First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin cover art

All Episodes

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin — 764 episodes

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Title
1

Growing Out - Maturing as an Expanding Embrace

2

Be a stream, not a swamp

3

Grasshoppers in the Glittering Net

4

She stirs up the world

5

The devil and Martha Stewart

6

There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.

7

Flower Communion Service

8

Youth Service

9

The Everyday Radicalization of Nurturing

10

If...Then...

11

Our Mission is Powered by You

12

A Faith that Dares a Radical Welcome

13

Of UU Easter Theology

14

Visibility Beyond Disparity

15

Ceremony of Firsts

16

Mindfullness When the Present Feels Overwhelming

17

Losing My Religion

18

Celebrating the Life of Rev Meg Barnhouse

19

You say you want a revolution

20

Unveiling the Mother behind God

21

Blue Hats, Pink Hearts, and the Power of Love

22

Fear...What is it good for?

23

2026 Animal Blessing

24

Love Survives

25

Not Just a Matter of Words

26

2026 Burning Bowl Service

27

The Power of a Good Story

28

2025 Christmas Pageant

29

Peace in the Chaos

30

Hopeful Heretics

31

Transcendence and Transformation

32

Not Just Counting Our Blessings

33

The Spiritual Practice of Solidarity

34

Courage and Community

35

Grief as a Friend

36

The Spiritual Practice of Play

37

2025 Celebration Sunday

38

I'm just so Angry

39

Called to Compassion

40

It's Us

41

Living Love

42

Building Belonging

43

2025 Water Communion

44

Don't Miss the Next Chalice

45

Question Box

46

Spiritual Legacies

47

There is More...

48

The Transforming Power of Pride

49

The Blessings of Small Group Ministries

50

Revolution Began/Begins with a Dream

51

Faithful Sanctuary

52

Standing by our UU Values: The case for Palestine

53

Love's Call to Risk

54

Love at the Center

55

Something Larger than Ourselves

56

Soul Freedom

57

Goodbye, So Long, Farewell

58

2025 Question Box Service

59

A Thea/ological Re-Imagining

60

2025 Flower Communion

61

Fierce Love - Revolutionary Love

62

Climate Hope and the Joy of Earth

63

2025 Easter Service

64

Ode to Joy (and how to save room for it)

65

2025 Youth Service

66

Joy, Hope and Visibility

67

Holy Ground

68

Rest

69

Building Communities of Trust

70

Joy is Resistance

71

All for Justice and Justice for All

72

That's Amore

73

Revolutionary Inclusion in the ways of Rabbi Jesus

74

2025 Pet Blessing Service

75

How to Stop Being a "Good Person"

76

Holding on to the Dream

77

Living the Creative, Non-fiction Life

78

2025 Burning Bowl

79

The End

80

2024 Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols

81

2024 Christmas Pageant

82

Unwrapping the gift of Presence

83

How to Prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse

84

Celebrating the Life of Wayne Bockman

85

From Eve to us

86

You're going to pray for me?

87

Soul Matters - Repair

88

Onwards

89

We the People have the Power

90

2024 Celebration Sunday

91

Listen Deeply. Truly Hear. Become.

92

2024 Commitment Sunday

93

Imagination

94

The Great Unitarian Universalist Climate Justice Revival

95

Centered for the season

96

Invitation to Transform

97

An Invitation to Belonging

98

2024 Water Communion

99

2024 Question Box Sermon

100

Renewal, Restoration, Reclaiming

101

Transformative Moments

102

2024 Pride Sunday

103

The Blessings of Small Group Ministry

104

Reproductive Justice for All

105

Buddhist Practices for Tough Times

106

Generosity of Spirit

107

Poetry Plus

108

The Quest for Freedom

109

Lessons from Chalice Camp

110

2024 Flower Communion

111

2024 Youth Sunday

112

The Force of Possibility

113

Searching for Asherah

114

Exponential Theology

115

Silent No More

116

First UU is doing Justice

117

Interdependence Day

118

Eclipse Sunday

119

Easter Sunday

120

Public Education is Under Attack

121

The Power of Utopian Thinking

122

Wonder Woman, Fake News, Lie Detectors, and Reasons for Hope

123

Mary and Lou Among the CypressTrees: Stories of Transformation

124

Affect Theology

125

Wholly Spirited

126

Rev Chris Jimmerson's Installation

127

Talkin' bout a Revolution

128

2024 Animal Blessing Service

129

A Church for All

130

Universal Love

131

Love in the Hard Places

132

Are you a Player?

