Sermon delivered by Intern Minister Kellie Kelly on October 23, 2016. Anger cannot be buried -- it must be healed. Yet, this simple truth is hard to achieve. In order to heal our anger, we must practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and the world.

The theme for October is what it means to be a healing community. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on October 16, 2016. Rev. Taylor reflects on what it means to be a healing community, both as a congregation and joining with others who share our commitments.

The theme for October is what it means to be a healing community. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on October 9, 2016. Rev. Taylor explores the healing wisdom of the Jewish High Holy Days and the role of forgiveness in the spiritual life. 

The theme for October is what it means to be a healing community. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Minister of Faith Development Rev. Emily Gage on October 2, 2016. Emily doesn't think it’s an overstatement to say that in some ways, we have fallen into divisions so deep that we don’t even know how to engage in conversation. We’re so busy thinking of people in particular categories as “other” that we can’t hear their stories or truths or experiences. All that does is create more potential for fear and hatred and less and less possibility for kindness. Less for a world and people that desperately need healing.

The theme for October is what it means to be a healing community. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on September 25, 2016. The sermon is preceded by a reading given by Membership Director Tina Lewis. Creating healthy beloved community takes a lot of work. There is much to learn from the ministry and leadership of Thomas Starr King, a 19th century preacher who held together not only congregations struggling with abolition but also the nation.

The theme for September is what it means to be a community of covenant. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on September 18, 2016. What binds us together as a community? There’s a lot to criticize about the early Puritans. But their notion of covenant has been at the heart of who we are as a faith community and, for many, as Americans.

The theme for September is what it means to be a community of covenant. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Senior Minister Rev. Alan Taylor on September 11, 2016. This was homecoming Sunday and the beginning of the 2016-2017 church year. What does it mean to live in covenant with others? This is a fun and poignant response by Rev. Alan Taylor as he addresses a worship for all ages.

The theme for September is what it means to be a community of covenant. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Heather Godbout on September 4, 2016. Heather has been an educator in public schools for 23 years. She spent the first two decades of her career teaching special education and currently serves as the literacy coach at an elementary school in one of Chicago's south suburbs. Ms. Godbout has also been involved in Unitarian Universalist youth ministry since 1997, currently serving as the youth coordinator for this congregation. She and her wife Amanda and daughter Briana have been members at Unity Temple since 2007.

The theme for September is what it means to be a community of covenant. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Tony Mitchell on August 28, 2016. An Oak Park resident and Chicago area native, Tony joined Unity Temple in the spring of 2015. He currently is enrolled in the Masters of Divinity program at Meadville Lombard Theological School, where Tony is in formation to become a Unitarian Universalist Minister. A Soul Connections leader in the congregation, he plans to become a Unity Temple intern in the fall of 2017. Tony graduated from Yale University and has been a communications and public relations leader for much of his career. He currently serves as Vice President of Communications for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs – an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight and influences the public discourse on critical global issues.

Tony has long been active in community advocacy and action – particularly as it affects the African American community. He serves on the boards of Housing Forward, an organization comprehensively addressing homelessness on Chicago’s West Side and in western Cook County, and Rush Oak Park Hospital. He will begin the Clinical Pastoral Education phase of his seminary work this fall by providing chaplain services in support of The Night Ministry – a Chicago-based organization that works to provide housing, health care and human connection to members of our community struggling with poverty or homelessness.

The theme for August is how to take a path of growth. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.

Sermon delivered by Kellie C. Kelly on August 21, 2016. Kellie is a student at Meadville Lombard Theological School, steering committee chairperson of UU Class Conversations, and Unity Temple's incoming ministerial intern. Before seminary, she built a career in the staffing industry as a sales manager and technical recruiter. Kellie’s call to ministry began when she worked as a U.S. Navy family ombudsman and deepened during her time as a director of faith development.

Kellie is from a white working-poor family of restaurant workers. As a third-generation single mother, she became the first person in her family to attend college, completing her undergraduate degree at the age of 41. Kellie also is an “out” mental health advocate, trying to reduce the stigma of mental illness. Kellie feels a strong commitment to work with and for the people society pushes to the margins, whether based on the color of their skin, their class, or their perceived disabilities. Kellie can be reached at kkelly@uuma.org.

The theme for August is how to take a path of growth. To read about our theme-based ministry, please visit http://www.unitytemple.org/faith-development/soul-connections on our website.