Sermon Archive
prior to July 1, 2022
ONLINE SERMONS PRIOR TO JULY 1, 2022
click on the sermon image to view the video
“A Morning with the Eugene Gay Men's Chorus”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
June 26, 2022. To celebrate Pride, we welcome the Eugene Gay Men’s Chorus to hear them sing and invite a conversation with Rev. Scott Rudolph about the power of music and community. Happy Pride, everyone!
“The Untapped Blessing Within” with James Simmons-Cox, Lay Leader
June 19, 2022. Through the seasons of our lives – our faith constantly evolves. Yet, some truths remain steadfast: “All life is sacred”. James unpacks the concept of blessings and how we can encounter and nurture a more blessed existence within a chaotic world.
“Crossing Thresholds” with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
June 12, 2022. Life has threshold moments where we cross over into a new reality. Sometimes these occasions bring us joy and other times they mark a difficult new path. As a religious community, we bear witness to one another as we journey through life. We hold members of our community as they honor their crossing no matter what it may be: birth, death, rebirth, life transitions, or moments of profound growth.
“Seeds of Change” with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
June 5, 2022. Join is this morning as we celebrate our annual Flower Celebration service. At this all-ages service, we will meditate on the life of a flower (and our lives, too) while we receive a series of anthems by our choir.
“Creating Beautiful Memories” with Rev. Scott Rudolph
May 29, 2022. During the summer we make memories of life. This season of warmth and play begins on Memorial Day on which we remember the fallen. The lives of the living and the memory of the dead are always intertwined.
“Today We Slay” A Youth-Led Service supported by Amy Brock, DRE
May 22, 2022. One definition of slay is, “to do something spectacularly well.” Our UUFCO youth invite you to embrace your inner slay.
“Banning Books is on the Rise” with Heather McNeil, Lay Leader
Sunday, May 15, 2022. Books can be illuminating, exalting, and beautiful. They can also be disturbing and challenging. Youth books are the target of censors like never before, so we’ll take a look at what books are being removed and why, and what you can do to promote FREADom.
“Noticing Beauty" with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Sunday, May 8, 2022. Have you looked around lately? Oh my goodness! So much beauty everywhere! Seriously… take a moment and look around you right now. Wow! Beauty is always happening.
“A Thing of Beauty” with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
May 1, 2022. What makes something beautiful and who gets to decide? They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. They are right. Let’s behold some beauty.
“Inch by Inch”
with Kristel Masterson, Lay Leader, and Amy Brock, DRE
April 24, 2022. Everything starts as a seed. What experiences have brought you growth? Join us for this hands-on multi-generational service as we welcome new members, explore seeds of ideas, and plant seedlings with the Sacred Grounds Team. Please bring a towel wear gardening clothes if you wish to participate in our closing planting practice.
“Life Again” with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
April 17, 2022. The practice of pysanky, Ukrainian egg dying, has rich religious and cultural history. The stories that surround this art form offer us hope and resilience. From the darkness of early morning dusk, the sun rises.
“Waking Up to What’s Inside of You”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
April 10, 2022. Sleepwalking happens in real life. It also happens in our spiritual lives. The world around us lingers, always ready to open itself to your noticing. Your internal world waits in the same way. This Sunday is a gentle alarm clock for that awakening.
The recording of “What Really Matters” from April 3, 2022 is not available. We apologize for the inconvenience.
“Is God Real?” with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
March 27, 2022 . God is real or God is not real, right? Well… that all depends on what we mean by God. And the idea of God has meant many things over the ages. The question of God invites us to consider our beliefs, but also then ask the question, “So what?”
“Speaking Ourselves to Life” with Mari Esabel Valverde, Guest Speaker
March 20, 2022. In anticipation of International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31st, we will contemplate the paradox of the disappearance and the hyper-vigilance of trans bodies in public. This exploration will emphasize the importance not only of trans visibility but also trans flourishing and will spur us into action in solidarity for trans liberation.
Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987) is an award-winning composer and singer in steady demand across the United States and Canada. Based in North Texas, she sings in multiple professional ensembles and teaches singing and transgender voice training with Your Lessons Now. She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“Prayers and Actions for Ukraine”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
March 13, 2022. Our hearts break as we witness the Ukrainian countryside descend into violence. We feel helpless being so far away. And yet, we remain committed to doing what we can in the face of injustice and tyranny. This war emphasizes that we are truly a global community.
Artwork shown is a mural by the artist My Dog Sighs.
