Embedded Files
"Spirituality v Religion: Church is Not the Only Place to Find God"
Guest speaker Rev. Celia Young
August 16th, 2026
Churches are struggling to grow, especially among younger generations, and at the same time, people young and old report seeking spirituality as much as ever. Rev. Celia Young will help us to explore this dichotomy and apparent contradiction in what promises to be a most thought provoking service. Rev. Young is an ordained interfaith chaplain, UU, Zen Buddhist, and founder of the Authentic Being Center. For decades Rev. Young has provided FORTUNE 500 corporations consultation to support social justice and inclusive cultures, and she has expanded her ministry and spiritual activism into broader society, offering lectures and leadership and holistic life coaching. Contact her at RevCelia@authenticbeingcenter.com
"Service Is Our Prayer"
Guest speakers Barbara Javitz and Stephanie Caridad -August 9nd, 2026
Come worship with our partners in service from the NoHo Interfaith Food Pantry and NoHo Home Alliance, of which our Tuesday Drop-In Program is just one part. Partner leaders Barbara Javitz and Stephanie Caridad will share more about our local challenges with food and housing insecurity and we'll take a behind-the-scenes look at their operations and impact, with a chance for Q&A. We'll also hear from some UUCSC multigenerational families about their faith-driven connections to these programs and additional opportunities for us all to become involved. Our 'Pets and People' food pantry drive continues!
"The Very Long Arc"
Soul Matters sermon by Rev. Shawn Gauthier, Read by Joyce Fidler.
August 2nd, 2026
Is the long moral arc of the universe bending toward or away from justice? Regardless of bend, what does our faith demand of us and what wisdom should we heed if we're to help bend the arc?
"Starting Over"
Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
July 26th, 2026
This Sunday Rev. Nuri-Robins will help us explore some of the many invitations and challenges we are given to start over in our lives. Rev. Nuri-Robins (she/her) is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, minister of the Presbyterian Church, and member of the Bio-Ethics Committee of UCLA Medical Center. This service concludes our July series grounded in the themes of enacting more equity in the world and rejecting ableism.
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"Wheels on My Suitcase"
Chaplain Michael Eselun
July 19th, 2026
We all carry around our own unique burdens—“our baggage,” if you will. UCLA Oncology Chaplain and popular guest speaker, Michael Eselun, will look at what might be “the wheels” on that suitcase that we drag around. What are the ways we can make it all a little easier to maneuver and manage—particularly in these uncertain and challenging times.
"Beloved as We Are"
Lay led by Patricia Rivard, Cynthia Toussaint and John Garrett
July 12th, 2026
Join us to learn the history of the disabled rights movement, worship as one with those in our midst, and celebrate the gifts the differently abled bring to our community.
"There's a Place for (Us)"
Rev. Anna Tulou sermon, read by UUCSC member Terry Hassman-Paulin
July 5th, 2026
Unitarian Universalists everywhere are approaching the 250th anniversary of the United States with a mix of emotions. Rather than leaning into uncritical patriotism or despair, let us come together to mark the semiquincentennial by acknowledging historical injustices, grounding ourselves in our ideals, and sharing in the practice of radical hospitality. We cannot control everything but together we can build Beloved Community and make our corner of the world more equitable.
"Pride Sunday"
Welcoming Congregation
June 28th, 2026
Friends and allies join us to mark the 57th anniversary of the Stonewall Revolution. We'll celebrate the divine sparkle within us all with a showcase of queer musical performance from within our church and beyond. We'll also reflect on the spirituality of drag and share stories of trans resilience and joy. A multimedia show will round out our celebration of queer strength and history from 1967 to the present.
"Sacred Masculinity/Father's Day"
Rev. Mike Young + UUCSC Religious Exploration
Michael Malone & J.D. Wolfe
June 21st, 2026
For this Father’s Day service, we honor “sacred masculinity,” a spiritual force that courses through the universe, inviting men to empower themselves and others through right action and service, bringing stability, strength, and courage to an ever-shifting world.
"Music and Technology Sunday"
John Bergquist, Director of Music and Technology & Music Committee
June 14th, 2026
Come celebrate the sacred power of music with us as we showcase the spirit and growth of our music ministry. This service will feature rousing musical selections from our year of Sunday choir and concerts, reflections from our Music Dir. John Bergquist, and testimonials from some of our dedicated church musicians. We will also honor our dedicated volunteers in music and tech who make this vibrant musical life possible.
