Sermons given at UUCB, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley

Ministerial Intern Liesl Dees Prayer is often imagined as speaking into silence. But what if prayer is an exchange of longing, listening, wonder, and response? We continue our series on Reclaiming and Reimagining Religion by exploring prayer as a practice of attention, connection, and presence.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley May 31, 2026 Community in Bloom We celebrate our annual flower communion with the recognition that we bloom always in relationship. Like the interdependent community of flowers and pollinators, we depend on each other more than we know to express our unique and sacred beauty. Bring a flower to celebrate! Rev Marcus Liefert

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley May 24, 2026 Sound of Spirit Rev Liesel Dees As we begin our series on Reclaiming and Reimagining Religion, we start with the wisdom of our bodies. On this Pentecost Sunday, we’ll riff on the New Testament story of embodied spirituality through a jazz lens, featuring special guest trumpeter Delbert Anderson.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley May 17, 2026 The Understory We know some of the biggest stories that shape the world and human society are rapidly changing. Those changes show up in the small and specific realities of our own lives and our own community. How do we practice creating beloved community by living in the moral framework of interdependence here and now?

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley April 26, 2026 The Bark and the Heartwood Rev Marcus Liefert Learning to live in a complex reciprocity asks us to grow inward and outward at the same time. The fact that the ground we stand on is not as solid as we were led to believe is both terrifying and liberating, an invitation to tend to the semipermeable membranes between ourselves and the world with tender care.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley April 19, 2026 Earthlings Rev. Kathryn Jay We often think of rebels as folks fighting alone against the status quo. But we are all part of the crew, transforming our grief and anger into action. In this Earth Day service, we’ll ground ourselves in the simultaneous realities of lament and hope.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley April 12, 2026 What You Can Depend On Rev. Marcus Liefert Our culture's economic system and mechanistic worldview teach us to understand relationality as fundamentally transactional. But at our roots we live in a complex interdependence, which requires relating to our inevitable disappointments and frustrations not with the fix-it attitude of a manager, but a reorientation toward mutuality.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley April 5, 2026 Alleluia Anyway Rev. Marcus Liefert Like each of our lives and the times we live in, the stories of Easter and Passover are rife with joy and struggle intertwined. With all that would bury us in the tomb, how do we rise up and sing alleluia anyway?

Sustaining Fire Rev. Marcus Liefert To keep a flame burning, we watch and feed it so it does not go out. But fire can also be sustaining: offering warmth, light, and a place for people to gather. Our spiritual lives are rarely simple, and the work of love is complicated. We live within complexity—tending the fire of love and searching for clarity in its warmth.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley March 22, 2026 Claimed by Ash Rev. Marcus Liefert Before it can be transformed, loss must be witnessed. What can we learn from communities that have been shrouded in ash but refused to grieve alone?

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley March 15, 2026 Smoke and Memory Rev. Marcus Liefert We are the inheritors of a tradition that believes in the sovereign self — the individual who chooses, who transforms, who transcends. But what do we do with the inheritance we never chose? How might we be led by Sankofa, the Akan symbol of the courage to turn and face what you’re already carrying?

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley March 8, 2026 Raging and Refining Rev. Marcus Liefert The prophet Malachi promises a refiner’s fire — patient, purposeful, transforming. But some fires don’t refine. They just rage.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley March 1, 2026 The Good News Rev. Kathryn Jay Unitarian Universalism can be hard to explain and we are often uncomfortable testifyng about the power of our faith. But what if we tried? We could be the spark of love that helps transform the world.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley March 1, 2026 The Good News Rev. Kathryn Jay Unitarian Universalism can be hard to explain and we are often uncomfortable testifyng about the power of our faith. But what if we tried? We could be the spark of love that helps transform the world.

Technological innovations have led to a more and more "frictionless" society. But what if friction is just what we need to grow our spirits and warm our souls?

Rev. Marcus Liefert No one window holds all the light; no one angle tells the whole truth. In a world shaped by dislocation, spiritual community can be a place where light is held in common, shadows are named without shame, and every room is trusted to be illumined by the same enduring source.

