Rev. Alison Duren-Sutherland is Saltwater’s contract minister for the 2023-24 church year, operating in a hybrid/remote capacity from her home in Southern Oregon and onsite at Saltwater one week per month.
On this Faith Formation Sunday we will offer the opportunity for all generations to creatively answer these questions posed by a Unitarian Universalist hymn based on the words of artist Paul Gaugin.
Asking big questions together is one way we live our Unitarian Universalist faith, even (maybe especially) the big questions to which there are no answers. Join us as we engage with Mystery to finding meaning together.
Join Rev. Alison and Saltwater’s Racial Justice Organizing Team (RJOT) to practice mindfullness techniques drawn from the Buddhist tradition that can help us work with and through the suffering that arises from racism. This service offers an introduction to the book Mindful of Race by Ruth King. RJOT will lead a study of this book … Continue reading Mindful of Race
Bring a small vessel of water (from a special place or from your own tap!) that we will pour into a shared container to celebrate our coming together in beloved community with the UU Water Ceremony. This interactive, all-ages service invites us into practices that remind us that we are all connected, and that those … Continue reading Practices of Interdependence: A Water Ceremony Worship
If we are committed to the rights of workers, we must also commit to dismantling white supremacy. This Labor Day weekend, Rev. Alison reminds us that race as we know it in the United States began in the late 1600s to allow the wealthy and powerful to extract free labor from racialized groups with the … Continue reading Labor Acknowledgement: The Construction of Race to Disrupt Working-Class Solidarity
As we approach the beginning of a new school year, Rev. Alison imagines a world where the needs of children are our top priority, and lifts up some of the beloved, faithful, prophetic voices that call us to put children at the center.
Can you imagine a world without punishment? Most of us have learned from an early age that punishment is essential, in parenting, in prisons, in geopolitics. Today, Rev. Alison will ask us to consider the possibility that we could build a healthy society that cared more about harm reduction than about punishment. Led by the … Continue reading Let Go The Need To Punish: Universalism, Abolition & Disarming the Warden Within
Rev. Alison returns to the pulpit with a reminder that Great Goddess has always been present within Judaism, Christianity, & even Unitarian Universalism. While at times She has been explicitly condemned, some practices of devotion to Her have also been normalized and even embraced. Our present-day UU value of Pluralism allows us to explore the … Continue reading Shekhinah, Sophia, Mother God: The Divine Feminine in Our Judeo-Christian History
On this Faith Formation Sunday, we’ll share in the rituals that tell the stories of our growing community, including a Child Dedication and a Bridging Ceremony for a youth who was dedicated as a child and has now entered adulthood! We’ll also explore the role of the Storyteller in shaping our understanding of what is … Continue reading Storying Our Lives: Faith Formation Sunday
On the longest days of the year, what in your life is ripening as our piece of this tilted, turning planet draws near to the sun’s abundant energy? Rev. Alison will share elements of the Covenant of UU Pagans Summer Solstice ritual she attended at her first Unitarian Universalist General Assembly as we honor the … Continue reading The Ripening Season: A Summer Solstice Worship