133

Burning Bowl 2023

134

2023 Lessons and Carols

135

2023 Christmas Pageant

136

Let the Mystery Be

137

Oh, Holy Night

138

Generosity of Spirit

139

Thanksgiving

140

Centered Relationships are Key

141

All Souls

142

Fear and Flourishing

143

History, Heritage, Hope

144

Celebration Sunday

145

Hearts Broken Open

146

Commitment Sunday

147

Belonging

148

The Promises We Make

149

Covenantal Beginnings

150

2023 Water Communion

151

Getting to know you

152

Question Box Service 2023

153

Post-Pandemic Ponderings

154

Faithful and Proud

155

Blessings for the next chapter

156

Nurturing Spiritual Wholeness

157

Lessons from Chalice Camp

158

Culture of Caring

159

Joy and Justice, Amen

160

Toward our Metamorphosis into Who Knows What

161

Diving into Delight

162

I Am What I Am: Reflections on Radical Welcome

163

Flower Communion 2023

164

Divine Co-Creation

165

Creating Creative Welcoming

166

Religious Words We Love to Hate

167

Loving, Leaving and Letting People In

168

Resistance in NOT Futile

169

The Music and Message of Prince

170

A Faithful Undertaking

171

Hallelujah - A Celebration

172

Rise and Shine

173

Liturgy: The (Earth) Work of the People

174

Choose Kindness

175

What if you can't

176

Lamenting the Winter of our Lives

177

Sacred Ground

178

A Return to Center, A Return to Love

179

The Greatest Force in the Universe

180

Love Calls Us Forth

181

Finding Our Center - Building a New Way

182

2023 Animal Blessing Service

183

Trans Inclusion and Beloved Community

184

Finding ourselves in Past Present Future

185

2023 Burning Bowl

186

2022 Lessons and Carols

187

2022 Christmas Pageant

188

Music and the Season of Advent

189

Everything is a Miracle

190

Uncertainty Anchors

191

Reproductive Justice and our UU Faith

192

The Only Lasting Truth

193

In Death and Democracy, Look for Beauty

194

The masks we wear

195

Courage for In-Between Times

196

What are we doing here?

197

Return to Love

198

Celebration Sunday

199

The Hole in the Soul of America

200

Building Belonging

201

Is this the Light or the Tunnel

202

Ingathering: Water Communion

203

Dance in the Desert, bring a Tambourine

204

Question Box Sermon 2022

205

On Trusting the Process

206

A Welcoming Congregation

207

To What Ends

208

Remembering our Values

209

Finding the Sacred in the Secular

210

More than an Attitude

211

Nonviolent Communication

212

Will to Meaning

213

Six Factors in Well Being

214

Celebrating Blessings

215

Emptiness and Creative Renewal

216

Flower Communion and Farewell

217

The Pumpkins Promise

218

Nurturing Beauty

219

The Fire of Anger

220

Curiosity and Respect

221

Be Present with one another

222

Coming to life again

223

Awakening

224

What is the Eighth Principle?

