West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church

Come let your spirits be lifted up by the musical offerings of the West Shore Choir. We will have a full church of guests and members to hear the choir perform an extremely wide variety of choral pieces. However, there are a couple of pieces that you, the congregation (The Assembly) will be asked to participate in. Text unavailable

All ages and stages of life involve us in balancing body and mind to make our dreams come true. Parents and children feed each other with the dreams they share and act upon. In a service where we will celebrate motherhood and remember parents both present to us and lost to us, a service in which we will dedicate children, honor a graduate, and thank our teachers, we will find many ways to encounter the dreams that sustain us throughout our lifespans. Bill Hudson and our youth choir will each offer special muisic. Please remember to bring canned food for our monthly collection for local pantries. Read sermon here

In ancient times, people with mental illnesses were thought to be demon possessed and were shunned from society. Today, we know better or do we? This sermon will explore the myths and truths behind mental illness and suggest ways we might live up to our desire to be an "inclusive" church that practices radical hospitality to all. Read sermon here

What do we really know and how do we know? I used to think that the agnostic was a person who was copping out, who couldn't make a commitment, who dodged religious questions. Now I think differently. Our worship focus on the "web of life" invites us to take a new look at how faith may be something that agnostics can teach us all to better understand. Read sermon here

We will celebrate Earth Day by exploring how creatures find their own place in the world. How do we know what our role is in the web of life? What do we do once we figure it out? What can we learn from chickens, rabbits, mermaids, and ourselves about each being’s place on this planet? What is our responsibility for caring and protecting Mother Earth?

In the human experience, the body is the center of our existence. The body is the home of our births, lives, and deaths. The body is the home of our emotional and spiritual selves. Our bodies are the sacred vessels with which we engage our own souls, the people around us, and the blue marble on which we sail. What can our bodies tell us about the nature of our world and of divinity? What is your body telling you? Sermon text unavailable

When Romel Joseph lay entombed beneath the rubble of his music school in Haiti, he wondered if he would ever live to play music again or see his children. When Jesus lay in his tomb, his friends and followers believed that all their hopes had died with him. What happens to both of these men is resurrection of the body, mind and spirit. Easter Sunday will celebrate the new hope that is in reach for all of us. Social Action Offering will benefit the Restoration of New Orleans, where an intergenerational crew of West Shore members will be volunteering this week. Read this sermon

At some time in our lives, all of us will experience feeling abandoned--by God, by what we thought made life worthwhile, by those we thought we loved and who loved us. As Christians focus on the stories of Holy Week, one of the most poignant images of the week is Jesus' cry of abandonment from the cross. Rather than pray for mercy, he cried out to God--in despair? Or in anger? What do we do with our emotions of abandonment? Read this sermon

West Shore has long been a place where we attempt to make real the values and principles we claim to believe. When we say we're committed to being an "Anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural institution," what does that really mean? This high energy/all ages 45-minute service will provide the framework for an all-church conversation, to be held immediately following the worship service about what a multicultural West Shore might look and feel like in the next chapter of our common church life. We'll be planning and dreaming "tomorrow's church" through story, song, and with some help from the Intergenerational Choir's anthem "There's a New Day Dawning."

While we often think of forgiveness, compassion and mercy exclusively as human traits, they are characteristics shared by our primate cousins. What can we learn from our cousins about being better human beings?

Shakespeare wrote that the "quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven." Did he mean that mercy comes easy to us? Is it a quality of being human or is it an attribute only of the divine? What does mercy mean as a quality of living day to day? Weaving through the month will be the poetry and music of one of our favorite artists, Leonard Cohen. Read this sermon

    Leia Bailey's reading from 2006