Unfolding Faith: Sermons from Foothills Unitarian

This week, we're kicking off our December series: Make Room, because this Holiday season we're inviting you to make room for joy, love, hope and being present to the moment. This first week of Make Room, Rev. Gretchen Haley draws on the story of Hanukkah, the cold war, Y2K, and the great resignation, to explore what it means to be prepared.

This week we turn the tables and Rev. Gretchen welcomes Rev. Sean as our guest to explore intergenerational inherited ghosts.

Rev. Gretchen draws on religious traditions, current events, and the Thanksgiving story to explore what it means to acknowledge the ghosts of our past - our past selves, our past beliefs, our past ways of being - and tend fully to the harm, while not letting go of the hope.

Rev. Elaine teaches how naming our shame can be life-giving and life-saving, and Foothills' Member Erin Valenti-Nelsen shares her experience of healing after being raped.

This week on the podcast we launch a new series - Living with Ghosts. This whole series we'll deal with our individual and collective past - how we can come to terms with the past so we can live into the future.

This week we talk about death and memory. Participants in Foothills Unitarian's Thoughtful Endings class, share their experiences with end-of-life directives and explore how life and death are interconnected and inform each other.

Money can be uncomfortable to talk about, but that doesn't keep money from impacting us. Which is why in this week's episode we're addressing money head-on.

Reflect on how relationships are essential to your life. How can you intentionally hold space for others and build relationships that allow each person to be themselves without attempts to fix or change one another? Featuring Rev. Gretchen, Rev. Elaine, and Rev. Sean.

Revs. Elaine and Sean kick off our Essential series, where we're taking a deep dive together into asking what matters most in this life? What is the essence of being human? In this time with so many distractions and a premium put on staying busy and achieving productivity, how do we remember what is most essential? How do we consciously live lives that reflect our understanding of what is most dee...

This week on the podcast, we invite you to listen in on a sermon on the tensions of individualism and community. You’ll also hear a conversation between Revs. Sean and Gretchen about some of the questions the sermon raises and the heartbreak and the hope of choosing community and the common good rather than reverting to individualism or tribalism.    

Rev. Gretchen speaks with birth doulas Sarah Lopez and Vita Malama about their experiences accompanying people through the birthing process and transforming grief and pain into growth, resilience, and connection with the beauty of life.

A conversation with Rev. David Williams about the grief and trauma that we are all carrying, loving our enemies, and finding hope in the actions of people combating evil through their lives.

Rev. Sean talks with fellow Unitarian Universalist Minister Rev. Kelly Dignan about the origin of Water Communion within the women's liberation movement. Plus, a bonus story about a little drop of water with dreams and the essentiality of community work.

Interfaith leader Rev. Joseph Moore helps us explore the combination of rage, grief, and goodness in the context of local faith community.

Welcome to Episode Two of Deeper, a podcast from Foothills Unitarian Church! In this episode, Rev. Sean talks with special guest Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen about how rage, grief, goodness are showing up in folks' lives today. Rev. Elaine also guides us in a meditation to reflect on grief and its connection to love.

Welcome to Episode One of Deeper, a podcast from Foothills Unitarian Church! In this episode, Rev. Elaine talks with special guest Rev. Karen Hutt about rage, grief, goodness, and being human in the world today, and Rev. Sean guides us in a meditation for connecting with our anger.

Rev. Elaine offers a reflective practice with four writing prompts,

Rev. Gretchen, Rev. Sean, and Rev. Elaine answer your questions about persevering in the face of despair, describing Unitarian Universalism to those unfamiliar with our faith, the history of the Foothills membership book, and more!

Rev. Gretchen, Rev. Sean, and Rev. Elaine answer your questions about the inherent worth & dignity of all people, where to find hope, sharing Unitarian Universalism with others, and more!

You can't help but smile while watching this rapid-fire Q&A with six Unitarian Universalist Ministers across the country. Not only is it fun, the ministers also answer questions that are really helpful for living in this moment. Permission to stream music obtained from https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/tropicana License code: 2HZULWUH28ZPMEPW.

Rev. Sean draws on the work of Nobel prize winner and theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman to reflect on the nature of truth and what it means to "live the questions."

Rev. Gretchen uses storytelling to illustrate that, at its core, living in covenant means calling one another back to our truest selves over and over again - and to receive the message when we ourselves are lost and those with whom we are in covenant call us back to our authentic selves.

Rev. Sean offers a five-minute introduction to Universalist history.

Rev. Sean offers a five-minute introduction to Unitarian history.

Rev. Gretchen teaches about the practice of mutual edification in the context of covenantal relationships (like we have at Foothills Unitarian) and explores how we each exist in a constellation of belonging and accountability.