All Souls Indianapolis

During this service, led by Rev. Sarah Gettie McNeill, we will honor the transitions and celebrations in the lives of our members through poetry and naming. Help us mark births, transitions into or out of membership at All Souls, and deaths. Rev. McNeill currently serves as the Director of Children and Family Ministries at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Bloomington. She is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Special guest Jeff Rasley will describe the development of the Basa Village Foundation and what he has learned about creating a meaningful life from the Rai people of Basa village, Nepal. Jeff Rasley is the author of ten books; the most recent is "Polarized! The Case for Civility in the Time of Trump." He is the author of over 80 published articles. Rasley practiced law for thirty years in Indianapolis and was admitted to the US Supreme Court Bar. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Indiana University School of Law, and Christian Theological Seminary. Rasley is founder of the Basa Village Foundation and is liaison for the Nepal-based Himalayan expedition company Adventure GeoTreks, Ltd. Rasley serves as an officer or director for six non-profit organizations.

This season is about bringing more hope and justice into a bleak, cold world that so needs light and love. The journey towards the beloved community is long and we must seek sustenance on our way. Join us to celebrate this journey by exploring this season's lessons in word and song. Rev. Elizabeth, our Justice and Outreach Minister, will lead our service.

During the winter holidays, I hear of many lights. Hanukkah flames, the Yule log, solstice rituals that balance light and dark, and lights on trees inside and out, houses, wreathes and Advent candles. Today, that other great light from the Christmas legends, the star which the planetarium might say was a conjunction of planets, but to the Romans and Greeks who originally heard the story, would have appeared to be a rather horrific event. Come hear the wonderful preacher Rev. Dr. Mark Belletini unpack what this message this morning.   Rev. Dr. Belletini is the Minister Emeritus of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus OH. He served our congregations in Hayward and San Francisco CA before that. He was in the first wave of open and out GLBTQ ministers in the UUA, ordained in 1979.

Our Unitarian ancestors understood better than we do now how much our early American Republic borrowed from English legal and cultural systems that were fundamentally about classism and resistant to democracy.  Come hear Rev. Anastassia share some of Henry Thoreau’s political philosophy, and how this it is still relevant to today.

We so rarely talk about how our bodies die, and the spiritual and personal concerns that accompany this final chapter to life.  What are the pressing human and spiritual questions that accompany this stage? How do we accompany someone into death? How can our endings be times of love not eradication?

During this multigenerational service we honor the lives of our loved ones who have died. 

Women have influenced, women have marched, women advocated, women have voted. Yet, the laws that affect women are written, enacted, and interpreted by men. What does our democracy still require from women?  Rev. Anastassia Zinke, preaching.

Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Christian Theological Seminary, reflects on the role of women in the movement for racial justice. She draws upon her impactful work Ferguson and Faith, collection of stories of courage and hope from Ferguson that, if nurtured, could serve us well into the future.  

Ancient, earth-based traditions speak of our earth as our mother, and all life on earth as our children. Let us learn into this tradition, as we bless animals of this earth.  Rev Zinke preaching.

October is known nationally as domestic violence awareness month. But what does that mean, and what can each of us as individuals and as a community do better to help end domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence? Anyone can help, and everyone is needed to change the culture of violence against women and girls we live in. Learn how and ask any questions you may have about this important and difficult issue. Our guest speaker is Joe Samalin, an advocate who has been working to end gender based violence for 15 years. 

Though Wonder Woman is literally a super hero, there have been plenty of “ordinary” extraordinary women whose words and actions have helped us see with honesty both the flaws and virtues within humanity. Come hear stories and be inspired by the women who have persisted.    Rev Zinke preaching. Also, our new Justice and Outreach Minister, Rev. Elizabeth Carrier-Ladd is introduced. Join us in welcoming her to our congregation!  

Yum Kipper is probably the most important of Judaism’s high holy days, the culmination of the Days of Awe, that begins with Rosh Hashanah. "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement." It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year when one has acted against one’s understanding of the holy and has transgressed against other people. Atonement can be broken down into: At-one-ment, implying that when we forgive and are forgiven, we are brought back into relationship with one another. Let us come together to reflect on how we can reach for reconnection and forgiveness.  All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN.

Many who have been hurt or harmed struggle with the question of whether to forgive, and why or why not to do so. The decision is personal, but it can also be ethical. Could forgiving be perceived as condoning? Is the act of forgiveness for the benefit of the other or oneself? Let us explore these questions together, and how forgiveness can also be ethically bounded and liberating. Rev. Zinke Preaching. All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN

On this Labor Day weekend, Fran Quigley will lead us in reflecting about how we can mitigate income and wealth disparity not just in our communities but also in our own workplaces. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. held that a more equal sharing of our wealth is a necessary foundation for a beloved community. That journey toward economic justice will necessarily include healthy doses of forgiveness, including the self-forgiveness that will allow those of us with comparatively comfortable economic situations to move away from avoidance or ineffectual “liberal guilt” to direct engagement in inequality allaround us.   Fran Quigley is a clinical professor of law at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, teaching in the Health and Human Rights Clinic. Students in the Health and Human Rights Clinic advocate for the rights of the poor, with a special focus on individual and systemic barriers to accessing healthcare and the social determinants of health    All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis

Through the lenses of 20th Century theologians, his two decades of work, and living in the long shadow of Von Hippel Lindau disease, David Forsell explores his hopes for the future, and how he is choosing to live. All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Some of the clearest answers to humanity’s most fundamental questions can be found in art and are born out of an artist’s searching and/or revelations. Let us consider the big questions on the hearts of those in our community, and the way that art reveals answers to our souls. All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN