Virtual Service Recordings
Sunday, Jan 17 2021
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| 2020_06_21_sermon_a_long_way_from_love.pdf |
Sunday, June 7, 2020
"The Nightingale and the Rose"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
"The Nightingale and the Rose" is a beautiful, tragic-romantic short story by Oscar Wilde. Dr. Riegel will do a special reading of the "The Nightingale and the Rose" and reflect upon its meaning. Dr. Riegel will also be providing another hammered dulcimer Prelude for this service.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
"Transitions"
Dr. John Artis
In a time of deep physical and emotional change, how do we embrace the transitions in our life? We all face tremendous change in our lives and have so many questions to answer about how to transition through the changes. On this Memorial Day, let us examine the transitions and make a commitment to handle the change in a positive way.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
"Religion without a Net"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religious path. We offer no prescribed beliefs or ritualistic practices by which one may guide one's religious life. Instead, we hold to the right of conscience in determining one's own spiritual path. The apt metaphor here is walking the high wire without a net beneath oneself. Similarly, Dr. Riegel calls Unitarian Universalism "religion without a net."
[text of meditation and sermon available immediately below]
| religion_without_a_net_for_distribution.pdf |
Sunday, April 26, 2020
"Personal Stories from the COVID-19 Crisis"
Various Members of GPUC
Five GPUC members offer brief reflections on their personal experiences and how they've managed to survive the current crisis.
Sunday April 12, 2020
"Empty Tombs and Spiritual Deserts"
Rev. Mitra Rahnema
Sunday, Jan 10 2021
"Keys to the Kingdom: Part I - The Mind"
Dr. Alexander Riegel
This portion of Sunday's service (1/10/2021) is the first of the three part sermon series, "Keys to the Kingdom: Part I - The Mind."
Sunday, Jan. 03, 2021
"Ponder This"
Dr. Alexander Riegel
Life is said to be a journey. There are many ways of “journeying” through life. Some people make a bee line from cradle to grave. Some people do the “drunkard’s walk,” constantly drifting from one “shiny object” to the next in a seemingly nonsensical pattern. Other’s merely sit by the side of the road and watch other travelers go by... Another manner of journeying through life is to walk, stop and ponder. In this sermon, Dr. Riegel will extol the virtues of “pondering.”
Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020
"Christmas Eve Service"
The Revs. Kimi and Alexander Riegel
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020
"Question Box Part I"
Dr. Alexander Riegel
Typically, in the spring, Dr. Riegel does a Question Box sermon. (Last spring the Question Box sermon got waylaid by this pandemic.) This is an opportunity for you to submit a question to Dr. Riegel, which he will answer during the sermon.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020
"Be in the World as a Traveler"
Dawud Walid
Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam, said, "Be in the world as a stranger or a traveler on a path." This sermon will touch on this prophetic saying in relation to how we can strive to detach ourselves from the trends within our society that are increasingly leading to more political rancor and growing economic polarization.
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020
"The Soul's Sabbath"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
In last Sunday's sermon, Rev. Dr. Riegel provided a lot of information, that was challenging to absorb, about the "surveillance capital" nature of our social media driven world and also about the potential for the abuse of our ever increasingly technological ability.
At the end of that sermon, he stated that we need to ask ourselves the question: "What does it mean to be an individual in a world in which individualism has become taboo?"
More than anything, it means that we must remember the importance of our own subjectivity, our own inner life, as the world outside us whirls about us, threatening to disorient us.
It's time to remember to give the soul it's Sabbath.
At the end of that sermon, he stated that we need to ask ourselves the question: "What does it mean to be an individual in a world in which individualism has become taboo?"
More than anything, it means that we must remember the importance of our own subjectivity, our own inner life, as the world outside us whirls about us, threatening to disorient us.
It's time to remember to give the soul it's Sabbath.
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020
"'One if by land, two if by sea': Whom Should We 'Revere'"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
Most Americans grow up learning about Paul Revere's ride, when he is said to have shouted: "The British are coming! The British are coming!" The truth is that he never shouted this famous phrase. Had he done so, the British troops who had already infiltrated Massachusetts surely would have shot him dead!
There is another falsehood about Paul Revere's ride, namely, that it was a solo act. It was not. A number of others rode with Revere on that famous night, including a black man and a woman. Do you know their names? Probably not, without first looking this up on Google. That's a problem! In this sermon, Dr. Riegel discusses the importance of the non-male and nonwhite history of America.
There is another falsehood about Paul Revere's ride, namely, that it was a solo act. It was not. A number of others rode with Revere on that famous night, including a black man and a woman. Do you know their names? Probably not, without first looking this up on Google. That's a problem! In this sermon, Dr. Riegel discusses the importance of the non-male and nonwhite history of America.
