Tag Archives: Transformation

Charge to the Minister, for the Installation of the Rev. Eric Banner, First Universalist Church of Denver

Posted on April 28, 2024 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Many of you know that I was a member here before seminary; my now 18 year old daughter was dedicated here, and in many ways I was formed in ministry right here. Returning always brings a rush of memories, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ordinations/Installations | Tagged Call, Charge to the Minister, Courageous Love, Covenant, Faith, Installation, Love, Ministry, Partnership, Relationship, Transformation, Transformative Relationships, Truth, Universalism | Leave a comment

Lifewords

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Twenty four years ago this week, I was on a flight to Portland to meet up with my parents. I had words I needed to say to them for the very first time. Words that were too big for an email or a … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Beginnings, Change, Coming Out, Communication, Dementia, Endings, Humanity, identity, Labels, LGBTQ, Listen, Listening, Memory, Othered, Othering, Sermon, Sermons, Silence, Speech, Transformation, True, Truth, Words | Leave a comment

Recognition / Seen – Easter 2023

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Luke 24:12-32 Sermon My best friend from high school reached out to me last week. We’ve stayed in touch loosely over the years over Facebook, but not in any consistent way. She was in our home town for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Affirmation, Anagnorisis, Belonging, Black, Christianity, Closet, Compassion, Democracy, Diversity, Easter, Friends, Grief, Growing, Growth, Gun Violence, identity, Inclusion, Inclusivity, Jesus, Life, Love, Neighbors, Perepetia, Race, Racism, Recognition, Resurrection, Revolutionary Love, Sermon, Sermons, Sikh, TDOV, trans, Trans Joy, Transformation, transgender, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Universalist, Valerie Kaur, Visibility, Visible, Whiteness | Leave a comment

The Dream of the Perfect Plan

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It was February 1990, when the South African president Frederick Willem de Klerk made a shocking announcement: he would be releasing Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison, and he would legalize Mandela’s political party and all other opposition parties for … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged adrienne maree brown, Change, Co-Creation, Collaboration, Perfection, Planning, Plans, Sermon, Sermons, Shaping Change, South Africa, Strategic Plans, Threshold, Transformation, Trust, Wholeness | Leave a comment

Losing, and Finding Your Religion

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It was 2007 when I could keep it in no longer. I’d avoided the issue long enough. I’d downplayed my feelings, guarded my intuition. I’d kept a lot of my favorite things and even my friendships, on the down low. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Church, Faith, identity, Ministry, Open Heart, Progressive Church, Religion, Religious, Religious Identity, Religious Injury, Role of the Church, Sermon, Sermons, Transformation, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist, UU, Vulnerability | 1 Comment

Must We Go To Bethlehem? Christmas 2021

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: Christmas, 1974 by May Sarton Christmas Eve Homily 2021 When May Sarton wrote her Christmas poem 47 years ago, it seemed the world was coming apart. The US president had resigned in scandal, and the country was just beginning … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Darkness, Hope, Light, Love, Peace, Persistence, Sermon, Sermons, Transformation, Witness | Leave a comment

Preppers, a message for the second December in pandemic

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Sermon: Preppers I have been thinking this week about the Jewish people, and the stories of Hanukkah. Hanukkah I have been thinking this week about the Jewish people and the stories of Hanukkah.Hanukkah falls early this year, the last night is … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Adaptation, Advent, Apocalypse, Apocalyptic, Christmas, Commitment, Expectation, Faith, Faithfulness, Flexibility, Grace, Hanukkah, Hebrew, Holiday, Hope, Jewish, Octavia Butler, Partnership, Plan, Planning, Prep, Preparation, Prepare, Rabbis, Transformation, Values, Waiting, Winter, Yule, Yuletide | Leave a comment

Our Ghost Stories

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

From about third grade until about eight grade, I spent a week each summer at Camp David Jr. on Lake Crescent in Washington State. I loved everything about camp,especially canoeing on the clear lake, and the camp fire stories and songs … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Family, Fear, Ghosts, Grief, Haunted, Haunting, Heal, Healing, History, Loss, Memory, Past, Recover, Recovery, Regret, Remorse, Sermon, Sermons, Tragedy, Transformation | Leave a comment

Birth the Alien, Set the Bird Free

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

A message for the 10:00 Foothills community, preached in the park on September 26th and October 3rd, 2021, the first and second Sundays in person after 18 months all online Reading: Bluebird by Charles Bukowski Sermon We were two days … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Coping, COVID, Healing, Learning, Pain, pandemic, Resilience, Sermon, Sermons, Survival, Transformation | Leave a comment

Real Life in Re-Entry

Posted on June 20, 2021 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

In the days and years and centuries of the “before times,” generation after generation of enslaved Black people learned to be careful when they sang about freedom. We mean freedom in the next life, not this one – they’d say regularly, just … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Closing, Closure, Community, COVID, Freedom, Gathering, Healing, Normal, pandemic, Pause, Priya Parker, Real, Reality, Revelation, Sermon, Sermons, Slow, Social Change, Story, Transformation, Trauma | Leave a comment