First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin First UU Church of Austin
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- Religion & Spirituality
Weekly podcasts of sermons delivered at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community. We are an inclusive liberal religious and spiritual community. We support each individual's search for meaning and purpose and join together to help create a world filled with compassion and love. All are welcome without the distinction of race, class, gender, sexual orientation or creed. Please visit us on the web at austinuu.org. A complete listing of over 1200 archived sermons can be found by clicking the sermon index link on every sermon.
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Public Education is Under Attack
Guest Speaker Rev Jonanna Fontaine-Crawford's service delivered on March 24, 2024. Across the United States, people are showing up at school board meetings to protest books and knowledge they deem inappropriate, especially concerning education around diversity. Here in Texas, the governor called the legislature back into session in an attempt to divert public school funding to vouchers for private schools. But there is an underlying battle that has been waged since 1848 when Unitarian Horace Mann said, "Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery." What is the real outcome we are fighting over?
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The Power of Utopian Thinking
Guest Speaker Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on March 17, 2024. Things feel very bleak right now. There is so much violence, so much political corruption, and so much inequality that it can feel overwhelming. But our religion is not one of despair but hope and that hope is tied to our ability to imagine a more just and compassionate world for everyone. Utopian thinking is our superpower! Let's explore our superpower and how we can tap into it even when we feel overwhelmed by the world's pain.
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Wonder Woman, Fake News, Lie Detectors, and Reasons for Hope
Rev Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on March 10, 2024. During this "Great Turning," it can sometimes feel more like the world is turning away from truth and justice rather than toward it. How, during these often troubling times, might we sustain hope?
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Mary and Lou Among the CypressTrees: Stories of Transformation
Guest Speaker Bis Thornton's service delivered on March 3, 2024. What is sacred about transformation? Does the divine change alongside us? What is our relationship to the interconnected web of all existence when we transform? Do we still have ancestors if we change? And do we ever stay the same? Join Bis Thornton in a journey through sacred stories of transformation as we imagine answers to these questions and more.
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Affect Theology
Rev Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on February 25, 2024. Did you know that Unitarian Universalism has its very own theology? It is called Affect Theology and was created by the Rev. Dr. Thandeka, a Unitarian Universalist minister and theologian. This umbrella theology is an embodied theology that when well understood and applied can help UUs of multiple theological and philosophical perspectives to lead lives of wholeness and fulfillment.
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Wholly Spirited
Our Whole Lives (OWL) is the nationally renowned sexuality education program rooted in our faith values. OWL includes age-appropriate curricula for people from kindergarten through older adulthood. OWL is an essential element of our faith development ministries and the differences it is making in the lives of people in our religious community and beyond.