Peace Makers #9 – Leaders Caring for the Planet

Peace Makers #9 – Leaders Caring for the Planet

Marla Loturco, leading

DOWLOAD THE MORNING PROGRAM here later in the week.

Rachel Carson and David Suzuki are excellent examples of leaders who model caring for the earth.  Join us as we learn about their lives and contributions. Information on both of these leaders is based on the book “Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World” by Ken Beller and Heather Chase

About Sunday’s Worship Leader:

Marla Loturco is a lay leader of our congregation who first visited us in April 2008.  Although she hadn’t set foot inside a church for forty years, she surprised herself by realizing this was a faith community that spoke to her heart.  Marla has not taken her membership lightly as she has served on the bylaw revision committee, is the church (and the Texoma Earth Day Festival) webmaster, the church database guru, and our representative to North Texas UU Congregations (NTUUC). She joins in church social events and has been elected to the Committee on Ministry and President of the Board of Trustees.  She is the recipient of NTUUC Marty Robinson Award for volunteerism as well as Red River Unitarian Universalists’ Bruce Cameron Distinguished Service Award. She currently is part of the AV team and a longtime member of the Worship Team where she creates meaningful and insightful worship experiences.

Beyond the church Marla is a Certified Laughter Leader, a Database Consultant, Quilter, creator of stained-glass art and devoted dulcimer player. 

“Education Under Siege”

“Education Under Siege”

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

Download the morning program HERE later in the week or read it below w/o having to download it.

Of his discourse, Mark writes: 

Teachers, professors, and the value of academic freedom are currently under attack in a number of locations throughout the United States, including Oklahoma and Texas. Such attacks on education represent a bright red flag that Christian Nationalism is waxing within our society. How can we support education and educators during these perilous times?

About our visiting minister:

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.H
He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK in the United States, and they have two daughters who attend Oklahoma City University.TMP 09-10 v.1

 

“What Will You Bring To The Feast?” – Water Communion Sunday

About Our Morning Assembly
on Sunday, September 10th

 

“What Will You Bring To The Feast?”
The Worship Team, leading

In 1980, two Unitarian Universalist women, Carolyn McDade, and Lucille Shuck Longview, were asked to create a worship experience for the Women and Religion Continental Convocation of Unitarian Universalist. As they shaped that ceremony McDade and Longview wanted to create a ritual “that spoke to our connectedness to one another, to the totality of life, and to our place on this planet.” They included a new, inclusive symbol of women’s spirituality: water. They write that the first water communion was for them “a new story of creation,” and that water was their chosen symbol of empowerment.

This year our Water Communion will be celebrated with a folk tale about trickery at a royal feast. It provides a fresh lens for our Unitarian Universalist tradition of the water ceremony, also called “water communion,” “ingathering,” or “homecoming.”  As we begin a new congregational year by mingling our various contributions of water from the summer, each of us must answer these questions:

Will I contribute the best of myself to this
beloved community?

Will I share my gifts, adding to our abundance? or

Will I hold back my gifts for my own use?

Please bring a small vial of water and a contribution for the Denison Shelter. The list for the shelter includes: Mayonnaise … miracle whip … Paper Plates … Plastic Wear … Paper Towels … Solo Cups … Hamburger Buns, Hotdog Buns … Sliced bread … sliced cheese … shredded cheese … bottled water … snack foods … drinks like fruit juice … gallon zip lock bags … black sharpies … flour tortillas … tortilla chips … potato chips.

 

“Ending Poverty”

September 3 – “Ending Poverty” 

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

Download the morning program HERE later in the week or read it below w/o having to download it.

Of his discourse, Mark writes: We live in the wealthiest nation on earth, yet we have the highest poverty rate among advanced democracies. What is behind the perpetuation of American poverty, and what can be done to end it?

About our visiting minister:

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.H
He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK in the United States, and they have two daughters who attend Oklahoma City University.
TMP -Sept 3 2023

“The Twelve Steps, My Story”

You may download the Morning Program here or read it below w/o having to download it.

“Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength and hope.” 
Forward to the 3rd ed. of the Big Book

Today, one alcoholic will share her story with all of us. A story full of all of the things that make up a life well lived, Sherilyn B. speaks of her two lives, about the 36 years before sobriety and the 35 years since.   

About our guest speaker:

This morning we welcome to the free pulpit one of our own members, Sherilyn B, a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother.  She survived her childhood, being a Girl Scout Leader, a son’s cancer, and her own alcoholism to stand before us today as a the multicolored haired, tye-dyed old hippie grandma and “Gigi” we have all come to love.  Sherilyn B lives her life today knowing she wouldn’t be here without help from 1 Higher Power, 12 steps and a lot of old drunks.

