Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation

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Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA Georgia

Sermons Delivered at Northwest in 2004

Gates of Injustice

December 5, 2004

by Rev. Don Southworth

“The Christian in me says it’s wrong, but the corrections officer in me says I love to make a grown man piss himself.” These are the words of Specialist Charles Graner one of the United States soldiers who has been court-martialed for his role in the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. You may not be surprised to hear that Specialist Graner is a prison guard as a civilian.

Nameste

November 14, 2004

by Rev. Southworth

In the early 1980’s when I became serious about learning about spirituality and doing my best to become a whole and loving human being one of my gurus was Leo Buscaglia. Leo was a professor at the University of Southern California and a regular on PBS whose passionate, humorous message was all about love. He was funny and engaging and spoke about stories of life and love that inspired millions of people to live more fully and more lovingly. Including me. I was such a fan that I once attended a lecture of his with 10,000 others and waited ninety minutes just to be able to get one of Dr. Leo’s famous hugs.

Salvation

October 31, 2004

By Rev. Don Southworth

For those of you who might be wondering, the devil DID not make me do it, that is give me the idea for a five part series on the language of reverence, when we have been looking at words that Unitarian Universalists do not use very often – words like faith, prayer, grace, and maybe the hardest one for some us to say, salvation – to see what they really mean and what meaning they can really have for us.

Faith

October 24, 2004

This morning is part three of our five part sermon series on “the language of reverence”, an issue that has recently been the subject of discussion and some controversy within Unitarian Universalist congregations around the country for the last year.

Reclaiming Prayer

October 17, 2004

I was raised Catholic, and until I was twelve or so, I was really into it. The Catholic way of prayer is rote repetition – rosaries, novenas, stations of the cross. The prayers were easily learned, and we were encouraged to say them quickly and not really think about them. The goal was quantity, not quality. So many Hail Marys could earn a soul a year off from their time in purgatory.

The Language of Reverence

October 10, 2004

By Rev. Don Southworth

We begin with a story about a language of reverence. A man bought a donkey from a preacher. The preacher told the man that this donkey had been trained in a very unique way (since he was the donkey of a preacher). The only way to make the donkey go, is to say, “Hallelujah!” The only way to make the donkey stop is to say, “Amen!”

The Theology of Gifting

September 19, 2004

By Don Southworth

“One of the first things I saw on my first day at seminary in August 1996 was the official Starr King T-shirt. On the front of the shirt was a beautiful drawing of a sand dollar. I discovered the importance and meaning of the sand dollar later that morning during our opening worship service. Rebecca Parker, the President of Starr King, spoke poetically and movingly about the sand dollar’s history at the school and its symbolism for our time at Starr King. We were each invited to chose a sand dollar to take with us on our journeys.

Politics and Religion

September 5, 2004

By Don Southworth

There is an old joke told about Unitarian Universalists that seems appropriate on a day when we are talking about two things you are not supposed to talk about in mixed company – politics and religion. Supposedly, when Unitarian Universalists die they will find themselves walking down a road which leads to two signs. One sign says “this way to heaven” and the other sign says “this way to a discussion about heaven”. Rumor has it that nobody ever follows the sign to heaven, they all go to the discussion about heaven.

There Is More…Somewhere

August 15, 2004

By Don Southworth

I, like most people I suppose, love to laugh. I love to giggle, I love to belly laugh, I love to laugh so hard that tears come to my eyes and it’s hard to breathe. When I laugh heartily, deeply, I feel alive, I feel full of the goodness and joy that life brings and my heart is grateful.

Half the Happiness, Twice the Longevity – Your Wild & Precious Life

One of my favorite television shows of all time was created, written and hosted by a Unitarian Universalist. Rod Serling has always been in my mind something of a genius and when I found out a couple of years ago that he was a UU and a long time member of our congregation in Santa Monica I liked him even more.

A Story That No One Knows

Originally Delivered by Rev. Bob Karnan on April 20, 1980
Re-delivered by Rev. Don Southworth on July 4, 2004

Two hundred years ago on April 7, 1780, William Ellery Channing was born in Providence, Rhode Island – into a family of wealthy and prestigious New Englanders. He grew up knowing from familiarity gained around his family’s dinner table many of the able and famous of his time. George Washington, it is said, visited with his family on his trips to New England, as did a number of the leading figures involved in the founding of our nation.

The Phoenix Experience

Rev. Rolfe Gerhardt

What a joy to be back here! Susan and I really appreciate this opportunity to visit and the chance to say “y’all” without getting cold New England stares. Up in Maine we are distinguished from the people who were raised there by being known as “people from away,” so it is nice to be here in Atlanta where almost everyone is “from away.”

The Interdependent Web

By Don Southworth

This morning we are ending a journey that began last September when we set out to explore our seven principles, in sermons, in our children’s Religious Education classes, in many of our Chalice Groups, and most importantly, I hope, in our hearts and in how we act them out in our lives.

Deeply Rooted

Reverend Roy Reynolds

It feels fabulous standing in this pulpit and looking into your eager eyes. It has been four years – good years for Jean and me - and from what I sense, good years for Northwest. Don, I want to thank you publicly for inviting Jean and me back to help you all celebrate 35 years as a congregation. One very welcome change I have noticed here are the chairs. Back in ’94, when we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Northwest, 1970s décor was still very evident. Do you remember those garish orange chairs!

Gifts Ungiven

Rev. Andrea Greenwood

"Who is ever without a home?" asked Auden in the opening words this morning. Well, let¹s be honest. We all are. We all have days or even years when we are wandering in the wilderness; we all know and perhaps have been lost souls; we have felt displaced, ill at ease.

Peace, Liberty, and Justice For All

By Don Southworth

The words of Anne Frank, written a short time before she was killed in a Nazi concentration camp:
In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us, too. I can feel the suffering of millions, and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again. In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.

Redefining Feminism for the 21st Century

By Rev. Don Southworth

Redefining feminism for the 21st century. I want to thank Sunaina for purchasing, and selecting, a non-controversial sermon topic that was so easy for a male minister to preach on this morning. A topic that I’m sure nobody in our congregation has an opinion on, a topic that we can say everything that needs to be said in the course of one reflection and one sermon. Of course my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek.

Home

February 29, 2004

by Rev. John Burciaga

The saying is, “Home is where the heart is.” A good thing, too, for we have them in abundance over our lives, and in this regard apples fall far from the trees. Home once was seen as a place to stay—if not children claiming the same house, then in time, certainly not far from it, for the purpose of being, well, “back home.”

What Worship Means to Me

February 22, 2004

by Sunaina Jain, Paul Burnore, and Rebecca Reeves

Conscious Democracy

February 15, 2004

By Don Southworth

“We covenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” So states our fifth principle, a principle that someone new to Unitarian Universalism might think to be a bit strange to see in a list of values about what a religious community stands by.

Cupid’s Conundrum

February 8, 2004

by Rev. Dr. Paula R. Gable

A Valentine’s Sermon Prepared for Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church

The State of the Spirit – Through Poetry

January 25, 2004

The State of the Spirit by Paul Burnore

This will be a unique sermon because our members’ poems will be the centerpiece and the soul. I’ll try to provide a structure. The poems you hear are all printed in order in the booklet in your order of service.

Freedom, Responsibility, Truth, and Meaning

January 4, 2004

by Rev. Don Southworth

Our fourth principle states that “we, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”


	Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation 1025 Mt. Vernon Highway, N.W., Sandy Springs Atlanta, GA 30327 770-955-1408 - officenwuuc.org – fax: 770-955-4246
	A Member Congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association	e