Sermons are also available from other years: Sermons
| Date | Sermon Title and Description | Preacher/Participant |
| December 28 | "365 Days, How Do You Measure a Year?" | Tracey Erin Smith |
| December 28 | "Enlightenment-Endarkenment: Reflections on Gifts of the Light and Gifts of the Dark" All were invited to a Hanukkah potluck dinner following the service |
Diane Bosman and Paul Bognar |
| Wednesday, December 24 | "Sure On This Shining Night" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| December 21 | "Light in the Darkness" Congregational holiday potluck after evening service |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| December 14 | "Of Human Bondage" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| December 7 | "Paradise Lost & Found" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| November 30 | "Unplugging the Holiday Machine" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| November 23 | "The Great Good Place" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| November 16 | "Honour System" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| November 9 | "Control Issues" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| November 2 | Part I: "Standing in our Choices" Part II: "Transforming the Impasse" |
Carol Wilson |
| October 26 | "The Family of All Souls" Second annual celebration of Diade los Muertos/Day of the Dead. All were invited to bring photographs of those who have died for this poignant service to remember and honour our beloved dead. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| October 19 | "Change the World before the Other Guys Do" We are joined by longserving U.S. diplomat and new executive director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office for United Nations Sunday. |
Bruce Knotts |
| October 12 | "Leavened Living" A celebration of Thanksgiving with our annual Bread Communion service. A potluck Thanksgiving Dinner followed the evening service; all were invited to bring a dish to share. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| October 5 | "What Shall We Give the Children?" - Read Our minister and DLRE traded places as Shawn led our children's chapel and Angela addressed the adult congregation |
DLRE Angela Klassen |
| September 28 | "To Build Temples of the Heart" A celebration of the work and meaning of our Central America Project |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| September 21 | "Edifice Complex" The Rededication of Sunderland Hall and Reception of New Members |
Rev.Shawn Newton |
| September 14 | "Blame It On Our Youth" A free and responsible search for our congregation's "fountain of youth" |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| September 7 | "Taking the Tide" Intergenerational Ingathering and Water Communion |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| August 31 | Awaken the Ape Within | Michael Battenberg |
| August 24 | "Service is Our Prayer" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| August 17 | "The Quest for Truth Is Our Sacrament" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| August 10 | "Love Is Our Doctrine" | Rev. Shawn Newton |
| August 3 | "To Be Famous, To Be Free" | Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela, Summer Minister |
| July 27 | "On Being Born Again and Again" | Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| July 20 | "Seven Ways of Seeing" - Read | Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| July 13 | "Life, Liberty, and the (non) Pursuit of Happiness" - Read | Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| July 6 | "Stranger Territory" | Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| June 29 | "Proudly Riding Pride's Coattails" Our summer minister (and newly-called minister of the Waterloo congregation) began her six weeks with us by leading our annual Pride Day Service. |
Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| June 22 | "Counting Time" On this bittersweet day, we bade adieu to our longtime Director of Music, Peter Tiefenbach, and celebrated the enduring commitment of our many wonderful volunteers who make Toronto First all that it is. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| June 15 | "A Life at the Improv" A Father's Day reflection on the many wonderful complications of parenting and being parented. This service also included a reception of new members and a Bridging Ceremony for two who were graduating from our youth group into adulthood. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| June 8 | "Sweet, Impossible Blossom" Our annual intergenerational Flower Communion service also included our farewell to our Interim DLRE, Renate Belzing. All were invited to bring flowers to share in this beloved Unitarian spring ritual. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| June 1 | "My Grandmother's God, My Father's God & My God" Rev. James Ishmael Ford explored the use of traditional sacred language by UUs. |
Rev. James Ishmael Ford |
