Unity Church Sermon Podcasts

Political grief reflects the sorrow, pain and disruption experienced by individuals, families and communities when faced with loss or change due to political actions, events, policies and ideologies. It manifests itself in various forms, from personal feelings of despair and injustice to collective mourning observed during protests or commemorative events.   This sermon begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.    Near the end of the sermon, Rev. Shay has the congregation listen to The Star Spangled Banner arranged by Chase Holfelder. Due to copyright we cannot include it with this podcast.

This podcast begins with a refelction from Worship Associate Raffie Parke and continues with a sermon by Rev. Andrea Anastos.

What does it mean to transform ourselves or our ways of being? What factors support such complete change from one thing to another? These are questions that have fueled spiritual seeking, activism, institutions and our own personal lives. Everyone who has tried to change a deeply held habit will know there's more to changemaking and transformation than making a simple decision. Come explore the ways of change, the realities of life and our practice of evolution and growth.

Dan Hotchkiss reminds us that churches are transformational institutions. As we reflect on the church year in Saint Paul, what are the ways participation in Unity Church has changed us, and how has the church itself been transformed?​    This service begins with a reflection by Worship Asssociate Betsy Hearn, continues with a story by Rev. Karen Hering, and ends with a sermon by Rev. Shay MacKay.

How do we leave well when it's time to say goodbye? Life is filled with transitions, and not all of them give us the closure we need. Sometimes goodbyes are rushed or incomplete, leaving us to gather the quiet pieces of grief left behind. As I offer my final service at Unity Church, I feel called to honor this moment with intention and grace. Together, we will create space for reflection, gratitude, and love that continues beyond parting.  Come ready to see differently.​​ ​​   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.

Amid unraveling certainties and cascading crises, we witness the hollow grammar of innocence coming undone all around us. Euphemisms that anesthetize harm, official scripts that avoid responsibility, curated speech that protects us from truth and obstructs change. Yet within that collapse, the Spirit stirs, teaching the church to speech that opens memory, expands imagination, dissolves borders, and draws different people into a belonging and intimacy we once feared. Pentecost is the refusal to speak a world alone, insisting upon a new beginning born from speaking a world together. Come ready to see differently.​​ ​​   This podcast begins with a reading of The Acts of the Apostles 2:1-12 , continues with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker, and finishes with a sermon by Rev. KP Hong.

Unity's annual Flower Ceremony was developed over a century ago by Unitarians in Prague who created a ritual to affirm the beauty and diversity of community in a time of rising authoritarianism and fear. As we find ourselves in a world that feels hauntingly similar, let us celebrate the traditions that remind us we are in this together, believing in mutual flourishing and universal belonging.   This podcast is a reflection offered by Rev. Shay MacKay, Rev. KP Hong, Amy Brunell, Laura Park, and Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.

Who, or what, determines belonging? On Mother's Day, we'll talk about what it means to be claimed by another person, a family, or a faith. In a place where all of who we are is welcome, how do we call ourselves to bring our best selves?   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.

Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature yearlong journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith or credo. Coming of Age gives us a glimpse of what is to come: a Unitarian Universalism that continues to embrace our vision of a community based not on shared beliefs, but a commitment to each other, and what we can do together.   This podcast begins with a reflection by Drew Danielson, Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministries.

What if the most radical spiritual act is looking closer? Religious Naturalism is a faith practice that finds the sacred not beyond the natural world but entwined into the very core of it. It is the practice of interdependence. When we ground ourselves to look closely at what is actually real, something unexpected happens — call it reverence, call it wonder, call it joy. Come ready to see differently.   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Charlie Caswell.

Are we a faith of believers or skeptics? Do our joyful visions depend on what we know to be true or on what we hope to be true? Join this conversation about doubt (and faith). This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Anna Newton.

Jesus, in at least one version of the Easter story, died a human being and came back as a community. One vision of resurrection, in our tradition, is a community in which all of us are needed, gathered in a beloved community of mutual care and thriving. As the ice melts and spring comes, what comes next for this place?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.

In the Christian tradition, the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, marks a celebration of Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem, a moment when power and meaning were inverted. The power of the day existed, not with a political establishment or temple, but with a community gathered and proclaiming that a better world was possible. One where all of us are included.    This podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.

Let's talk about speculative fiction! When can pop culture and escapism inspire us and when does it offer only empty promises of relief and fulfillment?  This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.

