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Services start at 10:30 a.m.
Our services are also available live via Zoom. Please send a request to [email protected] for the link.
Feb. 2, 2025
Speaker – Chas Anderson
Biography:
Chas Anderson: son, brother, father, husband; Student, teacher, salesman, therapist, fundraiser, expeditor, organizer. Human being and probably a lifelong Unitarian without knowing it. And many more waypoints thru life.
Topic: Beyond Labels: Embracing the Complexity of Identity
Labels. We describe the world with labels. Not just our surroundings, but people. How do we describe ourselves? How do we describe others? How do other people describe us? From our earliest memories we’ve been in a descriptive world that was not always positive or kind. How was it received, handled or internalized? We’ve gathered many labels over our lifetime, but do they describe today’s person?
Feb. 9, 2025
Bill Payton
Biography:
Bill Payton grew up in Akron, Ohio and attended the University of Akron where he graduated with a degree in Banking and Finance. He spent forty years in the insurance industry in a career that took him to seven different cities and states. He retired from the University of Missouri in January of 2007 where he served as the Director of Risk & Insurance Management.
While attending a high school reunion in Akron he became reacquainted with a high school classmate, Mary Fran Raynault. Mary Fran was raised Universalist and was President of her UU congregation in Paramus, NJ. Bill and Mary Fran are now life companions and moved to Sarasota in December of 2010. He became both a UU and a member of Unitarian Church of Sarasota in January of 2011 and has been active on several committees. He is currently the President of the Board of Trustees. He has three children, seven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren, plays tennis, golf and bridge and loves attending Sunday services with the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota.
Topic: Finding Purpose
Bill describes himself as an ordinary guy, going through the passages of life. He says he has lived an ordinary life including military service, college, career, raising a family and retirement. Having journeyed through those phases of life, he now ponders his purpose in life.
Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025
Speaker – UU Rev Dee Graham
Biography:
Currently affiliated as a retired community minister with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, the Rev. Dee Graham earned her M.Div. at Starr King School for the Ministry. After ordination at the UU Church of Charlotte, NC, she returned to home in the Tampa Bay area, where she served as a professional chaplain and as a parish minister. A native Bradentonian, she is now primarily retired and working on books set in historic Florida.
Topic: Seize the Moment – Tomorrow Belongs to Us
Today we find ourselves on the verge of a new reality. How will we live in this era? How will we stand tall, live true to our values and find deep bravery in this time coated in fear? Truth is calling and the answer isn’t multiple choice.
Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025
Speaker – UU Rev. Dr. Brock Leach
Biography:
Brock lives in Sarasota and works for the Unitarian Universalist Association as a consultant for emerging ministries, helping develop and lead denominational support for religious innovators.
In Sarasota, Brock volunteers on the boards of Children First, Sarasota County’s Head Start agency, the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, and Protect Our Defenders, a national organization that supports victims of sexual assault in the US military.
He recently taught a leadership course at Meadville Lombard Theological School, and last year he completed a Doctor of Ministry program at Boston University’s School of Theology. His doctoral research project was to design a system of support for accelerating multiculturalism in Unitarian Universalist congregations.
Topic: The Leadership We Need Now
Clearly, many Americans are confused about what kind of leadership we need as a nation. Adding to the confusion is that the current circumstances demand a kind of leadership that many of us have never experienced before. This morning we’ll explore what that looks like and how all of us can model it.
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