mistakes. If the leader is a king or a tyrant, the people must simply suffer the leader's mistakes. But in a democracy, like the United States or a Unitarian Universalist Church, leaders are our leaders, and it is our privilege and responsibility to hold them accountable.
"An Optimistic Faith"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/2/2025
Because we are free, the future is open. Because the future is open, there are no certainties, either of glory or of doom. Uncertainty makes space for doubt but also optimism. Unitarian Universalism is characterized by a sense that our future will be better, because we can make it so.
"Courage, Friends"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
1/26/2025
Courage, or fortitude, is one of the four cardinal virtues. Allied with wisdom, temperance, and justice, the ability to endure hardship without faltering and to move toward the good and best without fear, encompasses all the other qualities that define the highest path of living.
"The Ability to Achieve Purpose"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
1/19/2025
The power to direct our lives and achieve our goals is essential to spiritual health. Where can we find our power? The life and work of Martin Luther King provide three answers. Natural gifts give power when matched to appropriate work. Faith gives power when we align our lives with divine aims. Righteous causes give power when inspiring dreams call us to action.
"Your Life is a Garden"
Angelica Rowell, Guest preacher and musician
1/12/2025
"Your Life is a Garden" is a heartfelt exploration of personal growth, resilience, and spirituality. This message invites you to examine the conditions that either foster or hinder their growth and is an inspiring call to cultivate patience, create supportive environments, and trust the process of becoming.
"Who Am I, Really?"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
1/5/2025
It's easier toward the end of life to see that what we call the self is widely changeable. I'm not the person I was as a child, or teen, or young adult. My self becomes more stable as I age, but perhaps I've just given up exploring and experimenting out of laziness or have learned to accept a version of myself grown comfortable by habit. How, if I found him, would I recognize the me I was born to be?
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