A sermon delivered by Rev. Tamara Lebak, Sept. 24, 2006.

Minister's Note
Fredriech Buechner writes, "There's no place like home. What the word home brings to mind before anything else is a special place that is clearly distinguishable from all other places. A place - which you have rich and complex feelings about, a place where you feel you belong and which
in some sense belongs to you," He continues, "home is the place throughout your life you keep going back to... and which is apt to determine the kind of place, perhaps a place inside yourself, that you spend the rest of your life searching for even if you are not aware that you're searching."

As a musician as well as a minister, I am looking forward to leading services with UU celebrity songwriter Nick Page exploring the theme of coming home. The children will participate with us for the first part of the 10:00 am service, then go to their religious education classes.

Nick Page has been surrounded by singing all of his life. Every Saturday night his family would gather around the fire to sing folk songs, pop songs, spirituals, and roundssongs in harmony. Nick sees these experiences as being necessary for growth, both as an individual and as a member of society.

Believing that there should be no separation between the talented and the untalented, Nick Page makes his living as a song leader. He works with children who have an inborn love of singing and he works with adults, many of whom have lost their love of singing a long time ago. Nick renews the love.

We look forward to seeing you there.

-Tamara Lebak

A sermon delivered by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Sept. 17, 2006.

Minister's Note
I was not sure what it would be like having my birthday fall on the same day as Homecoming Sunday (Sept. 10). It was wonderful! We had a record-breaking 1121 people in worship in two services. My family and I felt warmly welcomed home after our extended leave. I hope that you also feel that All Souls is a true extended family of members and friends. In this day and age when people around the country are talking about a deep longing for community, it is a blessing to have such a strong church family here in Tulsa!

With our new church year off to a passionate start, I thought I would dive right in to exposing some of the apocalyptic thinking that may actually offer some signs for progressive religious thinkers. These signs are not heralding the end of the world, but they are an indication that something is coming to an end and therefore, something new and creative is needing to
be conceived. At All Souls we are engaged in something akin to the re-imagination of the world as we know it. I can hardly think of a more worthy project for the start of a new church year.

See you in church,
Marlin