Healing begins with honest reckoning. As civil rights activist James Baldwin reminds us, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Ministerial intern Liesl Dees draws on her experience in building solidarity with an Indigenous community to reflect on what courage and humility ask of us as we tell the truth about past harms—and begin the work of repair.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley February 1, 2026 People of Color Caucus (POCC) and Rev. Marcus Liefert, Service Leaders

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley January 25, 2026 STAINED GLASS JOY Rev. Marcus Liefert Joy rarely arrives as pure light. It is colored by grief, memory, fear, and longing—beautiful, complex, and sometimes fragile. We honor joy not as a reward for spiritual success, but as light refracted through real lives, asking how communities can celebrate brightness without demanding it.

Like most of our kind now and through history, we live our lives in the shadow of empire. Dislocation—the process of becoming separated from traditional cultural practices and connection to a specific place and people—casts long shadows. Injustice compounds dislocation, deepening shadows across lives already deprived of access to safety, dignity, and belonging. As we honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy, let us recommit to the multi-generational work of building a society that values integrity, joy, and service.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley January 11, 2026 LETTING IN THE LIGHT AS IT COMES Rev. Marcus Liefert “This living is a guesthouse,” wrote Mevlana Rumi, inviting us to welcome the whole wild array of our human experiences as guests. The light arrives in our guesthouse through many windows: sometimes glaring, sometime illuminating, sometimes distorting, always sourced in the sacred. In this worship series, we turn to exploring interior states with the slanting light of the midwinter sun to show the way.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley January 4, 2026 FLOWERS AND GARBAGE Liesl Dees, Intern Minister, Service Leader

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley December 28, 2025 From the Bedside Rev. Mr. Barb Greve Join Rev. Greve as he brings us to the bedside of his work as a hospice chaplain, inviting us to witness the ordinary and extraordinary that can occur as we near the end of our lives.

THE LONGEST NIGHT AND THE IRRESISTIBLE DAWN Rev. Marcus Liefert We know the longest night will end. We know there will be a new day to come. So why are we so anxious all along the way?

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley December 14, 2025 MIRACLES AMIDST THE RUBBLE Rev. Marcus Liefert What if the true miracle is not that the oil lasted eight nights but that there is oil to burn at all? Perhaps you know more than you might think about living in the plundered, descrated remains of the temple. Perhaps even a miracle happened, even here.

How are we supposed to hold all the desperation of our times and all the wonder of the season all at once? The journey to Bethlehem beckons, promising a mess of politics, poverty, unplanned pregenancy, braying animals, and a hope powerful enough to change the world.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley November 30, 2025 Emotional Accounting Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern Giving: transferring something from one person's possession to another's. But which of the many possible ways, with their markedly different feelings and meanings, do we give? Giving can be joyful, or done out of duty, or inspired by fear, or motivated in any number of other ways--and while the effects look the same in our bank accounts, they are very different in our emotional and spiritual accounts.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley November 23, 2025 Rev. Bryan Plude Hope is Complicated How do we maintain hope with a world on fire and democracy in meltdown? Is hope even an appropriate or a useful feeling in these times? What important roles do courage and love play?

Your Daily Book The poet Ross Gay undertook to write daily for a year about a delight he had observed that day, and published a collection of these writings as The Book of Delights. If you wrote down the things you observe about your day each evening as it ends, what would the resulting volume be about? Worry? Gratitude? Complaints? Nature? Happiness? Plans? . . . And what shape does this focus give the rest of your life?

STANDING IN THE RIVER Our memories of the past create a mighty river of love, loss, and longing that refreshes our lives, yet sometimes overwhelms us. Today we honor those who came before us: the ancestors who inspire and encourage us, the people and places we mourn and miss. For more information about the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, visit https://uucb.org/

Spiritual practice is often seen as a solitary journey, but building vibrant community is itself a profound spiritual discipline. It’s communal and contagious... but rarely easy. Exercising our communal muscles takes work, but those critical connections can save us.

PLANTING SEEDS OF JUSTICE While human rights and international aid are under attack, it’s easy to feel like change is impossible. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s (UUSC) partners, however, know first-hand that justice doesn’t just appear overnight. The movement for collective liberation requires ongoing, diligent tending and long-haul commitment. Please join Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme to hear some of the inspiring stories from UUSC’s partners – grassroots movement leaders and activists around the world – and to hear her conversion story from lukewarm supporter to enthusiastic champion of UUSC’s work.

