A collection of sermons and homilies from Rev. Katie Stein Sather and guest speakers at Beacon Unitarian Church, Coquitlam, B.C., Canada http://www.beaconunitarian.org/ That is the Canadian Unitarian Council, the association Canadian Unitarians congregations belong to. Whither go they (or is it us)? Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_cuc_who.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_cuc_who.mp3 Who doesn't mark their marriage, their child's birth, their loved one's death with a ceremony, a party, or a celebration of life? At today's service the Lay Chaplaincy Committee will describe other rites of passage that are important to mark: a coming-out moment; sobriety; becoming a teenager; getting or retiring one's driver's licence; an adoption; a first or last job; ending a relationship; first time voter and many more. The lay chaplains will describe their roles as cocreators of rites-of-passage services and invite you to think about what rite-of-passage you might like to honour with your family and friends. Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/lay_chaplains_passages_of_our_lives.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/lay_chaplains_passages_of_our_lives.mp3 Easter is the time for hope. Bring your blooms for our Flower Ceremony celebrating our diversity. The traditional Easter message of hope is one we Unitarians need too. Sun, 4 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_hope_springs_eternal.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_hope_springs_eternal.mp3 Nelson Mandela, on being released from Robben Island said that the thing we, as human beings, most fear about ourselves is not our smallness but the vastness within. I fully agree that we have a far too limited sense of the astonishingly wondrous phenomenon we truly are. Martin Heidegger stated we as human beings are the Universe itself become self-aware and self-responsible. In the ongoing story of the cosmos our emergence as humane beings signals something marvellously hopeful and is what we need to hear, especially now. Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/bmitten_why_we_matter.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/bmitten_why_we_matter.mp3 Spring is cause enough for celebration; again we celebrate the seasons. Spring is a time of re-birth. What needs to be reborn for you? For Beacon? Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_earth_awakes_again.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_earth_awakes_again.mp3 Today we celebrate International Women's Day by hearing the stories of women of different generations. What has changed over the past several generations? What has not? Sun, 7 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/celebrating_strong_women.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/celebrating_strong_women.mp3 Some folks imagine divinity as feminine, particularly pagans. How does that change the way we feel and think about a god? We're beginning a short theme focused on women. Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_god_is_she.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_god_is_she.mp3 Like many others, I was raised as a devout Roman Catholic, left that faith when I was in my 20s, and have passed through several stages of religious/spiritual development since. Now in my late 60s, I am returning to a theistic outlook that is nonetheless quite different from the one I grew up with. I will share some of this journey with you this Sunday, and invite you to consider whether you are still on your own journey or have reached a place which you are content to call "home." Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/jslattery_my_journey_thus_far.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/jslattery_my_journey_thus_far.mp3 It's Valentine's Day, reminding us that we make promises to each other when we marry. Do you remember what you promised your beloved? What kind of promises do we make when we enter a covenantal community like this congregation? Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_this_i_promise.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_this_i_promise.mp3 We will celebrate the Jewish new year of the trees, Tu B'Shvat, and consider the reasons a Fair Trade movement was born. Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_by_their_fruits.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_by_their_fruits.mp3 In the ongoing Seasons Series, we will celebrate the dark, and the return of the light with a more earth-centered focus. Singing and dancing? Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_winter_solstice.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_winter_solstice.mp3 Beacon has a partner church in Transylvania, that rural part of Romania not far from where the Dracula story was set. What do we have in common with these subsistence farmers who practice a religion more like 19th century Christian Unitarianism? We are worlds apart in so many ways. Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_partners_in_religion.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_partners_in_religion.mp3 People affirm and live within religious traditions for what they believe are very good reasons. What brings and holds us together? Unitarians have a crucial role to play in today's world. Let's consider what they may be. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/sepperson_why_we_are_here.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/sepperson_why_we_are_here.mp3 How do we value the contributions of war veterans without glorifying war itself? Does working for peace negate the "ultimate sacrifice" of the soldier? Some reflections of a soldier's daughter. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_remembering_from_a_daughters_perspective.mp3 http://www.beaconunitarian.org/sermons/ksather_remembering_from_a_daughters_perspective.mp3