Unity Church Sermon Podcasts

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by Nelson Moroukian, Unity's Religious Education Program Assistant, and excerpts of the credos of Unity's Coming of Age class of 2025 read by Coming of Age Facilitators Claire Cooke, Stu Alger, and Kelley Loughrey. The sermon is delivered by Rev. KP Hong, Minister of Faith Formation. Coming of Age Sunday celebrates the signature yearlong journey of our...

This sermon podcast begins with A Story for All Ages by Rev. KP Hong, continues with a reflection offered by worship associate Ari Giles, and ends with a sermon by Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair. Wendell Berry writes: Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts… practice resurrection. On Easter Sunday, how do we practice joy, not despit...

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Charlie Caswell. Unitarian Universalist ministry is "called out from among" the membership of our congregations. Our tradition celebrates shared ministry, and we recognize and commission a whole range of ministries, from newly installed ministers to groups of volunteers doing the work of the church every day. This Sunday we...

This week's sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Betsy Hearn, which is followed by a guided meditation led by Rev. Oscar. Grounding ourselves in embodied spiritual practices in order to find our balance, heal and engage with the world has long been a role of religious community. Once central to Christian self-understanding and spiritual expression, our bodies have been re...

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton. Courage, to Aristotle, is a virtue located between two vices: cowardice and recklessness. In times that call for great courage, but also great discernment, how do we chart a course between obstacles, and in doing so live courageously?

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Chris Russert. On the precipice of World War II, a time when most Americans were turning a blind eye to the growing social injustice and totalitarian threat in Europe, the Unitarian Universalist Association — alerted to the dire situation by their fellow congregation in Prague — was committed to saving as many people as possible....

This podcast includes a reflection offered by worship associate Sara Ford. If you would like to listen to the musical piece by Elizabeth Alexander that Rev. Oscar refers to at the beginning, please visit our  YouTube channel . dJohn Lewis and the other leaders of the American Civil Rights movement were clear about the relationship between power, relationship, and organized action. In the midst of...

In his landmark "Rules for Radicals," Saul Alinsky cautions organizers to practice the skills of being heard. "Lacking communication," he writes, "I am in reality silent; throughout history silence has been regarded as assent — in this case assent to the system." Organizing, like any spiritual practice, is a discipline with tools and methods developed over time. What lessons do those tools hold fo...

For years, Unity Church has joined with other congregations around the Twin Cities and the world is proclaiming the dignity of each person, and the need for fair and affordable housing in our community. Housing is an issue that lives at the intersection of the individual and collective: what makes a house a home is deeply personal, but we all have a stake in creating a community of homes. 

This sermon podcast begins with a Story for All Ages by Rev. KP Hong. The word in Hebrew for truth,  emeth , is related to the verb  amam : to support and make firm.  Emeth  is inherently relational; we depend on each other for support, and to understand the world. Can we understand truth in isolation, or are we dependent on each other?

This podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Meg Arnosti. Indigenous communities around the world were gravely impacted by The Doctrine of Discovery, a pronouncement by the Catholic Church and the policies of colonial domination by European countries that were used to justify dominion over lands that were not inhabited by Christians, and the right to subjugate and exploit non-Chris...

This podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Charlie Caswell. Truth is not simply a dry recitation of facts. The Greek word for truth, aletheia , suggests an unveiling; it was used to describe a curtain coming up at a play, revealing the truth of the story. What truths are revealed to us today? 

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Anna Newton. The first generation of Unitarians in America preached that reason was the primary tool for understanding the truth of the world around us.  Veritas , the Latin word for truth, gives us "verifiability," the idea that truth is a description of external reality that can be understood by observation and experimenta...

The questions answered in this sermon were posed by the congregation at the beginning of the service. Music and ministry both exist in the relationship between structure and improvisation. This Sunday we will consider both, in an extemporaneous reflection from piano and pulpit.

Founded in 1940, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has served as a beacon of liberal religion in the world, and the possibilities that exist when we connect faith with action. On the day before the 2025 United States presidential inauguration, we will hear from Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, president of UUSC, about the work of the committee and the possibilities of this moment.

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Chris Russert "Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born." — Howard Thurman  Often this phrase is used to explain a painful moment or failure, an uninvited or unwelcome "opportunity for growth." Yet, it is from these places...

Join us for Unity Church's annual service of remembrance for the members of our community who have passed away in the last year. This sermon podcast begins with eulogies offered by Rev. Lara Cowtan and Rev. Oscar Sinclair.

This podcast begins with a reflectin offered by worship associate Peggy Lin. The story of the Maccabean revolt is the inspiration for the Jewish festival of lights, Hannukah. The miracle at the heart of the story is simple: lamp oil that appeared to only be enough for a night lasted for eight days. But even in simplicity, the story holds meaning for what it means to live sustainably, hopefully, an...

At the start of the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph are internally displaced refugees, traveling from their home in Nazareth to be counted in a census for a far-away imperial capital. By the end of the story, they are fleeing their homes as refugees, looking to start a new life in Egypt, away from political violence and oppression. In 2024 in St. Paul Minnesota, where do we locate ourselves in th...

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Sara Ford. In the Christian calendar, Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Christ child. The story from first century Palestine tells us that with the birth of Jesus comes hope, love, the undoing of the status quo: a new reign of peace on earth. In times of fear and uncertainty, where is hope to...

"My Soul Magnifies the Lord," Mary tells the Angel Gabriel in the gospel of Luke. The song she sings next is a vision of a world that might be, one where the mighty are thrown down, the hungry are fed, and the beloved community arrives. What lessons do her words hold for us, 2000 years later? ​

How do we build hope from the gifts and wounds we carry with us, while also navigating the fear of change?​

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we consider the traditions from around the world and at our own tables of offering words of gratitude. How do these rituals provide opportunities for deepening and growing in our spiritual and personal relationships. What is grace? How can we give and receive it in our lives and the larger world?

Vaclav Havel, the Czech statesman and literary figure, wrote that hope "…is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons." How do we anchor ourselves to hope, even when it exists beyond our vision, on the other side of the horizon?

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton. What can we say, in the aftermath of an election? How have the church's commitments changed, or have they? How do we balance the uncertainty of this moment with the certainty of faith?