Self-Compassion or Selfishness? The term "self-compassion" has gotten some traction in recent years, prompting the question, is "self-compassion" an oxymoron? Even worse, is it selfish? Buddhist teachers counsel us that in fact, for us to cultivate compassion in ourselves, we need to cultivate compassion for ourselves. We'll practice that this morning.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley Wrestling with Jacob Oct. 5 2025 What does it mean to “win” when life itself is full of struggle? Drawing on the biblical story of Jacob wrestling through the night, we explore how struggle can lead not to triumph, but to transformation. Jacob, blessed yet deeply flawed, mirrors both our nation’s history and our personal lives—where success often comes at the expense of others. From the Puritans’ exclusionary covenant to modern injustices, we are challenged to see how the drive to win has wounded us all. Yet Jacob’s story shifts: his struggle leaves him limping but changed, ready to reconcile. Likewise, our own wrestling—with history, with privilege, with conscience—can be holy work. Transformation hurts, but the wound can become a blessing. The struggle itself is where grace lives.

We’ve been exploring the spiritual themes of faith and trust through the lens of games of play. However stacked the odds may be against you, however disastrous the situation on the game board, your turn is bound to come around once again. The stakes are high, the situation is dire, the choices seem limited—yet still, what move will you make?

HOW TO LOSE Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley September 21, 2025

ODDS ARE There is essential mystery in the fabric of reality. Whatever choices we make, whatever odds we calculate, we are always rolling the dice. When the stakes are high, how do you decide when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em?

Most of the time, transformation happens incrementally—a subtle process of things changing bit by bit. But moments arrive when a leap to the next level is required. As we live through a moment that demands a global level up in our species' ability to prioritize the common good, what do we know about the joys and challenges of leveling up from our own personal lives?

Worship Leader, Rev. Kevin Alan Mann Minister of Congregational Life, Rev. Dr Kathryn Jay Director of Music, Dr. Bryan Baker Settled Minister, Rev. Marcus Liefert Guest Musician: Evelie Delfino Såles Posch with Mahal EthnoFusion Music Myth & Magic Ensemble: Claudine, Doug, Jedi, Kathy, Kealoha, Marikit, Misha, Nancy, Rynn, Sam, Theda, Tisay, Virginia, Rev Kev Title: “Wings, Roots and Seeds: Emergent Wisdom from the Interdependent Web” Description: adrienne maree brown describes “emergence as the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.” How can UUs learn from birds in synchronized flight, entangled oak tree roots and the structure of dandelions and fungi and apply these lessons in biomimicry to our collective organizing?”

Members bring to the service a small amount of water from a place that is special to them. During the appointed time in the service, people one by one pour their water together into a large bowl. As the water is added, the person who brought it tells why this water is special to them. The combined water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources. It is often then blessed by the congregation, and sometimes is later boiled and used as the congregation’s “holy water” in child dedication ceremonies and similar events.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley August 17, 2025 THE RULES OF THE GAME If the rules of the game you're playing don't leave you with moral choices, cheat. Play by your own rules. Mingle your roots with others who want to play the game you want to play and let us grow together.

IT’S YOUR MOVE In our first worship series of the church year we'll explore the spiritual themes of faith and trust through the lens of games of play. However stacked the odds may be against you, however disastrous the situation on the game board, your turn is bound to come around once again. The stakes are high, the situation is dire, the choices seem limited—yet still, what move will you make?

Rabbi Zvika Krieger at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley August 3, 2025

The Place Where We Are We all have our own special places that bring us joy. How do we hold that joy as we also face the grief of climate change?

Rev. Wakoh Hickey

Doing It Wrong Spiritual exploration is often built on the solid and well-worn foundations of tradition and ritual. What might we discover when we allow wisdom to take a backseat, and follow along with the journeys of those doing it "the wrong way?"

Faith A journey from dogma or nothing to finding a source of strength and support.

This is an Uprising Sometimes received wisdom says change is impossible. And then, boom. All that wisdom gets turned upside down. The Stonewall riot helped to create a cultural and institutional revolution, reminding us that when common wisdom comes from the mainstream, maybe we need to listen to the margins for new understandings.

Love's Saving Power If we believe that no one is beyond the reach of love, that belief transforms how we see ourselves and how we engage with a world desperately in need of revolutionary joy.

Flower Communion We celebrate our annual ritual of Flower Communion, the tradition Unitarians have practiced for over 100 years to honor beauty and diversity as sources of a community’s strength.