Tag Archives: Vision

A Bigger Mission, a sermon for the installation of the Rev. Ron Phares at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, Colorado Springs

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It is my honor to be here with you on this great occasion, and for Rev. Sean Neil-Barron (who will offer the blessing) and I to bring you greetings from the northern end of the Front Range. Your new minister … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged All Souls, Ancestors, Colorado History, Faith, Feminism, Future, History, Iowa Sisterhood, Ministry, Mission, Partners, Partnership, Progressive Religion, Progressive Spirituality, Religion, Sermon, Sermons, Shared Ministry, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, Vision, Women, Women in Ministry, Worship | 1 Comment

Choosing to Love, Anyway – Christmas Eve 2023

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Readings: Homily In Bethlehem tonight, the usual extravagant Christmas celebrations have been canceled. In place of Glorias echoing across the land, there is war and grief, all across Palestine and Israel, and in Gaza. As the Mayor of Bethelhem declared today, Christmas this … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Faith, Hope, Hopelessness, Jesus, Journeys, Justice, Love, Sermon, Sermons, Vision | Leave a comment

The Deal on Those Days, a sermon for the UUA General Assembly June 2022

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It was March 2020, you know the week. I’m sitting in my home office. Just a few feet away, my two teenagers are in the living room “homeschooling.” A few feet from them, my partner is at the kitchen table. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Change, Church, Collaboration, Covenant, COVID, Diana Butler Bass, Ecclesiology, Mission, Partners, Partnership, Promise, Sermon, Sermons, Unitarian Universalism, Vision | Leave a comment

The Future Now

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: There is No Going Back by Wendell Berry No, no, there is no going back. Less and less you are that possibility you were. More and more you have become those lives and deaths that have belonged to … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Anxiety, Beauty, Diana Butler Bass, Eschatology, Future, Hope, Liminality, pandemic, Post-pandemic, Presence, Present, Realized Eschatology, Richard Rohr, Sermon, Sermons, Susan Beaumont, Vision, Visioning | Leave a comment

Earth Seeds – an Earth Day homily for 2022

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading by Paul Hawkens from his book Re-Generation Homily: Earth Seeds Sermon: Earth Seeds – Gretchen This week I was talking to a colleague about his church and how things are going, and he hesitated “So much has changed, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged adrienne maree brown, Build, Choice, Climate, Climate Crisis, Climate Justice, Creativity, Earth, Earth Day, Emergence, Generativity, Homily, LGBTQ, Life, Marge Piercy, Queer, Queerness, Regeneration, Response, Sermon, Sermons, viktor frankl, Vision | Leave a comment

Tomorrow Land

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Reading: The House Called Tomorrow by Alberto Rios Just over three years ago, we convened an impromptu evening service – the night after the national election. People poured in to social hall for the potluck meal we invited before the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy of Church, Sermons | Tagged Apocalypse, Courage, Future, Hope, Hopelessness, Immigration, Immigration Justice, Justice, Political Process, Politics, Progress, Sanctuary, Sermon, Sermons, Theodore Parker, Vaclav Havel, Vision | Leave a comment

Say Yes – Stewardship and Celebration Sunday Feb 4 2018

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

We are here today because many people over many generations said yes. We could go back further, but I want to start with the yes that came 120 years ago, almost exactly – January 2nd, 1898. A small group of … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy of Church, Sermons | Tagged Commitment, Community, Mission, Money, Pledge, Pledging, Stewardship, Vision, Yes | Leave a comment

Christmas Eve Homily 2016

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Text: Luke 2:1-19 Homily: The Radical Story of Christmas – Mary, Jazz and Turning the World Upside Down It starts with being counted. Whether or not they wanted to make the journey, it didn’t matter. They had to go. … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Sermons | Tagged Christianity, Christmas, Hospitality, Justice, Liberation, Mary, Risk, Transformation, Vision | 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

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