Speaker: Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Creating Home

October 27, 2019 9am Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Scott Taylor writes “Just saying the word ‘belonging’ conjures it up: The hunger to be included; the longing to be let in. […] It’s the hoped for Holy Grail at the end of our journeys…. Or is it just the beginning?” Congregational life is a place to belong, to feel at home, to know you’re … Continue reading Creating Home

Who are we? “Whose” are we?

October 20, 2019 9am and 11am Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

From the time we are born we are defining who we are – I like sushi, but not broccoli. I prefer tennis to ice hockey. I want to go into politics or absolutely not. And from the time we are born our identity impacts “whose” we are – I’m a girl/boyscout and here is my troop, I’m a sports fan like the rest of my family, I’m a Republican/Democrat/Independent just like (or not like) the rest of my neighborhood. How does our identity – the one we create or the one we are given, shape our sense of where we belong? How might we expand our feeling of being at home in the world?

On Emergence: The Power of the Pause

8 April 2018 9 am and 11 am Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

The Power of the Pause By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church April 10, 2018 First Reading I Remember Galileo by Gerald Stern – For online: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/gerald_stern/poems/18057 Second Reading I Go Among Trees by Wendell Berry – For online: http://www.stevenkharper.com/igoamongtrees.html Sermon: I feel for that little squirrel. Darting out from under the wheels of that … Continue reading On Emergence: The Power of the Pause

Giving Up and Starting Over

11 February 2018 9am and 11am Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Giving Up and Starting Over By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church February 11, 2018 First Reading by Wendell Berry There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say “It is yet more … Continue reading Giving Up and Starting Over

Perseverance: Walking the Road of Grit and Grace

4 February, 2018 at 9am Debra Zagaeski DRE, Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Perseverance is: persistence, sweat, effort, hard work. And it is also grit and grace. Perseverance is a word full of energy and longing, full of desire to create something great and important. What grit might you need, and what grace might you find, on your journey of perseverance? Let’s explore this question in this … Continue reading Perseverance: Walking the Road of Grit and Grace

Where do we go from here? Freeing ourselves from the legacy of the past

April 30, 2017 at 9:00 AM Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Where do we go from here? Freeing ourselves from the legacy of the past By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church May 1, 2017 Listen to the full sermon here: Welcome & Announcements I don’t know how many of you are aware but Peter Morales, the president of our Unitarian Universalist Association, … Continue reading Where do we go from here? Freeing ourselves from the legacy of the past

Easter: New Life, New Hope

April 16, 2017 at 9:00 AM Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Click below to listen to the Easter Service.

Gaining Freedom – A Sermon for Passover

April 2, 2017 at 9:00 AM Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Gaining Freedom – A Sermon for Passover By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church April 19, 2017 First Reading When the escape from Egypt was certain, when the last furious wave had closed over their enemies’ heads and the dangerous waters lay smooth again, when the Israelites could finally turn toward the future without fear … Continue reading Gaining Freedom – A Sermon for Passover

The Big Questions

March 26, 2017 at 9:00 AM Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

On Curiosity: The Big Questions By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church March 26, 2017 —— First Reading By Bertrand Russell It is the things for which there is no evidence that are believed with passion. Nobody feels any passion about the multiplication tables or about the existence of Cape Horn, because these matters … Continue reading The Big Questions

Curiosity and the “Third Story”

March 12, 2017 at 9:00 AM Rev. Ellen Quaadgras

Curiosity and the Third Story By Rev. Ellen Quaadgras Westminster Unitarian Church March 12, 2017 First Reading By Rev. Christine Robinson “Our tolerance of diversity is not just the sort that “suffers fools gladly,” you see, it is the sort of tolerance which believes that truth emerges best when people share their different versions … Continue reading Curiosity and the “Third Story”