UUABQ Voice

March 31, 2024: “A Hope You Can Count On” The Rev. Angela Herrera Koren

If you wonder what hope there is, if you’re feeling hopeless, if you’re afraid being hopeful will only lead to disappointment, or if you think of hope as a form of wishful thinking, then this intellectually honest, nourishing sermon is especially for you. And everyone else will probably appreciate it too! With an uplifting message and an easter egg hunt for kids, this is a great day to invite new friends to try our church.
Music: Lydia Clark and special guests.

March 24, 2024: "A Principled Decision" The Rev. Angela Herrera

In a few months UUs will have a big decision to make at our denomination’s annual general assembly: whether to transform the Seven Principles into a new kind of statement for our new era. Here’s what’s being proposed, and how our congregation can get involved.
Music:Chalice Choir, Nicia Rae, piano

March 17, 2024: "A Pandemic Elegy" The Rev. Bob LaVallee

Four years ago, our lives were upended by a virus. The most deadly phase has passed, but we haven’t returned to “normal” and we certainly haven’t acknowledged all that was lost in that time. 
Music: Spare Parts, with Keith Morris, Chris Paul, Susan Peck, and Evan Sadek-Kennedy

March 10, 2024: "Another Way Is Possible" The Rev. Angela Herrera

In the polarized rhetoric around Israel and Palestine, each side gets dehumanized in the service of “justice.” Fathers Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, a Palestinian and an Israeli who both lost daughters to the violence, want us to know that another way is possible.
Music: Lydia Clark

March 3, 2024: "Less Is More" The Rev. Bob LaVallee

The global economy is built on constant growth, creating and consuming more regardless of whether we need it or not. The result is the devastation of our planet and the creation of a tiny class of ultra-rich and the impoverishment of the rest of us. Degrowth is the idea that we scale down this destructive cycle and focus instead on human needs and the planet’s well-being.
Music: Linda Myers, singer-songwriter

February 25, 2024: "Repentance and Repair" The Rev. Angela Herrera

“Repent” is a religious word with a lot of baggage. It brings to mind shame and threats of punishment. But there is another side to it: one that has to do with healing, repair, and peace. This sermon draws from the UUA’s Common Read, On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg. You can learn more about the Common Read program here. (https://www.uua.org/read)
Music: Lydia Clark & Tom Godfrey

February 18, 2024 "Thriving Together" The Rev. Christine Robinson

We all want to thrive, and what that means differs during our lifespan. There are plenty of hints and tips about that, and I have a few of my own, especially about the life stage of “retirement.” However, almost all the thinking I can dig up about thriving assumes that we can thrive all by ourselves, and I doubt that. We believe we are all connected, after all… and that would mean that we need to put some thought into how the thriving and non-thriving of others impacts us. The puppets will have some thoughts to share about thriving as well.
Music: Chalice Choir, directed by Susan Peck. Nicia Rae, piano.

February 11, 2024: "Love, Not Legalism" The Rev. Bob LaVallee

We are a covenantal faith, but what does that even mean? First U’s Mission Covenant has great aspirations but very little on specifics. How do we know when we’re out of covenant? How do we return to covenant?
Music: Lydia Clark and Susan Peck

February 4, 2024: Eulogies – The Ministers with Kathryn Probasco and Spare Parts

The popular, annual service dedicated to regular yet notable people who died in the last year. We’ll celebrate some of the people whose lives touched ours, even if we never knew their names. Inventors, activists, scientists and more… come for good music and good stories; leave with a spring in your step.

January 28, 2024: Question Box Sermon

The Rev. Angela Herrera & The Rev. Bob LaVallee

You’ve got questions, and we’ve got... well, we’ll do our best! Today the ministers draw your questions out of a hat.

Music: Susan Peck