July 26, 2026

How Do We Keep Going?                                 Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

Fresh from what should have been a marvelous milestone of our experiment in democracy, I have been inspired by Substack author Lisa Olivera’s manifesto of sorts—“How Do I Keep Going?”—to wonder, how do we keep going? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Luke Nokes, Guest Musician

Luke Nokes is a 26-year-old pianist-composer presently studying for his B.A. in Music Education at Stockton University–formerly having graduated as an Associate from Ocean County College. Alongside performing both as a solo pianist as well as with the Stockton Jazz Orchestra, Luke works locally as a piano teacher and as a substitute teacher/classroom assistant for New Jersey public schools. As a composer, his own published music spans influence from various styles such as classical, jazz, and contemporary popular music.

July 19, 2026

The Theology of Relationship                         Rev. Rosemarie Newberry

This service is private per the request of the presenter.

The shared values of our Unitarian Universalist faith require us to be in relationship. It is central to our faith and those values of Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, and Equity. Doing the work of our faith requires us to be in relationship, centered in love. Unfortunately, in today’s “cut off” culture, relationships are broken, severed, suddenly and severely. As a UU, this creates a crisis of faith, breaking our hearts, wounding our souls, and cracking our identity. We need to recognize the depth of the pain of broken relationships, how we support each other, and how we mend as individuals and as a community.

Music: Dan Kader, Guest Musician

Rev. Rosemarie Newberry has been a member of UUCMC for over 30 years. She is a retired UU minister having served congregations in NJ, NY, and OH. She also worked as a chaplain for adults with developmental disabilities for over a decade. She lives in Red Bank with her 13-year-old rescue cat, Lovey Dovey. She loves visiting grandkids in Virginia, reading and watching science fiction, and eating al fresco. During the school year, she volunteers through an AmeriCorps program to read to kindergarten and first grades once a week at Marlboro and Red Bank elementary schools.

Dan Kader is a graduate of the University of Miami Jazz Program and he also has an MBA from Fordham University. He has won several awards throughout his career and has performed both solo and with different artists. He is excited and honored to play at UUCMC.

July 12, 2025

Church and State: How Our Faith Informs Our Actions
Rev. Cindy Terlazzo, Guest Minister

What does it mean to have a separation between the Church and the State? And how does that impact us as we seek to live the values of our faith in the public square? Join us today as we consider such questions. Click here to watch the service.

Music: John Terlazzo, Guest Musician

Rev. Cindy Terlazzo is an ordained UU minister who is currently serving two small congregations in upstate New York (near where she lives with her husband, John). Rev.Cindy has been wrestling with questions about the relationship between public witness and personal faith for some time. She is delighted to be returning to UUCMC to engage in an exploration of these questions with this beautiful community.

John Terlazzo is a Singer/Songwriter, Poet, Painter, and Storyteller who has just recently celebrated fifty years of songwriting. He performs and records with his band, Voices in the Hall, and is presently working on his 14th album—a double album of 29 original songs called In the House of the Lions. John also leads writing retreats called “The Flame in Every Hand: Writing as a Contemplative Act,” and has been doing so for thirty years.

July 5, 2026

The High School Graduation Speech That I Should Have Received in 1981
Tim Geiselman

What would you tell your 18-year-old self now that you’ve navigated the minefield we call adulthood? This service will focus on that question and will reflect on who we were compared to who we have become. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Helen Kho and Elaine Held

Music for This Service a Suite “Summer Dreams” by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, 1867-1944. ( Born in New Hampshire) First American Woman composer of note.

Tim Geiselman has been a member of UUCMC since 2016. He lives in Middletown with his wife Rosane.

June 28, 2026

The Wisdom of Dory
Rev. Dr. Mary Early-Zald, guest minister

Sometimes, an animated Blue Tang fish in a Pixar movie can teach us surprising lessons. The Rev. Dr. Mary Early-Zald invites you to explore radical acceptance, interdependence, and generosity through the eyes of this delightful character, who just keeps swimming. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore

The Rev. Dr. Mary Early-Zald is a UU Minister and Chaplain who serves as the Affiliated Community Minister at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit. Currently providing care with unhoused communities, she has also worked in Hospice, Hospital, and Movement Chaplaincy. Mary received her M.Div. at Vanderbilt Divinity School and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Guest Musician Brian Gilmore is a familiar face at UUCMC. Brian earned a Masters in piano performance and is devoted to chamber music. As a professor at Ocean County College, Mr. Gilmore coordinates the applied music program, has revitalized the afternoon recital series, and often collaborates with faculty, students, and area musicians to make classical music more present within the community. 

June 21, 2026

Meet the Moment, Together Everywhere: Live on a Solstice Father’s Day
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

Each year’s General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations ends with a thrilling and relevant worship service that always makes me think, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if the whole congregation could be here to experience this together?!” Well, this year we can, through the magic of the livestream. On this summer solstice and Father’s Day, let’s join in worship with people across the globe as we eat together as a congregation. Click here to watch the UUA General Assembly service.

June 14, 2026

A Multigenerational Celebration of New Members and Flower Communion
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano & Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Our annual multigenerational service celebrating new members, reminding us all, through the powerful legacy of the Flower Communion ritual developed by Unitarian minister Norbert Čapek over 100 years ago in Prague, that our beauty comes from our diversity. As we draw near the end of the 2025–26 fiscal year, let us remind one another that it takes all of us to be UUCMC. Please bring a flower to the service for the ritual. Click here to watch this beautiful celebratory service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

June 7, 2026

“Where Do the Mermaids Stand?”: A Service of LGBTQ+ Pride
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

Ten years ago, when I was an intern minister at UUCMC, I gave a sermon that changed the course of my life, leading to a decade of academic work examining how congregations can be places of flourishing for “gender creative”—transgender, non-binary, gender nonconforming—people. As we begin Pride month, and in light of the many recent steps backwards the U.S. has taken on affirmation of gender fluidity, I thought I’d go back and revisit the themes of that first sermon in order to access hope for today. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Rev. Craig

May 31, 2026

What I Learned on Sabbatical: Part Two (Perú!)
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

On March 22nd, I shared stories from what I learned in my sabbatical travels to England and Scotland in a search of my ancestral roots. In part two of this series, I share stories from sabbatical travel to Peru in a trip back to my childhood roots. It was during those adolescent years in Peru that I truly was set on the trajectory that makes me the “me” I am today. Click here to watch this delightful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Rev. Craig

May 24, 2026

Try to Remember: A Memorial Day Service
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

On this weekend when we honor those who died in service to the ideals of this nation, we will explore how memory is related both to our theme for the month of May, curiosity, and to the curious adage “curiosity killed the cat.” And Rev. Craig may just bring a bit of The Fantasticks (the longest-running musical in history) to the table. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, Kevin Izworski, Rev. Craig

We welcome Guest Musician, Brian Gilmore, a familiar face at UUCMC. Brian earned a Masters in piano performance and is devoted to chamber music. As a professor at Ocean County College, Mr. Gilmore coordinates the applied music program, has revitalized the afternoon recital series, and often collaborates with faculty, students, and area musicians to make classical music more present within the community. With Brian this morning is his student, Kevin Izworski, on alto saxophone.

May 17, 2026

Preparing the Soil: Lessons from Thomas Potter
Rev. Craig Hirshberg and Rev. Carol Haag, guest ministers

Thomas Potter, our Universalist pioneer, was a farmer on the Jersey Shore in the 1700s. But there is a much deeper story about Potter’s preparation that launched the beginning of Universalism in our country. During these difficult times, we can learn a few things about keeping love at the center from our Universalist prophet. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

Rev. Craig Hirshberg is President of the Board of Trustees at Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center, where she hosts meditation classes, retreats, and other spiritual development activities. She is Minister Emerita (and founding minister) of the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills. A graduate of Drew Theological School and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, she received her spiritual direction training at Shalem in Washington DC and from the Rowe Spiritual Direction Program. Rev. Hirshberg has served on the board of the UU Trauma Response Team, being deployed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Before her retirement, she served as Executive Director of UU FaithAction NJ.

