Unitarian Universalist Church of The Desert

Celebration of Life for
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Torquil MacLean

A service celebrating the life and legacy of our Minister Emeritus, The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Torquil MacLean will be streamed live from the Cedar Lane UU Congregation on Saturday, September 21, at 10:30am.

If you would like to join us in our UUCOD Sanctuary to watch the service together and then to share our own memories and experiences of Rev. Ken, please join us at 10:15am so we can get settled before the broadcast begins.

If you would like to watch from home, this is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/Z6tY63BuaPI

If you will be here in person and have pictures of Rev. Ken, please bring them so that we can adorn our gathering table with memories.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday Sept 22 for Awakening Joy.

Worship Leader: Swamini Adityananda Saraswati
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff

How did the happiest man in the world become so happy? Researchers wanted to find out. What was revealed was stunning… and transferrable to our own lives. Join interfaith leader, Swamini Adityananda Saraswati, for an inspiring morning as she shares secrets from the East, and reveals how they can be easily practiced anywhere: at home, in traffic, or wherever else you may feel inspired.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday Sept 15 for Circles of Connection: Our larger faith

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Mel Wilkinson

Our UUA General Assembly this past June agreed to changes to the ways we taught about what we believe and commit to. But GA brought conversations and discussions beyond the new values statements. Join us as we explore what’s going on in our wider faith tradition

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday for “Messy and Imperfect: Crafting Relationships“

Sunday Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell

Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank

Crafting deeper and richer friendships and kinship is a vital tool in combatting the growing separation and erosion of social norms in our communities. Perfectionism creeps into our lives in so many ways. And time brings change to all things. How can we build relationships that are flexible, resilient, and enriching in the face of the forces of hatred and disconnection?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday Sept. 1 for “Interweaving UU Principles and Labor Day”

Worship Leader: Rev. Kathleen Owens
Worship Associate: Joni Padduck

We can see some of our values shining through when we take a close look at today’s Labor movement. We may even find some inspiration from the Labor movement to encourage us to live these values more fully.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, Aug. 25 for “Love me tender.”

Worship Leader: Rev. Barbara Fast
Worship Associate: Joni Padduck

Drawing from Heritage and Tradition is a beautifully vast invitation for this August. Each of us can go deep and far with that prompt. Currently, I am occupied by our national news. I hope to draw forth some useful insights as we live these times. I look forward to being in your pulpit and sharing the morning with you.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, Aug. 18 for the Intimate Way of Zen

Worship Leader: Reverend James I. Ford
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum

UU minister and Zen teacher James Ford will explore the nature of the spiritual life as an arc from our first noticing the world through the quest for meaning and depth. He likes stories and we may find ourselves invited into one.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday Aug 11 for “Shame and Growth”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Walter Gendell

Researcher Brené Brown claims that shame is a universal human experience and is at the root of so many of our challenges and conflict. Join us as we dig a little deeper into this emotion we often really, really don’t want to talk or think about.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday for “Wordle and Sudoku as Spiritual Practices”

Worship Leader: Steven Toporoff
Worship Associate: Ginger Hemingway

What is a spiritual practice? What is considered spiritual, holy, or sacred often varies by family tradition, culture, and certainly religion. And sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between a spiritual practices and an ordinary activity of daily life or even a hobby. Drawing on the book Everyday Spiritual Practice by the Rev. Scott Alexander, this sermon will explore how simple activities can help grow and enrich your spiritual life.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, July 28 for Racing Home: A Reflection on Super-Heroes and Love”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank

Some of the super-heroes we see on the big and small screen recently have been around for a long time—Superman turned 85 this year! Their fictional lives and experiences might offer us opportunities to reflect on our own growth and development.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, July 21 for “What Life in the Church Has Taught Me — Or Not”

Guest Speaker: Rev. Frank Dunn
Service Leader: Steven Toporoff

This week, we welcome the Rev. Frank Dunn. He and his husband, Joseph Casazza, are neighbors, living in Cathedral City. Rev. Dunn will focus on a few of the many lessons he has learned over his half-century career as an Episcopal priest, and from his involvement in all aspects of congregational life. Says Rev. Dunn: “I couldn’t possibly unpack more than a slice or two of what I’ve learned, but there’s a handful of things I’ve learned that might be useful to others in assessing what they have gleaned from the practice of Christianity. No one enters our lives without having something to teach us.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, July 14 for “Knitting Blankets: Persistence and Change”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell Worship Associate: Bryna Blum

Join Rev. Ian as we think about the ways that the long, slow process of creating large pieces of fabric to decorate our homes and keep us warm and cozy can point to possibilities for resilience and persistence

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday July 7 for “Lectio Divina: Reading as a Sacred Practice”

Worship Leader:
Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate:
Ginger Hemingway

It is good to occasionally pause in our busy, anxious lives to rest in quiet contemplation. Join us as we explore the ancient spiritual practice of Lectio Divine—sacred reading.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday for “Rising Strong: Brené Brown and Struggle

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum

Researcher Brené Brown explores practices for grappling with failure and struggle in our lives. How does her sociological and psychological insight parallel our commitments to spiritual growth and loving relationships?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday June 23 as we gather to watch the UU General Assembly together.

