"Gonna Be Golden" (November 2, 2025)

November 2, 2025 service for the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City. Rev. J Sylvan's sermon uses the animated film 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' as a metaphor for confronting and transforming shame. In the story, the heroine learns that true healing and strength come not from denying the parts of herself she fears, but from embracing them with compassion, creating unity instead of separation. Rev. J connects this message to spiritual practice, inviting the congregation to release their own shame and weave it together – symbolically and literally – into a shared “rainbow honmoon” of acceptance and connection.

Lay minister Hana Harper compares life's crises to being caught in a riptide – moments when resisting only exhausts us, but surrendering allows us to survive and grow. Reflecting on her own experience as a young missionary unable to return home during her parents’ illnesses, she realizes that these painful “riptide” moments can carry us toward deeper understanding and transformation if we allow ourselves to be guided rather than fight against them.

Clara and Rosie, two high school youth from the congregation, share how visiting historic Unitarian Universalist sites in Boston during a group trip helped them feel part of a larger UU tradition and made the movement’s history come alive in a personal way.

ORDER OF SERVICE
00:00 🎵 Introduction: "We Will Go Out In The World" by David Owens
01:00 🎵 Choral Prelude: "Why Am I Me?" – words by Peter Udell (American, b. 1929); music by Gary Geld (American, 1935-2015); sung by the Junior Singers; assisted by Nikki Blackburn Fuller; David Owens, piano
03:51 🎵 Introit: # 188, "Come, Come, Whoever You Are" – words adapted from Rumi (1207-1273); music by Rev. Lynn Ungar (American, b. 1963); led by David Owens & the Junior Singers
04:48 Welcome & Announcements – Amanda Esko
08:28 Chalice Lighting – Lily Butterworth-Wegner
09:20 🎵 Opening Song: "I Just Wanna Go" – words and music by David Owens; sung by the Junior Singers and Congregation; assisted by Nikki Blackburn Fuller; David Owens, piano
13:05 Introduction of the Lay Minister – Rev. J Sylvan
13:33 Lay Minister: Hana Harper
19:13 🎵 Interlude – David Owens, piano 
19:43 Introduction of the High School Youth – Rev. J Sylvan
20:23 Reflection – Clara Kratzer
23:19 Reflection – Rosie Lander
27:28 🎵 Reflection Response: "I Am a Unitarian" – words and music by David Owens; sung by the Junior Singers and Congregation; assisted by Nikki Blackburn Fuller; David Owens, piano
29:46 🎵 Song of Gratitude: # 1010, "We Give Thanks" – words & music by Wendy Luella Perkins (Canadian, b. 1966); led by Rev. J Sylvan
31:03 Share the Plate: Samira Harnish, founder of Women of the World
32:09 🎵 Doxology: "From All that Dwell Below the Skies" – words: composite based on Isaac Watts (English, 1674-1748); melody: "Old Hundredth" from Genevan Psalter (1551)
33:07 Sermon: "Gonna Be Golden" – Rev. J Sylvan
42:10 Ritual: "Honmoon"
43:55 🎵 Ritual Music: "Golden" – words and music by Kim Eun-jae (South Korean/American, b. 1991) and Mark Sonnenblick (American, b. 1990); Rev. J Sylvan, guitar & vocals
47:56 Benediction – Rev. J Sylvan
48:17 🎵 Postlude: "Fly Me to the Moon" by Bart Howard (American, 1915-2004); Will Cvetko, tiny harmonica; David Owens, piano
51:03 Closing Words – Rev. J Sylvan
51:26 🎵 End Credits

Rev. J Sylvan, Senior Minister
Rev. Monica Dobbins, Assistant Minister
Amanda Esko, Director of Religious Education
David Owens, Director of Music
Stefanie Park, Administrator
Tristan Moore, Audiovisual Director

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