Rev. Carol Haag retired after 13 years as the religious educator (DRE and MRE) with The Unitarian Church in Summit, NJ. She is a strong advocate for Universalism as the central, vital force in our Unitarian Universalist movement, and has served on the Murray Grove board, as member, President, and Stewardship Committee Chair. She believes that Universalism embodies the critical message of inclusion for our time.

May 10, 2026

A Plea for Peace: The First Mother’s Day
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano & Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Before the 1908 Anna Jarvis beginnings of what has become, since 1914, Mother’s Day, there was the original Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870, uttered by abolitionist and Unitarian Julia Ward Howe as a protest against the brutality of war. We’ll take a page from Howe and center our multigenerational service both on the caretakers in our lives, and on peace. Click here to watch the lovely service.

Music: Helen Kho

May 3, 2026

Music Doesn’t Simply Need Community, Music Is Community: Music Sunday
Michael Rosin and Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

After two years, it’s back! Music Director Michael Rosin will bring together many of our ensembles for his first Music Sunday since joining our staff. From “With a Little Help from My Friends” to “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the songs will remind you that music doesn’t simply need community, music is community. Hope to see you there! Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Michael Rosin, UU Singers, Sister Singers, Just Folk, UkUlele Orchestra, Roots & Wings Drum Choir, Craig Sunada, Rev. Craig

April 26, 2026

Nurturing Harmony
Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought (MCWRET)

The opening to spiritual awakening occurs with human experiences of love, which is our human experience of harmony/resonance within our fundamental nature, consistent with the universal values of beauty, truth, and goodness. Nurturing harmony is the process of finding ways and methods to bring us back into harmony with the universe and with each other as fellow travelers. Promoting the essential oneness of humanity and learning ways to resolve natural differences and nurturing harmony are inherent goals of the MCWRET. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

The Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought (MCWRET), established in 1994, is a non-profit and adjunct organization of UUCMC. It strives to foster interfaith dialogue, understanding, and peace. Operating through educational programs and community visits, it aims to honor diverse religious, spiritual, and ethical practices and to nurture harmony in our divided world.

April 19, 2026

Zen and Saving Coastal Wildlife                   Jenna Reynolds, guest speaker

From global warming to microplastics, the Jersey Shore is facing many environmental threats, but there is one thing we can all do to make a quick difference. Join Jenna Reynolds to discover how mindfulness, meditation, and how we look, see, and think about our everyday choices and actions can create a sustainable world where all life is respected. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

Jenna Reynolds is a practicing Buddhist and the first LGBTQ+ and trans-woman in New Jersey to be leading an environmental nonprofit. In 2018, Jenna chose to take a pro-active approach to protecting wildlife along the Jersey Shore and, together with several other people, started Save Coastal Wildlife. She has a Master’s degree in environmental science from Bard College and is an award-winning environmental educator with over 25 years of experience in conducting research, education, and community outreach programs on protecting biodiversity.

April 12, 2026

What Change May Come                                  Rev. Charles Loflin, UUFANJ, guest minister

Ours is a time of immense change—both anxiety-producing and potentially transformative. Distinguishing the nature of change seems crucial. One of our Unitarian ancestors, the Rev. Theodore Parker, offers a lens that can aid our discernment. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita

Rev. Charles Loflin serves as Executive Director for UU FaithAction NJ, our statewide action network advocating for Unitarian Universalist values through legislative advocacy. He also serves as an affiliated community minister of the UU Congregation at Montclair and is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School.

April 5, 2026
In person and livestreamed on YouTube

What a World There Can Be: A Multigenerational Celebration of Passover and Easter
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

On this fourth day of Passover and on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the hope in the traditional Jewish hymn, “Bashanah Haba’a”—“Wait and See”: if we share, if we care, we open ourselves to a better tomorrow. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, UU Singers, Elaine Held, Joel DeWitt, Maggi Riordan, Rev. Craig

March 29, 2026

…But I Would Not Stop There                         Chris Budin, guest speaker

Chris will be reflecting on his recent experience traveling to Minneapolis, MN, the power of an interfaith embodied collective justice movement, and how each of us can inspire institutional change through compassion and vulnerability. Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director 

Chris Budin is a Unitarian Universalist seminarian studying towards a Master of Divinity degree from Meadville Lombard Theological School, one of two UU seminaries in the US. This year, he is co-teach the Coming of Age curriculum with a fabulous group of 9th & 10th graders at his home congregation, UU Montclair. He is gratefully serving as a Trustee with UU FaithAction NJ. Chris is called to coalition building and other work with local and national LGBTQ+ justice initiatives. Chris lives in Sussex County with his fur baby Max, who loves long car rides with the windows down and the reality TV show, Dance Moms.

March 22, 2026

Attention Surplus Disorder                             Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

For all of our desire to do, read, watch, worry, stress, and act—all at the same time—the truth is that multi-tasking is merely continuous partial attention. In a world characterized not by our inability to pay attention but by our attention being drawn in too many ways at once, it seems that Attention Surplus Disorder should be a thing if it isn’t already. The answer to this quandary is, of course, honing the art of paying attention—really paying attention. And where better to begin than in a community sustained by its common values? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, UU Singers, Rev. Craig

March 15, 2026

The 2026 Dr. Myra Zinke Lecture: But Girls Can’t Be Lawyers!
Kendra Reinshagen, guest speaker

This was my response in 1968 when a friend in high school told me she wanted to attend law school. Nine years later I applied to DePaul University College of Law, was accepted, and started attending law school. I will talk about how—and why—I went from “Girls can’t do that” to…doing…“that.”  Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Sister Singers

This service is funded by a bequest from Dr. Myra Zinke who hoped to promote gender equality with her generosity.

Kendra Reinshagen is a lawyer who has dedicated her life to the needs of women and families, focusing on domestic violence, anti-trafficking, and elder and poverty law. The last ten years of her working career she was Executive Director of the Legal Aid Bureau of the Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago. Kendra and her husband Steve moved to New Jersey from the Chicago area a few years ago to be near their daughter. Steve teaches Tai Chi.

Dr. Myra Zinke, a Holmdel internist and psychiatrist and a congregant of UUCMC, recognized very early on how cultural issues impinge on women’s physical and mental health, and she brought an ethical vision of inclusion to her work. She was also a chipper-away at the glass ceiling in her field, becoming the first woman president of the state medical society. At her death, she left a bequest to fund an annual speaker on women’s issues and to promote gender equality.

March 8, 2026

Love at the Center
Dana Moore, guest speaker

Unitarian Universalists boldly claim Love at the center of our faith. But when conflict arises and challenges test us, how do we move beyond aspiration to embody love as a transformative spiritual practice? This service explores what it means to practice love as the courageous, sustaining work of Beloved Community near and afar. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin

Dana N. Moore is a lifelong practitioner of “Love at the Center,” an M.Div. graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry, and serves as Congregational Coordinator at Beacon UU Congregation in Summit, NJ. When not nurturing her two beautiful children, Dana can be found preaching and singing about love, nibbling cheese, and hugging trees. 

March 1, 2026

UUCMC: A Wellspring of Hope and Courage
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

The definitions of “wellspring” suggest an inexhaustible source, yet we understand that even as UUCMC inexhaustibly inspires, nourishes, and furnishes us with enough hope and courage to live out our Mission in ourselves and the world, UUCMC cannot exist at all without us—we are UUCMC’s wellspring. Our annual Stewardship campaign is an important reminder that everything UUCMC is or provides is up to us—ours to continue, with our talents, our time, and with our treasure. Come with pledge forms and live out your determination to have UUCMC continue to be a wellspring of hope and courage for years to come! Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Joel DeWitt

February 22, 2026
The meetinghouse was closed; this service occurred on Zoom

What I Learned on Sabbatical                      Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

In what will surely not be the last time I mention my learnings and experiences on sabbatical, I will use this service to bring together my initial thoughts on what the time meant to me. I’ll include some anecdotes from my travels and studies, as well as give a progress report on whether or not I achieved my goal (as articulated in my July 27th sermon) of getting some rest!

Music: Michael Rosin

February 15, 2026

The Practice of Love
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech

Love is at the heart of our Unitarian Universalist tradition. Love is not just something we feel, but something we do. In this multigenerational service, we’ll celebrate love in action and welcome Rev. Craig back from sabbatical. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held; Anthology Quartet

Anthology Quartet is an ensemble singing popular music in four-part, a cappella harmony. The quartet rehearses in Madison & Hamilton NJ and performs throughout the NY/NJ area. They are continually expanding their repertoire to create entertaining sets for a variety of audiences. Anthology is a registered quartet of Sweet Adelines International and affiliated with the 2019 Greater New York Region 15 Champion Liberty Oak Chorus of Howell, NJ.

