Unitarian Universalist Coastside Community

06/03/2026

On Sunday, June 7th, we gather at 11am to explore further the monthly congregational theme of Growth Through Grief. Join us in welcoming our returning guest speaker Ronnie Boyd. Her sermon entitled “Follow My Lead: Dancing Through the Rain of Grief” will center grief and healing as both things to be witnessed and held in community. At this moment when our country and the world are asking us to hold more sorrow, grief, and violence than many of us are prepared for, it’s important for us to lean on not only our self-care practices but also our religious communities. In community, we remember that our grief is sacred. The practice of tending to our grief is a spiritual practice. When we allow our grief to move us, we open windows and doors to transforming ourselves through surrender and acceptance. You’re also invited to our annual Flower Ceremony during this service. As always, beautiful music will be provided by Diedrik Edholm and Vera Vanderschalk.

We'll also be including our annual Flower Ritual in this service. The Flower Ceremony (or Flower Communion) was created by Norbert Čapek. After witnessing one too many heresy trials as a Baptist minister, he and his wife, Maja, turned to Unitarianism in 1921. He created this nature-inspired ritual which celebrates the unique beauty and diversity of each individual, based on the flower one chooses.

Flowers and grief have been tied together for centuries across almost every culture; a simple bouquet has been our way of honoring a life, sharing a heavy burden, and showing someone they are not alone in their darkest moments. Since our monthly theme is Growing Through Grief, its pairing with our annual Flower Ceremony magnifies its meaning. So please don't forget to bring a flower!

UU Coastside Community holds its formal service on Sunday, June 7, 11am, Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

06/03/2026

Join CoastPride for "Divine Pride: Q***r Identity, Spirituality, and Belonging" — an evening of honest conversation, reflection, and celebration exploring where faith and LGBTQ+ identity meet. The event is held on Friday, June 5th, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Odd Fellows Hall in Half Moon Bay.

CoastPride's new Executive Director, Laura Cartwright, will moderate a wonderful, multifaith panel of local spiritual leaders, including:

Rev. Kevin Allen Mann ("Rev. Kev"), representing UU Coastside. Rev. Kevin is also the founder of the California chapter of DRUUMM and will speak at UU Coastside on August 2nd.
Reb Moshe Heyn from Coastside Jewish Community (CJC)
Kim Hines from Community United Methodist
Pastor Sue from Coastside Lutheran
Rev. Amber from Holy Family Episcopal Church

Together, they will share insights on affirming scripture interpretations, supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ intersectionality, protecting youth mental health in safe spiritual spaces, and embracing the power of q***r joy in faith communities.

We'll kick off the night at 6 pm by connecting and enjoying a special performance by the Pride Chorus, followed by our guided panel and an open audience Q&A.

Come be part of this community space. Click the link below to save your spot and register! https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/43498918074/false #/invitation

04/29/2026

UU Coastside’s Theme for May is Paying Attention. On Sunday, May 3rd, Jason Mousel delivers a talk entitled “From Pew to Cushion: How My Body Led Me Home.”

Growing up Catholic and gay, Jason lost touch with his body—it became something to manage and hide rather than trust.

Mindfulness practice changed that, opening a doorway from disconnection into a Buddhist-inspired spiritual life that finally felt like his own. And you’ll leave with simple, grounded practices for listening to the body’s quiet wisdom, whatever your spiritual home may be.

Jason is a nutritionist and holistic health instructor, certified in mindful and intuitive eating; he is currently pursuing a mindfulness teacher certification. He has practiced mindfulness since the late 1990s —including silent retreats, MBSR, daily meditation since 2015 — and has studied with teachers Mark Coleman, Martin Alyward, and Gil Fronsdal. His sangha is at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City. With his husband and dogs, Jason has lived in El Granada since 2005.

This service starts at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA. Diedrik Edholm provides beautiful music.

03/30/2026

This Monthly Theme for April is Renewal. On Sunday, April 5, Rev. Russ Menk delivers a sermon entitled “A UU Easter—Hope for These Times” along with our first UU Seed Ritual. This service starts at 11 am at Odd Fellows Hall, 529 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

Many of us believe the world is a mess right now. We want a better world, but our hope is strained. But there’s a two-thousand-year-old celebration of hope that remains timeless. What comes after our current trials (politics, wars, climate change, corruption, lies)? How can we be “reborn” in the angst all around us? In Jesus' death, we find a story of pain, humiliation, shame, and grief. Yet the story also tells of hope rising from such a depth of sorrow. What can we learn individually and collectively from such an ancient tale?

This service also includes a Seed Ritual to honor the Spring Equinox that just happened. The ritual helps people connect with the earth and reminds us that new life and renewal are part of the Great Cycle. We'll be planting daffodil bulbs and/or sweet peas, and everyone can take their potted plant home. Diedrik Edholm, as always, will play beautiful music. This service starts at 11 a.m. at Odd Fellows Hall, 529 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA.