“How Things Spread (not about covid)”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
March 6, 2022. The last couple years of the pandemic have shown us that illness can pass between people. Relationship binds us together for good or ill. This means that love, peace, acceptance, and beauty can also spread! This morning we celebrate In-Gathering: Part 2 as Covid limitations begin to ease, and we kick off our Stewardship month. We plan to spread some joy on this morning!
“Expanded Possibilities Powered by Compassion”
with Jamie Bianchini, Guest Speaker
February 27, 2022. Jamie Bianchini has spent the last two decades globetrotting nearly 100 countries to explore his passions of adventure sports, intercultural connections, and social entrepreneurship. This colorful talk will take you around the world and into the heart of humanity to reconnect with our innate compassion we are all born with, and invite us to rethink what’s possible in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us, when we allow compassion to truly flourish in our lives.
Jamie lives and works here in Bend as a speaker and consultant to help organizations and businesses find innovative ways to solve our most challenging social and environmental issues.
“Coloring Outside the Lines”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
February 20, 2022. Heretics, artists, justice seekers, visionaries are all people who push through boundaries. Coloring outside the lines can create a new picture all together. Some boundaries are healthy and positive. Others need to be pushed and reshaped.
“Hell No, We Won’t Go!”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
February 13, 2022. Our Universalist ancestors proclaimed that a loving God could never damn anyone to a fire and brimstone hell. Hell like that doesn’t exist. Though, loss of connection and love here and now sure feel like a kind of hell sometimes.
“Do I Have to Care About All 7.9 Billion People?”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
February 6, 2022. On a good day, our hearts may want to care for everyone and everything. Yet, compassion fatigue is a real thing. So are unreal expectations. So, how much caring is “enough” caring?
“The Secrets/Traumas We All Have”
with Jeff Belzer, Lay Leader
January 30, 2022. Want to know a secret? We all have secrets, traumas, and experiences as humans that make us the people we are today. This week we’ll explore how we can use compassion and love to help bridge our divides; to better understand the secrets we all have.
“Sex in the Sanctuary—Power, Religion, and Choice”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
January 23, 2022. 59 years ago, Unitarian Universalists became the first religious organization to support a woman’s right to choose. 49 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe vs Wade allowing women access to abortion. Reproductive justice invites us to consider questions of power. Who has it? How and why is it used? What is the impact?
“Put on Your Darwin Glasses”
with Pat Kailey, Lay Leader
January 16, 2022. Come, put on your Darwin glasses for a while. This Sunday's lay-led service will be a brief introduction to looking at the world through an evolutionary lens. We'll see how Darwin's idea is deeply connected to our 7th UU principle and how evolutionary thinking can be a powerful tool for understanding our world, shaping the society we want, or just building a better New Years' resolution.
“No Willy-Nilly Walkie-Talkie”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
January 9, 2022. Healthy and constructive relationships rest upon the power of listening and the purpose of sharing. How we communicate is how we relate. And how we relate is who we are and what we become. It’s best to be clear about it. You copy? Loud and clear? 10-4? Over and out…
"Choose Your Own Adventure"
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
January 2, 2022. Which path do I pick? Every minute of every day, we make choices that propel our lives in a certain direction. From what to have for breakfast to how you will spend the hours of your day, living with intention means making decisions.
“Opening to Joy”
with Anastacia Compton, Lay Leader
December 26, 2021. Do we open to joy, or is it something we have to strive for? Can we seek it out, or is it a matter of recognizing it where it already exists? Where does it come from – inside us or around us, within the world or transcending it? As we let go of the old year and prepare to greet the new, join us as we ponder what brings us joy and how we make space for it in our lives.
“Put on Your Own Mask First”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
December 12, 2021. If an airplane loses oxygen on an airplane, we are encouraged to put on our own mask before helping others. Claiming joy enables us to encounter the world with an open and fortified heart. “Attention passengers. This is the captain speaking. We are experiencing some serious turbulence.
“UU History Through the Written Word”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
November 14, 2021. Our UU religious trajectory was dramatically transformed by significant writings over time. This morning we will look back at some of the seminal moments in our unique history that formed our current faith tradition. Thank goodness folks wrote this stuff down, write?
“Those Who Came Before & Those Who Will Come After”
with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
November 7, 2021. “We build on foundations we did not lay. We warm ourselves by fires we did not light. We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant. We drink from wells we did not dig. We profit from persons we did not know.” – A variation on Deuteronomy 6:11 – Rev. Peter Raible
“Día de los Muertos”
October 31, 2021 with Renee Sanchez, Guest Speaker
Join us as we learn about the contemporary and traditional ways of celebrating the Day of the Dead. Our speaker with be Renee Gonzalez, Youth Rising Manager at Latino Community Association.