February 8, 2026

Olympic Hopes                                                      Rev. Mary Tiebout, guest minister

Since their revival in 1896, the Olympic Games have provided a stage for extraordinary individual and team accomplishments, a platform for protest, and a mountain of opportunities to raise humanity’s hopes for peace, justice and freedom around the world. While well aware of the context of crises in which these games will be held, we hope to see humanity shine. Click here to watch this wonderful service.

Music: Dan Abdel-Kader, piano, guest musician

After “semi-retiring” from ministry to take care of her parents, Rev. Mary Tiebout was invited to return as part-time minister at the UU Fellowship of Sussex County in Newton, NJ, and she is grateful for that opportunity. She has been active with UU Faith Action’s Immigrant Justice Task Force and has joined UU’s in the halls and hearing rooms at the State House and at Delaney Hall in Newark.

Dan Abdel-Kader is a graduate of the University of Miami Jazz Program and he also has an MBA from Fordham University. He has won several awards through his career and has performed both solo and with different artists. He is both excited and honored to be with you here today.

February 1, 2026

What Role Will You Play?                                Michelle McKenzie-Creech

In these challenging times, we find our strength in collective action. This service draws from our Unitarian Universalist history and Deepa Iyer’s work to invite each of us to reflect on the roles we can play in advancing social change. Together, we’ll explore resilience as something we build and live together. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; PJ Casbar, Elaine Held, and David Fischell

January 25, 2026
The meetinghouse was closed; this service occurred on Zoom

Life Expectancy Reaches 150                           Rev. Rosemarie Newberry

Ray Kurzwell in the 1990’s predicted that humans will reach a life expectancy of 150 years old due to advancement in medical technology. During COVID we all learned about the significance of the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology, which is a gene-editing tool that allows changes to human DNA. So, this increase in life expectancy is in our future, or our children’s future. Let’s look into that future to consider what tools we need for living fulfilling lives.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director  

The Rev. Rosemarie Newberry is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister who lives in Red Bank. Her favorite activity is participating in an Americorp project called Reading Buddies. She goes to two local schools to read stories to Kindergartners and First Graders. She is also active in speaking at Board of Ed meetings around NJ supporting students’ rights, especially the trans youth. She has been a Member of UUCMC for over 30 years.

January 18, 2026
The meetinghouse was closed; this service occurred on Zoom

Death of A King                                                    Rev. Jennifer Kelleher, Guest Minister

Tavis Smiley’s book Death of A King explores the last year of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. He sought to answer the question, in that last year, what kind of man did King become? Smiley says King, “despite everything spoke his truth.” MLK, Jr. himself wrote, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” How is life asking you to end your silence?

Music: Brian Gilmore and Seth Nikolay, Guest Musicians  

Rev. Jennifer Kelleher joined UU Princeton as Assistant Minister in 2019 and has served UU congregations in New Jersey since 2010. A life-long UU, Jennifer grew up in First Parish Church in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She is passionate about our faith and how it continues to transform her life.

January 11, 2026

It’s a Balance                                                        Drake Baer, Guest Speaker

We’ll explore Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a metaphor for her experience as the daughter of Unitarian Mary Wollstonecraft, the renowned “mother of first wave feminism” and member of the Newington Green Unitarian Chapel, and William Godwin, one of Europe’s most famous atheists and radical intellectuals of the late 1700s/early 1800s. Using The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Drake will remind us of both the heavy intellectual and lighter playful sources of our UU religious tradition. Click here to enjoy this service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director  

Drake Baer last delivered a sermon here in 1997 along with several youth, when he was adult chair of the Metro District’s Youth Adult Committee. During the 1990s he served on the UUA’s Young Religious Unitarian Univeralists Steering Committee, led YRUU leadership development trainings for several UUA districts, and was lead advisor for a national queer youth empowerment conference. Drake early-retired as president of Princeton Publishing Group in 2003 and has since worked as a “clinical astrologer” and landlord. He serves on several committees at the UU Congregation of Princeton, where he is a worship associate and occasionally leads services. He lives in Princeton, where he has been partnered with Michael Cadden since 1989 and enjoys traveling, art, theater, gardening, hosting dinners and occasionally performing in opera.

January 4, 2026 

Inviting Joy In: A Multigenerational Service
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Joy is a powerful act of resistance! As we enter the new year together, we’ll reflect on what we release and how we make space for joy. In a world of busyness or cynicism, inviting joy is an act of hope, connection, and courage. Let’s move into the year together, grounded in care and possibility. Click here to watch this service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Core of Fire Dance Ministry 

CORE OF FIRE is an interfaith dance ministry of mature women, who use the healing power of dance to combine spiritual connection and creative movement into choreography that speaks to one’s deepest longings to express awe, wonder and anguish of the life experience.

December 28, 2025

Holiday Blues?                                                Rev. Dr. Frankie Timmers, Guest Minister

The holidays can be a “mixed” time for us. There are the joys, the sorrows and the in-betweens. And so it’s an important time for self-care. It’s why our inner, spiritual life is so important. Our stories of the holidays can be a time for healing and transformation. Click here to watch this service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita: A Carol Sing!! 

You will be invited to choose a carol from our gray hymnal so we can sing our favorites still appropriate at this last day of the year. And finally, we can end the service as we sing the old year out with Auld Lang Syne.

Rev. Frankie has been a minister of Centers for Spiritual Living for almost 40 years, which teaches the Science of Mind founded by Dr. Ernest Holmes. She was ordained in 1994 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2017. She retired from the pulpit at Center for Spiritual Living Morristown in March. She calls it Re-Inspired as she celebrates this new chapter in her life with rest, reading, creative hobbies & feeling deeply grateful for her life and her freedom.

December 24, 2025 (8pm)

Lessons and Carols Candlelight Service
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

With music, candles, and singing, we bring the season to life. Together, weary though we may be, we find reasons for rejoicing, and we remind ourselves of the transgressive power at the heart of the Christmas story. Click here to watch this lovely service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers; Sister Singers; Kirsten Norbett, guest soloist; Joel DeWitt, violin; David Fischell, flute; Craig Sunada, cello

December 24, 2025 (4pm)

Family Candlelight Service
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

This service of songs and stories includes our no rehearse pageant with a part for every child. Arrive a little early to collect your costume. In the UU tradition, we believe that every child is the hope of this world. Click here to watch this delightful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

December 21, 2025 

Practicing Hope: A Multigenerational Litany of Lights
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Our multigenerational Litany of Lights is a beloved UUCMC tradition of reflection and hope. As we near the longest night of the year, we bring many faith traditions to one shared table. Together, we’ll light candles that symbolize the light we create through our actions and our care for one another. This gentle, participatory service reminds us that hope is something we practice together. Click here to watch this beautiful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

December 14, 2025
The meetinghouse was closed; this service occurred on Zoom

It’s a Wonderul Life
Rev. Seth Fisher, guest minister, First UU Fellowship of Hunterdon County

Inspired by the classic movie and the Christmas spirit, it’s the perfect time of year to think about peace on earth and goodwill toward all.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Ukulele Orchestra

Rev. Seth Fisher has served First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County, NJ since 2016. He is grateful for this opportunity to visit Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County!

December 7, 2025 

The Pebble Thing
Karl Vonderheyde, guest presenter, First UU Fellowship of Hunterdon County

Come hear about meditation techniques for anywhere, any time. Click here to watch this wonderful service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Joe Jencks, guest musician

Karl Vonderheyde is an Iraq War combat vet, father, grandfather, and Buddhist Priest in the Soto Zen tradition. He is authorized to teach meditation in two Tibetan lineages and manages a community wellness center in Flemington, focusing on mental health and addiction recovery. 

 Joe Jencks is a 25-year veteran of the international folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and a celebrated vocalist based in Chicago, IL. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit.