TMP - Aug 27 - v.1

“Envisioning the Future by Reimagining the World”

“Envisioning the Future by Reimagining the World”
Jana Norris, leading

Download the morning program here or read it below without downloading it.

Of her discourse, Jana writes

Weaving together the threads of earth religions, permaculture, psychology, and city planning to come to a place that embraces all people and honors the earth.

About our guest speaker

Jana Norris is a member of Red River UU Church. She earned her law degree from U of California Davis, practiced family law mostly in Dallas and Rockwall Counties, and retired to Grayson County, with a stint in MidCoast Maine.

She grew up Methodist, tried the Episcopal Church for a few years, then found a spiritual home in the California neopagan community. Since returning to Texas, she has found fellowship and delight in the UU Church.  She serves on the Worship Team and was elected to the minister search committee in 2022.

 

 

TMP - Aug 20 - v.1

“It Is Not Just About Us”

“It is Not Just About Us”

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

Download the morning program HERE or red it below w/o having to download it.

We as humans have a tendency to see the world around us from an anthropocentric (human-centered) perspective and to see ourselves as the primary locus of value and meaning. The result of this perspective has been the devaluing and mistreatment of the non-human world. How can we move from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric vision in which we see ourselves as members of the ecological community, working together for its preservation and flourishing?

About our visiting minister:

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.H
He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK in the United States, and they have two daughters who attend Oklahoma City University.
TMP - Aug 13 - v.1

“Holistic Personhood”

 “Holistic Personhood”

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

Download the Morning Program here or read it below without having to download it.

There has been a tendency for us to treat each other primarily as consumers and competitors within our contemporary society. If we are to live into a vision of beloved community, a more holistic and complex understanding of our personhood and our relationships with each other will be required.

About our visiting minister:

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.H
He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK in the United States, and they have two daughters who attend Oklahoma City University.
TMP - Aug 6 - v.1

“Discovering Unitarian Universalism”

“Discovering Unitarian Universalism”

The Rev. Aaron White (video message), speaking

The Rev. Aaron White, a former associate minister at First Unitarian Church of Dallas, describes his first encounter with Unitarian Universalism and how that encounter dramatically changed his life. His story has a special resonance for us in this congregation, since he came to learn about Unitarian Universalism through a small, lay-led congregation meeting at that time in Sherman, a congregation which would soon be known as Red River Unitarian Universalist Church. His story is engaging and down-home. Join the Worship Team as we remind ourselves of Unitarian Universalism’s power–and our own power–to inspire and bring about change.

About of our Sunday speaker, Aaron writes …

Hi, I’m Aaron,

I’m a dad, minister, and science nerd in Dallas, TX.

My writing lives where spirituality and science meet, and I refuse to pick a side. I love how ancient wisdom and modern discoveries can help us become fully human and write the biggest possible story of our lives. My articles are like a dinner table conversation between a Buddhist monk, the Sermon on the Mount, a neuroscientist, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I’m into comedy podcasts, gardening, playing guitar, reading, and riding my bike. I love the moon and stars, and I want to travel every bit of this world.

I’ve served as the founding editor of the Harvard Graduate Journal of Religion, a TEDx speaker, and a member of the Mayor’s Star Council in Dallas.

Peace Sunday #8: Astrid Lindgren and Jane Goodhall

Peace Sunday #8
Marla Loturco, leading

Astrid Lindgren and Jane Goodall also are known for “Valuing All Life” instead of just human life.  Lindgren is also well known for her children’s books and Goodall for her work with primates.  Information on both of these leaders is based on the book Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World by Ken Beller and Heather Chase.

About Sunday’s Worship Leader:

Marla Loturco is a lay leader of our congregation who first visited us in April 2008.  Although she hadn’t set foot inside a church for forty years, she surprised herself by realizing this was a faith community that spoke to her heart.  Marla has not taken her membership lightly as she has served on the bylaw revision committee, is the church (and the Texoma Earth Day Festival) webmaster, the church database guru, and our representative to North Texas UU Congregations (NTUUC). She joins in church social events and has been elected to the Committee on Ministry and President of the Board of Trustees.  She is the recipient of NTUUC Marty Robinson Award for volunteerism as well as Red River Unitarian Universalists’ Bruce Cameron Distinguished Service Award. She currently is part of the AV team and a longtime member of the Worship Team where she creates meaningful and insightful worship experiences.

Beyond the church Marla is a Certified Laughter Leader, a Database Consultant, Quilter, creator of stained-glass art and devoted dulcimer player.