| May 25 | "A Month of Sundays" Having given 30+ sermons at Toronto First, Shawn offered some reflections, in advance of our AGM: on where we've been, where we're at, and where we might be headed as a congregation. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| May 18 | "What's Love Got To Do With It?" A Personal Journey to Green Action" Judy advanced our congregation's conversation about living our commitment to the Interdependent Web. |
Judy Vellend |
| May 11 | "We Need One Another" Teaming up with the Pastoral Care Team, Shawn offered a call to strengthen the bonds of community by caring for one another "for better or for worse... in sickness and in heath". |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| May 4 | "On Babies & Bath Water" With some 90% of Unitarians coming from other faith traditions (or none), a timely sermon on owning our religious past as a crucial step in our development as happy, healthy Unitarians |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| April 27 | "Messages from the Animal Kingdom" - Read Animals, too, have a stake in the fate of the earth. Ilene continued her creative exploration of the UU seventh principle |
Ilene Cummings |
| April 20 | "It's Not Easy Being Green" An Earth Day celebration examining eco-spirituality versus ego-spirituality. (Hint: one is sustainable, the other is not.) |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| April 13 | "Beauty Contest" In a world where so much competes for our attention, true beauty is too often missed. This morning, we "praised the sublime" with the 50 voices of the All Souls Unitarian Youth Choir from Tulsa, Oklahoma |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| April 6 | "The Unitarian Genome Project" A look at our liberal theological DNA as we celebrate our Partner Church in Budapest with a Hungarian guest choir - and strudel to follow at Coffee Hour |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| March 30 | "Do We Know How to Work Together?" As in historical practice, 8 Ontario UU ministers and congregations will exchange pulpits, sharing the same topic and readings. Rev. Urbanski of First UU Congregation of Waterloo, filled our pulpit, while Shawn preached at Don Heights |
Rev. Felicia Urbanski |
| March 23 | "Being the Resurrection" - Read A celebration of the many meanings of Easter |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| March 16 | "Shopping for a Messiah" When the palms are laid down and the guy passes by on the ass, do we cheer, jeer, or stop our ears? A bystanders' guide to Palm Sunday |
Rev. Peter Hughes |
| March 9 | "Natural Burial" - Read Have you thought about your final resting place? Natural burials allow people to rest in nature as part of the interconnected web of all existence |
Janet McCausland |
| March 2 | "Are We There, Yet?" Reflections on the status and achievements of women on the eve of the 99th celebration of International Women's Day |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| February 24 | "Only the Lonely" Thoughts on how to leverage the loneliness that sometimes touches our lives. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| February 17 | "Simultaneous, Yet Different: The Prism of Our Faith" As Unitarians, we are of one faith, but many beliefs. Under one roof, we worship together. Let's celebrate our infinite ways of being human. |
Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela |
| February 10 | "Punctuated Equilibrium" - Read On this "Evolution Sunday" we celebrated the ever-unfolding ways our faith is shaped by science. |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| February 3 | "Mercury in Retrograde" I've never met Murphy, but am well acquainted with Murphy's Law, "if something can go wrong, it will." I wonder how Murphy would reconcile the false romanticism often accompanying religion when faced with disappointment? This morning we took a light-hearted look at life's less than golden moments and explore the Unitarian alternatives. |
Rev. Roger Peltier, Minister of the UU Church of Sarasota, Florida |
| February 3 | A celebration and Service of Installation of the Reverend Shawn Newton as 23rd minister of Toronto First, with reception | |
| January 27 | "Worthship" Rev. Shawn Newton and the Worship Leader Team/ A worship service on the meaning and art of Unitarian worship |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
| January 20 | "Beware of Safety" The harder we try to keep ourselves safe, the more freedom and independence we stand to lose |
Norma McPhee |
| January 13 | Lay Chaplains: Reaffirmation, Rededication and Tales from the Road Our Lay Chaplains were reaffirmed by the congregation and rededicated themselves to their ministry, sharing with us some of their experiences over the last year. |
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| January 6 | "The Fire of Commitment" Intergenerational service of reflection, ritual, and recommitment to our highest values |
Rev. Shawn Newton |