November 30, 2025

Choosing Courage Over Fear: Navigating Troubled Times
Laurie Crosse, Barbara Castellana Stasiak, & Marjorie Wormser, guest presenters, Morristown UU Fellowship

There is much to be afraid of as we deal with climate change, political division, economic uncertainty, resource disparity, healthcare crises. Our Unitarian Universalist principles and our connections in community can inspire, guide, and strengthen us as we choose to live by honoring human dignity and striving for just relations. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Evan Schwartzman, guest musician

Joining us as part of the Leadership Leaves program, Laurie Crosse, Barbara Castellana Stasiak, and Marjorie Wormser are longtime UUs (4+ decades each) with extensive experience in Worship Arts and developing lay-led services, currently at Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Professionally, Laurie is a music therapist, Barbara is a retired teacher of visual and performing arts, Marjorie is a pediatric occupational therapist, and all three developers of this service are lovers of vocal music.

Evan Schwartzman, pianist and composer, retired after a 30-year career in finance technology to resume his musical activities. As a pianist, he has given recitals as soloist and chamber musician in the NY metropolitan region. He earned a Masters in theory and composition from Rutgers University. He is actively involved on the boards of multiple arts organizations.

November 23, 2025

We Give Thanks                                                    Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Join us for a joyful, multigenerational service inspired by the wisdom of Robin Wall Kimmerer, who invites us to see the natural world as a gift. We’ll reflect on how generosity can blossom into mutual care and a way of living that deepens our connection to one another and to the Earth. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Paul Vallin, UU Singers

This special service includes a Bread Communion, honoring gratitude, abundance, and the spirit of community.

November 16, 2025

Sharing Joy                                                            Rev. Cynthia Snavely, Guest Minister

Twentieth century American poet Anne Sexton wrote, “The joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard dies young.”  Sharing our joys with others is one way to express and nurture our gratitude for our lives. Click here to watch the joyful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Sister Singers

Rev. Cynthia Snavely began her ministry in 1984 as a United Methodist. She became a Unitarian Universalist minister in the mid-1990s. She has served congregations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, and New Jersey. She has one daughter and five grandchildren.

November 9, 2025

Subversive Gratitude                                          Rev. Sasha Ostrom, Guest Minister

This Sunday, we’ll explore how gratitude can be a radical, restorative force in a broken world. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

Rev. Sasha Ostrom, minister of the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, joins us as part of the NJ Leadership Leaves program.

November 2, 2025

All Souls: A Service of Remembrance and Gratitude
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

This Sunday, we gather to remember those who have died in the past year and to give thanks for the love that still connects us. With candles, music, and reflection, we honor the wisdom of our ancestors and the enduring web of life that holds us all. Click here to watch this beautiful service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Just Folk

October 26, 2025

The Breath Between: Restoring Ourselves to Serve
Denise McCormack, Guest Speaker

This service explores the essential yet often neglected practice of self-care as a necessary act of preservation and grace. Through story and reflection, we consider that we, too, are among those worthy of care and embrace the truth that small acts of self nourishment– resting, treating ourselves, or simply pausing to breathe–are vital to living with balance, intention, and compassion.

This service is private per the request of the presenter.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

Denise McCormack is a storyteller and speaker who explores the power of narrative to inspire meaning, connection, and transformation. Her programs draw from myth, personal reflection, and timeless themes that speak to the human spirit.

October 19, 2025

Imagination: the Root of Compassion
Rev. Dr. Sarah Lenzi, Guest Minister

This service will explore the connections between imagination, empathy and compassion, and how we might use these tools to course correct as a culture. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

The Rev Dr Sarah Lenzi is in her ninth year serving as the Minister of the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood. Rev. Sarah is committed to fostering compassion, resilience, and depth in intentional communities of mutual care. A born and raised UU, she lives in NYC with her husband, four children, and a very large Siberian cat. Among her passions are baking, coaching Little League, and time spent with family.

October 12, 2025

The Passion of Compassion                              Frank Farrell, Guest Speaker

Passion and compassion are two distinct emotions. Passion refers to a strong and intense emotion that fuels one’s dedication to a cause. Compassion is a fundamental human emotion that involves a deep empathetic response to the suffering or distress of others. How much passion is needed for compassion? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Dan Kader, Guest Pianist

Frank Farrell is a member of the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood and is the moderator for its Environmental Justice Team. 50 years as an actor, director and producer of theatre productions all over the country, he currently serves as the Artistic Director of the First Flight Theatre Company.

Dan Kader is a graduate of the University of Miami Jazz Program and he also has an MBA from Fordham University. He has won several awards throughout his career and has performed both solo and with different artists. He is both excited and honored to be with you here today.

October 5, 2025

There is No Sand Here!                                       The Rev. Rosemarie Newberry

To practice our faith, we do not put our heads in the sand.  We seek out the truth of our world. We cannot ignore the state of our world. And it is hard work to keep our heads up, to speak up and to show up. With another election on the horizon, what actions can we do that expresses our faith? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

The Rev. Rosemarie Newberry is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister who lives in Red Bank. Her favorite activity is participating in an Americorp project called Reading Buddies. She goes to two local schools to read stories to Kindergartners and First Graders. She is also active in speaking at Board of Ed meetings around NJ supporting students’ rights, especially the trans youth. She has been a member of UUCMC for over 30 years.

September 28, 2025

Love at the Edges                                                Rev. Bill Neely

Love is at the center of our denomination’s Shared Values, reflecting our tradition as well as who we are becoming. How does this love that at our center lead us beyond ourselves? How can our “center” strengthen us for ministry at the edges? Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

Rev. Bill Neely is the Parish Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, NJ, where he served for several years with UUCMC’s very own Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano. He lives in Hamilton, NJ with his wife, three kids, and cat, and enjoys running, pizza, and all Pittsburgh sports.

September 21, 2025

Letting Go in the Land of Forgiveness         Rev. Julie Newhall

Our UU tradition stems from Judeo Christian roots of long ago.  Rosh Hashanah, one of the four Jewish New Years on the calendar, begins at sundown on September 22 and leads into the 10 Days of Awe, also known as the High Holy Days, when people repent of their difficult behaviors and have an annual opportunity to begin again.   What if we UUs also did something like this? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Helen Kho

September 14, 2025

Flow: Ingathering Water Communion with Backpack Blessing
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

We’re sad to report both the livestream and the backup failed for this service. A recording is not available.

We begin a new congregational year with a joyful all-ages service celebrating connection and possibility. Bring a small amount of water from a place that holds meaning for you to add to our communal bucket, symbolizing the community we create together. Bring a backpack or bag for a special blessing as we enter a new year of learning and growing. Let’s flow into a new year, together. 

Music: Michael Rosin, UU Singers, Roots and Wings Drum Choir

September 7, 2025

Love You Back                                                      Ted Fetter, guest speaker, UUCP

The Seventh Principle of our faith is “respect for the interconnected web of all existence.”  The new set of UU Values in our UUA Bylaws lists “Interdependence” as one of the key elements of Unitarian Universalism.  Let’s explore Interconnectedness at this time of division and separation in our culture.  We need a social understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Tom Cioppa & Jesse Deane, guitarists

Ted Fetter is retired from government work with 40 years of experience in Unitarian Universalism. His home congregation is Princeton, NJ. He works a lot in racial justice and immigration programs, both in UU circles and outside them. His UU volunteer roles include regional leadership with the former Metro New York District of the UUA, active work with UU FaithAction New Jersey and especially its Immigration Justice Task Force, roles with the UUA Board of Trustees, and chairing the Board of the Starr King School for the Ministry. He and his wife Jane have been married for 55 years and are proud to have three sons and five grandchildren.

August 31, 2025

Whistle While You Work                                  Rev. Julie Newhall, guest minister

Do you? Tomorrow is Labor Day, a labor-free celebration of workers that was a long time coming. Maybe Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were onto something. Click here to watch the delightful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Bob Killian, guest musician

The Reverend Julie Newhall, a longtime member of UUCMC, serves the UU Ocean County Congregation and speaks at UUCMC annually. She has served as a hospital chaplain, a teacher of World Religions, and as minister of numerous UU fellowships and congregations, including the Aukland (NZ) Unitarian Church.

