Thursday, 09 September 2010, 02:48 am PDT
Featured Ministers
Welcome Visitors!
Greetings! Welcome to Rev Thom. Here I post sermons and blog for the church that I serve, the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church in Overland Park, Kansas. A special welcome to everyon... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "Islam and Islamophobia" (Delivered 9-5-10)
Back on August 9 of this year, Pastor Adam Hamilton, founding minister of 14,000+ member United Methodist Church of The Resurrection in Leawood, appeared on The Darla Jaye Show, a conservative talk... [read more]
RevThom
The Islamic Plot to Take Over Kansas City
[Note: On Sunday, September 5, I preached a sermon on Islam and Islamophobia. Over the past several weeks and months I've been amazed and troubled by the craziness of the anti-Islamic hysteria t... [read more]
RevThom
Undercover
Back in March, the Onion A. V. Club began a weekly feature called "Undercover" and yesterday was the final installment in the feature. How it worked was that the folks at the A. V. C... [read more]
RevThom
Lecture: Unitarian Universalism & Theories of Faith Development
For this lecture, I am indebted to several of my gracious colleagues, Jonalu Johnstone, Roger Kuhrt, and Anne Anderson, for sending me resources on James Fowler. I am further indebted to Dennis Ha... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "Faithful Conversations" (Delivered 8-22-10)
Last June I attended a community organizing training. About one hundred people attended the ten hour training held over two days at a Lutheran Church in Westport. We were racially diverse, religi... [read more]
RevThom
Reza Aslan Rocks Kansas City
“I am certain that David Petraeus wishes he could be here in Kansas City instead of Afghanistan. ” – Reza Aslan Last night I attended the annual awards banquet of the International Relations ... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the SAT" (Delivered 8-15-10)
Alacrity. Punctilious. Springtime. 1994. My junior year in high school. Solicitous. Nonplussed. Monday afternoon. English class. Two weeks before the SAT. A voice from one of my classmates, ... [read more]
RevThom
Why Ministers Burn Out
A feature story by Paul Vitello in the August 1 issue of the New York Times shared findings from several sources, among them a Duke University study, that showed the American clergy is unhealthy an... [read more]
RevThom
UU Immigration Links
Are you interested in learning more about Unitarian Universalism and immigration? Here are some links that might interest you:Just before the July 29, 2010 protests in Phoenix, UUA President Peter... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "A Theology of Playfulness" (Delivered 8-8-10)
Reading The reading before the sermon was Anne Sexton’s poem, “The Rowing Endeth”Sermon Together, we had a joke contest, and I told the only three jokes I know. We sang songs—some together... [read more]
RevThom
Conservatives for Same Sex Marriage!!!
On November 4, 2008, the voters in California passed Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that prohibited same sex marriage. Two days ago, a Federal District judge in San Francisco overturned Prop 8... [read more]
RevThom
Changing Views on Gay Marriage
This is the first of two posts in celebration of Wednesday's court decision to overturn California's Proposition 8. The battle against discrimination and inequality is long and along the way the... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "More Bricks for Your Backpack" (Delivered 8-1-10)
After I finished my first year at Harvard Divinity School, I spent the summer working in the cataloging department of the Andover-Harvard Theological Library. As one of the world’s leading theol... [read more]
RevThom
UUs Protest Arizona Immigration Law: News from Arizona & Kansas City
On July 29, Arizona’s new anti-immigration law (SB 1070) went into effect. The previous evening, U. S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued an injunction preventing the implementation of some part... [read more]
RevThom
MWLS Religious Values & Heritage Lectures
I spent the third week in July serving as the Religious Values & Heritage lecturer at the Unitarian Universalist Association Midwest Leadership School held at Beloit College in Beloit, Wiscons... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "A Faith or Interfaith?" (Delivered 7-11-10)
Opening Words By Jacob Trapp Each of the great religions has a distinctive note, to be likened to the strings of a harp. In Hinduism it is the note of the spirit: a universe throbbing with divine ... [read more]
RevThom
Random Thoughts about the World Cup
[This post was written before the start of quarterfinal matches this morning. I have left it intact and not altered it as a result of today's games featuring Brazil, The Netherlands, Uruguay, and... [read more]
RevThom
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
On Sunday, June 13 we took this photograph to celebrate the beginning of our fifth year as a UUA Welcoming Congregation. [read more]
RevThom
Homily: "Divisive Religion is False Religion" (Delivered 6-13-10)
Sunday, June 13 was a fantastic morning! We celebrated Gay Pride month with a special Pride themed worship service. Our morning began with Jessica Farmer, a community outreach and education speci... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "Patriotism & Memory" (Delivered 5-30-10)
It happens in English classes around our country. Administrators or parents try to ban certain books, removing them from libraries, curricula, and reading lists. It happens in English classes aro... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "John Muir & Reverence for Nature" (Delivered 5-23-10)
Reading by John Muir How infinitely superior to our physical senses are those of the mind! The spiritual eye sees not only rivers of water but of air. It sees the crystals of the rock in rapid sym... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "Whose Are We?" (Delivered 5-16-10)
Reading by Victoria Safford Not long before he died, William Sloan Coffin, the great preacher of Riverside Church, asked a beautiful question: “Who tells you who you are? ” - which is another w... [read more]
RevThom
The Seven Principles of Vital UU Congregations (Blogging the UUA Growth Consultation)
At the UUA Growth Consultation held from May 5 to May 7, one of the most interesting documents that the participants developed was a list that we wound up calling "The Seven Principles for U... [read more]
RevThom
Sermon: "Where Does Peace Begin?" (Delivered 5-9-10)
Most years at our church auction I’ve sold the rights for the highest bidder to choose the subject of a Sunday morning sermon. This year’s winner was Bill G. Bill and I went out together for ... [read more]