UU Coastside Community Service, April 5, 11am, Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

02/24/2026

The Monthly Theme for March is Regulating Emotions. On Sunday, March 1, we warmly welcome back to the UU Coastside Pulpit Bill Heavlin, with a sermon is entitled "Rusting Buddha, Shrugging Angel, and the Search for Grit."

This service is anchored in the work of therapist David Richo, and the so-called 5 givens of Buddhism: (1) Everything changes and ends. (2) Things do not always go according to plan. (3) Life is not always fair. (4) Pain is part of life. (5) People are not always loving and loyal.

In an original sermon, Bill incorporates Buddhist wisdom, modern psychology, engineering science, and art history to examine our responses to life's disappointments. He then describes the deep connections between core coping skills, spiritual seeking, and a fully adult, fully human point of view.

Bill Heavlin retired in 2022 after a long career in Silicon Valley. He has one son, now living in Minneapolis. With his wife of 32 years, Bill is a principal lay leader of the Unitarian Universalist Coastside Community, centered in Half Moon Bay, California. His theology, which continues to evolve, centers around the recurring themes of ethics, interpersonal communication, and poetic imperative. For hobbies, Bill creates bits of poetry and watercolor.

Gorgeous music will be provided by Diedrik Edholm on piano and Vera Vanderschalk on classical guitar.

This service starts at 11 am at Odd Fellows Hall, 529 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA.

02/24/2026

01/28/2026

If you are reeling from the events in Minneapolis last week, you will not want to miss our speaker, Ron Ahnen, this Sunday, February 1, with a sermon entitled: "Love and Resistance: Reflections from Minnesota," at Odd Fellows Hall in Half Moon Bay.

Ron traveled to Minneapolis last week along with 600 other clergy members. He participated in the 50,000 strong March for Truth and Freedom, demanding an end to the ICE occupation. He returns to UUCC to share his message that love and sustained resistance are both required in confronting state violence.

Over 3000 federal ICE agents have now been deployed in Minnesota and their use of violent strategies to abduct neighbors and break apart families has led directly to shooting confrontations resulting in death. In Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens, were killed within 19 days of each other. Come learn from Ron's first-hand experiences from Minneapolis' resistance this Sunday, February 1st, 11am, Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

Ron Ahnen was recently welcomed into preliminary fellowship by the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) and will be ordained this spring at Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek. In 2025, he finished both his Master of Divinity degree at Starr King School for the Ministry and a year-long internship at the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Currently Ron is also a professor of Latin American politics and international relations at Saint Mary's College in California.

01/04/2026

The Monthly Theme for January is Pathfinding. We warmly welcome back Ronnie Boyd to the UUCC Pulpit with a sermon entitled "Treading Through Muddy Waters: Finding Our Anchor for the New Year" on Sunday, January 4th, 11am, Odd Fellows Hall. Muddy waters can keep us from seeing what life floats all around us, and from seeing what specks of hope and joy wait at our fingertips. Ronnie explores how to unearth the cycles in which we find ourselves — right in time to lay out our own manifestations for this New Year.

This service also hosts our annual Burning Bowl Ritual, where we write down the things we wish to release from the past year. Burning Bowl is a yearly ritual for many UU congregations. This ceremony invites people to write down a word, a phrase, or draw an image to sum up what they wish to release as they enter the New Year. (Since fire regulations prohibit the use of lighted candles at Odd Fellows Hall, we'll be passing out special paper that dissolves quickly in water.)

Now's the time to start thinking about what you would like to release before entering the New Year!

Ronnie Boyd (she/they) is a Starr King seminarian pursuing a Masters of Divinity. She identifies as a Unitarian Universalist who also practices African spiritual traditions. Ronnie is a seasoned community organizer, centering her work on addressing state violence and criminalization while advocating for healing justice solutions.

She holds a BA in Political Science and Women & Gender Studies from San Diego State University and an MA in Women and Gender Studies from San Diego State University. Her research interests include: womanist theology, US-based social movements, feminist theories of violence, and reproductive justice.

12/20/2025

Join us this Sunday, December 21st at 11:00 AM at Odd Fellows Hall for the annual UU Coastside Holiday Gathering. This year, we draw inspiration from Bill Heavlin’s recent sermon on Love, reflecting on how we can support and uplift one another during this season.

Our December 21 event provides a morning filled with festive music, shared reflections, and the unique joy of our community. Please bring your joys and concerns, and perhaps a holiday treat to share. And if you feel so moved, contribute a poem, story, song, or dance to the festivities. Let us celebrate the season together!

12/20/2025

The congregational theme for December is Leaning In. On December 7, Bill Heavlin recorded a sermon entitled “Dear December: A Late Love Letter to the Near Future.” In a meditation on our times, Bill braids together elements from the classical Greeks, the Ohlone, contemporary psychologists, and more. He then calls on us to muster our better selves and lean into this season of encroaching darkness. Please enjoy the video and comment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeuVAjZbY5Q&t=728s