225

Grasshoppers in Indra's Glittering Net

226

Water Ceremony 2022

227

Renewing Faith

228

How to eat a car

229

Widening the Circle

230

A Good Goodbye

231

What if you were really loved

232

Connected to All Creation

233

Spirited Identities

234

Prophetic Religion

235

Lessons from Pandemic Chaplaincy

236

Living with Intention

237

2022 Burning Bowl Ritual

238

Opening to Joy

239

2021 Christmas Eve Service

240

2021 Christmas Pageant

241

The Perils of Perfectionism

242

Dealing with difficult people (and trying not to be one)

243

Right Concentration

244

Holding History

245

Using Our Voices

246

Be Present in Your Life

247

All Souls and All Saints

248

The Healing Power of Truth

249

Cultivating Relationship

250

Great Big Celebration Sunday

251

The Third Principle

252

So Much Wasted Effort

253

Resilience

254

Down to the River to Pray

255

Right Livelihood 2021

256

The Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person

257

Possibilities Ever Emergent

258

One coming out story

259

Nature v Nurture Youth Service

260

When Trust is Hard

261

Sacred Vulnerability

262

We're still here - Our Journey Continues

263

In the stream of your life

264

Play - Fun - Humor - Love

265

What did you just say?

266

Just a Reminder

267

Flower Communion 2021

268

Why should I belive that?

269

The Power of Storytelling

270

Abandon Hope and Fear 2021

271

Waiting to Exhale

272

Blues Theology (Revisited)

273

Pathways Ever Unfolding

274

History - It's complicated

275

When Harold Hatcher gave up, He grew

276

Commitment Creates Connection

277

Third Lap in a Four Lap Race

278

The Power of Our Words

279

Need a Little Mercy Now

280

Muppet Theology Rebroadcast

281

To Corinth with Love

282

Blessing the Animals 2021

283

A Feast of Love

284

In praise of the dark

285

Spiritual Imagination

286

Wish you were here

287

Burning Bowl 2021

288

Guidance

289

2020 Christmas Pageant

290

A Moving Stillness

291

What's so Funny 'bout Peace, Love, and Understanding

292

Poetry as Meditation

293

Healing does not equal cure

294

Falling in love with what is

295

Science, Imagination, and Magic

296

All Souls

297

American Civil Religion 2020

298

Deep Listening

299

Lessons from the Garden

300

Have smaller fights

301

Forgiveness

302

Celebration 2020

303

Rest, Renew, Reimagine

304

Be a stream and not a swamp

305

Balancing Acts

306

Chalice Circles - Deepening Connection

307

Radicals v Respectables

308

Using your Anger, Holdng on to your Hope

309

Question Box Sermon 2020

310

Creative Durability

311

Stoic Spiritual Survival

312

2020 Youth Service

313

Bless. Be Blessed

314

Big Gay Sunday 2020

315

Living Our Values

316

The History of American Policing

317

Useful Ignorance and Beginner's Mind

318

Flower Communion

319

Navigating the Thresholds

320

Living with Brain Trauma

321

All will be well - Really?

322

Punk Theology

323

Praying when no one is listening

324

Liberation through Letting Go

325

A Trip to the Underworld

326

Losing my Religion

327

A Vision for our time

328

Social Distance, not Spiritual Distance

329

The Grief Bible

330

Awakening Our Wisdom

331

Two Parables of the Beloved Community

332

Graceful Resilience

333

Sugar: What is enough?

334

Milk & Butter: Creativity within constraint

335

How not to break a horse

336

Salt

337

Spiritegrity

338

Heat and Transformation

339

The Burning Bowl

340

On Practicalities of Spiritual Practice

341

Lessons and Carols

342

When God was a baby

343

Perfect Miracles

344

Awe and Then Some

345

Lessons in Welcome from Thanksgiving and a Blow to the head

346

What happens in families

347

Paying Attention

348

How to comfort someone who is suffering

349

Battle for Harvard

350

Room on the Broom

351

Sacred Belonging

352

Protected on the Journey

353

The Concord Genius Cluster

354

This Apple

355

Celebration Sunday

356

Faithful Expectation

357

How to Change Minds

358

Many Rivers to Cross

359

Ever Emergent

360

What does that pin on your backpack mean?

