Tag Archives: Beloved Community

All Bodies are Sacred (Hallelujah!)

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Hallelujah to the grace And the body and every cell of us all The Hallelujah of the body begins at birth. I have been present at two births in my life, (other than my own) neither of them my children’s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Age, Ageism, agency, Andrea Gibson, Autonomy, Beloved Community, Birth, Bodies, Bodily Autonomy, Body, body-image, body-shaming, Death, Disability, Disabled Justice, Embodied, Embodiment, Fat, Fatphobia, Holiness, Holy, Interdependence, Justice, Liberation, Life, obesity, Pluralism, Race, Racism, Reverence, Sacred, Sacredness, self-love, Sermon, Sermons, Somatic, Sonya Renee Taylor, Theological Anthropology, trans, Transphobia, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism | Leave a comment

Gather in Storms

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading – a combination of Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s 2022 and 2023 Hanukah reflections, which end with this reflection Hanukah isn’t just about what happened in the past, on the calendar. It’s about who we are capable of being. It’s about … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Beloved Community, blog, Christmas, Compassion, Conflict, Conflict Avoidance, Covenant, Empathy, Family, Gathering, Hanukkah, Hebrew Bible, Inherent Worth, Interfaith, Interfaith Dialogue, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, Justice, Listening, Non-Violence, Non-Violent Communication, NVC, Peace, Priya Parker, Religion, Sermon, Sermons, Television, The Bear, Trauma, Trauma-Informed, TV, TV Shows, Universalism, Vincent Harding, Violence, War | Leave a comment

Community in Diversity

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

(This sermon is an update of a few different sermons I’ve offered in the past, including this one) Reading: The Purpose of the Church Sermon: Community in Diversity In the late 1990s, and the early 2000s, Bishop Carlton Pearson experienced … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Belonging, Beloved Community, Community, Covenant, Covenantal, Diversity, Eccelesiology, James Luther Adams, Mission, Sermon, Sermons, Theological Diversity, Unity | Leave a comment

Me and We (in the time of COVID)

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A sermon for Foothills Unitarian Church, on our second Sunday in the sanctuary after being only online for 18 months. Listen to this sermon and a conversation between me and Rev. Sean Neil-Barron about its themes on our Foothills podcast, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Beloved Community, Collective, Covenant, Covenantal, COVID, Emerson, Fred Muir, iChurch, Individualism, Interdependence, pandemic, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Unitarian Universalism, We | Leave a comment

Sermon: Tough Love….Saves Us All (The Hard Work of Beloved Community)

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: “There Is No Easier Way” by Elizabeth Nguyen Sermon: Tough Love Saves Us All When my partner and I were first together, our parents used to talk about us with their straight friends and co-workers by making sure they knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Sermons, Theology | Tagged 8th Principle, Beloved Community, Courageous Love, Isabel Wilkerson, Justice, Love, Martin Luther King Jr., Race, Racial Justice, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Tough Love, Universalism | Leave a comment

Endgame – a message for the Sunday after the 2020 election

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: V’ahavta by Aurora Levins Morales Homily It’s about five episodes into the new Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit when one of the characters, Harry, presses the main character, Beth: What’s your endgame? She looks at him blankly, a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Sermons | Tagged Awareness, Beloved Community, Chess, Community, Courageous Love, Democracy, Discernment, Election, Eschatology, ethics, Faith, Gratitude, Inheritance, Instinct, Joy, Justice, Love, Moral, Moral Arc, Morality, Motivation, Neighbors, Partners, Plan, Planning, Politics, Queen's Gambit, Rejoice, Sermon, Sermons, The Queen's Gambit, Theology, Trump, Vincent Harding, Vote | Leave a comment

The Limits of Diversity: A conversation with Activist Florence Field

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

In the spring of 2020, as I was wrapping up a conversation with Foothills member Lynn Young about growing up during world war 2, when she told me that I should see if I could talk with one of her friends, … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Justice, Sermons, Theology | Tagged Activism, Anxiety, Beloved Community, Calm, Community, Complexity, Differentiation, Discernment, Diverse, Diversity, Fort Collins, Heal, Healing, Japanese, Japanese American, Japanese Internment, Justice, Limits, Race, Racism, Regulation, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Truth, White, White Privilege, White Supremacy, Whiteness, World War 2 | Leave a comment

Heart Broken Open – Martin Luther King Jr Sunday 2021

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Part 1: Let Your Heart Break When my son was really little, one of his most pressing questions was how we know who is a bad guy, and who is a good guy? In theory, although it isn’t all that … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Sermons | Tagged Beloved Community, Feelings, Grief, Heart, Heartbreak, Justice, Martin Luther King Jr., MLK, Race, Racism, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, White Supremacy | Leave a comment

The Plunge

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

When I was a kid, some of my friends had a cabin on a lake, where just off to the side there was a place you could go, and jump off the ledge into the water below. I’d watched my friends … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Stories, Philosophy of Church, Theology | Tagged Beginnings, Beloved Community, Courage, Courageous Love, Faith, Fear, Risk, Transformation | Leave a comment

Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Listen to this sermon here. Story – The Beggar and the Box from Eckhart Tolle Sermon That story is one of my favorites, I’ve told it a few times here. In this season where we are making lists of all … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Stories for Worship | Tagged Beloved Community, Courage, Courageous Love, Fear, Gratitude, Grief, Heart, Heartbreak, Joy, Justice, Loss, Love, Risk, Story, Suffering, Vision | Leave a comment

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