Jan. 17, 2010 - We welcome Joyce Turner to our pulpit for Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday. Joyce is author of Caribbean Crusaders and the Harlem Renaissance, selected by the Association of College and Research Libraries as an "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2006. She is the daughter of Richard
B. Moore, an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance and a charter member of the Harlem Unitarian Church, established by Rev. Ethelred Brown in 1920. Joyce spoke about her personal experience with civil rights from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Barack Obama. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Jan. 10, 2010 - Who is in our circle? Who is beyond it? The issue of inclusion and exclusion are central to any religious community. Exploring the ideas of those advocating a radical hospitality, that is, an openness to the strangers we encounter as well as to the stranger who resides deep inside each one of us. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Dec. 13, 2009 "When December rolls around, I find myself thinking about the Wright brothers. (Doesn't everybody?) Because it was on December 17, 1903, that they dragged an unlikely-looking contraption from Ohio to North Carolina and made the thing fly. Looking back from the perspective of over 100 years, it's clear that they should not have succeeded–but they did. It makes me wonder about other things that shouldn't work–but they do." This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Nov. 15 - Maurice Sendak, the author of children's books, once observed, "There must be more to life than having everything." In that sense of something "more to life" is a yearning that can be expressed as having a ministry. In this service, Rev. Bruce offers some thoughts about the nature of ministry and how each of us might find the ministry that is ours. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Nov. 8 - As part of the congregation's visioning process, we will be considering our name-Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church-and whether it ought to be changed. In this service Rev. Bruce Marshall offers some background on each element of this name. His intent is not to take a position but, rather, to offer perspective on issues involved in considering a name change. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Nov. 1 - All religions address the question of trust. What do we rely upon to guide us through life's uncertainties? Is our trust centered in a holy book? The creeds of a specific tradition? A guru or a priesthood? Or...is there another way? In this sermon, Rev. Bruce tries to articulate a liberal religious response to the question of trust. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Oct. 25 - We often know little of our history.  Knowing our history and how new beginnings happened in the past can be instructive to us as we consider our possibilities in the present.  The guest minister, Rev. John Gaffney, is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister now living in Bowie, Maryland.  He comes to us with a diverse background having started off in ministry as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church who found his home in the Unitarian Universalist Church.  He has a website at: www.reverendjohngaffney.net This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Oct. 18 - A book Rev. Bruce found quite fascinating is entitled, "A History of the World in Six Glasses," by Tom Standage. The book's premise is that by looking at the development and meaning of six beverages, one can span the course of human civilization. He shares some of these insights, as well as add a seventh beverage that will be crucial in shaping the future. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Oct. 4, 2009 All religions address the same questions. The answers vary, but the questions don't. In this sermon I would like to begin a series that I'll continue all year with one sermon a month. In this series, I'll state those basic questions and then offer the responses I find in our own liberal religious tradition. I hope this will be a way to clarify, affirm and celebrate the long and powerful religious tradition in which we participate as Unitarian Universalists. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

Sept. 27, 2009 Sometimes it would be nice to start over: put things behind and get a fresh start. But is that possible, really? That's a theme of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, which begins at sundown today. In this sermon anticipating Yom Kippur, Rev. Bruce Marshall reflects on repentance, renewal, and what guidance this tradition offers during those times when we might yearn to put the past behind and start anew. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

09/20/09 - Bruce starts by having a conversation with the children to introduce himself as their new minister. What guides us through life's challenges? The process of doing crossword puzzles helps give us some insight. This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.

During the first service of the fall season, new interim minister, Rev. Bruce Marshall, talks about how church can be like coming home and also like not-home. "Home/not-home. Comfort/challenge. The warmth and acceptance that enables us to relax into ourselves. The awareness of things that are wrong that spurs us back into the world, into action." This sermon was given at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Maryland, where we come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world. Room for different beliefs. Yours. Visit us at www.dmuuc.org.