“Deck Chairs, Lifeboats, Icebergs? Time for A Better Story”

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Join us Sunday @ 11:15 on our YouTube Channel or our Facebook page

Direct link to the morning assembly

The meme machines are working full time to register every crisis we face as one of Titanic proportions—and us people are just helpless, hopeless fools, doomed to rearranging the deck chairs on a ship that’s destined to sink. But nobody actually rearranged any deck chairs on the Titanic. And that doesn’t have to be our story. Join The Rev Dr Sparky on September 27 to talk about what comes next in our real story.

Online Coffee Hour:  Join is via Zoom, starting immediately following the Morning Assembly here

The Rev. Dr. M. Christine Tata

We welcome back to our pulpit the Rev. Dr. Christine Tata who has enjoyed visiting Red River from time to time through the years to preach, lead workshops, and appreciate the growth and sincerity of this congregation. She brings a lifelong interest in religion and spirituality, a variety of academic and professional credentials, and pastoral experience as ordained minister for several progressive congregations. Christine now writes on Medium.com as Rev Dr Sparky, continuing in her mission to inspire courage in the face of absurdity.

A Ritual for the New Year

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A Ritual for the New Year
The Worship Team, Marla Loturco, leading

Sneak Peek:

A Ritual for the New Year – For five thousand years, or more, more than fifteen thousand generations of human beings have been invoking spiritual power. We will be touching that spiritual power by letting go, metaphoric cleansing, setting of intentions and, celebrating new beginnings, It is a service of words, music and ritual. At each stop around the circle of flame, water, oil, and light each one of you becomes your own healer, priest/priestess, minister, and teacher. It is your circle of release, cleansing, intention, and hope to walk. Please join us at Red River UU on January 3, 2021 where we will begin the New Year with a ritual of celebration.

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Ecological Salvation –

The Rev. Dr. Mark Y.A. Davies, leading

Salvation is a concept shared by a number of different religious traditions and typically focuses on the salvation of individuals or portions of the human community from evil, travails, suffering, and even death itself. The context of the ecological devastation of our times calls for an expansion of the religious concept of salvation to include the salvation of the whole ecological community.

About our visiting minister:

Rev. Dr. Mark Y. A. Davies is the Wimberly Professor of Social and Ecological Ethics, Director of the World House Institute for Social and Ecological Responsibility, and Executive Director of the Leadership. Education, and Development (LEaD) Hub North United States for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) at Oklahoma City University where he has worked in both teaching and administration for 25 years. He is an ordained elder in the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church where he has served as Chair of the Board of Church and Society from 2015 to 2018.

Mark’s Ph.D. is from Boston University in the area of Social Ethics, and he has served Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) as a member of its Dean’s Advisory Board and as the alumnus representative on BUSTH’s Green Team as part of the Green Seminary Initiative.Mark has led and implemented a number of initiatives in coordination with the Division of Higher Education of the United Methodist Church including a Methodist Higher Education Global Ethics Initiative from 2008 to 2012, a United Methodist Higher Education Interfaith Initiative from 2015 to present, and a Global Methodist Higher Education Social and Ecological Responsibility Initiative from December 2016 to the present. Mark has published in the areas of Boston personalism, process philosophy and ethics, and ecological ethics.In 2017, the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church selected Dr. Davies to serve as the convener of the writing team tasked with revising “The Natural World” section of the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church. This is the first time the Social Principles have undergone a thorough revision since their adoption by the denomination in 1972.Mark is one of the inaugural members of the New Room Books Editorial Board. New Room Books is a reviewed academic monograph series that offers scholars from the Methodist tradition and their students a way to share their work.Since 2015, Mark has served on the United Methodist University Senate, which is “an elected body of professionals in higher education created by the General Conference to determine which schools, colleges, universities, and theological schools meet the criteria for listing as institutions affiliated with The United Methodist Church.”

Mark engages in advocacy and activism in the areas of peace, social justice, and ecological sustainability. Locally this is expressed through his work with the Human Community Network, which works to create non-violent systemic change for a just and flourishing human and ecological community through collaboration, education, innovation, and action. See www.humancommunitynetwork.org.

He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK in the United States, and they have two daughters who attend Oklahoma City University.

“The Congregation…….Sharing Joy”

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 The Congregation…….Sharing Joy

Sharing Morning Assembles are usually an annual event on the last Sunday of the year.  This year it just happens to fall on New Year’s eve, so not only are we asking you to bring a favorite poem, reading, song, or anecdote to share your joy, but we will also be celebrating our Burning Bowl tradition.  Afterwards, since it is the fifth Sunday of a month we’ll have an End of the Year Potluck lunch and a New Year’s Eve Early Event.

Giving Hope. Making a Difference. Defeating Breast Cancer.

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Giving Hope. Making a Difference. Defeating Breast Cancer.

Jenel Marie McGrath, guest speaker

This year an estimated 310,720 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Chances are, you know at least one person who has been personally affected by breast cancer.  But there is hope.  When caught  in its earliest, localized stages, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.  Advances in early detection and treatment methods have significantly increased breast cancer survival rates in recent years, and there are currently over 4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

ABOUT OUR GUEST SPEAKER

We invited Jenel Marie McGrath – president of the Board at Women Rock, a Sherman based non-profit dedicated to defeating breast cancer – to speak about their efforts in giving hope, making an impact in defeating breast cancer.  Of her discourse she writes, “I expect to be informative, low key and delighted to extend my knowledge to all.  Questions welcome.”