"Celebrating Our Children’s Program: Religious Exploration"
Rev. Mike Young + UUCSC Religious Exploration
Dir. Ariel Griset & Committee Members
June 7th, 2026
Join us for another fun-filled family friendly service as we celebrate the continued growth of a special part of our church community--our children and families! We'll enjoy a look back at the past church year, the kids will share some of what they’ve learned, some of our parent RE Committee members and staff will add insight, and we’ll thank all the folks who have come together to help our youngest UUs grow in faith and community. Rev Mike Young will anchor the service with a homily.
"Stem by Stem, a Marvelous Joining"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
May 31, 2026
“This is what community looks like—this vibrant jostle, stem by stem declaring the marvelous joining. This is the face of communion, the incarnation once more gracefully resurrected from winter.” Lynn Ungar
Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek of Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Flower Ceremony was introduced to the United States by Rev. Maya Capek, Norbert's widow. In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower. Each person places a flower on the altar or in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and they're redistributed. Each person brings home a different flower than the one they brought. Bring with you a few flowers to join in our flower ceremony ritual and New Member Ceremony.
"Delight in Curiosity of Small Things"
Robert Holley, Lay Led
05/24/2026
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Where are the delights in our lives begging for us to celebrate them? What small pleasures help us to flourish in this season? A life closely observed has a lot to teach us about the bonds that connect each to all. Bring your favorite summer reading book along with you to this service focused on Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights.
"Delight in Curiosity of Small Things"
Rev. Megan
05/17/2026
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Where are the delights in our lives begging for us to celebrate them? What small pleasures help us to flourish in this season? A life closely observed has a lot to teach us about the bonds that connect each to all. Bring your favorite summer reading book along with you to this service focused on Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights.
"Good Advice"
Rev. Rebecca Bijur, guest speaker
05/10/2026
Why is good advice so hard to follow? Join Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and worship associate Jennifer Lynch for a lively morning of story, song, and spirit on the theme of lessons learned the hard way.
"Imagining the Rebel in All of Us"
Rev. Ellie Kilpatrick, guest speaker
05/03/2026
Join Rev. Ellie Kilpatrick as she explores today's struggles against oppression and tyranny from the lens of the Star Wars universe. How are we called to rebel? What can we really do to fight back when we don't have a tangible deathstar to destroy? Join her as she shares why we still have so much to learn from both Star Wars and history as we endeavor to change our world for the better.
"Earth Day"
Meghan Sahli-Wells, guest speaker
04/26/2026
Celebrate Earth Day with us and Meghan Sahli-Wells, the former "Biking Mayor" of Culver City who crafted the city's first bicycle and pedestrian master plan. For more than a decade Sahli-Wells has championed practices and government policies supporting environmental and climate justice and democracy. She serves on The Sierra Club National Board and as a strategic advisor for the Better World Group.
"Mad Possibilities"
Seminarian Ru-Lee Weller Passman
04/19/2026
What does it mean to have a mental health breakdown? Is there insight to be found in the process of putting oneself back together piece by piece? Join seminarian Ru-Lee as they share their own story of a mental health crisis, and how the Death tarot card can speak to this experience of wild, mad transformation.
"Yes! And"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
04/12/2026
Please join us for the kick-off of the 2026 Pledge season with Rev. Megan's sermon on improvising as an art of living in possibility. Our pledge season is an invitation to build on the dreams of those who came before us, to say "Yes!" and add our gifts to the life we share in our church community.
Celebrating Easter
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
04/05/2026
Enter into the Easter story, mystery and possibility in words, music and song. Connect to the tradition of Easter processions and our town's vital studio and arts heritage -- stroll, dance and pose for pictures to the merry tune of Easter Parade from the 1948 MGM film!
The (W)holy Spirit of Covenant
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
03/29/2026
The Spirit of Life is an ancient concept with 21st century relevance for our lives. Explore the relationship between spiritual wholeness and the tradition of Unitarian Universalism. Rev. Megan delivers a message about our shared attention to covenant as we welcome new members into our congregation in our New Member Ceremony -- a special ritual not to be missed!
"What Are We Missing?"
Wendy Karn, Minister of UU of the Santa Clarita Valley
03/22/2026
In our culture of distraction, choosing to pay attention is a radical and hopeful act. In this service, we’ll explore the nature of awe that is woven into our daily lives, if we can slow down enough to notice the sacred in the ordinary.
Are we missing all the good stuff? How can the simple act of presence bring us back to joy?
“Attending to Our Shared Humanity”
Lay-led service with Soul Matters sermon by Rev. Joan Javier-Duval
03/15/2026
There are so many moments that we share in the vicinity of others. Moments in which it is far too easy for us, despite our physical closeness, to selectively or wholly tune out others. And sometimes, keeping our distance means we wind up harshly labeling, ascribing false stories to, or not truly seeing our neighbors. Come join us as we explore potential antidotes to this everyday spiritual challenge through shared reflection, photography, and song.
