UU Community Church of Washington County's Podcast

Join us for a celebration of the lengthening days and consideration of what it means to embrace progress and inspiration.

Witold Pilecki was a Polish cavalry officer in WWII, who was the only person to ever break into Auschwitz and then back out again. Together we’ll examine lessons from his life and legacy.

New Year is the time when we’re romanced into thinking there’s something wrong - with us, with our lives, our bodies, our relationships. What if, instead, it’s a time to lean in love ourselves and each other more deeply?

What is Hanukkah anyway?  Join us to talk about how a story about resisting military enemies can teach us about courage and offer us questions about peace.

Even when we find ourselves in the midst of struggles, every day gives us a new opportunity to practice gratitude and find joy.  Please join us in taking time to reconnect, laugh, and sing for joy!  We will celebrate being alive, together on this planet.  

“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn…” - David Whyte This part of the year often gets described as the end of the year, but before anything can happen, many times there’s preparation that is unseen.  What if this part of the year allows us to imagine and prepare for unprecedented beauty and plentifulness?

As we reflect on healing, both in community and as individuals, we will create a bandage ritual together. What does it mean to have compassion for your neighbor and be supportive of their healing? Who is our neighbor anyway? Let’s be curious together. 

As we reflect on healing, both in community and as individuals, we will create a bandage ritual together. What does it mean to have compassion for your neighbor and be supportive of their healing? Who is our neighbor anyway? Let’s be curious together.   

Across cultures, people develop rituals to honor their beloved dead—vibrant celebrations like Día de los Muertos in Mexico, ancient Celtic Samhain, church bells tolling, Victorian mourning clothes, and today’s roadside memorials. We'll explore how to learn from these traditions without cultural appropriation, while also reclaiming and deepening death practices from white cultures. How can we...

Fall and harvest are a time of transition, and sometimes, counterintuitively, growth.  Let’s talk about what the ebb of autumn can teach us about change, beauty, and courage.   

We get to choose some of our endeavors; others choose us.  Cheyenne will share her personal story of becoming an environmentalist and science educator, and the impacts of one particularly personal, seemingly ubiquitous, nefarious form of pollution.  

UUA’s General Assembly (GA) is the annual Business Meeting for our denomination; but it is SO much more than just doing business.  GA's 2025 theme called us to Meet the Moment : to engage with the evolving challenges of our world, explore fresh ways to deepen our faith, and respond boldly to our mission.  This week GA 2025 delegates will share their experiences, what it meant to participate,...

Can an ancient sacred story about the infilling of the Holy Spirit be useful to Unitarian Universalists?  What if a retelling through a new lens makes all the difference?  What if the message of Pentecost really has been applicable all along?

What does it mean to be welcomed for who we are, and not for what we appear to be? This Sunday we’ll reflect on mistaken honor and ask how compassion, dignity, and true hospitality invite us to see one another clearly. Together, we’ll consider how to create spaces where every person is received as more than their appearances, their title, or their circumstance. 

Inspired by the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime, we’ll reflect on the story of Tisquantum, often nicknamed “Squanto” and what it means to remember with honesty. Gratitude, justice, and belonging all meet when we ask: how did we get here, and where do we go from here?

"Adam & Eve didn't fall", says my friend, Rabbi David Horowitz,  "they were pushed."  The "Fall of Man" supposedly was the First "Sin" and the event that made human beings "mortal", getting us kicked out of Paradise.  But I believe this Fall calls many beliefs/assumptions into question if we truly and courageously look into this myth/alleg...

We stand at the end of one season, looking back at the warm, carefree days of Summer, not quite ready to say goodbye but knowing that just around the corner is a new season with all its challenges. The beginning of the school year, the beginning of the church year, bring us back to a different reality. Ready or not, it’s a time of transitions and a mix of emotions. We will hear from several congre...

The most important part of our religious education curriculum for children, youth, and adults is our church community, our congregation, our church building, and everyone in it or connected to it in person or virtually.  Who we are is what we teach.  How we respond to and support one another, and how we embody our principles, sources, and values, communicates our curriculum to learners of all ages...

This Sunday, join us as we explore the radical power of loving ourselves in a world that often thrives on our self-doubt. Together, we’ll reflect on how nurturing compassion for our own bodies, minds, and spirits can ripple outward—challenging injustice, dismantling harmful narratives, and creating space for collective healing. Self-love is not vanity or escape—it’s resistance, resilience, and a s...

Have you found yourself exhausted of late?  Are you finding it difficult to relate to those with different views, or even to foster your close relationships?  We’re going to explore the importance of self-care—connecting with yourself and what you need—and how it can help improve your well-being and ability to have empathy for others.

Affirming the inherent dignity and worth of every person is the 1st principle of UUism, but how do we live that principle?  What does it mean to really affirm another person’s humanity and inherent dignity?  How do we act like we truly see everyone as inherently worthy?  Understanding how the mutual struggle for our rights and autonomy and the need to learn how to trust each other is central to an...

Without dogma, we may seem spiritually untethered.  But our freedom to believe compels us daily to seek deeper meaning for ourselves and our community.  Join us as we explore becoming more than what we don’t choose to believe.  And come meet Delores Doctrinaire.  

When we hear the title of Mystic, we tend to think of gurus, solitary monks or enlightened spiritual leaders, but a mystic is simply someone who is seeking to find the sacred in ordinary life events.  Using Mirabai Starr’s teachings, let’s look at the things we are already doing and ways we can simply increase our awareness of the sacred in our mundane everyday lives.  

If there is water filling half of a glass, do you see it as half full, or half empty?  Whichever way you see it, what's the matter with the empty space?  Maybe that's where the magic is... in the space that has room to be filled.  Come to this special worship service to hear Reverend Lauren's final sermon.  Let's celebrate a year together, and honor the magical potential of wha...

Disability allyship reflects the worth and dignity of every person, while disability activism allows us to put our UU values in action in a society that frequently devalues disabled people even in a post-ADA world.  Come learn how you can join a rich tradition of allies and activists.