Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Presenter
Brad Wisniewski, Service Associate
Mary Doane, Piano

Many of us who have migrated to Mexico are here seeking belonging, a new life in a new place. Some of us are here as exiles, perhaps distanced or even estranged from families, perhaps disconnected from our homelands, from their culture and politics. Or maybe we find ourselves exiled from ourselves, trying to ‘fit in’, wearing a mask covering our true selves. How can we belong – to our own selves, to groups worthy of us?
Rev. Matt will present remotely via Zoom.

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Presenter: Robbie Bergman, Service Associate: Hyacinthe Miller

Inside all of our brains is a filter that takes what we’ve learned to be important and make it stronger. So our beliefs are nurtured in such a way that we become set in our ways. Understanding this mechanism can help us coexist with people whose beliefs are in conflict with ours.

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Presenter
Emilie Costello Service Associate

One of the laws of nature is that as the universe tends toward disorder, that entropy, the measure of disorder, increases. But we, as living things, push back against the flow of entropy, at least while we’re alive. As one writer put it, “we’re like little eddies in this greater entropic stream.” We’ll explore how we, as complex, emergent and evolving beings, fit into this larger stream that is our universe.

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Moderated by Bob Koches.
Zeitgeist means the spirit or general mood of a particular time period—the ideas, beliefs, and cultural climate that are common in that era. It’s a German word literally meaning “time spirit.” This month we will look at the current global zeitgeist and compare our current moment with other historical time periods. The current global mood could be defined by uncertainty and stress as people try to cope with fast-changing technology, high living costs, and climate change. To emphasize this is not a United States centric topic but one with global emphasis.

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Sean Donovan, Presenter,Annie Morris, Service Associate

Sean traces his theology to an unlikely source — editing a church newsletter in Knoxville for minister Kathleen Rolenz, where he slipped in Whitehead and Boehme. He distinguishes evil (a moral category requiring an agent) from suffering (which doesn’t), arguing neither is explained by a God who is all-powerful and all-good.

Process theology resolves this by redefining God’s nature: a God who persuades rather than coerces, since genuine love cannot coexist with unilateral control. Auschwitz becomes a real catastrophe God grieved, not a hidden plan. He weighs the hardest objection — that such a God is barely distinguishable from no God — through philosopher Hans Jonas, who proposed a God who contracted to make room for creation. Sean closes without resolution: the framework refuses to answer cheaply, and that refusal is the beginning.

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Join us for an encore presentation by Jalisco Political Analyst and Journalist Carlos Navarro as he explores Mexico's Political system. 4-part series.
Presented by LCUUF.

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Join us for an encore presentation by Jalisco Political Analyst and Journalist Carlos Navarro as he explores Mexico's Political system. 4-part series.
Presented by LCUUF.

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Presenter: David Rosh, Service Associate: Robbie Bergman

Nearly every human being is looking for happiness, but very few know what happiness is. Conventional wisdom holds the concept that if we work hard, we will be more successful. And if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. Join David Rosh as he shares his long search for happiness in spite of his upbringing, because he now believes that our efforts to make ourself happy doesn’t just benefit us, but everyone around us–and we can become a purveyor of happiness. David will present many studies that support the fact that success follows happiness not the reverse and offers some practical advice and takeaways.

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Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh
Service Associate: Sean Donovan

Deep listening involves giving others our pure, undivided attention. Such listening may involve words, but it also may involve connecting beyond words. And by listening deeply to others, we may end up listening deeply to ourselves. In this service, we explore the idea of deep listening: listening to ourselves, deeply listening to others around us, even listening to what is around us, be it the earth, God, or the universe.

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Presenter
Beth Mason, Choir Leader
Lamar Allen, Service Associate

In song and story, Beth Syverson and choir will explore the origin and use of the song “We Shall Overcome” especially in nonviolent resistance movements worldwide. Rev. Matt Alspaugh will explore the connection of Unitarianism and Universalism with nonviolent resistance.

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It is not only found in the senior population but also in the younger generations. We will explore why this occurs, its history, the social implications for global society, what it means to us as individual humanists and strategies to avoid loneliness.
Moderated by Bob Koches

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Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Service Associate: Robbie Bergman
Artificial Intelligence is perhaps the biggest technological change we’ve experienced in our lifetimes, along with all the other biggest technological changes: computers, the internet, streaming, smartphones, social media, and cat videos. We’ve each dealt with these other changes, but what about AI? I explore how I live with AI as a working minister, and how we might approach these tools in our lives.

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D’Vorah Kelley: Presenter, Lynn Cleek: Service Associate
What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist in a changing world? While we claim no shared dogma, we are bound together by a powerful set of shared values. Join us this Sunday as we explore the “Value Flower” – a vibrant framework of Justice, Interdependence, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, and Generosity, all rooted in a central core of love.

Through story, song, and reflection, we will move beyond abstract ideas to look at the concrete actions we can take to live our faith out loud. Whether you are a lifelong UU or a seeker looking for a spiritual home grounded in deed rather than creed, you are welcome here.

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Rev. Matt Alspaugh, presenter, Dee Dee Camhi, Service Associate.
This recent statement by political strategist Hiba Qasas gave me pause: “We are living in one of the least peaceful moments in modern history. We have the largest number of conflicts since World War II” We live in a time when war has become the default choice for solving disagreements among nations, a reflex rather than a last resort. How might we find better, well, more peaceable, solutions to our disagreements? How might we achieve lasting peace?

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The question this month is: In this modern world will objective and unbiased Journalism survive? We will look at how journalism is changing in this era of autocratic tendencies, AI replacement of reporters, AI slop, mortality of journalists , the role of substacks, and corporate consolidation of media outlets.
Moderated by Bob Koches

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Since January, more than half of LCUUF congregants have responded to survey questions and contributed in face-to-face small groups, talking about what makes us “us.” A small task force has navigated through the data collected, analyzing, writing, disagreeing—respectfully—and re-arranging into written form a mission statement and a vision statement. You will see the results of our discussions during this service, and we will choose a route that can help us go forward together.

The talk will be given and the service conducted by members of the task force: Jim Reeves, Priscilla Taylor, Susanne Bjorner, Marsha Buly, and D’vorah Kelley. Wiley Beveridge will provide the music.

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Presenter: Ted Fahy, Service Associate: D’Vorah Kelley

All ancient civilizations – Mayan, Navajo, Akkadian, Hindu, Hebrew – have had origin stories, including Gods, to explain the beginnings of the world and of humanity. Today, the sense of awe in the presence of the vast unknown that characterizes those stories has largely disappeared – and so has belief in the Divine.

Is there room for the Sacred in the 21st Century? What do we need to be open to and experience the Transcendent?

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Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh, Service Associate: Lamar Allen

What makes an organization — a team, a company, a town, a nation or for that matter, this fellowship — function well? How can the people that are part of such an organization grow and develop most fully? Clearly many traditional organizational models just aren’t working anymore, so what needs to change to create flourishing communities?

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