About Our Sermons

July 4
Walk in Their Shoes.
Guest Speaker Philip Kellerman.
The service is about immigrants or more specifically migrant farmers that he works with through his foundation, Harvest of Hope. We would like everyone to bring a pair of new or gently used sneakers to the service. There will be boxes to collect donations at the doors of the sanctuary. Our goal is to collect 100 pairs of shoes. Philip will then give these shoes to migrant farmers and their family members.

2nd Sunday of Summer—2nd UU Principle:
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

July 11
The Ups And Downs Of Moving.
Worship Associate Martha Harrell.
Whether you are moving from one house to another or from one state or country to another, moving has its downside and its upside...Martha Harrell and four members will tell about their experiences.

3rd Sunday of Summer—3rd UU Principle:
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.

July 18
Feeding on the Tree of Knowledge.
Renée Zenaida.
On this fourth Sunday of Summer, we examine our fourth principle: the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. In a poem titled "Contraband" poet Denise Levertov implies that our gluttony for reason has separated us from "God Who was Paradise." In today's service, Renée Zenaida will explore, through a Unitarian Universalist lens, how intuition and direct experience inform our search for the truth and meaning. Are we too caught up in the ifs, ands and buts or are they necessary elements of a "responsible" search.

4th Sunday of Summer—4th UU Principle:
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

July 25
The Beat Goes On.
Rev. Meredith Garmon.
The writers of the Beat Generation (Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsburg, Ferlinghetti, Snyder, et al.) struggled to push aside the mind-claw of the predominant culture and create the space in which they could find an authentic voice and discover their true self. We need the Beats—now as much as ever. They still guide us on our journeys of the spirits.

5th Sunday of Summer—5th UU Principle:
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

Annual Animal Blessing Service
June 6
The Way of Beauty.
Rev. LoraKim Joyner.
Today is our annual celebration and blessing of the animals.  In symbol and in actuality, we offer sanctuary space to all species and ages. In other words this is a multispecies and multigenerational worship service.  If you choose to bring a live nonhuman animal, please consider whether the animal would enjoy the experience.  You may also bring stuffed animals and pictures of animals in lieu of live animals. You are also invited to dress in animal related clothes and accessories and bring animal art to decorate our Chalice Table.

11th Sunday of Spring—4th UU Source:
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

June 13
Religious Humanism for the 21st Century.
Rev. Meredith Garmon.
The Humanist movement emerged among Unitarians in the 1920s and 30s and has evolved with the passing decades. It’s still a vital part of who we are today.

12th Sunday of Spring—5th UU Source:
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.


June 20
Transitions.
Revv. LoraKim Joyner and Meredith Garmon.
LoraKim’s last turn in our pulpit will address the nature of transition and will include a ceremony of deinstallation as we celebrate her time of ministry with us.

13th Sunday of Spring—6th UU Source:
Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.


June 27
The Lazarus Project: Reflections on Biblical Passages and on a Novel about Death and Life.
Bev Asbury.
Biblical Passage: The Gospel of John, chapter 11. Aleksander Hemon writes in his 2008 novel The Lazarus Project:
“All the lives we could live, all the people we will never know, never will be, they are everywhere. That is what the world is.”

1st Sunday of Summer—1st UU Principle:
The inherent dignity and worth of every person.

Sunday Service at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville is the high point of our life together and is the best way to discover what being a "UU" is all about. As we are non-creedal, our worship services are influenced by centuries of Unitarian and Universalist religious tradition, the religions of the world, our spiritual journeys, social justice issues, and science. Though our topics are diverse, our rituals like the Chalice Lighting, Singing, Joys and Concerns, and the Story for All Ages give us continuity, as does our belief that "we need not think alike to love alike" (Francis David, Transylvanian Unitarian minister 16th Century). We seek to achieve a "relaxed reverence" where people feel welcome, just as they are, to join us in exploring the mysteries of life.

Children are a welcome part of our worship service as we gather, sing, and tell stories. As time for the sermon approaches, the children and their teachers usually go to their Religious Education classes. A window room is provided at the back of the sanctuary for families with infants and toddlers where the children can play or nap, and their parents can view and hear the service.

It is traditional in Unitarian Universalist congregations that the minister leads worship services for three weeks each month, and has several weeks off during the summer for study, preparation and renewal for the coming year. On the Sundays when the minister is not in the pulpit, a committee of congregants, the Sunday Worship Service Committee, guided by the minister, prepares the worship services. Sometimes these services are intergenerational and interactive, calling on the congregation to participate in some way. Sometimes we invite a guest minister from another UU congregation, a guest minister from another faith, or an expert on a topic of interest to deliver the sermon. We recognize that inspiration can come to us from many different sources and that our minister is much more than a "preacher."

Besides fun, hospitality, good food, and a great message, there is another thing that consistently stands out about worship at UUFG: our music program. Our excellent Minister of Music and music director of 30 years, Ruth Lewis, leads choirs of enthusiastic singers spanning all ages. Many people cite the music as their main attractant to UUFG.

Please join us so that as we grow in diversity, we will grow the beloved community.

Children join their families in the Sanctuary for Sunday Services. At about 11:15 AM, after the Story for All Ages, the congregation "sings the children out" to attend their Religious Education classes. This year, our children (PreK to 5th grade) are working on a curriculum in Compassionate/Non-Violent Communication, and our youth (grades 6-12) are working on a new curriculum, "Journeying with the Stranger".