Author Archives: KGJ

Pivoting the Sweet Spot: The Future of The Unitarian Society

Posted on November 23, 2019 by KGJ

delivered at the Rededication event at The Unitarian Society November 23, 2019 Theologian Frederick Buechner once wrote: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” It’s like the Venn … Continue reading →

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Healing the Heart of Democracy (sermon)

Posted on November 10, 2019 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick November 10, 2019 What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb? What if our America is not dead but a country still waiting to be born? … Continue reading →

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Race & Power: Then & Now (sermon)

Posted on October 28, 2019 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ October 27, 2019 Fisticuffs.[i] Violent shoving. Spitting in the face. Name calling. In June, I preached on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, what is commonly understood as the start of the gay … Continue reading →

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This is Not a Drill: A Global Call to Strike for the Climate (sermon)

Posted on September 15, 2019 by KGJ

September 15, 2019 The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ Reverend Karen G. Johnston We refuse to bequeath a dying planet to future generations by failing to act now. We act in peace, with ferocious love of these lands in our … Continue reading →

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Each a Part of the Beautiful Whole (sermon)

Posted on September 8, 2019 by KGJ

Water Ingathering 2019 September 8, 2019 The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ All of us need all of us to make it. These are words from Reverend Theresa Ines Soto, the Senior Minister at First Unitarian in Oakland California. All … Continue reading →

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Lucky Pocket & Love Match

Posted on September 8, 2019 by KGJ

Have you ever had the experience of putting on your winter coat for the first time since last season and finding money in the pocket?  Or heard a story about someone buying something at a thrift store and finding money … Continue reading →

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Doom & Bloom: Reflections on Climate Grief

Posted on August 12, 2019 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ August 11, 2019 Perhaps you know in your body.  Perhaps you know in your head.  Perhaps you know in what Buddhists call your heartmind, that deep place of coherence beyond the binary, beyond the … Continue reading →

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On Not Waiting to Be the Hummingbird (redux)

Posted on July 15, 2019 by KGJ

The Life and Death of Lee Hawkins First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque July 14, 2019 A quarter century ago, I asked the coordinator of my grandmother’s hospice care, how my grandmother was doing – not medically, but spiritually.  She said … Continue reading →

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All Good Intentions: A Sermon on White Fragility

Posted on May 6, 2019 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society East Brunswick, NJ May 5, 2019 Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout is the Director of Music and Worship at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor.  A Black, gay man, he wrote, not all that long ago, … Continue reading →

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I Want You to Panic: An Earth Day Sermon

Posted on April 22, 2019 by KGJ

When it comes to climate change, climate changeD, climate chaos, climate constriction, climate collapse…whatever you call it — preaching hope is not a straight-forward thing. Continue reading →

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