361

Walking Toward the Deep End

362

In My Life

363

Prophecy, Power, and Potter

364

Learning through Joy

365

Abundance is Already Ours

366

Pausing for Perseverance

367

Out from Silence: Writing your Life

368

Stranger in a strange land

369

Being a blessing to the children

370

Beauty amongst the thorns

371

Homecoming and Dedication

372

Beautiful 'Flower Girls'

373

Playing ball on running water

374

Fiery and Fearless

375

Curiouser and Curiouser

376

Youth Service: Reflection

377

How to grow a seed

378

The Power of Story

379

If I needed you

380

The Holiness of Wholeness

381

The Kindness Connection

382

Celtic Christianity

383

Journey of the Spirit

384

The Promise and the Practice

385

Trustful and Trustworthy

386

The Magic of Music

387

Collective Liberation

388

The Holiness of Hands

389

Potential Ever Emergent

390

Burning Bowl Service

391

Gathered here for the Mystery of this Hour

392

Lessons and Carols

393

Spray it Gold and post it on Instagram

394

Glowing Embers

395

Live from Pflugerville

396

We Remember

397

Come, ye thankful people, come

398

Fall down 7, Get up 8

399

A Little Mercy

400

Those who have gone before us

401

Safe Space/Brave Space

402

Love's Sanctuary

403

Love is the Spirit of this church, and Service is its Law

404

What I Learned from Being a Writer

405

UU101, UU201, UU301

406

Faith Out Loud

407

Wade in the Water

408

First UU Alive

409

Muppet Theology

410

Loving, Laughing, Living

411

Truth Telling

412

Making Our Alphabet Soup

413

You are magic

414

Let's talk about depression

415

Our UU Heritage; Our Larger UU Faith

416

The Genderbread Person

417

A feeling for the holy

418

Everyday Ministry and Finding Your Signature Move

419

Unitarians and Abolition

420

Question Box Sermon

421

Does it hurt to bloom?

422

Bravely Ourselves

423

Dreams

424

Things I Learned From My Mother

425

Bringing Imperfect Gifts

426

Seeds

427

Justice, Not Justifications

428

Broken Things

429

A "Foolish" Easter

430

Finding Our Balance

431

Spiritual Always

432

Hacking Transcendence

433

Faith in UUs

434

Be the Spark

435

What the world needs from Liberal Religion

436

Powerful Moments

437

Why do bad things happen?

438

Love, like a carefully loaded ship...

439

Animal Blessing Service

440

The Power in the "MeToo" Movement

441

Legacies

442

How to invite changes in your life

443

Burning Bowl

444

Christmas Pageant

445

Grace

446

My actions are my only true belongings

447

Modern Families

448

Elijah

449

Checking out, Falling back, Overwhelmed

450

All are Called

451

Those who have gone before

452

Doing Justice

453

Groundbreaking

454

Transformation through service

455

Leap of Faith

456

The Birthday of the World

457

Gathering in Community

458

Water Ceremony

459

Stepping into the dream together

460

A story in three acts

461

Big Gay Sunday

462

From Eve to Us

463

Many gifts, Many ways

464

Making Magic Happen

465

Seeing God in a Wild Old Dog

466

I get a little help from my friends

467

Sacred Mystery

468

Grace, Covenant, and the Beloved Community

469

The Power of Storytelling

470

Who loved you forward?

471

Dude, you're stressing me out

472

The Richness of Diversity

473

The Power of Presence

474

To nourish souls

475

Growth

476

Spring has sprung

477

Truth, Crushed to Earth, Shall Rise Again

478

Thinking like a mountain

479

You have to be carefully taught

480

Adventures in Hymnody

481

Five Smooth Stones

482

Joy like a fountain

483

Get it to the size of an Oreo

484

Dealing with difficult people

485

To run and not be weary

486

Right Effort

487

Beauty walk

488

Animal Blessing Service

489

Watch your language

490

Trust, The Decor Committee and Citizens United

491

Right Livelihood

492

Burning Bowl Service

493

Christmas Day Service

494

Christmas Pageant

495

Star of Truth

496

A clear mind and an open heart

497

Fruits of the spirit, gifts of age

498

Great Fullness

499

Acceptance and encouragement

500

Right speech

501

Honoring the ancestors

502

Right intention and the 10-10-10 rule

503

I got the music in me

504

The final form of love, which is forgiveness

505

We begin again

506

Mom, He started it!

