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The old saying goes that you can pick your friends but not your family. Often we find ourselves at odds with family members, whether it is about politics, religion, child-rearing or caring for an aging parent. Intern Minister Karon Sandberg will explore ways in which we can we navigate through the trouble waters of family dynamics with love and respect for our individual differences.
Karon Sandberg
This will be a follow-up to my sermon last month examining possible false idols in Unitarian Universalism and the Fellowship. This sermon will explore where our nation might be guilty of idolatry. I'll talk about Wall Street, the Pentagon, and much more.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
Our Universalist spiritual ancestors were far more concerned with including everyone in God's realm than in drawing lines between who is in and who will be left behind. Their wisdom continues to offer challenge and transformation to all of us who are descendents of Universalism.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
The day after this weekend our nation will once again celebrate the life and work of the man who
did so much to further the great task of freedom and justice begun in the Civil War: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The following day the first African American president of the United States will be inaugurated. And then a few weeks later we’ll celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. This feels like an opportune time to think about Lincoln and why his story and words and accomplishments and failures still have such a powerful impact.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
It is a matter of faith for me that community is a necessary part of a healthy and whole spiritual life. Spirituality isn’t limited to community or congregation—it can very powerfully be experienced,
for example, alone in nature. But I believe our spiritual lives — and our lives in general — are incomplete without being grounded in a community.
This question is frequently posed to Unitarian Univeralists and others who approach life with a primary focus on THIS life rather than the afterlife. This sermon will explore morality and ethical decision-making without the threat of eternal punishment.
Rev. Dottie Mathews
For religious liberals, finding our way toward spiritual growth can sometimes feel like taking a road trip without a map. With avenues so varied, where do we turn when we need help or friendship? How might we come to know ourselves beloved, even when we are away from our spiritual home?
Jason Seymour
I have pondered for a long time the mystery of Buddhism’s doctrine of “No-Soul.” It is time to devote a whole sermon to this intriguing and illuminating doctrine.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
This service will center on a chapter from one of Robert Fulghum's books in which he writes about finding Christmas in an unexpected place.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
This weekend culminates with our Annual Meeting and special congregational meeting to consider calling Dottie. This feels like a good weekend to talk about where the Fellowship is heading as well as the obstacles in our path. In some ways the sermon will be a State of the Fellowship report, but my focus will really be more on the future than the present
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
This weekend kicks off our year-long worship and Wellspring Wednesday focus on the Big Spiritual Questions.
These questions -- questions like "Are People Inherently Good or Out to Get Each Other?" and "What Happens
After We Die?" --will also be the focus of our Coming of Age program. Every year we have our Coming of Age
program, many adults tell us they wish we had a similar program for adults. Now we do--all you have to do is
come to the first service of each month and our Wellspring Wednesday programs which will focus on the question
explored at the first of the month sermon!
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
Acknowledging that there is a diversity of political opinions within the Fellowship about the proposed laws at the focal point of the controversy gripping Wisconsin, I will step back and look at the situation through a spiritual lens. How did we get to this point? Where do we go from here? What are the lessons we might learn?
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
When all you can do is pull out your hair: Facing life’s challenges with purpose and humor
09/20/2009
Former U.S. Attorney and Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager candidly speaks of her life's
twists and turns, describing her strategies for moving forward despite the challenges that have confronted
her and missteps she has made. She describes how family, friends, community, and a sense of purpose in
her work, afforded her the opportunity to move past challenges and view the future with optimism. Lautenschlager, an attorney for 29 years, now practices with a Madison law firm. She is married and the parent of three children and two step-children. Lautenschlager and her two sons, Joshua and Ryan, were, for several years, regular attendees of our Fellowship. FVUUF member Prerna Kvalvik is the favorite aunt of Peg's sons.
Peg Lautenschlager
Pondering the astonishingly vast cosmos - and imagining the possible multi-verses beyond – might make us feel struck to our core with awe and wonder – and, at the same time, entirely inconsequential within the context of this colossal, unfathomable system. Given what science knows about the expanse of time and space, do our little lives matter? Let's explore this, another in our ongoing series of Big Questions, together.
Rev. Dottie Mathews
With Roger's twentieth anniversary here and Dottie’s finishing her fifth year and preparing to leave the Fellowship for the Goodwill chaplaincy, this feels like the perfect time for us to reflect together on what we’ve learned at the Fellowship—lessons about the ministry, the spiritual journey, and life.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen and the Rev. Dottie Mathews
There's a fascinating concept in Buddhism that predated by a couple millennia modern psychology's concept of the shadow. The Buddhist concept of "near enemies" acknowledges that there are shadows to our greatest virtues, and it helps us figure out how to live in a way that minimizes this shadow.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
Some pundits say that every minister has only one good sermon in them - which they just recycle and recycle and recycle using different words and titles. As my time as your second minister draws to a close, I thought it might be interesting to think about what my one sermon has been. What is it I've been trying to say all this time?
Rev. Dottie Mathews
A friend gave me a brilliant book of poetry by Maurice Manning called Bucolics. He addresses every poem to God and calls God "Boss". This got me thinking...
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
In this service for all ages, I will share through story and memories what Easter means to me.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen
Having a single afternoon service allows us a rare opportunity to experience our community all together in one room. Roger’s and Dottie’s sermon will focus on a poem by Rumi with the theme of “What do you think will happen?” and explore exciting possibilities of what might happen at the Fellowship in the coming months and years.
Revs. Bertschausen & Mathews
Our creedless faith has no requirement for us to set apart one day as holier than another - and yet we come together again and again to experience and celebrate our community. What is the
spark of life that brings us here week after week? What is it we are seeking?
Rev. Dottie Mathews
Each year, we happily anticipate the wit, wisdom and insight that our Senior High youth offer in
this reflective and engaging service. Please join us for another amazing annual opportunity to
hear their thoughts and astute observations of life from our UU Youth’s perspective!
FVUUF Youth Group
This sermon is about well-meaning men—the good guys who never would be violent towards a woman or girl. The problem is that well-meaning men have all too often stood by silently in the face of not just violence from not-so-well-meaning men, but also the remarks and jokes and other more subtle actions that sow the seeds of our culture's devaluing of women. Well-meaning men speaking up against violence is a huge part of the solution to domestic violence.
Rev. Roger Bertschausen & Student Minister Jim Coakley
Eleven years ago Roger gave a sermon urging the Fellowship to consider entering into a partner
church relationship with a Unitarian congregation in Transylvania. That partnership has been transformative -- for us and for our partners in Deva. In this service, Karon and Roger, with considerable help from Lee Boeke Burke and Vickie Milde, are going to urge us to enter a second partner church relationship. We believe the opportunity to partner with the Unitarian Universalists in Mabuhay in the Philippines is another opportunity for transformation. So we'll consider: Who exactly is in our UU family? How are we related?
Rev. Roger Bertschausen, Karon Sandberg, Lee Boeke Burke, and Vickie Milde
The Rev. Cheryl M. Walker is the Minister of the UU Fellowship of Wilmington, NC. She served as the Assistant Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City prior to being called to Wilmington. Before that she spent twenty-five years working in technology and on Wall Street. The Rev. Walker co-chairs the continuing education committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association with Roger Bertschausen.
Rev. Cheryl M. Walker
