Rev. David Carl Olson

04/08/2026

This month, we're gathering for an evening of worship to honor Women's History Month.
We'll be singing together, lighting candles, and reflecting on the women who dreamed us into being — the foremothers whose hope and courage made it possible for us to be here today.
The theme is Hope Rises.

Come as you are. Bring a friend. All are welcome.

We hope to see you there.

01/31/2026

Wonderful testimony from our Senior Seminar youth group preparing for Mid night Run.

01/24/2026

From Minneapolis, where I am participating, with Paul Carbone, in the Day of Action for Justice, calling for ICE OUT of Minnesota.

12/18/2025

Living Your Public Life, Friday December 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Invitation to "Living a Public Life" on Dec 19 zt UU Congregation at Shelter Rock.

11/29/2025

This!

Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression

09/19/2025

The staff welcomes Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore back from her sabbatical with a dessert buffet!

09/11/2025

A dessert party by the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock staff team to welcome Dr. Fenimore back from sabbatical.

04/02/2025

In today's brief post, I share from the work of Howard Thurman (as I have every day for a few weeks), but also a quite beautiful section from the late Vincent Harding's biographical notes on Thurman. When I last saw Dr. Harding (many years ago, in Greensboro, NC where we were considering the intersection of "the seminary, the sanctuary, and the street" in addressing the need for faith-based political action), I heard many stories of Dr. Harding's relationships with Unitarian Universalism, and especially my mentor Rev. Dr. Jack Mendelsohn. For me, this was a morning filled with Joy inspired by memory.

For the Inward Journey, Day Twenty-Eight Queens pied-à-terre April 01, 2025 by David Carl Olson from Sorrow Songs—the Ground of Hope(part nine, conclusion) It is in order to raise the same question about heaven that was raised previously about the Judgment. Are we dealing here with a matter of li...

03/12/2025

Today's "Deeper Dive" post about Howard Thurman.

For the Inward Journey, Day Eight Queen pied-à-terre March 12, 2025 by David Carl Olson When I am awake, I am still with TheeIn all the waking hoursThe Tentacles of TimeGive channel to each living thing:The bird on the wing;The mole moving in darkness underground;The cricket chanting its evening so...

03/08/2025

Thurman quoting Eugene V. Debs got me going this morning.

For the Inward Journey, Day Four Queens pied-à-terre March 08, 2025 by David Carl Olson The Greatest of These“Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” While there is a lower class I am in it. While there is a criminal element I am of it. While there is a m...

03/06/2025

Somewhere inside me, there is an old Irish Catholic-Swedish Lutheran hybrid of my ancestors' faith practices. It jumps up each spring and asks me to remember. And so I use this time of the lengthening of days to attend to ancient questions of what it means to be more fully human. I take time to meditate on a sacred work and even risk sharing it with others.
On my very out-of-date website, I will post each morning another page of very brief reflections on the writings of Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman, co-founder of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, the first intentionally multicultural church in the United States. That congregation actualized what many of us in the Unitarian Universalist world aspire to. He built significant relationships with our tradition when he became the first full-time African American professor at Boston University and was dean of Marsh Chapel there. His works have been published by our own Beacon Press.

For the Inward Journey, Day Two Queens Pied-à-terre March 06, 2025 by David Carl Olson When Knowledge Comes The setting is the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are the central figures in an idyllic surrounding. All is peaceful. All is innocent. They are told by God that they are free to do anything exc...