Unity Church Sermon Podcasts

Political grief reflects the sorrow, pain and disruption experienced by individuals, families and communities when faced with loss or change due to political actions, events, policies and ideologies. It manifests itself in various forms, from personal feelings of despair and injustice to collective mourning observed during protests or commemorative events.   This sermon begins with a reflection by...

This podcast begins with a refelction from Worship Associate Raffie Parke and continues with a sermon by Rev. Andrea Anastos.

What does it mean to transform ourselves or our ways of being? What factors support such complete change from one thing to another? These are questions that have fueled spiritual seeking, activism, institutions and our own personal lives. Everyone who has tried to change a deeply held habit will know there's more to changemaking and transformation than making a simple decision. Come explore the wa...

Dan Hotchkiss reminds us that churches are transformational institutions. As we reflect on the church year in Saint Paul, what are the ways participation in Unity Church has changed us, and how has the church itself been transformed?​    This service begins with a reflection by Worship Asssociate Betsy Hearn, continues with a story by Rev. Karen Hering, and ends with a sermon by Rev. Shay MacKay.

How do we leave well when it's time to say goodbye? Life is filled with transitions, and not all of them give us the closure we need. Sometimes goodbyes are rushed or incomplete, leaving us to gather the quiet pieces of grief left behind. As I offer my final service at Unity Church, I feel called to honor this moment with intention and grace. Together, we will create space for reflection, gratitud...

Amid unraveling certainties and cascading crises, we witness the hollow grammar of innocence coming undone all around us. Euphemisms that anesthetize harm, official scripts that avoid responsibility, curated speech that protects us from truth and obstructs change. Yet within that collapse, the Spirit stirs, teaching the church to speech that opens memory, expands imagination, dissolves borders, an...

Unity's annual Flower Ceremony was developed over a century ago by Unitarians in Prague who created a ritual to affirm the beauty and diversity of community in a time of rising authoritarianism and fear. As we find ourselves in a world that feels hauntingly similar, let us celebrate the traditions that remind us we are in this together, believing in mutual flourishing and universal belonging.   Th...

Who, or what, determines belonging? On Mother's Day, we'll talk about what it means to be claimed by another person, a family, or a faith. In a place where all of who we are is welcome, how do we call ourselves to bring our best selves?   This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Meg Arnosti.

Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature yearlong journey of our ninth grade youth, transitioning from the inherited faith of childhood to the adult journey of faith, and marked by youth sharing their statement of faith or credo. Coming of Age gives us a glimpse of what is to come: a Unitarian Universalism that continues to embrace our vision of a community based not on shared beliefs, but a...

What if the most radical spiritual act is looking closer? Religious Naturalism is a faith practice that finds the sacred not beyond the natural world but entwined into the very core of it. It is the practice of interdependence. When we ground ourselves to look closely at what is actually real, something unexpected happens — call it reverence, call it wonder, call it joy. Come ready to see differen...

Are we a faith of believers or skeptics? Do our joyful visions depend on what we know to be true or on what we hope to be true? Join this conversation about doubt (and faith). This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Anna Newton.

Jesus, in at least one version of the Easter story, died a human being and came back as a community. One vision of resurrection, in our tradition, is a community in which all of us are needed, gathered in a beloved community of mutual care and thriving. As the ice melts and spring comes, what comes next for this place?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by Worship Associate Sar...

In the Christian tradition, the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, marks a celebration of Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem, a moment when power and meaning were inverted. The power of the day existed, not with a political establishment or temple, but with a community gathered and proclaiming that a better world was possible. One where all of us are included.    This podcast begins with a reflection...

Let's talk about speculative fiction! When can pop culture and escapism inspire us and when does it offer only empty promises of relief and fulfillment?  This podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Veronica Nordeng DeVillez.

Choosing to be alone is different from loneliness. Sometimes even in the midst of people, I feel a sense of loneliness. It often surprises me. I like spending time alone, but that is a choice I can make rather than feeling like I'm all alone. Many people at this moment feel all alone. Perhaps modernity has separated us even more? What is our call as Unitarian Universalists to respond to this feeli...

Liz Slade, the leader of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in the UK, writes about finding a "god shaped hole" in her life, and finding her way to a church that did not ask her to fill it with anything she did not believe. We know people come to church looking for something, but how do we understand the hunger that brings people here?​​ This sermon podcast begins with a reflection and read...

In 2023, Unitarian Universalists decided to describe ourselves as a faith movement with love at the center. This Sunday, join members of Unity's ministry team in conversation as we consider how, three years after that decision, we understand love as an expression of our theology? This sermon is a series of reflections in order: Rev. Shay MacKay, Worship Associate Sarah Cledwyn, Hallman Ministerial...

"In the fullness of time, even the devil will be redeemed." Our Universalist ancestors preached that love was the most powerful force in the world — that God's love for humanity transcended and triumphed over any human capacity for wrong. How does this heritage find expression today, as we confront the brokenness around us with love?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associ...

Join Rev. Shay and Dick Buggs for reflection on their personal experiences of sharing love — one conversation, one person, one moment at a time.   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship Associate Dick Buggs.

Is "evangelize" the most dangerous word in our themes this year? How do we grapple with it as Unitarians? Or is the danger hiding in plain sight, when we consider what is asked of us when we show up in love, in the world.​​

At pivotal moments in life, when change is no longer optional, we are confronted with a profound question: How do we find the courage to step into a new way of being? Let's explore the threshold moments when we choose to move toward transformation rather than retreat from it —allowing ourselves to be broken open, and forever changed.

Love breaks us open, not always in a single supernatural moment, but in a slow accretion of changes.  When we love, we loosen our grip on the self; what is good becomes more than just what is good for me. In love, we become the best versions of ourselves, together.  Make a donation to our Sunday offering in support of The Jeremiah Program.

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." C. S. Lewis's A Grief Observed, is a firsthand account of the months after his spouse's death.  In it, the 20th century theologian grapples with what it means to feel truly lost, unable to depend on the beliefs and certainties that shaped his life. Moments of grief change us, creating a dividing line in our stories between the time before, and th...

Sorrow endures for the night but joy comes with the dawn, writes the psalmist. Moments of joy, whether quiet moments over a cup of coffee, or life changing moments like the birth of a child, can open us to new experience and leave us transformed. As we begin a new year in an icy season, how can we cultivate our capacity for transformation?   This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Worship...

This sermon podcast will consider how to cultivate faith to move forward into the new year and begins with a reflection from Worship Associate Anna Newton.