Choosing to be alone is different from loneliness. Sometimes even in the midst of people, I feel a sense of loneliness. It often surprises me. I like spending time alone, but that is a choice I can make rather than feeling like I'm all alone. Many people at this moment feel all alone. Perhaps modernity has separated us even more? What is our call as Unitarian Universalists to respond to this feeling of loneliness? Let us worship and consider further.   This podcast begins with a refelction from Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.

Liz Slade, the leader of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in the UK, writes about finding a "god shaped hole" in her life, and finding her way to a church that did not ask her to fill it with anything she did not believe. We know people come to church looking for something, but how do we understand the hunger that brings people here?​​ This sermon podcast begins with a reflection and reading from Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.

In 2023, Unitarian Universalists decided to describe ourselves as a faith movement with love at the center. This Sunday, join members of Unity's ministry team in conversation as we consider how, three years after that decision, we understand love as an expression of our theology? This sermon is a series of reflections in order: Rev. Shay MacKay, Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn, Hallman Ministerial Intern Amy Brunell, Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.

"In the fullness of time, even the devil will be redeemed." Our Universalist ancestors preached that love was the most powerful force in the world — that God's love for humanity transcended and triumphed over any human capacity for wrong. How does this heritage find expression today, as we confront the brokenness around us with love?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Betsy Hearn.

Join Rev. Shay and Dick Buggs for reflection on their personal experiences of sharing love — one conversation, one person, one moment at a time.   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.

Is "evangelize" the most dangerous word in our themes this year? How do we grapple with it as Unitarians? Or is the danger hiding in plain sight, when we consider what is asked of us when we show up in love, in the world.​​

At pivotal moments in life, when change is no longer optional, we are confronted with a profound question: How do we find the courage to step into a new way of being? Let's explore the threshold moments when we choose to move toward transformation rather than retreat from it —allowing ourselves to be broken open, and forever changed.

Love breaks us open, not always in a single supernatural moment, but in a slow accretion of changes.  When we love, we loosen our grip on the self; what is good becomes more than just what is good for me. In love, we become the best versions of ourselves, together. Make a donation to our Sunday offering in support of The Jeremiah Program.

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." C. S. Lewis's A Grief Observed, is a firsthand account of the months after his spouse's death.  In it, the 20th century theologian grapples with what it means to feel truly lost, unable to depend on the beliefs and certainties that shaped his life. Moments of grief change us, creating a dividing line in our stories between the time before, and the time after loss. ​

Sorrow endures for the night but joy comes with the dawn, writes the psalmist. Moments of joy, whether quiet moments over a cup of coffee, or life changing moments like the birth of a child, can open us to new experience and leave us transformed. As we begin a new year in an icy season, how can we cultivate our capacity for transformation?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker

This sermon podcast will consider how to cultivate faith to move forward into the new year and begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Anna Newton.

This sermon podcast, reflecting on what it means to tell, and retell a story over generations, begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.      

"Roses love garlic." Gardens abound with stories of different plants that grow together, sometimes unexpectedly. Polyculture, or companion planting, uses that diversity to create more resilient, beautiful garden beds. The same might be true for our churches: rather than a monoculture of a single creed, Unitarian Universalists plant our diverse faiths side by side, and in doing so cultivate wild and resilient communities.

Without hope, how can we authentically evangelize love? Hope, however fragile,  can sustain us. It anchors our conviction and guides our commitment to serve with faith, compassion, and resilience.   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker and is followed by a sermon by Hallman Ministerial Intern Amy Brunell. 

What do you do when the life you had imagined for yourself is stuck in committee? Join us for the story of the Unitarian Universalist Hysterical Society… The practical joke that accidentally turned into a 300 thousand person Unitarian Universalist community on Facebook. It's a story of feeling lost, finding yourself, and UUism-outside-the-box.

Taking inspiration from the beautiful writings of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician, writer and academic — join Shay in exploring how water can inspire new ways of thinking about relationships, promoting a "vision of relationality that transcends traditional boundaries."  

Unity's new ends statements call us to "understand the interconnected roots of oppression." What tools do we have to see the complexity of interconnected, intersectional oppression, and how do we begin to dismantle it in our congregation and the broader world?   This service begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Carol Mahnke.

Join us for Unity's annual service of remembrance for the members of our community who have passed away in the last year. As we gather near the traditional observance of All Souls Day, we remember the stories of those who have gone before, and how they are intertwined with our own. Everyone will be invited to light a candle for someone they loved and lost in 2025.

Yoking is not a solo endeavor. To be yoked is to be joined in a team, each pulling together in a common effort. Community organizing teaches us the power of organized people, each giving up some level of autonomy in order to effect change together. How do we navigate our Unitarian Universalist tradition's emphasis on individual conscience with the need for collective action in these times?

