First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on September 18, 2022. We know that a sense of belonging is a basic human need - vital to our well-being. As humans, we seek belonging in life. Perhaps though, we may find our greatest sense of belonging by creating more of it for everyone.

Rev. Erin Walter's sermon delivered on September 11, 2022. Rev. Erin Walters reflects with us on spiritual and artistic resources for getting through hard times (or any time).

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Kelly Stokes's sermon delivered on September 4, 2022. This Sunday is our annual Water Communion service, a special day when we all come back together after the summer, bringing with us water from a place or time that is special to us.

Rev. Erin Walter's sermon delivered on August 28, 2022. In her first service as part of our interim ministry team, Rev. Erin Walter will share two cherished texts - one from scripture and one from our hymnal - and reflect on the relationship between joy, justice, and interim ministry.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on August 21, 2022. Members of the church submit their questions about the church, our UU faith, spirituality and the like and Rev. Chris answers as many of them as time allows.

Rev. John Buehrens' sermon delivered on August 14, 2022. Former UUA President John Buehrens is serving us as Consulting Minister for Leadership Transitions. His sermon will be dedicated to the late Prof. Charles Harshorne, the distinguished process philosopher who was a member of our congregation.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on August 7, 2022. LGBTQI Pride Week in Austin is happening in the next few days. Several church members and Rev. Chris will share what it has meant to us to become a part of an LGBTQI welcoming reigious community.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on July 31, 2022. The mission we say together every Sunday is our ultimate end (or purpose). We have other ends that help us move toward that mission though.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on July 24, 2022. Our church has expressed a set of five religious values. We don't talk about them that often though. We'll review our values and what living them in our world might look like.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on July 17, 2022. Traditional Christian European thought has distinguished the sacred (of God and religion) as separate from the secular (of the world outside of God and religion). However, other cultures do not necessarily make such a distinction. What might we as Unitarian Universalists learn from perspectives that see the potential for the sacred in all t...

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on July 7, 2022. Researchers have called practicing gratitude the ultimate spiritual practice. The operative word though, is "practice" - it must be put into a form of action. We'll explore some gratitude practices, their many potential benefits and why gratitude is vital regarding both the good times and times of challenge.

Guest Minister Rev. Lee Legault's sermon delivered on July 3, 2022. The culture wars highlight the growing prevalence of speaking without communicating, and such speech is a form of verbal violence. Semanticist Wendell Johnson sums it up well: "Our language is an imperfect instrument created by ancient and ignorant men." Letapos;s explore an alternate communication paradigm. How might our househol...

Guest Minister Rev. Lee Legault's sermon delivered on June 26, 2022. Life requires us to make sense of difficult times, large and small. We have all been through a collective trauma with the pandemic. Victor Frankl Austrian psychiatrist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor offers a framework for making meaning constructively in the most difficult of circumstances. Let's reflect on how our thinking...

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 19, 2022. In 1989, psychologist and researcher Dr. Carol Ryff developed her six-factor model of psychological well being, which she has updated and many others have validated since. The model focuses on how we might not only cope, but thrive. Might these six factors also apply with our spirituality, as well as to our religious community thriving?

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 12, 2022. How might we express a Unitarian Universalist concept of a blessing? How might we be blessings for one another? What are the blessings to be found in day-to-day living? We will explore these questions and more as we discover how me might celebrate our blessing that may be greater than we often realize.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 5, 2022. While change be difficult sometimes, it is also ever present in our lives. Out of change and even loss, we so often find enhanced faith, greater resilience, and creative renewal. Out of it, new beginnings emerge. We will engage in a ritual of faith and renewal.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on May 29, 2022. In this intergenerational service we celebrate the traditional Unitarian ceremony of flower communion. We remember its origins as a vivid resistance to Nazi oppression. We bid farewell to Rev. Meg Barnhouse as she retires.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on May 22, 2022. Making commitments is complicated. Sometimes they are easy and sometimes they are hard to keep. How do we build our self-esteem by doing what we say we are going to do?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on May 15, 2022. We tend to think of beauty as something we experience, but we also are capable of creating it. Nurturing beauty in our lives may be essential to our spiritual well being.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on May 8, 2022. How do you handle your rage? How do you help others with theirs? How do you deal with anger when it is at someone else, or when it is at the supreme court?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on May 1, 2022. Our covenant of healthy relations says we should speak to each other directly, in an attitude of curiosity and respect. How do we do this best?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 24, 2022. Our covenant of healthy relations calls us to "Welcome and serve by being present with one another through life's transitions" What does it mean to be present with one another? How do we do that?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 17, 2022. Inanna, in the Babylonian faith story, goes to the underworld to visit her sister. At every level of the underworld, she is stripped of one more element of her rank and dignity. After three days in the underworld, she returns to the overworld. What does this story have to teach us about loss and resurrection?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on April 10, 2022. Many of us are engaged in a lifelong process of awakening to realities that are different than what we were taught. It is a process that can feel liberating and help us awaken to our own, full creative potential. So, why are we witnessing such a backlash against wokeness.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 3, 2022. What started the sense that we needed another principle? Why now? Why antiracism? Why do we choose to focus on this issue as opposed to all of the other oppressions? We will vote on it at our May meeting.