Upcoming Topics

Sustaining Our Vision
April 6
Celebration Sunday
Service Leader: Rev. Chris Bell
Worship Associates: Erin Howseman and Orlando Raola
In the midst of difficult and uncertain times, this community has faithfully celebrated life and empowered people, cared for its members, and worked to build a better world. Our accomplishments are many — but the work is never over. Today we'll gather our annual pledges of financial support during worship to honor our resolve to be a beacon of hope, spiritual growth, and public witness in the heart of Santa Rosa for this and future generations. When we pool our physical, financial and spiritual resources we can generate vision and power that far exceeds when any of us could achieve alone. We're going to rock today, and astonish ourselves with our generosity and determination to make our dreams real!
NOTE: So that we might renew our commitments as one strong body, there will not be a 9:00am service on this day.
The False Divide
April 13
Service Leader: Rev. Chris Bell
Worship Associate: Lucia Milburn
In the media and the public consciousness science and religion are commonly painted as inherently at odds with one another. Certainly the response of the orthodox faiths over the centuries to the new insights of science didn't do religion any favors, but neither have the diatribes of bitter anti-religionists who would make an idol of science or paint every "believer" as a dupe. Empiricism and faith each have their place in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and today — via a look at the theory of evolution and the pseudo-science of creationism — we'll try to bridge the gulf.
Sustaining Our World
April 20
Bring a Friend to Church Sunday
Service Leader: Rev. Chris Bell
Worship Associate: Leslie Giffen
The goal of a sustainable society that is in harmony with the natural world is a core vision of Unitarian Universalism, found throughout the Principles and Sources. In our complex society, such sustainability seems very hard to come by, even as it is more needed than ever. On this, the first day of Passover, we'll find inspiration in Jewish wisdom that connects the fate of humanity and of the natural world, and explore new possibilities in the practice of thinking globally while acting locally. All while singing praises to our Mother Earth!
Apples, Arks and the Apocalypse: How Christianity is getting out of its head and back into its body — and why you should too.
April 27
Service Leader: Anitra Kitts
Worship Associate: Andy Levine
Are we of this world or separate from it? Christian theology — and the Western worldview we all move within — has struggled with this question since the ink dried on the Gospels and the answer has huge implications for the well-being of the whole planet. We will look at the origins of classical Christian theological teachings on the relationship between human and creation and how those teachings have played out to the current Western cultural understandings on our connections to the environment. We'll also see how Christian theologians are re-working some of those assumptions and how that can be helpful in our own lives and theological communities.

See Also