firstubaltimore

“Black History is Our History”

Rev. David Carl Olson

In February 1916, Dr. Carter G. Woodson led a small group of African American Historians to honor the birthdates of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln by celebrating Negro History Week. Over time, Woodson’s vision grew to the month-long celebrations of African American and Black history that we now recognize. In this story is the story of the engagement of Unitarians and Univ...

January 29, 2017

The struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux to protect the Missouri River is not a new struggle. Indigenous people throughout the world have had to fight to protect their sacred land and waters. Our liberal faith calls us to join in this effort, but how? What are we to do? Today, our Intern Minister will share what she learned as a participant in the “Guardians of the River” program in Nicaragua, sponsored by the UU Co...

January 22, 2017

We live in an era of uncertainty and fear. Truth has become negotiable. How do we adjust and thrive in the midst of radical changes? A sermon by a member of our young adult community and religious education ministry, a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School, and a recent organizer in Ohio for United Against Hate, a project of MoveOn.Org. Mr. Brown will analyze the history of exceptionalism through a relig...

January 8, 2017

Unitarian minister A. Powell Davies wrote of prayer being “the language of the heart.” Reflections on the purposes and powers of prayer from a hospital chaplain and UU humanist minister.

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets in downtown Baltimore.  Services are held every Sunday at 11 a.m. During the summer, weekly worship services are held in the Enoch Prat...

January 1, 2017

We gather on the first day of the new year simply to be and to breathe. To be one community with each other. To breathe in the peace that sustains us our spirits in times of change. To breathe out love to a world that needs it. And while we’re breathing, we will sing favorite songs, and enact the ritual of the burning bowl.

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Franklin Stre...

December 18, 2016

December 25, 1939, England was at war, and the overall mood was one of fear and anxiety. In his Christmas radio broadcast, King George VI overcame his stutter to read a poem that asked the listener not to search for a light, but to go out into the darkness, to tread “gladly into the night.” Now, in this time of fear and anxiety, made worse by our own personal trials and losses, how can we learn to stop searching f...

December 4, 2016

Winterfest Committee

An exploration around winter themes, including winter’s universal features, and the diverse spiritualities of a pluralist community like ours. Drumming and processionals, songs and storytelling, and the special inclusion of the perspectives of African American members and friends.

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets in downtown Baltim...

November 13, 2016

The Unitarian Universalist Caucus at the Movement for Black Lives Convening began to develop a new set of guidelines for our faith, the Seven Principles of Black Lives. These principles mirror and magnify the principles of our Association, and begin with the First Principle: “All Black Lives Matter.” Hope grows in a community where all lives are valued, where all participants create a sacred space together, where ...

November 6, 2016

Unitarian Universalist congregations promote the use of the democratic process in our congregation and in the wider world. We promote the right of conscience and we imagine that, even in areas where we do not have a singular opinion, still we can create ways that the majority may rule, with protections for those holding minority opinions. In the season of national, state and municipal elections, we give ourselves a...

October 16, 2016

A controversy was brewing in New England in the years after the establishment of our country. Some called it a political controversy about who would be in charge. Others called it a theological controversy about the nature of God. But Rev. Olson imagines that it might have been about goodness—how good humans are, to start, and how we get better by the building of character. Our church was born out of this controver...

September 25, 2016

Our Universalist Miracle Story: Rev. John Murray meets Thomas Potter On the 246th anniversary of John Murray’s arrival in New Jersey  and the first universalist sermon preached in America, and with help from some of our younger students of our religious heritage, we’ll look at “Universalist love.” The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets in downtown...

September 18,2016

What makes your heart sing? Religious communities with a transforming mission have an abundance of resources to accomplish that mission.  Congregations for which committed community is lacking operate from scarcity. Which future will we choose?

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Fr...

August 27, 2016

At her death, the Baltimore Sun noted, “Perhaps no phase of her life better exemplified her vitality and intellectual independence than the mental discomfort she succeeded in arousing, between her ninetieth birthdays, among  . . . conservatively minded Baltimoreans.” A story of Rev. Olympia Brown, a member of our predecessor con...

July 24, 2016

Just as the world today is experiencing a massive die-off of its plant and animal species, and an alarming reduction in biological diversity, we are living in a time of cultural and linguistic die-off. How are we, as Unitarian Universalists, called to defend and promote linguistic and cultural diversity?

The First Unitarian Churc...

July 10, 2016

One of the key concepts of yogic philosophy is asteya, or nonstealing. As a faith that borrows from many traditions and cultures, how can we avoid cultural appropriation? In this worship service, we will practice asteya by incorporating readings and music from many different cultures, in a mindful and respectful way.

 

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimor...

July 3, 2016

On this Independence Day weekend, we remember those who have been forced to flee their homes in search of a place where they can be safe, well, and free. We also recognize all the families that are separated by walls, and we consider our own role in welcoming the stranger.

 

 The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Fra...

June 12, 2016

 

A welcoming congregation like ours hopes to become a diverse people by recognizing the gifts and interests of many people. Simply including more people, changes who we are. But including people requires either that new people assimilate into our congregational culture, or we begin to practice a culture that has the means to be transformed by the integration of new interests, varied gifts, and people whose cultures a...

June 5, 2016

A celebration of the season of flowering: In a tradition established by Unitarian leaders Maya and Norbert Capek of Prague, each person is asked to bring a flower to share in an arrangement that will be made by children, youth, and adults in our Religious Education program. We bless the flowers, and then welcome over a dozen new members of our congregation.  The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at t...

May 29, 2016

Our Interim Director of Religious Education shares his thoughts about his experience in our community this year, and thoughts about how change happens in complex systems.

 

 The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore is located at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets in downtown Baltimore.  Services are held every Sunday at 11 a.m. During the summer, weekly worship services are held in the Enoch Pratt Parish Hall a...