Appreciating Zoom and God
The past year and a half flung us into a new way of being together. Online. Zoom. Distanced. We adapted. At the center of it all was a dedication to human connection. Some say God is found in moments of relationship.
Cultivating Meaningful Relationships Always Starts Alone
October 10, 2021 with Rachelle Indra, Lay Leader
We worry so often about what we are getting out of a relationship—what the other person is or is not providing—that we rarely take a step back to think about who we are at this point in our journey, and what we have to share with another.
Getting Real. (For Realsies)
September 26, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
We dream big. Then life gets real. The question is how do we get real with it. Clarity of purpose, dedication to process, and flexibility will help.
9/11 Twenty Years Later
September 12, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
We remember and hold a tragedy in our hearts. Now and then, in times of crisis, beauty and ugliness arise. As a religious people committed to love, we dedicate toward beauty.
Gather the Spirit— Which Spirit?
August 29, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Gather the Spirit is a beloved hymn for Unitarian Universalists. We gather as a spiritual people for whom the idea of “spirit” means many different things. Agreement is not our aim, but love is. This sometimes might mean resisting against those who gather a spirit against a wider love.
When Differences Bloom
August 8, 2021 with Dr. Carol Barrett, Guest Speaker
Join us as author Carol Barrett shares readings and insights from her book, Pansies. The book is a series of vignettes from a time when Carol was living alongside Apostolic Lutherans in Washington State, and got to know a young woman of the faith, who was her daughter's baby sitter.
Dr. Barrett is an interdisciplinary scholar and educator who has also published two volumes of poetry: Calling in the Bones and Pansies.
School of Love
July 25, 2021 with Chela Sloper, Congregational Life Facilitator
Our congregational covenant raises the ideal, “Love is the spirit of this fellowship.” In some way, all of what we do here at UUFCO is propelled by this underlying, overarching value. Our roots and wings. This week we look at a colorful moment in modern history when love broke through and captured the hearts and minds of a generation.
The American Dream Remains
July 4, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
The “American Dream” became much more a reality than a dream on July 4, 1776. That was 245 years ago. At its core, the dream is about freedom. It remains spiritually inspiring, ever-challenging, and a hopeful call to continue forward.
Dance of Transformation
June 20, 2021 with Rev. Diane Whalen, Guest Speaker
As a leader and a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, Diane explores this ancient-yet-new transformational dance. No matter what our particular individual spiritual or religious beliefs, we are all invited into this great Wisdom Dance which continually invites us to deeper communion and love, inclusivity, justice and peace.
Pay Attention. Be astonished.Tell About It.
May 30, 2021 with Katie Diez, Guest Speaker
These are instructions for living by Mary Oliver. They are also words that speak to this Sunday’s speaker Katie Diez. Katie will tell her story of how paying attention and curiosity led to Comfort Seeds; a project that has been a way to honor her father, teach and help children through grief, and bring some happiness to the world.
The Power of Story
May 16, 2021 with UUFCO Youth and Amy Brock, DRE
Join our UUFCO youth as they take us on a journey through the power that story has to ground, connect, and guide us as a people of
Unitarian Universalist faith.
Two Sides to Every Story
May 2, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
Let’s be honest. There are not just two sides to every story. There are as many sides as there are people hearing the story. When we hear a story we filter it through our own experience and understanding. In the end, we all must decide for ourselves what we believe about a story.
Receiving & Returning the Earth’s Gifts
April 18, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
As this Earth Day approaches, how do we bring ourselves back into a relationship of reciprocity with the planet? Can a practice of gratitude strengthen our ability to protect an ecosystem in crisis? Does taking pleasure in nature, food, and the gifts of the Earth play a role in our awareness of the interdependent web of life? Join members of the Environmental Justice team to contemplate the gifts we exchange with the planet we call home.
A Rabbit Becomes Our Teacher
April 4, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
The ancient symbols of spring’s re-emergence include bunnies -- lots of bunnies that make their appearance in the early days of spring. Today we listen to the wisdom of one particular rabbit who teaches us about love, the greatest lesson of all.
EqUUal Opportunity
March 21, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. This civil rights legislation prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have access to mainstream opportunities. But inclusion doesn’t just come through legislation. It comes through an ongoing commitment to learn and practice what we learn.