507

Abandon Hope and Fear

508

Ritual and Remembrance

509

Water communion service

510

Deep end of the heart

511

Big Gay Sunday

512

What holds us together?

513

What I learned on my summer vacation

514

Principled Magic

515

Paving the road to Hell?

516

Sacred Promises

517

Making sense of the senseless

518

Who's calling, Please?

519

It ain't broke... but we can still fix it

520

Tender Mercies

521

Revolutionary Love

522

Talking to the trees

523

Flower Communion

524

What's the difference: Venting vs Lamentation

525

Finding the devine in the mundane

526

Make New Mistakes

527

Prayer beads for UUs

528

Will the real me please stand up?

529

What's the difference between Trinitarian and Unitarian

530

Transformation

531

Punk Theology

532

Pretty Yellow Flower Day

533

The Man Comes Around

534

The fire of commitment

535

Bee Yard Etiquette

536

Courage

537

What's the difference - Protestant and Catholic?

538

So many songs about love

539

Respecting the Fire

540

Animal Blessing Service

541

Forgiveness 2016

542

Compassion

543

What's the difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam?

544

Community

545

The Christians and the Pagans

546

Christmas Pageant

547

An upside-down world: A hymn of reversal

548

Saying Grace, Being Gratitude

549

Family life as a spiritual path

550

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

551

The ugly duckling

552

At the threshold

553

Transcendence

554

Dialogue with conservatives

555

Listening to Drag

556

Oh, Delilah!

557

Good Grief

558

21st Century Atonement

559

All beginnings are difficult

560

Choose to enjoy your life

561

The first one to try

562

Which God don't you believe in?

563

Black Lives Matter

564

Give me your tired, your poor, your harmed

565

Spiritual Ambivalence

566

Being Safe

567

Sanctuary

568

There is no Present like the Time

569

Independence and Interdependence

570

On the dancefloor

571

Father Sky, Mother Earth

572

Juneteenth

573

The boy who drew cats

574

Whistling with a shoe full of slush

575

Goldilocks and Elijah

576

Youth Service - Epressions of the Soul

577

Inhospitality to Strangers

578

Choosing to Bless the World

579

The Impossible Task

580

Building the world we dream about

581

How many plagues will it take?

582

The Cellist of Sarajevo

583

Palm Sunday

584

Our UUnique Gifts

585

Sacred Vulnerability

586

Question Box Sermon

587

The Red Shoes

588

Expect the unexpected

589

The Book of Love

590

Want what you have

591

Blessing and being blessed: Animal blessing service

592

Doing Empathy

593

Selma and UU

594

The power of Yet

595

Burning Bowl Service

596

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

597

Christmas History

598

Dirty Water

599

Building a new way

600

Gratitude

601

The Problem of Evil

602

Keep the home fires burning

603

The Ancestors' Ways

604

Circle Round

605

Trust

606

Now THIS is church

607

Forgiveness and Repentance

608

Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing

609

Give the Hope, Not Hell

610

Big Gay Sunday

611

Water Communion Service

612

Playing ball on running water

613

Sacred Spaces

614

Facing our fears: A spiritual practice

615

When the method is the message

616

The choice is yours, choose wisely

617

Hipster misogyny and Gaga feminism

618

My faith is in science, but I try to keep an open mind

619

The death penalty, reluctant soldiers, and Edward O. Wilson

620

Say it loud - I'm UU and I'm proud

621

Spiritual Growth

622

What does it all mean?

623

Honor Your Father

624

The Cherokee Removal

625

Rilke's Swan

626

The lessons of flowers

627

Youth Service - Learning to love

628

A Juicy Slice of UU History - Michael Servetus

629

May the force be with you

630

The banality of indifference

631

Jesus' Grandmothers

632

Depression

633

God wants you to be rich!

634

A World of Pure Imagination

635

Balance/Equinox

636

Celtic Christianity/Redemption

637

The second commandment

638

Gossip: I heard it through the grapevine

639

Toward Becoming

640

Failure is impossible

641

What we are worshiping, we are becoming

642

Animal Blessing Service

643

Resolution Disillusion

644

The Magic of Music

645

Architecture and spirit

646

Burning Bowl Service

647

Surplus anxieties

648

A Sudden Flame, an Extraordinary Journey

649

Christmas Pageant

650

A UU Faith Story: John Murray

651

How did we get the bible?