Bob Killian, at the suggestion of UUCMC’s founding minister Harold Dean and help from many members here, in 1975 founded the Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater and the Annual Clearwater Festival at Sandy Hook. Bob will sing a song or two from those efforts. A 50th Anniversary Festival was held in Asbury Park on August 30.

August 24, 2025

Reflections on Hospital Chaplaincy as a UU
Patricia Hennigan, guest speaker, UUCP

Patricia recently completed her first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, a Level 1 Trauma Center. She will share some reflections on her experience as a UU chaplain in an inherently multi-faith and pluralistic environment. She’ll explore how love, and many of our shared UU values, color the work of chaplaincy, and how they are illuminated by the work in turn. Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

Patricia Hennigan has been a UU for twenty-five years and a member of the UU Congregation of Princeton for seventeen-ish years. She is an Aspirant to UU ministry, pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ.

August 17, 2025

Telling Our Stories
Friday Afternoon Covenant Circle

We all have humorous and poignant stories that may have remained unspoken and that need to be shared. The Friday afternoon Covenant Circle will hopefully inspire each of us to share our own stories so that we might communicate and nurture our connectedness with one another. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

August 10, 2025

Adventures in the Apocalypse
Rev. Allen Wells, guest minister

Climate change is altering our planet and artificial intelligence is transforming us. How may we navigate these staggering changes with equanimity, love, and even JOY? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, piano

The Rev. Allen Wells is a Buddhist Teacher, Unitarian Universalist minister, and pastoral counselor. He is a member of the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, NJ. He teaches at two local Buddhist sanghas and maintains a mindfulness based psychotherapy practice in Morristown. As minister, Allen has served UU congregations in Weymouth, Mass., Hollis Queens, The First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, and the UU Congregation of Rockland, NY. He has also served as Director of Religious Education at the Morristown UU Fellowship and the UU Congregation of Monmouth County, NJ. For 15 years he served as a winter minister for the UU Fellowship of St. John, USVI. Allen is particularly interested in the interplay of neuroscience and the Buddhist understanding of mind. A long time activist for social justice and environmental sustainability, in this later stage of life he devotes himself primarily to study and contemplation. He loves poetry but he acknowledges that he hasn’t written any books because he says he would rather spend the present time ballroom dancing!

August 3, 2025

Joy as an Act of Resistance—and Revolutionary Love
Rev. Cindy Terlazzo, guest minister

Activist Valarie Kaur says: “In the face of horrors visited upon our world daily, in the struggle to protect our loved ones, choosing to let in joy is a revolutionary act. It returns us to everything that is good and beautiful and worth fighting for.” Let us join together on this day and make space for joy to arrive. Click here to watch this joyful service.

Music: Just Folk, Helen Kho

The Rev. Cindy Terlazzo is an ordained UU minister who has been serving the Unitarian Universalists of Gettysburg PA for the past 4 years. She and John recently moved to Rochester, NY to be closer to family. Cindy will begin new ministries with 2 small congregations in upstate NY in the fall. Cindy takes seriously the art of making room for Joy to arrive—particularly in these most curious and tumultuous times.

John Terlazzo is a Poet / Singer / Songwriter and Storyteller who performs and records with his band, Voices in the Hall, and leads Writing Retreats called The Flame in Every Hand: Writing as a Contemplative Act.

July 27, 2025

Sabbatical Revitalization.                               Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

The word “sabbatical” is tied to ancient practices of agriculture where, in the seventh year, the field is allowed to rest. After six years as your minister, both you and I will engage in a sort of adventure of rejuvenation and reorientation to our future together (not for a whole year, but for a few months). This morning, let us covenant with one another to do the work UUCMC asks of us as we meet the moments the world delivers to us. Just Folk joins us for a tribute to the late Peter Yarrow of “Peter, Paul, and Mary” fame. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Just Folk, Helen Kho

July 20, 2025

Poetry Creates Community                              Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano & friends

For three years now, Tea Time on Thursday afternoons at 4 PM has been a place where people get together, and through the exercise of each participant commenting on their experience of reading a poem I select, deep community is created in a virtual environment. This morning, we bring that Tea Time spirit to Sunday morning worship. Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, piano

July 13, 2025

Creating Less Anxious Days                             Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

It is the contention of sociologist and life coach Martha Beck that anxiety cannot just be ended; rather, it needs to be replaced with new, habitual ways of relating to the world that engage our creative energies. This morning, we will explore practices that can guide us thinking our way forward toward less anxious days. Click here to watch the inspiring service.

Music: Evan Schwartzman, piano; Joel DeWitt, violin

July 6, 2025

Absolute Freedom                                               “Rev. Faerie” Elaine Silver

A service in honor of different aspects of Freedom, including Independence Day, Juneteenth, and personal self-expression, presented in a context of Empathy, Light, and Celebration. Click here to watch this delightful service.

Music: Elaine Silver

“Rev. Faerie” Elaine Silver is a celebrated folk musician, spiritual teacher, and metaphysical minister whose luminous voice and heartfelt performances have inspired audiences across North America and Europe. With over 22 albums to her name, she blends original compositions with spiritual teachings rooted in New Thought, Science of Mind, and Earth-based traditions. Ordained as a Divinity Priestess in the Temple of Isis, she is also a licensed Science of Mind Practitioner (RScP) and Certified Beatlologist. Known for her “Faerie” persona, she infuses her concerts, workshops, and Sunday services with magic, love, and transformative energy, offering a musical ministry that uplifts and heals. Now joyfully rooted in Sarasota, Florida, Elaine continues to share her Spirit-inspired music with communities far and wide. She is delighted to be making her second appearance at UUCMC.

June 29, 2025

Beauty from a Different Angle                       Tim Geiselman

We are deeply and persistently attracted to the physical beauty in others. But what if we could temper that attraction and channel it towards who we are rather than how we look? How would our interactions with others be different? What are the insights and joys that are lost in a culture that chases physical beauty? This service will discuss those questions. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Dave Reilly

UUCMC member Tim Geiselman and his wife Rosane have been congregants at UUCMC since 2016. In the past he has spoken on Anne Frank, Parenthood, and Atheism.

June 22, 2025

A Spiritual Journey (What Exit?)                   Rev. Rhea Carol, Guest Minister

Dr. Ernest Holmes, in the Science of Mind textbook writes, “To meditate upon the Presence of God is to draw the Universe into one’s own soul. God is not a person but a principle personified in each of us. Spirituality is the atmosphere of this Principle.  Religion is its outward form.” I’ll share my spiritual journey traveling on the Garden State Parkway. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita

Rev. Rhea, a member of UUCMC, has studied Science of Mind for 40 years. She was the founder of Center for Spiritual Living in Asbury Park. She has given talks all over NJ and Paoli, PA. She holds guided meditations on the beach, weather permitting.

June 15, 2025

Freedom, and Then?                                            Rev. Charlie Dieterich, Guest Minister

Howard Thurman talked about the “Work of Christmas,” tasks which follow the celebration. I will explore one aspect of the continuing “Work of Freedom” as we honor Father’s Day. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Helen Kho, UkUlele Orchestra

Rev. Charlie Dieterich is a retired Minister living in Kingston, NJ. Rev. Charlie has served congregations in Erie, Pennsylvania, in Norfolk, Virginia, and in Pomona, New Jersey. In retirement he continues volunteer work with the UU Trauma Response Ministry and has become involved in local history and in ham radio.

June 8, 2025

A Multigenerational Celebration of New Members and Flower Communion
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano, CDFM Michelle McKenzie-Creech, Lisa Arcoleo

This morning, we finish out the congregational fiscal year, honor our new members, and take part in our annual Congregational Business Meeting. We also participate in Flower Communion, a uniquely UU ritual centered on the freedom to worship and live authentically. Please bring a flower with you to the service to add to bouquets symbolic of us all. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

June 1, 2025

Inner Freedom and Friendship                     Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

LGBTQ+ Pride month begins this morning, and we will honor our congregational theme for the month of June—”freedom”—by finding the joyful relationships at the heart of true freedom: relationships of wholeness, authenticity, and profound friendship. And then UUCMC will march at the Asbury Park state-wide parade together to show some PRIDE in action. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Rev. Craig

May 25, 2025

8 Hugs a Day                                                         Rev. Rosemarie Newberry

The results are in: Our biological reactions to spiritual practices have been measured and they give us joy and happiness. The religious experience is becoming less and less valid as unique and separate, because of advanced scientific research. Let’s look at the evolution of science and religion today. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

The Rev. Rosemarie Newberry is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister. She has been a member of UUCMC for over 30 years. She lives in Red Bank.