Building on the work of Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, how can we possibly yoke ourselves to joy in times like these? What happens when we let our grief for a broken world direct the plow? Resiliency and creativity are not only tools of the joyful, but are also honed by what we've lost.

For the last several years, Unity's Board of Trustees has been considering the work of reparations as a moral imperative, partnering with the Saint Paul Reparations Commission and other activists in the community to imagine how the church can engage in work to address historic harms. This Sunday we'll consider where that work has led us, and what might come next. ​ This service begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.

On Celebration Sunday we begin Unity's annual pledge drive with a reflection on joy. What does it mean to choose to be yoked to joy, to commit ourselves to institutions and ways of being in the world that call us to deeper meaning, rather than transient happiness?   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.

This Sunday we welcome Unity's 2025 Hallman Ministerial Intern, Amy Brunell, to the pulpit. The podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.

What toll does it take on our souls when words are used against us? What grief cripples us, stops us from letting go of, or reclaiming, dangerous words? Only in naming, in dialogue with, in expression of our grief and hurt and anger can we fully embrace the power our words have in the world – and freely learn to (again) to use dangerous words. This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Anna Newton.

2025 is a dangerous time in the world. When the foundations of so many of institutions and assumptions shake, we embrace the power of words to heal, as well as to harm. Even as we recognize the danger in language used to hurt, we use our own dangerous language to imagine a different way of being.    This service begins with a reflection by worship associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.

We begin our congregational year joined by representatives from our partner church in Homoródszentpéter. Together we reflect on the long journey from our first meetings to now, and look forward to what comes next in our friendship.  This podcast begins with a reflection by Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair and is followed by a refelction from Rev. Kinga Réka Székely, the minister of Unity's partner church in Homoródszentpéter.

A hot cup of coffee. A firm handshake. A sincere conversation. As we continue to wade in the waters of polarization and binaries, the temptation to let our differences keep us apart is strong. Yet our Unitarian Universalist roots ask us to continue rethinking and reimagining what Beloved Community can and should look like. Could being foolishly vulnerable and honest with each other provide us with a key to a different world?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Nelson Moroukian.

In the last of our series on membership at Unity Church, we consider our work beyond the congregation, as we ask each other to "let the compassion that rises from doing your work within and among lead you to bless the world." In this anxious age, what does it mean to be a blessing?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Ollie Stocker.

The second expectation of membership at Unity Church is that our members will "develop the skills of small group intimacy that let you go deep quickly with strangers." Among this community, the skills of connection deepen our ties and begin to connect our personal practices and lives with the broader world.   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn.

Members of Unity Church are asked to "develop a personal practice that helps you find and keep your balance." What is it about practice that improves balance? Is there value to these practices outside of an instrumental result? How does personal practice set up the rest of our lives together as a community?

What does it mean to be Unitarian Universalist in this moment? In an anxious age, it is not sufficient for us to retreat from the world into intellectual contemplation. Instead, our faith calls us to engage, fully, with our souls, each other, and the world around us.

Alana Howey | Anna Newton | Lisa Burke Unity's Act for the Earth Community Outreach Ministry Team With chaos all around us, action grounded in spiritual practice can help us move forward. Anna Newton, Alana Howey, and Lisa Burke, members of Unity's Act for the Earth Team, will share their approach to this work.   This service begins with a reflection by Anna Newton which is followed by a collage of voices from members of Unity's Act for the Earth Team, and concludes with a refelction by Lisa Burke.

The question we need to be asking in our justice efforts is what are we building together, not what are we doing. Weaving relationships, growing capacity, grounding in our values — these are what build power and make a difference over the long-haul of change. Rev. Terri Burnor (she/her) is Executive Director of MUUSJA (the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance). She also serves the St. Croix Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Wisconsin as their quarter-time minister and has been a member at Unity Church since 2005. Terri is a lifelong Minnesotan who lives in St. Paul with her spouse, Brian, and their two dogs, Marvin and Betty.

As the world around us changes at a rapid and discouraging pace, how do we keep ourselves grounded and continue to build resilience for the years ahead? What practices both spiritual and otherwise do we need to establish and maintain in order to continue to live lives of integrity, service, and joy?

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.   Most summer Sundays, Peggy Lin can be found at "dirt church": digging around in the dirt in her home gardens. Called two winters ago by Act for the Earth to overwinter pollinator perennials, she hasn't looked back. This Sunday, she'll reflect on the spiritual practice of noticing what you notice and how that practice can shape your religious journey at Unity Church.