Recent Sermons
Listen to Recent Sermons
A Beginner's Mind
Date: May 31, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Bob Johansen
Length: 14:36
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.” So writes Shunryu Suzuki in his classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. What would it be like to approach life with a beginner’s mind, the clear-eyed wonder of a child? UUCB member Rev. Bob Johansen, who leads the Wednesday morning mindfulness meditation group, shares wisdom from the Buddhist tradition and from personal experience on embracing the world with openness and curiosity.
Loving Growth and Renewal
Date: May 24, 2026
Speaker: Thean Hart, Chaplaincy Institute of Maine student
Length: 11:56
Thean Hart and Cayla Miller are Belfast locals who are students at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME). In this service, they explored growth, renewal, radical relationality, and deepening relationship with others and ourselves.
A Reflection on Who We Are
Date: May 17, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Amy McCormick
Length: 10:31
Rev. Amy reflects on the many aspects of our members and of our congregation: "In this place, this congregation and community we are a part of something larger than a gathering of individuals. If the village is alive and well, we are part of and participating in a web of mutual care, a place where people are known, held, challenged, and changed in relationship."
In such a village, with so many roles, where individuals may move between them or occupy more than one at any given time, it is all of our work to remember that we play a vital role in our mission to love boldly, foster belonging, nurture the evolving spirit, and act justly.
- Also this was New Member Sunday and we welcomed one dozen folks into the official ranks of membership at UUCB.
The Circle of Nurturing
Date: May 10, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Jacquie Robb
Length: 3:54
The “We” We Choose to Be
Date: May 3, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Jodi Hayashida
Length: 18:07
We are so fortunate to have Rev. Dr. Jodi Hayashida lead worship today! Drawing from her years of experience as a powerful and deeply caring justice-oriented minister, today she invites us to reflect on this moment in our state and country, and draw inspiration, courage, and strength by choosing to act for justice.
Firmly rooted in the call to work towards the creation of a community of fierce hope and radical love, UU minister Rev. Dr. Jodi Cohen Hayashida (she/her) served as the settled minister in Auburn, Maine for more than 20 years before moving into a justice-based community ministry in 2023. She now develops and organizes Multifaith Justice Maine under the auspices of the Maine People’s Alliance.
Join us after the service at 11:30am for a workshop on “Countering Christian Nationalism”
Faithful Resistance: authoritarianism, white Christian nationalism, and our collective power to resist. White Christian nationalism is a primary support and moral justification for the authoritarianism that has taken root in the US government. And yet, there are more people of faith who stand in opposition to the Christian nationalist political and social agenda than there are who support it. Join us as we explore the call and practice of faithful resistance in this moment of great need.
Possibilities in the Dark
Date: April 26, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Amy McCormick
Length: 14:22
This service is inspired by a poem by Gregory Orr called, “A Dark so Deep”. His personal story has moments of utter devastation and loss. He is no stranger to depression, shame, and grief of the most tender type. Many of us know what it is to live in that kind of darkness, and the world itself can mirror that despair. In the hardest moments, when the light feels the furthest away … what possibilities await us there?
The Transcendentalists and the Trees
Date: April 19, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Amy McCormick & the Climate Action Team
Length: 13:53
In this Earth Day service, Rev. Amy and the Climate Action Team (CAT) bring to you the beauty and wonder of being a part of this world. We’ll explore the way our Transcendentalist UU ancestors found meaning, awe, and profound spiritual awakening in relationship to nature, through direct experience of the earth we love and maybe, to the trees we need to survive most of all.
Do You Believe in Miracles?
Date: April 12, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Jacquie Robb
Length: 13:08
Easter: We Get to Tell the Story
Date: April 5, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Amy McCormick
Length: 17:41
Who Gets to Tell the Story? Part One
Date: March 29, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Amy McCormick
Length: 12:00
On this Palm Sunday, we’ll explore together the stories and interpretations of Jesus of Nazareth’s final weeks. How do different scholars and theologians describe the events and subsequent meaning of these days. In a time when Christianity seems to be so often in conflict with itself, with over 40,000 different branches, who gets to tell the story? What lesson is there for us in this present day?