May 18, 2025

Bridges and Beacons: A Multigenerational Morning
UUCMC Youth, CDFM Michelle McKenzie-Creech, & Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

This special youth-led service honors the milestones of Coming of Age and Bridging. Our young people will reflect on how they embody their Unitarian Universalist values. As they cross thresholds and embark on the next chapters of their lives, they serve as beacons of insight and hope, reminding us of the courage it takes to grow, the light we each carry, and the love that connects us. Click here to watch the inspirational service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Rev. Craig; Benjamin Eittreim

May 11, 2025

A Celebration of the Imagination on Mother’s Day
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

No doubt there were several people or circumstances that inspired our imagination as we grew into adulthood. At the very least, someone was likely responsible for providing enough safety for our imaginations to take flight, perhaps those people who cared for us enough to put our well-being ahead of their own. This morning, we will celebrate people who lit the fire of our imaginations. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Rev. Craig

May 4, 2025

Unity in Diversity
Members of the Board of the Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought

Now beginning its 31st year as an adjunct organization to UUCMC, the Monmouth Center (MCWRET) is all about respecting religious diversity and promoting the public’s understanding of different spiritual faiths and wisdom traditions. This service will explore how Oneness and Peace can be intertwined with Diversity. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Kevin Hoban, guest guitarist

April 27, 2025

Listening to the Colors of the Wind: Finding Climate Justice on a Living Planet
The UUCMC Green Sanctuary 2030 Team

The Green Sanctuary 2030 process asks UUs to look at Social Justice through the lens of Climate Justice; to care for people who are at greatest risk in the face of climate events—those who are unhoused, food insecure, or burdened with other disadvantages. Of course, mitigating human actions contributing to climate change is essential. We recognize that asking those at risk what they need leads to better outcomes than telling them what we think they need. Yet, we tend to overlook the value of using a similar approach to nonhumans. Living organisms have chemically and physically altered our planet for ≥ 3.7 billion years. The evolving network of life has a long track-record of adaptation and resilience. In this service, we will explore what might emerge if we ask how we can support living species of Earth as partners. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Sandy Sasso, guest singer

April 20, 2025

Hope is Risen: A Multigenerational Celebration of Easter
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and CDFM Michelle McKenzie-Creech

At the heart of the Easter celebration is the rising of hope in the midst of death, the rising of light in the midst of darkness, the rising of solidarity in the midst of despair. Let us rise this Easter to a newfound articulation of the power of Unitarian Universalist values in a world that needs a big dose of Easter hope. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers; Sister Singers

April 13, 2025

Inviting “Elijah”: Celebrating the Spirit of Passover and Palm Sunday
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

One of the customs of Passover is to pour wine into a goblet for the Prophet Elijah and then to open the door for him. This generous spirit is something which we at UUCMC aspire towards—that all be welcome to walk through our doors. It was in this same spirit that Jesus of Nazareth is said to have arrived at the gates of Jerusalem to celebrate Passover—but the Roman authorities were not so welcoming. Lessons abound from these two powerful stories of Judaism and Christianity. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

April 6, 2025

Inner Empire                                                        Rev. Mary Tiebout, guest minister

From ancient history to modern times, not everyone living under an imperial regime has surrendered to its demands. Amid concerns about the current rise of religious and political powers, we turn to sources that remind us where we can find the strength to stand our ground on behalf of ourselves and others, and when in our lives we have done that. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, guest musician

Rev. Mary Tiebout has served UU congregations in NJ, CT, PA, and VT since her ordination in 1993. After having, until recently, taken care of her parents in their final years and days, Mary is back home in Pennsylvania, thinking about how best to engage in the struggles of this world, while at the same time, welcoming the soul- and spirit-nourishing gifts of spring.

March 30, 2025 

International Transgender Day of Visibility
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

Since 2009, on March 31st, the world has celebrated and honored the contributions to society by transgender and nonbinary people—and this year, when trust in our nation’s ability even to see our trans and gender expansive siblings in spirit has been frayed beyond recognition, it is all the more important to say, as a congregation, with love at the center, that advocating for transgender visibility is important, loving, and sacred work. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Sister Singers

March 23, 2025

For Such a Time as This: The Inspiration of Purim
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

We’ve crossed the Spring equinox, hope is springing up in the natural world around us, yet many hearts remain heavy, with forces imperiling our values on the rise. The finger puppets return to celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim. What can we learn from the story of Queen Esther in ancient Persia? Perhaps that we need to trust that we are where we are, doing what we are doing, for such a time as this.  Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

March 16, 2025

Centered in Love: Stewardship Sunday
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

A congregation like ours, owned by its members, not the beneficiary of any ecclesial hierarchy, functions on trust—trust that the importance of living our values with one another and in the world will allow us to fund the communal project that is UUCMC. Our theme for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1st gives us our marching orders—Centered in Love: Living Our Values. Come, bring your pledge forms, bring your love, and bring your appetite, for our annual Stewardship Sunday/Pancake Breakfast! Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

March 9, 2025

Have I Got A Story For You
Rev. Charles Loflin, Executive Director of Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ (UUFANJ)

Storytelling is a means of communicating that helps us make sense of the world. Stories are wondrous things but also dangerous. Thomas King says “Don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You’ve heard it now.” Click here to watch the recorded service on YouTube.

Music: Joel DeWitt, violin, and Music Director Emerita Elaine Held, piano

March 2, 2025

2025 Myra Zinke Lecture: Women’s Rights are Human Rights
Beth O’Connell, Internation Convocation of UU Women

In 1995 at the United Nations’ World Conference on Women in Beijing, then First Lady Hillary Clinton famously declared that women’s rights are not separate from human rights. At that ground-breaking conference, 189 governments agreed to a Platform for Action on gender equality. Now 30 years later what progress has—and has not—been made? How are women doing around the world, and in this country? Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, Guest Musician

Beth O’Connell is a retired journalist. She began her career at newspapers including the Trenton Times and went on to television in Philadelphia and at CNN. She spent 20 years in Europe with Bloomberg News in London and the French news agency AFP in Paris. She was a member of the UU Fellowship of Paris. She returned to her native New Jersey a year and a half ago and lives in Bradley Beach. She is a board member of the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women.

We don’t often realize that UUism is a global faith. The International Convocation of UU Women (ICUUW) is one of the rare UU groups committed to this perspective with a focus on the lives and dreams of women and girls. Partnering with local UU churches they support programs such as raising awareness of violence against women, building leadership and entrepreneurial skills, informing women of their rights from reproductive choice to land ownership. ICUUW is also an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations where they advocate for gender equality.

February 23, 2025

Uniquely Human                                                  Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

What does it mean to honor the full spectrum of human experience? This Sunday, we’ll delve into the concept of neurodiversity—celebrating the diverse ways our brains work, and the shared humanity that connects us all. Together, we’ll reflect on how embracing these differences can deepen our understanding of inclusion and create a more compassionate world. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Tenson Liang, Guest Musician

February 16, 2025

Inclusion, Random Acts of Kindness, Child Dedication
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Although February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day, it is no random act of kindness to welcome recently-born children into our congregational community. Indeed, the ritual of Child Dedication is at the heart of what we do as Unitarian Universalists, the ultimate act of “inclusion,” our theme for February. This morning, we dedicate two children to our collective care. Please be present to witness and to take responsibility for this action. Click here to watch the joyful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; UU Singers

February 9, 2025

The Lesson of Honeybees: Inclusion as Collaboration
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

How does the idea of “collaboration” intersect with that of “inclusion”? Perhaps honeybees have something to teach us, for, according to experts, there really is no such thing as an individual honeybee—they are always a collective enterprise. And, as we look to work collectively with people outside of our congregation on projects of justice and inclusion, there are new ways of understanding how to collaborate that center following, rather than leading. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director

February 2, 2025

Getting to Know “Us”                                          Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

A few times a year, we offer a “Getting to Know UU(CMC)” course of three sessions, aimed primarily at newcomers, but always open to all. In honor of our having, following the service, the first such session in-person in a long time, I thought it would be a good time to review a bit of who “we” are as Unitarian Universalists and as members and friends of UUCMC…and to understand the implications of true “inclusion” (our congregational theme for February) on the definition of “we.” Click here to watch this powerful service.

