UUABQ Voice

Highlights from Worship 6/7/2020

A goodbye to our ministerial intern, Jane Davis; a reading of Langston Hughes' poem, "Let America Be America Again;" and a homily from the Rev. Bob LaVallee about the Black Lives Matter protests and the resulting movement to defund the police.

"Exit Strategy" Highlights from Worship 5/31/2020

Homily with the Rev. Angela Herrera When the pandemic hit, our congregation pivoted very quickly to become a virtual church! Now that the governor is beginning to ease restrictions, when will we gather in person again? Angela will share her thoughts on this and describe how the ministers and Board are working together to help First Unitarian exit “pandemic mode.

  

 

 

"An Invitation to Live" Highlights from Worship 5/17/2020

“An Invitation to Live: What Death Teaches Us About Living Fully. ”
A Homily with The Rev. Bob LaVallee
Zen Hospice founder Frank Ostaseki writes that "Life and death are a package deal. You cannot pull them apart." Drawing on Ostaseki's work and his own experiences as a hospice chaplain, Rev. Bob will reflect on how to prepare for a good death, whether it be another person's or our own.

"There Is No Crying in Baseball" Worship Highlights 5/24/2020

"There Is No Crying in Baseball," a homily with Ministerial Intern Jane Davis.
Crossing thresholds in our human experience is often marked with ceremony, and ceremony is often associated with ritual and emotion. There are two distinct camps with respect to ceremony and its often-associated emotion. On the one hand, they are seen as immensely valuable to the individual, communities, and society. On the other hand, there is the view that they are essentially useless. How do we decide?

"Moms in Jail" Worship Highlights 5/10/2020

“Moms in Jail - Incarceration, Mothers, and Justice” a homily by The Rev. Bob LaVallee

For the past three years, organizations have collected funds to pay the bail of mothers in pretrial detention. If it's true that when a person goes to jail their family goes with them, what does real justice look like?

 

"Thresholds" Worship Highlights: 5/3/2020

"Thresholds" a homily by The Rev. Angela Herrera

Finn Jackson says, "Changes can happen quickly. Transitions take a long time for people to work through." This is as true on the spiritual or personal level as it is on a global level. A message about the difference between change and transition, and spiritual growth through them.

 

First Unitarian Virtual Worship Highlights 4.19.2020

Highlights from the service includes a Time for All Ages with Rev. Angela Herrera talking about why we stay home right now; a meditation led by Ministerial Intern Jane Davis; a reading shared by Rev. Bob LaVallee; and a message about how Covid19 is homeschooling all of us. Guest musician Randy Granger.

Worship Highlights: Virtual Easter 4/12/2020

Highlights of the Easter service include homilies with Revs. Angela Herrera and Bob LaVallee, and Ministerial Intern Jane Davis with reflections on the healing of nature, Passover, and how the Easter story relates to our lives in these times.

First Unitarian of Albuquerque Zoom Virtual Worship 4/5/2020

Rev. Bob LaVallee gives a homily about the benefits of monastic living including some of St. Benedicts's story. Director of Religious Education, Mia Noren, talks to kids (and adults) about finding our own spaces to be alone while quarantined at home.

First Unitarian of Albuquerque Zoom Virtual Worship 3/29/2020

The Rev. Angela Herrera talks about the wisdom of our childlike natures, Rev. Bob LaVallee shares a Sufi poem, and music director Susan Peck inspires with performance and hymns. Plus the church's puppets take advantage of an emtpy campus.