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020
"Can You Feel It?"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
The world is rocking our world these days! There's no need to elaborate on the challenges this pandemic has brought us. We are all far too familiar with "the condition our condition is in." (Thank you, Mickey Newbury.) Dr. Riegel will reflect on the state of the world and finally answer Tina Turner's famous question, "What's love got to do with it?"
Sunday, Aug 30, 2020
"Myth-Busting the Spiritual Journey... or,
Was Patanjali Right All Along?"
Carol Guither
It's both an entertaining look at my own attempts and obstacles in starting a spiritual journey and practice, and some real advice and cautions from Patanjali and others on what a spiritual journey could look like, challenges along the way, and practices to stay on the path. Patanjali is the author of The Yoga Sutras, which is one of the most important classic texts on the traditional practice of Yoga.
Sunday, Aug 16, 2020
"Antisemitism-Henry Ford and the International Jew"
Chuck Palmer
One hundred years ago, Henry Ford attacked Jews through his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. He also printed 500,000 copies of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Chuck will discuss antisemitism and retired Detroit Free Press journalist Bill McGraw's Autumn 2018 article of the same title for the Dearborn Historical Commission, which the Commission pulled from publication and refused to distribute.
Sunday, Aug 2, 2020
"Reality: What a Concept"
Robin Ramsay
Right now, most of us can say that there are things going on in our lives that are very difficult; things we wish weren't part of our lives. When faced with pain, it's very easy to get caught up in wishing that reality were different and bemoaning the wrongness, or unfairness of it. We can waste so much energy fighting with the fact that this situation is actually happening, that we get stuck in suffering, and unable to take useful action. As the author Tom Clancy puts it so well, "When you fight with Reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time." Dr. Ramsay will discuss common human thoughts and reactions that get in the way of accepting reality, and making effective choices for well-being based on that reality.
Sunday, July 19, 2020
"Love in the Face of Adversity"
Ken Meisel
Ken Meisel, an area poet and psychotherapist and a prior guest lecturer at GPUUC, will offer encouraging thoughts and commentary on how we are challenged and invited to love deeper and braver in times of adversity - whether that adversity exists within ourselves, in our deeper heart relationships or in the world at large. He will offer helpful insights on love and marriage, love and personal growth, and love as it relates to our social contract with the community-at-large.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
"Learning to Be White"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
Anyone who has taken the time to read black authors who write about the black experience understands that black people undergo a process of learning what it means to be black in a predominantly white culture. Contrariwise, most white people do not understand that they undergo a similar process of learning what it means to be white in a predominantly white culture. Dr Riegel will discuss this experience of "learning to be white," as well as address how the moral outrage white people express at moments of heightened racism in this country is itself an expression of white privilege.
| sermon_learning_to_be_white_2020_06_14.pdf |
Sunday, May 31, 2020
"Religious Education Sunday"
D.R.E. Julie Artis
We will have our first Religious Education Sunday on Zoom! Mark your calendars to hear our three graduating seniors Morgen Bocci, Ada Marotzke and Noelle Shields share their Statement of Faiths Projects. Our guest soloist will be Henry Sendra. We hope you join us to share the end of the year celebration of this unusual church school year. We are a community that lifts up the span of all ages.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
"9/11, 2008, Coronavirus, Kundabuffer,
and Remembrance"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
Lately, we have repeatedly heard that this pandemic we face is going to bring a new normal to our lives. Be prepared for ongoing social distancing and face covers. But what about a different type of new normal? Crisis tend to help one get one's priorities in order. Will this reordering of our priorities last? What would it take for us to carry this kind of new normal into the future?
Sunday, May 3, 2020
"Here Be Dragons"
Rev. Dr. Alexander Riegel
Ancient cartographers used to write the phrase, "Here Be Dragons," when they mapped out uncharted ocean territory. What is our modern version of these dragons? And, how best to engage these creatures in our lives?
[text of meditation and sermon available immediately below]
| 2020_05_03_sermon_here_be_dragons.pdf |
Sunday, April 19, 2020
"A Person, A People, A Planet"
Mary Ann Perrone
There is no audio or text log to share from this Sunday's service.
Sunday March 29, 2020
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Sunday April 5, 2020
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Sunday March 22, 2020
"Love is contagious, too"
Tonya Wells
Audio
Chat Text
| 03-22-2020_chat_text.pdf |
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Location: 17150 Maumee Avenue, Grosse Pointe, MI 48230 Phone: 313-881-0420
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