Music: Michael Rosin, Music Director; Root & Wings Drum Choir

January 26, 2025 

Defying Gravity Through Story                    Rev. Dr. Mary Early-Zald, Guest Minister

They say that “History is written by the victors.” However, many stories, like Wicked, subvert notions of “winning.” Rev. Dr. Early-Zald will explore the power of untold narratives for rising above challenging times. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Tenson Liang, Guest Pianist

The Rev. Dr. Mary Early-Zald is a UU Minister and Chaplain who serves as the Affiliated Community Minister at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit. Currently providing care with unhoused communities, she has also worked in Hospice, Hospital, and Movement Chaplaincy. Mary received her M.Div. at Vanderbilt Divinity School and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychological at the University of Minnesota.

Tenson Liang is a concert pianist born in Taipei, Taiwan. Currently, he is a full scholarship recipient pursuing an Artist Diploma in Piano Performance at Rutgers University. A winner of multiple international piano competitions, Tenson is also passionate about teaching, having instructed over 100 students. He founded Classical Music Express, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing high-quality classical music concerts to the Kansas City community. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading, and outdoor adventures.

January 19, 2025

Living Multigenerationally into a New Tomorrow
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano & Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

On this Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, as we inaugurate new leadership around this country of ours, we pause to reflect on the stories we tell about our country, our congregation, and ourselves. We have the power, singly and collectively, to live into multigenerational, diverse Beloved Community, by telling a new story for a new tomorrow. And we welcome our new Music Director, Michael Rosin! Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Michael Rosin, New Music Director; UU Singers, UkUlele Orchestra

January 12, 2025

The Story of Water: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano 

In November, I met with the founder of Caminos de agua (Waterways), a vital organization in Mexico’s Upper Río Laja Watershed providing solutions to a multi-pronged crisis of access to fresh, healthy water. Alongside the UU Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende and its Social Justice Foundation, UUCMC can continue the unique international partnership for justice we forged over the past two years by contributing to Caminos’s actions benefiting the area’s over 740,000 people facing falling aquifer levels, failing well systems, and dangerous levels of arsenic and fluoride poisoning. Let’s help change the story and be part of solutions for health and dignity. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Tom McCormack

Tom McCormack has performed on club and college stages across the country as a solo artist, with his band and with his presentation “Hate Speech & Love Songs.” He has released three CDs, written & produced music for HBO, Cinemax, and the Style network, and co-founded GLAMA, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards.

Here’s how to donate:

Clicking on the link here takes you to the webpage of the UU Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende (UUFSMA)’s Social Justice Foundation. There is a drop-down menu where you can select Caminos de agua. Enter an amount, consider offsetting the credit card fee, and proceed to the payment option pages. You will be asked to provide the name of our congregation (UU Congregation of Monmouth County). Please do, so that our giving efforts can consolidate and represent us and our values.

January 5, 2025

Resolving to Be Imperfect: Fire Communion
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano 

I invite us to begin the year by resolving not to be perfect, by granting ourselves forgiveness, by offering love both inwardly and outwardly. But, sure, let’s have some goals, and let’s discard practices that haven’t worked in the past. We will engage in an exercise asking us to write down those things we want to release, and then we will burn those pieces of paper in a communal cauldron to enter this new year with a new story, with freshness of purpose. And, there will be dancing! Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; Core of Fire Interfaith Dance Ministry; Dr. Carol Penn

December 29, 2024 

Reminiscences, Writings, Readings            UUCMC Members 

Come listen to congregants share what is on their minds and in their hearts—a meaningful way to deepen our connections to each other through words, music, and dance. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Dr. David and Sarah Fischell; Core of Fire Interfaith Dance Ministry

December 24, 2024, 8pm Service

Christmas in the Barn: Family Candlelight Service
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM and Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano 

Join us as we explore the heartwarming journey of the Grinch, whose heart was “two sizes too small” but grew three sizes, reminding us of the power of love and community. This service of songs and stories includes our pageant, “Christmas in the Barn,” with a part for every child. Arrive a little early to collect your costume. In the UU tradition, we believe that every child is the hope of this world. Click here to watch the family service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; UkUlele Orchestra; Rev. Craig

December 24, 2024, 4pm Service

Christmas in the Barn: Family Candlelight Service
Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM and Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano 

Join us as we explore the heartwarming journey of the Grinch, whose heart was “two sizes too small” but grew three sizes, reminding us of the power of love and community. This service of songs and stories includes our pageant, “Christmas in the Barn,” with a part for every child. Arrive a little early to collect your costume. In the UU tradition, we believe that every child is the hope of this world. Click here to watch the family service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; UkUlele Orchestra; Rev. Craig

December 22, 2024

A Multigenerational Litany of Lights (and Solstice and Hanukkah!)
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

One of the favorite services of UUCMC’s year, this Sunday we bring many faith traditions together onto a common table of dedication, lighting candles of joy after the longest night of the year, with special attention paid to the festival of Hanukkah. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; UU Singers; Just Folk; Dr. David Fischell

December 15, 2024 

Giving the Present of Presence                       Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

This morning, we dig into our theme for the month of December: presence. No, not presents, although we are perhaps more likely to have the latter on our minds than the former. How can we give one another and ourselves the gift of presence? Click here to watch the service. 

Music: Brian Gilmore, Guest Musician

December 8, 2024 

The Spirit of Advent                                             Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

This Sunday, we are well into the holiday season, mere days till Christmas, and it seems prudent to slow down a bit, enjoy one another, and live into the spirit of Advent, which is characterized by waiting, and by values of hope, love, joy, and peace. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, Guest Musician

December 4, 2024
Re-do of the November 10, 2024 Service

Let Us Repair                                                  Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

The November 10th service, the Sunday following the elections, fell victim to several technological failures, resulting in neither a livestream nor a recording. Many of you have expressed sorrow at not having had access to it, not being able to rewatch it, not being able to send it to friends and family—so, for the first time in UUCMC history, on Wednesday, December 4th at noon, we repeated the November 10 service in its entirety:

This morning, we focus on the meanings of the word “repair”—not merely “to fix that which is broken,” but “to go,” “to rally.” We don’t know what the results of the elections will bring (if there will even be a complete accounting by this date), but we do know this: we will be there for one another. So, let us repair to our beloved Earth Room, to our Community Room, and begin the work of repair, together. Click here to watch the 11/10/24 service (re-done on 12/4).

Music: Evan Schwartzman, Joel DeWitt

Evan Schwartzman, pianist and composer, received his Masters in Theory and Composition from Rutgers University. As a pianist, he has given recitals as soloist and chamber music musician throughout the NY metropolitan region. His work can be found on CGNJ Recordings, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and all the usual streaming services.

December 1, 2024

From Presence to Transcendence
Pat Hoppe, UUCMC Member

Three times in my life I was present to the universe, magical moments that changed my life. In one instance, I was trundling along in a bright yellow school bus on a narrow dirt road in southern Indiana, 65 years ago. On my lap was an anthology of literature that contained Edna St Vincent Millay’s poem, “Renascence.” In another, I woke from a dream that turned out to be a premonition of events that happened that very day. This event led me to ask: How are we connected? What force connects us to the future so that we see it before it happens? Important questions. Come share a morning of Presence and Transcendence with me. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Brian Gilmore, Guest Musician

November 24, 2024

A Multigenerational Bread Communion Thanksgiving
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Sari Alburtus

If it is true that “you eat what you are,” that the foods of our childhoods reflect our heritages—our places of origin, the folks that brought us up—then sharing from that bounty will bring us into greater knowledge of one another. This Thanksgiving service, for the first time since before the pandemic, we hold a Bread Communion. Please volunteer to bring in a bread that reflects you in some way, and bring a palate open enough to embrace all the breads of our lives. Click here to watch the joyful service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; UU Singers; Paul Vallin

November 17, 2024

Lessons from the Mountain                             Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

Mountaineer Conrad Anker says, “The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.” This service will draw upon the peaks and valleys of my sabbatical travel through the Appalachian mountains. We will consider the narratives that define us and how embracing the complexities of our own stories can lead to renewal and growth. Click here to watch the beautiful service.

