Covid19 Update: You are welcome to join us in person or via Zoom for Sunday worship. For the safety of our community, masks are required indoors. If you would like to join via Zoom, please email office@starrking.org to request the link.
This blog post is an excerpt from a past worship service about the concept of covenant. If you have any questions or comments for Ben or any of our church leaders and members, please do get in touch! You can also connect with us via our online communities on Facebook and Instagram. Let’s chat!
Good morning! In the next few minutes I’m going to share a few things I believe, and ask … Read the rest
The ingredients in the bread may be simple or exotic. To the starters of yeast, sugar and water, a variety of flours, seeds, spices, and herbs may be added. In much the same way, our Church begins with our basic UUA principles, then we add the sweetness of love, gratitude, and gifts of service and money.
With great care, respect, and responsible action the bread is mixed, kneaded, … Read the rest
Breaking Bread Together, Sustaining Each Other is the theme of our Stewardship season this year. “Let Us Break Bread Together” is ancient hymn dating to the 1300s. Perhaps it lives on because bread, in all of its forms, is a life-giving and ubiquitous source of nourishment, and symbolizes friendship and sustaining hope. Almost every society in the world eats bread in some form. Breads are made out of flour or corn, water, … Read the rest
Beloveds,
This month I had the blessing of being part of a wonderful event: The Coastal Salish Family Day. We gathered via Zoom with Melanie Schambach, who came up with the mural idea, and other artists and community members who participated in the creation of a mural that accompanied the Red Road Totem Pole on its way to Washington, D.C.
The mural is an amazing collective creation! Claudia and I painted together the red and … Read the rest
Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church unequivocally supports the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band in calling the City of Gilroy not to install a new mission bell.
On Monday, Jan 10, 2022, members of Starr King UU Church attended the Gilroy City Council meeting to support the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band in urging the city to reconsider installing a new El Camino Real Mission Bell. The council refused to discuss it or even to put the topic … Read the rest
The New Year announces the coming of the Three Kings, The Magi/Los Reyes Magos, on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. We celebrate their journey and their courage to take a different path. We also celebrate with childlike awe the magical power of a guiding star. Epiphany reminds us to open ourselves and receive the gifts before us. Being open, we can experience magic all around us! There is magic in compassionate words. There … Read the rest
Beloveds, as you may have seen on our Facebook page, I have been deeply engaged in the nurturing of monarch butterfly caterpillars. I had read about the scarcity of milkweed plants causing a decline in the monarch butterfly population. But it wasn’t until one day when Darryl Ray and I were sitting outside that I got the idea to actually help the monarchs.
Darryl had brought his medicine bag to share with me his spiritual … Read the rest
From the Peace & Justice Action Team:
On Oct. 21, the California Geologic Energy Management Agency (CalGEM) issued a momentous draft rule banning the permitting of oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, and detention centers after an almost two year wait. Environmental justice groups across the state are celebrating the historic 3,200 ft setback for public health, the most aggressive buffer in the nation, and also are urging Governor … Read the rest
A reflection
Greetings! I’m here to invite you on a journey, a magical journey that can take place over a very long time or just a few seconds. I’ve taken this journey myself a number of times in the last few years, and I’m starting to see the stages of it more clearly.
I’ve been thinking lately about many things: about cultural differences, about hospitality, about connecting across difference. About how to do it, and … Read the rest
This past Sunday was our 18th annual lay-led Labor Day service! Originally it focused on workers and Labor Movement history in advocacy, song, and poetry. The service has evolved in recent years to emphasize what I call “Liberation Poetry.”
The truths of past Labor Day homilies persist. The acceleration of income and wealth inequality continues unabated. According to a recent Federal Reserve report, the richest 1% possesses $42 Trillion of the national wealth, while the … Read the rest
