Tag Archives: Theology

Holy Spirit Activate

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

The pop star Chynna Phillips (from the group Wilson Phillips) was on Family Feud a while back, and just before she had to answer questions to win money for a charity she needed to psyche herself up, so she started … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Charles Chauncy, Emerson, Emotion, Pentecost, Reason, Sermon, Sermons, Spirit, Theology, Unitarian, Unitarian History, Unitarian Universalist History, Universalist | Leave a comment

What Punishments of God Are Not Gifts? Job and the Hope of a Mysterious God

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

For a long time, Job agrees with Stephen Colbert. You know, Job. The one whose life was the epitome of #blessed. That is, until he lost everything. His money. His land. All ten of his children. Even his own health. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Awe, God, Hebrew Bible, Job, Justice, Pain, Punishment, Sermon, Sermons, Struggle, Suffer, Suffering, Theodicy, Theology | Leave a comment

God is Trans (2023)

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Jesus At The Gay Bar by Jay Hulme Before images of God, I had white Jesus. Hung in a picture frame in my childhood home. You can see his perfectly groomed beard and goatee, his long brown hair with soft … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Sermons, Theology | Tagged BK Hipsher, Black Theology, Channing, Enfleshed, Feminism, Feminist Theology, gender, Genderqueer, God, Healing, Images of God, Imago Dei, Jesus, Likeness to God, Metaphors of God, Non-Binary, Theology, trans, transgender, Unitarian, Unitarianism | Leave a comment

More Than Enough

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: The Church Where Everything Goes Wrong by Elea Kemler Sermon: More than Enough Like a lot of teenagers, my daughter really does not love getting up in the morning. Instead she loves her cozy bed, and the sweet dark of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Abundance, Change, Church, Community, Covenant, Emerson, Enough, Faith, God, Grace, Love, pandemic, Post-pandemic, Recovery, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Transcendentalism, Transcendentalists, Trauma | Leave a comment

Outgrow Your Ghosts

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Listen to this sermon and one of my favorite conversations I’ve had in a while – with my colleague Sean Neil Barron on the Foothills Deeper Podcast. Reading: The S-I-Z-E of Your Soul Sermon: Outgrow Your Ghosts In second grade, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Atheism, Christianity, Construction, Covenant, Diversity, Healing, Jesus, Past, Religion, Religious, Sermon, Sermons, Theology | Leave a comment

Essentials In Us

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

When I was in second grade, my favorite book in the whole world was a little yellow paperback about saints. In all the same ways that some people talk about the bible as life’s instruction manual, I had the sense that … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Emergence, Essential, Generative Interdependence, Henry David Thoreau, Individualism, Margaret Wheatley, meaning, Mutual Potentiality, Purpose, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Relationship, Sacrifice, Saints, Self, Selfless, Selflessness, Sermon, Sermons, Significance, Symbiosis, Theology, Thich Nhat Hanh, Transcendentalism, Ultimacy | 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

Our Partners in Finishing the World

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Text: Conversation with Rev. Nancy Bowen about the Five Jagged Rocks Homily: Our Partners in Finishing the World Last week, Rev. Nancy Bowen spoke about living in covenant with the whole world. It’s one of the first things that Nancy … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Covenant, Covenantal, Eschatology, Faith, Five Jagged Rocks, Heartbreak, Interdependence, Interdependent, Interdependent Web, Justice, Nancy Bowen, Partners, Partnership, Promises, Sermon, Sermons, Theology, Truth, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist, World | 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

Love That Stays

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

“You can love someone, and fail them.” Louis offers this explanation to his lover, Prior, as he is trying to tell him that he is moving out. “You can love someone, and fail them,” Louis tells him, “and I love … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Theology | Tagged Angels in America, Clean Pain, Commitment, Courageous Love, Dirty Pain, Discomfort, Fear, Heal, Healing, Heartbreak, Love, Pain, Parker Palmer, Persistence, Resmaa Menakem, Sacrifice, Sermon, Sermons, Stubborn, Suffering, Theology, Tough Love | Leave a comment

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