by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
North Shore Unitarian Universalists
Sunday, September 5, 2010

Before I begin this morning’s sermon "In Praise of Work," I want to remind you about our annual Water Communion ceremony which will be held next Sunday, led by Patricia Stout. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the concept, this ritual involves the people of the congregation bringing a small amount of water from their summer to share with the congregation. Each person who wishes to take part in this informal ritual of regathered community is asked to bring a small...

A Sermon by the Reverend Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, August 15, 2010

Yesterday I presided over a vows-renewal ceremony for two young men who were married last Monday in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple wanted their local friends and family to celebrate with them, and I was honored to preside over their ceremony. But it was a shame to me and painful to the two grooms that so many members of both families refused to attend. Despite the filled ballroom at the French Quarter hotel, there was one empty table that...

A Sermon by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger for the
Greater New Orleans UU Shared Service: Hot Art in a Cool Space at
North Shore Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Sunday, August 8, 2010

When I was a little girl, paint-by-numbers kits were very popular. In our house we had several framed paintings that my mother had painstakingly completed on our dining room table, carefully filling each space in according to the number on the little paint containers. Some of the finished paintings were attractive, most of them were colorful, but not a single one of them was...

A Sermon for the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial
By the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans
Sunday, May 23, 2010

From time to time, we lift up a significant person in Unitarian Universalist history as the fit subject for a sermon. For example, on Mother’s Day, we honored Maja Capek for her role in establishing the Flower Ceremony. This morning, we celebrate the 200th birthday of another UU foremother, Margaret Fuller.

We do this not because we UUs have raised certain individuals to divine status, as when a Christian minister preaches about Jesus,...

Adapted from a Sermon by the Rev. Ann Schranz Given on July 19, 2009
at the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Retold by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Flower Celebration is a beloved ritual in many, if not most, Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was first created by the Reverend Norbert Capek in 1923, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and was introduced to Unitarian congregations on the East Coast of the United States in 1940 by Maja Capek. This year, in honor of Mother’s Day, our focus is...

By the Reverend Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010

With eggs as one of the oldest and most enduring symbols of Easter, it is no surprise that a chicken stars as the hero of our story this morning about “Petook the Rooster.” Representing rebirth in spring, eggs predate both the Jewish celebration of Passover (where a boiled egg is prominent on the Seder plate) and the Christian festival of Easter (whose name is derived from the Pagan goddess Eostre). So it’s logical that a chicken would appear in an...

A Passover Sermon by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, March 28, 2010

Shalom! and welcome to our commemoration of Passover, jumping the gun by one day. Although eating and drinking are a big part of a Jewish observance of this important holiday, we will not be serving any food here today, but our Seder Service, led by Greater New Orleans UU Ministerial Intern Charlie Dieterich, will be held here on Thursday, April 1, with traditional Passover foods served, and an adapted Haggadah followed. We hope that you will join us...

The 45th Anniversary of the Events in Selma, Alabama, 1965
A Service by The Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, March 21, 2010

Our 1st Reading is taken from the website of the National Park Service, describing the Selma-to-Montgomery Historic Road:

The Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights ended 3 weeks -- and 3 events -- that represented the political and emotional peak of the modern civil rights movement.
On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. They got...

A Sermon by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, March, 7, 2010

Reading Before Sermon:
Taken from an article entitled, “The Predator War” by Jane Meyer, in The New Yorker magazine, October 26, 2009

On August 5th, officials at the Central Intelligence Agency in Virginia watched a live video feed relaying footage of one of the most wanted terrorists in Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, could be seen reclining on the rooftop of his father-in-law’s house in a hamlet in South Waziristan. It was a hot...

by the Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
Sunday, February, 28, 2010
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans

In our Opening Words this morning, Dr. C. Eric Lincoln of Union Theological Seminary declares that we have been dishonest with ourselves and with our children. We have not been told the truth about American history and culture, we have not endeavored to discover it for ourselves, and we have not imparted it to our youth. The result of all these lies and half-truths quite naturally has been disaffection, confusion, and despair, especially for many of our young people.
...