"Mindful of Love as our Doctrine"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
03/08/2026
Rev. Megan Visser leads a service reflecting on cultivating relationships through daily living in covenant as Unitarian Universalists. With covenant, not creed, guiding our spirits and actions, we find that love is our doctrine.
"Rituals and Practices for Resilience, Part 2"
Rituals and Practices for Resilience, Part 2
03/01/2026
Unitarian Universalists pride themselves on being well-informed and well-read. READING is a spiritual practice. Come be DAZZLED by the depth and breadth of explosive ideas from the highly-prized books read by our Women's Book Group. We will also honor the women who founded this group in the late 1970s.
"Rituals and Practices for Resilience, Part 2"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
02/22/2026
Resilience is more than "bouncing back" from life's challenges. Unitarian Universalists draw from wisdom born of embodied experience as well as the gifts of reason and intuition. Bring your weariness, crankiness or curiosity to this service and leave with a few more tools for building resilience. This is part two of a two-part service series.
"Gritty Faith and Gritty Facts"
Michael Malone, Worship Committee
02/15/2026
Paradox permeates every aspect of our lives from the personal to the societal, the micro to the macro. Learning to hold the tension between two seemingly absurd opposites - that vulnerability is strength, that profit and purpose can coexist, that we can be decisive and open-minded, that it can be the best of times and the worst of times - without having to lapse into dualistic thinking offers a liberating gift and allows for novel ideas to emerge. Franciscan friar Richard Rohr suggests that embracing the power of paradox is the great development of midlife, and sociologist Brene Brown espouses that organizations that pursue both "gritty faith and gritty facts" will prosper. Embracing paradoxical thinking is an essential tool for practicing resilience.
"Rituals and Practices for Resilience, Part 1"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
02/08/2026
Resilience is more than "bouncing back" from life's challenges. Unitarian Universalists draw from wisdom born of embodied experience as well as the gifts of reason and intuition. Bring your weariness, crankiness or curiosity to this service and leave with a few more tools for building resilience. This is part one of a two-part service series.
"Centering Love: Immigrants, Black Faith, and the Soul of Unitarian Universalism"
Rev. Gordon Bailey
02/01/2026
In a time of rising anti-Black and Brown sentiments, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and growing pressure to conform, this service calls Unitarian Universalists back to the heart of our faith: love made visible through justice, courage, and community. Drawing on the legacy of Jamaican-born Unitarian minister Egbert Ethelred Brown, the prophetic ministry of Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson, and the enduring contributions of Black UUs across generations, this sermon lifts up the immigrant roots of our faith and our nation. Together, we will celebrate heroes and sheroes, honor the ancestors, and recommit ourselves to a Unitarian Universalism that centers love boldly, globally, and without apology.
"Resisting Utopian Visions, Expressing Ideals as Actions"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
01/25/2026
Did you know Unitarians and Universalist history included the development and disappearance of so-called "utopian" communities? You are invited in to explore continuing threads of idealism in our movement today and the challenges inherent in expressing ideals as action.
“God’s Justice Is Not Neutral: Monuments, Dr. Martin Luther King,
and Divine Intervention”
Rev. Joey Courtney
01/18/2026
Join us this Sunday as Rev. Joey Courtney reflects on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, including lessons in resistance from his 1968 sermon titled, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution." On this day Dr. King famously preached, "We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Rev. Courtney will share his spiritual experience of the post-Civil War "Monuments" exhibit at the MOCA and draw connections to the wisdom from Dr. King's final Sunday sermon.
"Something Beyond, Calling Us"
Rev. Dr. Megan Visser
01/11/2026
“Once upon a time there were three – yes, three – very wise men who were sitting in their own countries minding their own business when a bright star lodged in the right eye of each one of them. It was so bright that none of them could tell whether it was burning in the sky or in their own imaginations” (Barbara Brown Taylor). There is something beyond, calling each of us. Join Rev. Megan in worship with an ancient story and a look toward the new year. Also, come participate in a New Year special ritual and receive a ""power word"" for 2026!"
"Resistance is (NOT) Futile"
Lay Led - Terry Hassman Paulin
01/04/2026
In the TV series Star Trek, there is a race of beings called the Borg. The Borg’s existence comes from assimilating and taking over other species, and their most memorable saying is “Resistance is futile!” And it is sometimes easy to think that resistance to evil is indeed futile. What impact can our actions have on all the hate and pain in the world? We come together this morning to question what the Borg say, and to see if resistance is futile.
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