Upcoming Services
Sunday Services
We use the word “worship,” to refer to the ancient root of this word, which means: “acknowledgement of that which is worthy.” So, what is worthy of our attention? What values should be held up as primary? Each UU congregation has to decide this for itself, week after week, by asking: “What is it that we, uniquely, can and must do, in this time and place, to best use the gifts and resources that we have been given?”
The purpose of our gatherings on Sunday mornings is to reflect on our successes and challenges in living according to our principles, to gain strength from our growing relationships, and to renew our commitments.
Sunday services begin at 10:30 am and last a little more than an hour. Afterward we gather for coffee and conversation. Please dress however you feel comfortable. If you’re visiting BUF for the first time, here’s what to expect. Recordings of past services are available on our YouTube channel.
Taizé Services
On the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm we offer a Taizé service in the sanctuary, co-led by Carrie Koehnline and Steffany Raynes. Taizé offers an opportunity for quiet reflection in the midst of our busy lives. It is a service of candlelight, simple music sung in a chant-like manner, readings and silence. Sensitively accompanied on the piano by Leah Bruno, we will hear Taizé melodies, beautiful yet powerful in their simplicity. To inspire reflection during this intimate one-hour oasis of calm, readings are offered from carefully selected writings on a particular theme each month. Following a time for silent meditation, there is an invitation to light candles as prayers for peace, healing, or for whatever is on your mind or in your heart.
Sunday Service - Remembering, Honoring, and Carrying Legacies
Rev. Marsha Vollkommer, worship leader; Lucy Kesterson and Steffany Raynes, celebrants
Sunday, May 24, is a part of the Memorial Day Weekend. We will once again honor the memory of George Floyd after the service in Fouts Neighborhood Park. The Rev. Marsha Vollkommer will honor the memory of Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal Seminarian and civil rights worker who was martyred in 1965 while shielding Ruby Sales in a racist attack. Remembering those whose lives were taken – and thinking about how we, the living, can carry their legacy will be the focus of our morning at BUF.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Celebration of Rev. Sunny Joy’s Ordination & Our Shared Commitment to Ministry
Rev. Tessie Mandeville, Rev. Dr. Barbara Wells ten Hove, & Rev. Sunny Joy McMillan, worship leaders
Musicians: Ian Pelot, Beth Beyers, and a musical ensemble
Everyone is invited to join us for this special service where we’ll celebrate Rev. Sunny Joy’s ordination, thank all those who helped us get to this point in time, and honor our shared commitment to ministry. Please plan to stay after the service for a potluck meal followed by our annual congregational meeting. It’s an exciting Sunday you won’t want to miss if you can help it!
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Perspectives on Change
Tom Nicholas, celebrant, and BUF guest speakers
Change, as they say, is the one thing in life you can count on. In this service, Tom Nicholas, Ally Wright, Michael Berres, Leslie DeBrock and Henry Ohana will share their perspectives on change and ways they have found to deal with it in their lives. We will also look at change through a social justice lens—as something that we as Unitarian Universalists try to create, using our six values (with love in the center) as a guide.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Shaker Inspiration
Rev. Sunny McMillan, worship leader, and Carrie Koehnline, celebrant
Margaret Fuller is counted among our Unitarian ancestors. Highly educated and a member of the American Transcendentalist group of the mid-nineteenth century, she was an author, editor and teacher. In contrast, Ann Lee was born into poverty in an English factory city in the mid-eighteenth century. Though she was working class and uneducated, she would go on to become a prophetic preacher who started the norm-defying Shaker religious movement. Despite these differences in background and faith, Fuller and Lee nevertheless shared several important similarities, not the least of which involved challenging the existing order. On This Mother’s Day, we will lift up the stories of these two revolutionary women, discovering that although our UU theology may be different than Lee’s, there is still much in this current moment we can draw from her inspiring legacy.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Repair of the Human Spirit through Care
Rev. Sunny McMillan, worship leader, and Su Livingston, celebrant
Zen priest, author, and activist, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, has said, "We cannot have a healed society, we cannot have change, we cannot have justice, if we do not reclaim and repair the human spirit." Today, we will explore repair of the human spirit through care--including spiritual care--and the importance of asking for care when we need it.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Earth Takes Care
Rev. Sunny McMillan, worship leader; Steffany Raynes and Eleanor Burke, celebrants
Join us for a service to honor and praise our Earth. We will have a ritual to make space for the grief many of us are carrying due to climate devastation and species extinction, and to celebrate that Earth loves us and takes care of us.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Belonging: More Than a Name in "The Book"
Rev. Sunny McMillan, worship leader & Tom Nicholas & Lucy Kesterson, celebrants
In its 2001 report on Belonging: The Meaning of Membership, the UUA writes that membership "is about how we help the people who come to Unitarian Universalism live out their faith within our congregations, and how the congregations assist them in this endeavor." Today, as we celebrate and welcome six new members to BUF in a New Member Ceremony, we also will explore how we create a community of belonging and faith that is so much more than a list of names in a membership book.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Speaking Truth With Courage
Rev. Barbara Gilday, worship leader & Su Livingston, celebrant
Spring should be a joyful time of hope and new beginnings, a time when the sun comes back and love blooms. But in this year of darkness in our country, we are awash instead, with shock, fear, anxiety, shame, and compassion fatigue. What historical movements can give us hope once again? And what can we do—big things and small things—working together with a common purpose to put love at the center of our communities and country and restore relationships with other countries around the world?
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Easter
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Longings That Led Us Here
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service - Universalism
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Sunday Service
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Love at the Center
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
The Spiritual Strength of Doubt
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF
Stewardship Sunday
Join us in the sanctuary on Sunday morning as we gather, sing together, and reflect on what is most important in our lives.
Joining on Zoom? Passcode: BUF