Category Archives: Unitarian Universalism

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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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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A Lamentation for Violence (in Two Voices)

Posted on October 29, 2018 by KGJ

October 28, 2018 Spirit of Life and Love, Possibility of Mercy and Peace, Impulse towards Compassion, Yearning for Comfort in times of Fear, our hearts echo these words from the poet Warsan Shire: We lament the very fact of this … Continue reading →

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Seeking Safety in an Unsafe World (sermon)

Posted on October 29, 2018 by KGJ

October 28, 2018 The Unitarian Society   East Brunswick, NJ   Here is what I have been learning as we face the new normal of increased violence in our midst. First: Of the emergencies that happen at houses of worship – … Continue reading →

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No Hell Below Us: A Sermon for John Murray Day 2018 (sermon)

Posted on October 1, 2018 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society East Brunswick September 30, 2018   (This sermon was preceded by the poem, Monet Refuses the Operation.)     Are there Star Wars fans in the house?   Can I get a sense with a show of hands: … Continue reading →

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What We Lost Fifty Years Ago: Dr. King (sermon)

Posted on March 26, 2018 by KGJ

(A heads up: last Sunday, when I was not here, I was actually attending the 9am service at First Baptist of Lincoln Gardens, in Somerset.  If you are not familiar with First Baptist, it is a Black Baptist church with … Continue reading →

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Failure is Our Only Option (sermon)

Posted on March 11, 2018 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society East Brunswick, NJ March 11, 2018 In the 1960s, the Unilever corporation, in their quest to make and sell laundry detergent, encountered a problem. Now, remember, this is more than fifty years ago, so the ubiquitous form … Continue reading →

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