Autumn Invitation
October 3, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
The season turns and beckons us into relationship with this time of year. Autumn invites a transition in our way of being from the energetic rhythms of summer. Mother Earth, one of our great teachers, offers a message of transience through the colorful, falling leaves around us.
Possibility Within
September 19, 2021 with Rev Scott Rudolph, Minister
The Transcendentalists had a lot to say about our inner world as well as our connection to nature and the divine. Opening to our internal intuition shapes possibility all around us. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, each person has available to them “an original relation to the universe.”
What Is Possible?
September 5, 2021 with Chela Sloper, Congregational Life Facilitator
We begin this month's worship theme, "Embracing Possibility" with an invitation to identify the foreground and background of our lives: the individual, interior terrain inseparably linked to the collective, exterior terrain. How best can we navigate both horizons, to ensure we continue to thrive in both?
Gather the Spirit—
Why Worship?
Sunday, August 22 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Religion is what happens when we bring our individual spiritual lives into community. There is something about being spiritual communally that deepens the experience.
Sharing the Gifts of Poetry
August 1, 2021 with Lay Leaders
Are you a poetry lover or a poetry skeptic? Are there poets or poems that touch your heart and inspire you, or do you wonder why poetry matters? Let's explore the power and pleasures of poetry together as we hear from lay leaders about how they have found inspiration and connection from reading, writing and sharing the gifts of poetry.
Consent is an Action Word
July 18, 2021 with Amy Brock and Jaz Halberstadt
Amy and Jaz explore what it means to be a people of consent. As trained Our Whole Lives program facilitators, they bring a unique lens to the concept of consent as a lifespan practice that continues from birth through end of life care.
My Muzungu Eyes Are Improving
June 27, 2021 with the Unitarian Universalist Hysterical Society
This a playful humor service about bravery and Unitarianism overseas sharing the story of Rev. Fulgence Ndadigimana’s imprisonment for his work as a UU Minister. UUs around the world came together to get him released. Building relationships across diversity enriches us and opens the possibilities to make a true difference.
Flower Celebration
June 6, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph & Erin Cole-Baker
Join us for our annual Flower Celebration service as we close this fellowship program year. The beauty of the gathered flowers reminds us of the uniqueness each of us brings to this community. We will enjoy the sounds of our special guest musician, Erin Cole-Baker.
Created & Connected Through Story
May 23, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Each day of our lives we add a little bit to our own story. As commingle our stories together, we learn more about ourselves and the world around us. Each of us is an author until our dying day.
Dream Keeping: The Life of the Imagination in Challenging Times
May 9, 2021 with Will Hornyak, Guest Speaker
Storyteller Will Hornyak shares poems, myths and tales that reflect upon the vitality of the imaginal world in healing and renewal during difficult times. Join us as we explore how story informs our lives.
Between Being
and Becoming
April 25, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
We hope to learn how to be at peace with ourselves – to love ourselves and recognize that we are precious just as we are. At the same time, we have areas where we know we can do better and engaging the noble religious struggle of spiritual growth.
It is enough to make you feel like stretched out taffy.
A Divided America Can Recover from Shame and Blame
April 11, 2021 with Dr. Janet Lindeman, Lay Leader
Please join us as Jan speaks about her work and new book: A Divided America Can Recover from Shame and Blame. She was a psychologist for 35 years and taught at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. She has also authored From the Bamboo Grove Dream Journaling For Self-Therapy and 365 Wise Ways to Happiness.
To Whom or What are you Committed?
March 28, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Our lived lives reveal more clearly than our words where our deepest commitments lie.
A Year in the Life
March 14, 2021 with Lay Leaders
Our Worship Team invites you to reflect about worshiping online for the last year. We will ask you to breathe into your sorrow and find joy in your resilience. We will look back and look forward as we mark how we have stayed together though apart.
Love Yourself
March 7, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
We each have many commitments in life. In meeting these, we might skip a primary commitment we have – ourselves. What does it look like for you to be committed to yourself? To love yourself?
Dear Letter Writing,
February 21, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph, Minister
Personal letter writing used to be a common form of communication and contemplation. Seems like the mail is full of advertisements and bills more often than heartfelt communication. This service is a love letter to letters appreciating that lost art for connection.
Creating Beloved Community
February 7, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
In a Beloved Community, there is enough for everyone. Beloved Community is a vision of what could be in our world. Resources are shared and needs are met. Moral imperatives do not allow for things like hunger, poverty, or racism. To create such a world, we must be loving and allow others to love freely.
