Is hope realistic? A long term and a short term view.

Rev. Susan Ritchie hosts this worship with Dr. Liora Gubkin Malicdem proving the message. THIS WORSHIP WILL BE ENTIRELY ONLINE. Click here for information on how to connect.

Dr. Liora Gubkin Malicdem is currently Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at California State University, Bakersfield and Director of CSUB’s Institute for Religion, Education, and Public Policy. Liora hails from the mid-West and moved to Bakersfield California in 2003 to work as a professor of religious studies. Her primary areas of research and teaching include interfaith leadership; religion, gender, and sexuality; and the Holocaust. Liora is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County where she and her husband, Richard, are raising their son, Kyle. Liora found a spiritual calling within Unitarian Universalism and became a Candidate Minister in 2015. She joyously embraces the complexities of her religious identity as a Unitarian Universalist with deep commitments to her Reform Jewish roots and her bodhisattva vows. Pre-quarantine, Liora enjoyed lindy hop and ballroom dancing and looks forward to resuming these activities on a large dance floor filled with dancers in the future. In the meantime, she is gaining a new appreciation for running and for time spent learning French on Duo Lingo with Kyle.