72425 Via Vail
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
760-321-0694
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank
The world offers us each beauty and possibility if we just look. Join us as we celebrate the beautiful diversity of the world in a return of our Flower Communion. Bring some flowers to share. Our annual congregational meeting follows this week’s service.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Denise Janssen Eager
The world around us, the world we are an integral part of, is changing in drastic and dangerous ways. Where can we find hope? Where can we build hope? Might science and science fiction show us a way? Might there be a spiritual path to hope?
Worship Leader: Peter Mathews
Worship Associate: Joni Padduck
The connotation of the very word “reality" can turn us away. But, in all religions and prophetic thought, reality is a window into an emotional state of inner peace. Christians call it heaven. Buddhists call it nirvana. Reality is truth, and the truth does indeed set us free. And this freedom is available even in the most horrific of times.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate:
Ginger Hemingway
Where can we find richness in life that has nothing to do with money and possessions? What might it mean to be rich in spirit? Join us as we explore developing a deeper and more transformative life of the spirit.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff
Join us as we celebrate the volunteers that help our community grow and thrive. We’ll also welcome new members to the congregation and celebrate the arrival of new life!
Worship Leader: Lauren N. Nile
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum
The concept of equity is as crucial today to our American society, to the world, and to our future, as it ever has been. But what is equity? Why is equity so critical to both our future as a nation, and as a species? What risks does continued inequity in economics, education and other important areas pose to our future? What are the unimaginable results of a world in which equity is valued and practiced? What are we, as moral, ethical people, called to do in humanity’s maturation toward greater global equity?
Worship Leader: Michael Mullins
Worship Associate: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Join us as we welcome Michael Mullins, Deacon in Training at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert. Michael is leading the creation of Laundry Love here in the valley, offering people offering people in need access to laundry services. Join us as Michael shares his story and the grounding of this needed work.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank
Join us as Rev. Ian explores the ideas of two theologians: one an 11th century Sufi and one a 20th century Unitarian. What might these two thinkers separated by time and culture share with us about doing good in the world?
Worship Leaders: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate:
Bryna Blum
The value we’re focusing on this month is Equity. How can we continue to expand our practice of radical inclusion and joyous welcome.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff
Sometimes we respond to the challenge of a new way of doing things with unconscious assumptions about how we are already acting in the world. How can the conversations about automobiles, marijuana, and other issues help us be more curious and imaginative?
Worship Leader: Jonathan Fast, PhD
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum
Dr. Fast will talk about building community, and shame, the unspoken emotion that can ruin a life or rend a nation in two. He will talk about a recent personal shaming experience (regarding his writing) and how he dealt with it.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate:
Ginger Hemingway
Researcher Brené Brown shares a message of the power of vulnerability and curiosity in our lives and our relationships. Join us as we explore openheartedness together.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Ginger Hemingway
Join us as we explore the ways that taking care of each other—as citizens, as neighbors, as members of a beloved community—nurtures justice alongside heath and well-being.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff
A just democracy depends on protecting the right of all citizens to have a voice in the governance of our society. The ACT strives to assure these rights for all. How do our UU values call us to champion citizens’ right to vote and have a say in shaping our nation?
Worship Leaders: Rev. Barbara Fast
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum
Interdependence with the natural world sustains and challenges us. It is a fundamental value of our faith. We will explore the spiritual and practical aspects, as we dedicate and celebrate our new Desert Canyon Habitat. Guest speakers will help us understand how we can help our fellow creatures.
Come early! We expect a large number of visitors. Please park on the street if you are able. Following the service and dedication, many local conservation groups will join an Exhibitor Fair on the Labyrinth, and Native Plants will be available for sale.
Guest Speaker: Nikko Beltran
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum
Compassion & Choices fights for the rights of people at the end of their life and pushes back against those who seek to strip those rights away. There's much to learn.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Denise Janssen Eager
The nights are getting longer, and we light lights to see each other and to remind ourselves of joy and hope. Today we’ll explore how Hanukkah and the Solstice and other festivals of light help us see our collective humanity and possibility.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff
From ancient days we humans have known that love is crucial for our survival. And so we have told stories and explored patterns to figure out how love’s many faces can tell us who we are. Join us as we those ancient and modern faces.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Joni Padduck
Oliver Burkeman wrote, “The core challenge of managing our limited time isn’t about how to get everything done—that’s never going to happen—but how to decide most wisely what not to do, and how to feel at peace about not doing it.” Join us as we explore the choice to find rest and restoration in the face of the world’s demands and the call of the coming season.
Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Denise Janssen Eager. As we prepare ourselves for gathering around a table in thanks, what is in our minds and hearts. Who do we carry with us as we feast and offer gratitude?