Worship Leaders: Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, Missouri—and many others!
Worship Coordinator: Rev. Ian W. Riddell

We are all tangled up together in a great web of life that is woven with beauty and hardship, love and loss, thriving and struggle. How do we tend well to the weaving so that all of us are held in care? Join us as we share in the Sunday service from the 2024 Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly shared with Unitarian Universalists around the country and around the world. We will watch the service at our normal time of 10:00am in the Sanctuary.
Note that this service will be longer than our usual 60 minutes.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday for Facing the Future: Faith vs Fascism

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Steven Toporoff

We are faced with responding to the growing forces of fascism in our country and in our world. How can we, as people of a progressive faith, protect our civil society and our neighbors and kin. How does our faith tradition call us to be in the world and how does it offer us grounding for resistance and thriving?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday June 9 for First Contact: Encountering Possibility

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Walter Gendell

What can science fiction tales of aliens arriving on Earth and humans arriving in the homes of other species tell us about the ways we chose to encounter new people, new ideas, and new visions?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday June 2 for “The Inherent Worth and Value of Every Human Being“


Worship Leaders: Rabbi Dr. Jules King
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum

We are all interconnected. The worth of each individual contributes to the greater good of the community. Just as a single thread is vital to the integrity of a tapestry, each person’s value is essential to the fabric of humanity. Recognizing this interconnectedness calls us to honor and uplift one another.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday May 26 for “Memory and Respect”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, honoring those people who have given their lives in the service of their country. How are we honoring their legacy? How are we taking care of those who still serve or have retired?

Your Amazing UUCOD Choir on Choir Sunday, May 12!

UUCOD in the Community Supporting Palm Springs Pride for Harvey Milk Day at the 12th Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast!

Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978) was one of the first openly gay men to be elected to political office in the United States. He was assassinated on November 27, 1978. He is now considered a civil rights icon and "great and accomplished American" who championed equality not only for the LGBTQIA community but also for other minorities. His vision for equality and authenticity continues today through the Harvey Milk Foundation.

On May 9, the Minister, Board Members, and other Members came together to show UUCOD's support for this worthy cause. UUCOD's contributions were noted in the program.

Did you know that Hymn # 170 from our hymnal, "We Are a Gentle, Angry People," was written by activist and singer-songwriter Holly Near in response to Harvey Milk's assassination?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday May 19 for Values and Vision

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Claudia Simmons

All year we have been exploring the values laid out in proposed new language crafted to share what we UUs hold in common as we do the work of crafting the beloved community together. Join us as Rev. Ian sums up or year of exploration and as we look forward to doing our own work of visioning for this beloved community in the year to come.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday May 12 for “If Music Be the Food of Love: Choir Sunday"

Worship Leader:
Jim Tong and the UUCOD Choir
Worship Associate:
Rev. Ian W. Riddell and Joni Padduck

Join us as we celebrate the power of music to uplift and console and inspire us. Our UUCOD Choir, under the direction of Jim Tong brings us the gift of song and spirit today. And the congregation gets to sing as well!

World Labyrinth Day is Saturday, May 4. We will walk for peace and connection with so many labyrinth walkers all over the world.

Our walk will begin at 8 a.m. on UUCOD’s Peace Labyrinth (72425 Via Vail in Rancho Mirage) and will last about an hour. Please join us if you can!

Your Wonderful UUCOD Choir

Please join us this at 10 am this Sunday, May 5 for “Respect for this life: Reckless no more”

Worship Leader: Ian Challis
Worship Associate: Bryna Blum

Respecting the preciousness of this human embodiment and living a life of internal balance in a world of change.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday April 28 for “Blossoming Into Life: Flower Communion”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Julia Alberg-Burbank

The world offers us each beauty and possibility if we just look. Join us as we celebrate the beautiful diversity of the world in a return of our Flower Communion. Bring some flowers to share. Our annual congregational meeting follows this week’s service.

Tomorrow is the last day to submit or postmark absentee ballots for next week’s Annual Business Meeting.

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday, April 21 for “A Rebirth of Possibility: Earth Day and the Transformation of Hope”

Worship Leader: Rev. Ian W. Riddell
Worship Associate: Denise Janssen Eager

The world around us, the world we are an integral part of, is changing in drastic and dangerous ways. Where can we find hope? Where can we build hope? Might science and science fiction show us a way? Might there be a spiritual path to hope?

Please join us at 10 am this Sunday for Reality is Gorgeous

Worship Leader: Peter Mathews
Worship Associate: Joni Padduck

The connotation of the very word “reality” can turn us away. But, in all religions and prophetic thought, reality is a window into an emotional state of inner peace. Christians call it heaven. Buddhists call it nirvana. Reality is truth, and the truth does indeed set us free. And this freedom is available even in the most horrific of times.