Tag Archives: James Luther Adams

Goodness Beyond the Good Life

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, by Wendell Berry Last Sunday, I told you about sitting down with the Rabbi from Har Shalom, and how the first people to call her after the Hamas attack were Christian Evangelicals. What … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Bonhoeffer, Capitalism, Collective, Commitment, Community, Fasicsm, Fear, Idolatry, Individualism, James Luther Adams, Liberal, Liberal Faith, Liberalism, Patriarchy, Rebel, Reparations, Resist, Resistance, Sacrifice, Sermon, Sermons, Success, Time, Wealth, Wendell Berry | Leave a comment

Church as Countercultural Practice

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with Rabbi Finestone, who serves Congregation Har Shalom, just down the road. We were speaking about the attack on October 7th, and what her community has been feeling since. She shared many things … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christian Zionism, Church, Covenant, Ecclesiology, Fascism, James Luther Adams, Liberal Church, Liberal Faith, Liberalism, Purpose of Church, Resistance, Sermon, Sermons, Small Groups, Zionism | Leave a comment

Becoming a Unitarian Universalist

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Show Up Hungry by Elizabeth Nguyen I got off work at 7 pm and did the thing where you chase the bus a little bit but then realize you won’t make it and walk sheepishly back to the bus … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Belonging, Coming Out, Commitment, Community, Conversion, Dedication, Duty, Faith, Faith Formation, James Luther Adams, Loyalty, Relationship, Relationships, Religion, Religious Identity, Sermon, Sermons, Spiritual Deepening, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Unitarianism, Universalism | 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

We were made for these times

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

There’s plenty going on in the world, in our country, in our state, and in most cases, in our individual lives – that would justify feelings of overwhelm, of denial, of heightened anxiety and reactivity. And yet lately, I’ve been feeling … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Covenant, Justice, Philosophy of Church | Tagged Fear, Hope, James Luther Adams, Justice, Learning, Learning Communities, Listening, Mission, Olympia Brown, Transformation, Vision, Witness | 1 Comment

What We Call God, Or Don’t – Sermon, July 17, 2016

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading – god is no noun by Glen Thomas Rideout Sermon: “What We Call God, Or Don’t” All day yesterday, the Board and our Committee on Ministry and I met for a retreat facilitated by the new Regional Lead for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged A Powell Davies, Galen Guengerich, God, Henry Nelson Wieman, James Luther Adams, Paul Rasor, Sermon, Sermons, Thandeka, Theology | Leave a comment

the big and the small t – a sermon on truth

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Story: “A Farmer’s Horse Ran Off….” a traditional Chinese folk Tale Sermon: “The Small and the Big T” Most Sundays over the past year, we’ve sung the song that we’ll close this service with – “Spirit of Truth.”Before this year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged James Luther Adams, Olympia Brown, Revelation is Not Sealed, Sermon, Sermons, Sources of Authority, Sources of Truth, Theology, Truth | 1 Comment

God Revised

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Several years ago, I was sitting at the desk in the Chaplain’s office at the Denver Women’s Prison, waiting for one of the inmates, and I could hear my own breathing. It was heavy, and quick, which was not at … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Beliefs, Courage, Diversity, Faith, God, James Luther Adams, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Unitarian Universalism | 1 Comment

Not Just Any Relationship – 5 Jagged Rocks Post #4

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

“Stones, timber, though squared, hewn and polished, are not a house, until they are compacted and united; so saints or believers in judgment of charity, are not a church unless orderly knit together.” (Cambridge Platform, 1648) For a while, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Philosophy of Church, Theology, Youth Ministry | Tagged Cambridge Platform, Congregational Polity, Covenant, Jagged Rocks, James Luther Adams, Relationships | Leave a comment

How to Write Your Unitarian Universalist Testimony

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

“Only by….conversion can we be possessed by a love that will not let us go.” – James Luther Adams, in “Root Ideas of Human Freedom” My colleague Joanna Fontaine Crawford posted this article, along with an invitations to Unitarian Universalists to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Covenant, Faith Formation, Personal Stories, Philosophy of Church | Tagged Alice Blair Wesley, Christine Robinson, Conversion, Covenant, Faith, Faith Formation, James Luther Adams, Rebecca Parker, Sermon, Sermons, Testimony, Transformation | Leave a comment