Music: Tenson Liang, guest musician

Tenson Liang is a concert pianist born in Taipei, Taiwan. Currently, he is a full scholarship recipient pursuing an Artist Diploma in Piano Performance at Rutgers University. A winner of multiple international piano competitions, Tenson is also passionate about teaching, having instructed over 100 students. He founded Classical Music Express, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing high-quality classical music concerts to the Kansas City community. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading, and outdoor adventures.

November 10, 2024

Let Us Repair                                                       Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

We are very sad to report both our livestream AND backup systems failed, and we do not have a recording of this service. PLEASE SEE December 4, 2024 for a recording of this service, re-done on that Wednesday.

This morning, we focus on the meanings of the word “repair”—not merely “to fix that which is broken,” but “to go,” “to rally.” We don’t know what the complete results of the elections will bring, but we do know this: we will be there for one another. So, let us repair to our beloved Earth Room, to our Community Room, and begin the work of repair, together.

Music: Evan Schwartzman, guest; Joel DeWitt

Evan Schwartzman, pianist and composer, received his Masters in Theory and Composition from Rutgers University. As a pianist, he has given recitals as soloist and chamber music musician throughout the NY metropolitan region. His work can be found on CGNJ Recordings, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and all the usual streaming services.

November 3, 2024

The Feast of All Souls                                        Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

Our annual service and ceremony of honoring the souls of those lost to us during the past year. This year, we assemble a collection of photographs of the departed as, once again, we hear the litany of the departed. Please get names to Lisa by Friday, November 1st at the latest, and bring in photos of your loved ones, human and otherwise. In a month when our theme is repair, we gather to grieve, and to heal, together. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita; UU Singers

October 27, 2024

Justice: The Nine Commandments               Rev. Charles Dieterich, guest minister

We open a dusty old book to consider what equal justice looks like . . . and two commandments concerning donkeys. Also . . . “Blessing of the Spirits”:  please come to the service in costume for a blessing before Halloween—and a parade! Click here to watch the service.

Music: Madeline Giordana, guest musician

The Rev. Charlie Dieterich is a retired Minister living in Kingston, NJ. Rev. Charlie has served congregations in Erie, Pennsylvania, in Norfolk, Virginia, and in Pomona, New Jersey. In retirement he continues volunteer work with the UU Trauma Response Ministry and has become involved in local history and in ham radio.

Madeline Giordana is a pianist with a special love for collaboration., Ever since her eighth grade choir teacher asked her to accompany a concert, she’s been hooked on making music with others. Some of her favorite settings include musical theater productions, choir concerts, and worship services. She recently moved to New Jersey from Wisconsin to begin a job at Rutgers in the career services office. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Saint Olaf College in Minnesota and a master’s degree in educational psychology and counseling from the University of Minnesota. She loves her two cats, swing dancing, crafting with friends, crossword puzzles, and quality time with her partner, Eric. 

October 20, 2024

Multigenerational CROP Walk Sunday
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

In every single county in the United States, people face food insecurity—1 in 6 Americans, including 14 million children. On this day when we walk for food justice in the annual Red Bank CROP Walk, may we be reminded that hunger is closer to our lives than we think, and may we be thankful for the work being done in our midst. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Just Folk

October 13, 2024

Listening to Our Stories                                    Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Friends

Just prior to our first Interim Congregational Meeting of 2024–25 is an apt time to practice what we mean by deep listening by listening to one another. When it is so easy to hear nothing but ideology in the voices of others, the key to peaceful coexistence is perhaps to listen to the biographies, the contexts, of those voices. Click here to watch the recorded service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita

October 6, 2024

Grateful: High Holy Days                                 Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Kristi Nelson, guest

Again, we turn—we return—to our lives, to our loves, to our regrets, and, in being given the space to do such an accounting, we are filled with gratitude. The Jewish High Holy Days invite us all to take a moment, ask for forgiveness, forgive, make amends, and turn the page. Following her workshop yesterday, Kristi Nelson remains with us for this special worship service during a time of year, in which, hopefully, in her words, we take nothing for granted. Click here to watch the beautiful service.

Music: Tom McCormack, Paul Sherman

Kristi Nelson is the author of Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted. She is currently an Ambassador for Grateful Living and served as the organization’s Executive Director from 2014–22. Her life’s work in the non-profit sector has focused on leading, inspiring, and strengthening organizations committed to progressive social and spiritual change. Being a long-time stage IV cancer survivor moves her every day to support others in living and loving with great fullness of heart.

Tom McCormack has performed on club and college stages across the country as a solo artist, with his band and with his presentation “Hate Speech & Love Songs.” He has released three CDs, written & produced music for HBO, Cinemax, and the Style network, and co-founded GLAMA, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards.

September 29, 2024

The Riddle and the Mystery                           Rev. Cindy Terlazzo, guest minister

Humankind has created countless stories to try to explain the mystery that surrounds everything. That is all religion really is—people wondering about where we came from, why we are here, and what comes next. Today’s service invites us to join in that exploration. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Elaine Held, Music Director Emerita

The Rev. Cindy Terlazzo comes to us today from the Gettysburg congregation in Pennsylvania where she has been serving part time for the past 3 years. Cindy recently retired from serving individuals with an intellectual disability as a social worker. She and her husband John moved to Rochester, NY in August to live closer to family and watch grandchildren grow up in every day time. She is delighted to join you today to explore some of life’s biggest questions—Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going.

September 22, 2024

Mabon: An Invitation to Renewal                 Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

The pagan holiday of Mabon celebrates the September equinox (this year at 8:43 AM this morning) as a time of balance and gratitude during what historically (in the northern hemisphere) was the second and final harvest before the arrival of colder weather. Mabon’s commemoration invites us into contemplation, reflection, and preparation for a new time in our lives together. Today is also the first day of Banned Books Week 2024, and we will be inspired by those who are in the struggle to maintain our libraries. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Ian Kanev, guest musician

Ian Kanev is a Performing Arts major with an emphasis on piano at Ocean  County Community College (OCC), and is a piano student of Brian Gilmore. His projected date of graduation with an associate’s degree is May 2025, after which he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a music conservatory for Performance Piano. Prior to enrolling at OOC, Ian traveled extensively with his family and solo. His goal is to perform for audiences around the world. Ian has found his true path in performance piano and classical music, and he attributes much of that drive to his professor, Brian Gilmore.

September 15, 2024

Preemptive Radical Inclusion: A Model for Invitation          Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano

What if we presupposed, as a radical stance of invitation, that everyone is already in the room? That is at the heart of Preemptive Radical Inclusion (PRI), a set of practices and perspectives pioneered by UU educator CB Beal. This morning, we will look at how an invitation needs to be followed up by inviting acts of hospitality, setting us on a journey toward collective justice and liberation. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Ian Kanev, guest musician

Ian Kanev is a Performing Arts major with an emphasis on piano at Ocean  County Community College (OCC), and is a piano student of Brian Gilmore. His projected date of graduation with an associate’s degree is May 2025, after which he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a music conservatory for Performance Piano. Prior to enrolling at OOC, Ian traveled extensively with his family and solo. His goal is to perform for audiences around the world. Ian has found his true path in performance piano and classical music, and he attributes much of that drive to his professor, Brian Gilmore.

September 8, 2024

Multigenerational Ingathering: All Things Grow with Love
Rev. Dr. Craig Rubano and Michelle McKenzie-Creech, CDFM

We inaugurate a new congregational year with a theme of “Seeds of Love.” Bring your new energy, your new determination, your new commitment to building community together. And bring your backpacks (or wherever you carry your things)—there will be a backpack blessing and a take-home charm to remind us, especially our young people, that the Love of UUCMC is with us all through the week. And bring your Love for our outgoing Music Director of 18 years, Dr. Louise Chernosky. Louise leaves us in order to tend another musical garden. We will let her know how much she has meant to us, both in the worship service, and at a celebratory Community Hour afterwards. All things grow with love: Louise’s tenure has demonstrated that over and over again. Click here to watch the service.

Music: Dr. Louise Chernosky, UU Singers, UkUlele Orchestra, Elaine Held, Rev. Craig