Upcoming Worship Services - Soul Matters

Upcoming Worship Services

October 26, 2025 "Compassion is an Action” Alexis Rodriguez

As Unitarian Universalists, we place a premium on thinking. While thinking is crucial to our faith, action is necessary to keep our faith alive. Sunday’s service seeks to enhance your understanding of compassion, beyond thoughts of care and concern and turn them into actions and deeds that embody our principles.

November 2nd, 2025 “Learning Gratitude: Gratitudiology” Harlow Robinson

Harlow’s sermon examines the concept of gratitude, and how we can nurture—and keep—grateful feelings no matter what the circumstances of our lives. What he calls “graditudiology” is a method that can be learned and deepened with practice. Most important is the idea that “gratitude is an attitude,” a conscious choice we can make about how we lead our daily lives and our relationships with others. Truly grateful people regard even the most challenging life events as potential blessings. They transform adversity into opportunity. One of the biggest obstacles to gratitude is “comparison thinking,” which leads to feelings of insecurity, worthlessness and ingratitude. As the Greek philosopher Epictetus said: “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has.”

November 9, 2025 “We are the Gratitude People” Rev. Matt Alspaugh

"We Are the Gratitude People" is a sermon first delivered by Rev. Matt Alspaugh at the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The talk centers on the idea of gratitude as a spiritual practice. It may be influenced by theologian Galen Guengerich's view of UUs as "the gratitude people.” According to Guengerich, gratitude connects us to our past and shows us our duty to the future.

Launching Our Theme-Based Ministry, 2025-2026

Our church belongs to the Soul Matters Sharing Circle, a network of Unitarian Universalist congregations who commit to connecting with monthly spiritual themes. Beginning in September, our worship services and religious exploration program will becentered around the Soul Matters themes. You will also notice our themes popping up in other places -- the marquee sign out front will have monthly themed welcome statements connecting our neighborhood with what is inspiring us that month and via our newsletter, our minister Rev. Megan will invite you to explore spiritual practices connected to the themes.

Listed in the graphic below, these themes offer us an opportunity to go deeper into our practices of Unitarian Universalism as a whole UUCSC community. One goal of the Soul Matters themed ministry is “to get us out of our heads and into our lives.” Whether you are new to Unitarian Universalism or a long-time UU, these offerings provide a variety of paths to connect to our faith and one another from week-to-week.