January 29, 2023

Children and Church

Many of you have probably noticed that we have been getting more families with children here at UCN. (Which is exactly what we were hoping for when we revamped our Sunday School...
July 6, 2022

“Carpets, Clothing, Little Drops of Water” Jun. 24, 2022

As I watched UCN folks clear the sanctuary for the laying of the new carpet (thank you, thank you!), I thought about a few typos from church bulletins that I […]
May 31, 2022

“Success vs. Significance–and Donkeys” Apr. 29, 2022

The African-American preacher and author, the Rev. William Sloan Coffin, once said: “We don’t have to be ‘successful,’ only valuable. We don’t have to make money, only a difference…” Yet […]
March 30, 2022

“An April Fool’s Birthday” Mar. 25, 2022

My birthday is March 31st–the day before April Fool’s Day. In fact, when someone asks me when my birthday is, I usually say “the day before April Fool’s”–since it’s a […]
March 8, 2022

“Humility and Ash Wednesday” Mar. 8, 2022

Just over a week ago was Ash Wednesday, a day I remember as a time to be humble. The priest would put ashes on people's...
February 1, 2022

“Chicken or Lamb?” Jan. 29, 2022

Some of you may remember my sermon on "The God I Believe In" (delivered on December 12, 2021). In it I referred to a Jewish concept--"tikkun olam," which means "repair of the world."...
January 4, 2022

“Unintended Humor” Dec. 31, 2021

Every once in a while I have shared actual typos from church newsletters and bulletins in my Northliner column. Not all of them are technically typographical, of course--some are simply words...
December 7, 2021

“Much Obliged, Lord” Dec. 3, 2021

By the time you read this, Thanksgiving will have come and gone. But, since it’s important to give thanks on more than one day a year, I thought I’d include […]
November 23, 2021

“Holiday Graces” Nov. 19, 2021

Normally I write a Parson to Person column to be printed on the last Friday of one month, and the first Friday of the month following. But since the last […]
November 8, 2021

“A Cellphone, an Airport, a Good Deed, and Politics” Nov. 5, 2021

In last week’s “Parson to Person” I wrote about my visit with my family in the Seattle area, and how we “overcame” political disputes with games and small talk. There […]
November 2, 2021

“Getting Around the Politics” Oct. 29, 2021

Last week I came back from 4 days of vacation with my siblings at a family reunion in the Seattle area. This was our first reunion without my sister Alice […]
September 28, 2021

“Living Our UU Principles” Sept. 24, 2021

Since we’ve been doing a series of Sunday services on our 8 UU principles, I thought I’d use this column to give a few examples of how they influence me […]
September 1, 2021

“A Few More Thoughts on Our First UU Principle” Aug. 27, 2021

“A Few More Thoughts on Our First UU Principle” OR “The Dorothys in Our Lives” Starting in August, I began a series of sermons on our eight UU principles. Although […]
August 3, 2021

“Less Than One Tenth of a Percent?” Jul. 30, 2021

Now that we are holding in-church services, and UCN is looking at new/old ways to reach out to the wider community, I thought I’d bring up an issue that has […]
July 16, 2021

“There’ll Be Some Changes Ahead!” Jul. 16, 2021

Those of you who regularly read this Parson to Person column (otherwise known as p2p) may have noticed that I haven’t written a column for a couple weeks. As you […]