The Power of Story
January 24, 2021 with Heather McNeil
Heather will be speaking about The Power of Story, providing examples, both humorous and profound, of how stories have impacted her and others. She will explain how we are all storytellers, about the importance of respect for the culture and history of a story, and how stories open our minds and hearts to the minds and hearts of others.
Resist with Love
January 10, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
After the events at the US Capitol this week, we are left with difficult emotions and wondering what to do. We find hope in small acts of courage and love. There, we ground ourselves for all that is to come.
This I Believe
December 27, 2020 with Lay Leaders,
Noreen Halberstadt & Kristel Masterson
In the 1950’s, Edward R Murrow hosted, This I Believe, where people shared belief statements that guided their lives. This idea grew into courses where people write and share essays about their core values.
Until We Are All Free
February 28, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
As Black History Month closes, we look at the many ways that the Civil Rights movement invited intersectionality as it sought justice for the Black Community. We all hold many identities. “Until we are all free, none of us are free.” (Emma Lazarus) And that means all parts of each of us.
Love Lessons in the Peace Corps
February 14, 2021 with UUFCO Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
On this lay-led Valentine’s Day service you’ll hear from people in our congregation who spent time in the Peace Corps – where they fell in love with service, in love with those they served, and, in a couple of cases, in love with the person with whom they’d spend their lives.
Imagine That
January 31, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
We have had to imagine our worship services very differently ever since we moved to online worship. I wonder what happens if we keep on imagining together? The power of imagination points to possibility.
Just ask Albert Einstein!
What if…
and then what?
January 17, 2021 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
Ugh 2020…
Yay 20201!
January 3, 20201
2021 is finally here. 2020 is behind us. Never before has there been quite the pleasure of a year coming to a close. So everything will just be automatically and magically better in 2021, right?
Stillness, the Buddha, and the Crickets
December 6, 2020 with Rev. Scott Rudolph
There is no sermon blurb this week. Only the sound of crickets…
online service archive
If you would like access to a previously-recorded service, please send the date and title via email to Leora Mauck, Fellowship Administrator.
December 2020 – Stillness
2020-12-20 no recording due to tech gremlins
2020-12-13 Introverts & Extroverts During Covid
November 2020 – Healing
2020-11-29 Find Your Way Out of the Dark with Carmin Caterina, Guest Speaker
2020-11-22 This Precious Day
2020-11-15 Healing Our Nation with Erika McAlpine, Guest Speaker
2020-11-08 How We Heal
2020-11-01 Calm Amidst Chaos
October 2020 – Deep Listening
2020-10-25 Listen. Then Speak!
2020-11-11 It Takes Practice with Matt Meyer, Guest Speaker
2020-11-18 Not Hell, But Hope part ii
2020-11-04 Not Hell, But Hope part i
September 2020 – Renewal
2020-09-27 When Hope is Hard to Find with Natalie Fletcher, Guest Speaker
2020-09-20 Sacred Anchors
2020-09-13 Letting Go & Going Forward
2020-09-06 The Spirituality of Clotheslines with Chela Sloper, Congregational Life Facilitator
August 2020
2020-08-30 Portland, Bend, and the Legacy of John Lewis
2020-08-23 Crack a Ceiling, Chip a Wall
2020-08-16 Hope in Action
2020-08-09 Prayer: It’s Not What You Think with Tom Wykes, Lay Leader
2020-08-02 Postcards from the Adventure with UUFCO congregants
July 2020
2020-07-19 The Spiritual Journey at Home and Work with Gwen Yuill and Dana Rhode, Lay Leaders
2020-07-12 Go Ahead and Ask
2020-07-05 Lifting Our Voices
June 2020 – Compassion
2020-06-21 The Spiritual Power of “Seeing” with Bob Barber, Lay Leader
2020-06-14 Spiritual Solitude
2020-06-07 Flower Communion
May 2020 – Thresholds
2020-05-31 Crossing Thresholds
2020-05-24 Spiritual Journey
2020-05-17 Justice from Home
2020-05-10 Framing & Claiming: Youth Coming of Age
2020-05-03 The New Not Normal
April 2020 – Liberation
2020-04-26 We Are All a Part of the Choir with Mark Hickman, Music Director
2020-04-18 Outside Every Day
2020-04-12 What Rises
2020-04-05 Purpose
March 2020 – Wisdom
2020-03-29 Yup. This Stinks.
2020-03-22 Playing Catch Up
2020-03-15 From Emergency to Emergence