First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on August 18, 2024. The challenges of life and our current world can exhaust our minds, bodies, and spirits. We often think of renewal as finding nourishment and new energy from sources outside of ourselves, and that can certainly be valid sometimes. What if another source of reinvigorating our spirit comes from within though? How do we release the spark of...

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on August 11, 2024. In life, we and everything around us are always changing, even if in sometimes imperceptible ways. Yet, there are moments that hold the potential for more transformative change. And such transformative moments contain seeds of change that can be constructive and beneficial, but that can also turn us toward destructive and harmful change....

Rev. Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on August 4, 2024. Come join us as we kick off LGBTQ Pride Week here in Austin. It takes courage to live authentically. Rev Michelle and Carrie Holly-Hunt talk about their experiences in coming out. Come celebrate with us.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on July 28, 2024. One of our church's most transformative ways of deeply connecting with fellow church members and experiencing profound spiritual growth is by participating in a Chalice Circle or Wellspring ministry group. We will hear from three speakers who who discuss their experiences with small group ministry.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on July 21, 2024. Who is Reproductive Justice for? Why does it matter to you if you don't have a uterus, or you are a woman past reproductive age? We will hear from four speakers who are committed to the fight for Reproductive Justice, including abortion health care but also much more. What does Reproductive Justice mean to all of us?" How can we engage an...

Guest speaker Rev. Florence Caplow's service delivered on July 14, 2024. How do we take care of ourselves in tough times, whether those tough times are personal or societal? How do we continue to show up for what we believe in when it is so easy to lose heart? Rev. Caplow will share stories and practices from the Buddhist tradition for resilience and renewal in tough times.

Guest speaker Rev. Kristina Spaude's service delivered on July 7, 2024. Together we will reflect on our interdependence as we grow in community through the lens of time and imagination. Rev. Kristina Spaude currently serves as the contract minister for the UU Church of Tarpon Springs, FL. Her six-word story of faith is, "We're here to build Love's house," and she is passionate about making the way...

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and AJ Juraska's service delivered on June 30, 2024. So often, we recoil against overly literal interpretations of the bible that at best seem irrational and at worst harmful. What if rather than a "literal- factual" understanding of biblical scripture, we embraced scholar and theologian Marcus Borg's "historical-metaphorical" approach instead? Might then the bible become poet...

Guest Speaker Rev. Addae Kraba's service delivered on June 16, 2024. This week we celebrate Juneteenth. Whatever way we choose to become indebted economically, thereby chaining ourselves to a workforce that we hate out of necessity is a personal choice of imprisonment. However, true freedom is a natural right that every human being is born with.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Kelly Stokes with our Chalice Campers' service delivered on June 9, 2024. This week we hosted Chalice Camp, a summer day camp exploring UU history, theology, values, and traditions. During worship this Sunday, the campers and counselors will be sharing some of the songs and stories from camp. Join us for this youthful - and very joyful - worship service.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Rev. Michelle LaGraves's service delivered on June 2, 2024. This Sunday we hold our annual Flower Communion Service. Please join us for this much-loved Unitarian Universalist ritual exchange of flowers. During the service partisipants have the opportunity to add flowers to the large bouquets and to take a different flower home, symbolizing both the unique, sacred beauty of...

The May 26, 2024 service will be delivered by the First UU Youth Group. Our High School Youth Group will take us on a journey of coming of age in the twenty-first century. The youth will share music and readings that have resonated with them this year, along with very real and sometimes challenging stories and reflections on mental health, being a teen, and being a UU.

Rev. Michelle LaGraves and Guest Speaker, VP of the UU Service Committee, Cassandra Ryan's service delivered on May 19, 2024. From fighting for climate justice in the South Pacific, to assisting refugees in Ukraine, supporting migrants in Central America, and helping rebuild civil society in Haiti, please join us to learn about UUSC's work around the world and how UU's are partnering to promote pe...

Rev. Michelle LaGraves's service delivered on May 12, 2024. Did you know that God had a "wife"? Her name was Asherah and stories of this old Hebrew Goddess remain in the Bibles of today. On this Mother's Day, let us reclaim the story of the Queen of Heaven.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on May 5, 2024. We often talk about how divided we are politically, societally, and religiously. Many a magazine article lately has even featured how so many of us are even feeling divided among the many parts within ourselves. What if we valued these differences though? What if, with loving intent, we put them into conversation with one another? Might not...

Nancy Mohn Bernard's service delivered on April 28, 2024. Lately, bad news is omnipresent: climate change, polarized politics, and inequity abound. But Unitarian Universalism offers a message of good news, we just need the courage to share it.

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on April 21, 2024. Our church and our faith have a long history of doing justice in our world. We will explore our current efforts to build the Beloved Community and how you can get involved. Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to do justice, as does our church's mission. Our spiritual practices sustain us in that work. In turn, building Beloved Commun...

Rev Chris Jimmerson and Rev Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on April 14, 2024. We often speak of interdependence in terms of the web of all life, from earth to all the plants and animals. But what does interdependence mean in the context of human life? How does interdependence impact human relationships and human community?

Rev Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on April 7, 2024. We live in a universe filled with awe and wonder. Join us as we celebrate the upcoming solar eclipse.

Rev Chris Jimmerson and Rev Michelle LaGrave's service delivered on March 31, 2024. In the gospel stories, the people who found Jesus' tomb empty or experienced his resurrection felt uncertain. They wondered: What is happening? What does this all mean? What should I do? Like them, we too, have much to feel uncertain about - in our lives, in our church, and in the wider world, and we ask ourselves...

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...

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! L...

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?

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...

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 perspect...