Sermon delivered by Minister of Faith Development Rev. Emily Gage on August 26, 2012. The service included a ceremony affirming the ordination of former Ministerial Intern Rev. Scott Aaseng.
Sermon delivered by Rev. Danny Spears on August 19, 2012. Danny was raised in the Apostolic Oneness (Pentacostal) tradition. He left the Pentacostal church after openly accepting his homosexuality at age 18. Danny took a "leave of absence" from church life and religion in general until he discovered Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in the early 1980s. He was ordained as an MCC minister in November 2001, and has served two congregations: MCC od Corpus Christi, Texas from December 2001 until July 2007; and Holy Covenant MCC in Brookfield, Illinois since July 2007.
Danny's spiritual journey has led him to embrace Unitarian Universalism, and he now holds dual memberships at Holy Covenant and the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. He is also an Aspirant in the UUA ministerial credentialing process. He holds both the Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity degrees from Austin Presbyterian Theological Semninary in Austin, Texas. He is married to Richard Lofstrand and resides in Brookfield where they share their home with their three cats, Powder, Tony and Cleo.
Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on August 12, 2012.
This service was presented by Laura Miller and Nicholas Cable on August 5, 2012. Laura Miller is a recent graduate of Oak Park-River Forest High School and will be attending Willamette University in Portland, Oregon this fall to study visual art and psychology. Nic Cable is a life-long UU who just completed his first year in the Master of Divinity program at Chicago Theological Seminary. He has been thoroughly involved in the work of this tradition for several years and feels blessed to bring this award winning sermon to the UTUUC congregation. Nic is most patient about building religious pluralism and working towards creating mutually beneficial relationships between religious communities. He was raised in Milwaukee and grew up attending Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield, Wisconsin.