652

Guest at Your Table Kickoff

653

A Juicy Slice of UU History: The Iowa Sisterhood

654

Dismantling Racism

655

Creating Community

656

Mystery, Spookiness, Magic and Wonder

657

Walking between the raindrops

658

I'm a Believer

659

Join What Move

660

Bedrock Values at the Heart of Humanism

661

Not so good at mindfullness

662

What if you can't keep your promise?

663

The serious business of play

664

Margaret Sanger

665

Life of Pi

666

The Oversoul

667

Defense against the dark arts

668

That little four-letter word called Hope

669

What is Prayer?

670

Who or What is God?

671

Like Slow-Growing Trees in a Ruined Place

672

Joseph Priestley: The most hated man in Britain

673

Amazing Grace

674

The Rose

675

Tales of the tribe

676

Mother of all services

677

Do the right thing

678

Fiery and Fearless: Olympia Brown

679

The Gaia Psalms

680

Lies, gossip and fighting words

681

Will you harbor me?

682

Only life and death

683

Afri-kin

684

Good question!

685

We've come this far by faith

686

As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again

687

Large is beautiful, too

688

Recovery from Fundamentalism

689

Theodore Parker

690

God the Huntress

691

Abandon Hope and Fear

692

This new thing called Universalism

693

The delicate art of forgiveness

694

Burning Bowl Service

695

Is there a place for God in Unitarian Universalism?

696

Blue Christmas

697

Christmas Pageant

698

Rekindled

699

Sweet honey from old failures

700

The lovers, the dreamers, and me

701

Thank you I'm going downhill

702

Equilibrium with Elegance: Jazz and UU Theology

703

Our Religious Imagination

704

The Day of the Dead

705

Kicking the Statue of Shiva

706

A Safe Place

707

Land of Hope and Dreams

708

Coming Home

709

American Civil Religion

710

A Relationship of Promises

711

Setting Sail

712

Water Communion and Ingathering

713

Becoming an Ally

714

Standing on Holy Ground

715

The least of Things

716

Inside the Words on the Wall

717

The magic of I am (you fill in the blank)

718

Bringing Home Justice from General Assembly

719

It looks like the world is going to Hell. So let's change it

720

The Elderly, the Beautiful, and Children of God

721

The Courage to Trust

722

What is Patriotism?

723

The Narrow Gate: Passageways to the ordinarily sacred

724

Bee Yard Etiquette

725

The Real Ten Commandments

726

Gold in the Shadow

727

Flower Communion Service

728

Individualism vs the social contract

729

What I learned from my mother

730

Does our name mean anything to us?

731

Humility: Struggles with the Two Selves

732

Earthday: Gaia Psalms

733

Quartet for the end of time

734

How many UUs does it take to change a lightbulb?

735

Unitarian Universalist Utopias

736

What is enough?

737

Firsts First

738

When to take a leap

739

A Prophetic Liberal Religion

740

The man who ate a car

741

Everybody's got a Hungry Heart

742

Afri-Kin

743

Mary, Mary, Quite Revolutionary

744

Installation Service of Rev. Meg Barnhouse

745

A Stone of Hope

746

The Democratic Process

747

Burning Bowl

748

Christmas Eve Lesson and Carols

749

How to disagree passionately and peacefully

750

Wisdom Tree

751

A Juicy Slice of Unitarian History

752

A simple running stitch

753

Digging a good, deep well

754

Honoring the Ancestors

755

We are gay and straight together

756

Repentance, Forgiveness, Reconciliation

757

Flying fish make me smile

758

All the gossip from Concord

759

Where are the strong? Who are the trusted?

760

Water Communion

761

A Spiritual Stretch

762

Keeping our Eye on the Demolition Twins

763

The Rapture in America

764

Founding Members Reminiscences