Recent Services
"Starting With Me"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
3/9/2025
The spiritual life is often described as a journey. It’s not the destination, we say, but the journey. But journeys have beginnings, too. We start from somewhere. And every pause we take along the path defines a new starting place: maybe still on the right track or maybe having wandered far afield. The season of Lent in the Christian tradition is about making a clear confession of where we are before we take a further step.
"Free to Be: Keeping Faith in Challenging Times'"
Lay-Led
3/2/2025
After thousands of people around L.A. had lost their homes in fires, and a new authoritarian POTUS with plans for revenge had been inaugurated, someone posted on Facebook that they’d tried the 2-week free trial subscription to 2025 and wanted to cancel it. Funny, but sad as well — and things haven’t gotten any better. How do we "keep hope alive” during times like this? How do we protect ourselves from despair?
"If They Say 'No'"
Reverend Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/23/2025
Universalism affirms that all creation is one. Ultimately, we will be together. But before we reach that goal, what responsibility do we have to hold on to those who would block our path or do us harm? When our invitation to love is refused, we must concede that for this stage of the journey some will walk separate paths.
"My Spiritual Journey"
Lay-Led
2/16/2025
Four new members of UUCSC will share their spiritual journeys with the congregation. Each person has a unique and often complex story to tell of how they traveled emotionally and spiritually from their birth religion to Unitarian Universalism.
"Flawed Leaders for Flawed People"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/9/2025
Because leaders are human, they make mistakes. If the leader is a king or a tyrant, the people must simply suffer the leader's mistakes. But in a democracy, like the United States or a Unitarian Universalist Church, leaders are our leaders, and it is our privilege and responsibility to hold them accountable.
"An Optimistic Faith"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
2/2/2025
Because we are free, the future is open. Because the future is open, there are no certainties, either of glory or of doom. Uncertainty makes space for doubt but also optimism. Unitarian Universalism is characterized by a sense that our future will be better, because we can make it so.
"Courage, Friends"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
1/26/2025
Courage, or fortitude, is one of the four cardinal virtues. Allied with wisdom, temperance, and justice, the ability to endure hardship without faltering and to move toward the good and best without fear, encompasses all the other qualities that define the highest path of living.
"The Ability to Achieve Purpose"
Rev. Rick Hoyt-McDaniels
1/19/2025
The power to direct our lives and achieve our goals is essential to spiritual health. Where can we find our power? The life and work of Martin Luther King provide three answers. Natural gifts give power when matched to appropriate work. Faith gives power when we align our lives with divine aims. Righteous causes give power when inspiring dreams call us to action.