“I [am] struck particularly with Rose’s presence in worship. She seems comfortable in her own skin, warm and caring – this combination makes congregants feel at ease with her. Her sense of quiet confidence helps her to “hold the space” in a lovely way.   [Rose knows] how and when to use stories of her personal vulnerability to connect with the congregation without undermining her authority. This can be a tricky balance to strike, especially for a young woman.”  -Rev. Ana Levy-Lyons

“Rose’s presence in the pulpit seems far beyond her years, giving sermons based on original, meaningful, and stirring concepts, delivering her message with confidence, poise, and humor, and creating a conversation with the congregation.”    -Joanne Boulton, Alderwoman of Clayton, MO

Click here for a video of Rose preaching

 

Click here for audio of all of Rev. Rose’s sermons at SMUUCh.

 

The Wilderness, Part 1

Published in Cairns, Art and Writing Journal, 2015

“And our own souls can be little temporary spaces of respite, little sukkahs in the heart, where another human can take a breath and remember that there is something so sweet and comforting as the love that flows between us.”

 

The Palm Sunday Procession

 

 

 

 

“What is more precious than a small child, his little palm cupped over his knee, because it hurts, needing nothing but to grow up and flourish and learn to love and enter into a deep and meaningful relationship with this world?  Jesus and Dr. King were drunk on the prospect, the potential of each person.”

 

Broken Covenant

 

 

 

“In place of a healthy system, we will be healthy. In place of police departments that have good patterns and practices, we will make good patterns. In place of school systems and economic health, we will show our accountability, in whatever way we can. Accountability doesn’t mean we go in an “save” anyone, it just means that we show up. It means that when our institutions and systems do not do so, we will uphold the unspoken covenant between humans.  We will let tears well in our eyes when we see tears in another’s eyes.  We will let ourselves feel the despair of losing a child or a husband or a brother.  We will be enraged at injustice, and we will feel the urgency with which people are struggling to survive. We will engage in radical accountability. We will be accountable to the people in this city.”

 

The Impossible Hope 

 

 

 

 

 

“And it would mean to look at ourselves, too.  Because we all know better than to blame Hagar!  Right?  We all know better than to blame the woman on the subway with a baby and a cup for coins, don’t we?   We all know better than to think that poor people just need to work harder?  We all know that the man sleeping on the threshold is someone’s beautiful little brother who has a terminal illness called addiction, right?  

So, why shine the light on Hagar?  Because it’s is in us, too.  We have the capacity to cast out, too.  We have to think about whose trauma do we see as real, and who do we further traumatize by making them believe they deserve to be on the outside.”

 

The Unsanctioned Holy

 

 

 

 

“And that’s what’s so, so special about our theology.  We believe in the shifting of the mind.  We have a precious sanctuary that protects change.  Possibility is the heart of theological life: we want new thoughts.  In a way, we worship an upheaval in the universe.  I for one need me mind to change, I need to be broken open, I need to have the world be a playground.  I need to be free.  And this is why our religion is so special.  Because we have this magical thing called freedom of the pulpit!   And, this is radical.  Not only because I’m an unlikely face, but because we live in a world of creeds.  NO, we are different.  We have a living tradition, we hold space for things to morph.  And that means that we’re a little bit terrifying, because we so profoundly attack society’s own sense of what religion is and what it could be.”

 

We’re All in this Thing Together

“Because, saving one’s own self only works in theory.  It’s a farce.  We are all one giant family.  That’s what universalism is. Everyone is saved.  Only, without a God, when push comes to shove, who does the work?  We do.  We bear the burden of creating options, but we also get wear that mantle with elegance.  Because it is our duty as Universalists to understand that we are all in this together, it is our duty to use our strength.  It is our duty to use our skills wisely and with style to push this mysterious floating vessel of ours to a better place.”