Christmas is almost here! Each year, the staff and I go through all the services that we are having, figuring out the order of the service, placing the best music in the right place, figuring out what our themes are, and getting all the details in place. Each year, we set a date that we

I had two profound experiences that led me to the same conclusion.  First, on Monday morning was the Arizona Faith Network’s annual gathering. Over 200 Interfaith leaders, lay people, and community leaders were present to share the good works that we were each doing and to celebrate the accomplishments of the interfaith community. Each year, I

“Are we a concert venue now?”  This is a question I asked our Music Director Benjie Messer about a month ago. Within the last year, we’ve had musicians reach out to US to do concerts at our facility, including Urban Nocturnes (which made sense because of their connection with Glenn Stallcop), Joe Jencks, Crys Matthews, Emma’s

I know this is probably a very unpopular opinion, but there is little I like about the typical Thanksgiving food. None of it is food I ever eat at other times of the year: a turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, or a pie made of pumpkin. While my wife considers mashed potatoes her prime comfort food,

A Time for Radical Welcome Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen a wonderful and inspiring increase in attendance at UUCP. Two weeks ago, we saw about 40 more people than usual and this past Sunday, we saw almost 30 more than that. We also had about 32 kids for Children’s Ministry. The energy in

I am writing this on a Tuesday evening, just after returning from seeing Sweet Honey In The Rock at the Musical Instrument Museum. As they broke into Ella’s song, which we have sung at UUCP, tears started running down my cheek. Written about the Civil Rights activist Ella Baker, the words are: I swear it