Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation's Podcast

Sermon delivered by Heather Godbout on September 4, 2016. Heather has been an educator in public schools for 23 years. She spent the first two decades of her career teaching special education and currently serves as the literacy coach at an elementary school in one of Chicago's south suburbs. Ms. Godbout has also been involved in Unitarian Universalist youth ministry since 1997, currently serving...

Sermon delivered by Tony Mitchell on August 28, 2016. An Oak Park resident and Chicago area native, Tony joined Unity Temple in the spring of 2015. He currently is enrolled in the Masters of Divinity program at Meadville Lombard Theological School, where Tony is in formation to become a Unitarian Universalist Minister. A Soul Connections leader in the congregation, he plans to become a Unity Templ...

Sermon delivered by Kellie C. Kelly on August 21, 2016. Kellie is a student at Meadville Lombard Theological School, steering committee chairperson of UU Class Conversations, and Unity Temple's incoming ministerial intern. Before seminary, she built a career in the staffing industry as a sales manager and technical recruiter. Kellie's call to ministry began when she worked as a U.S. Navy family om...

Sermon delivered by Rev. Scott Aaseng on August 14, 2016. In this sermon, Scott wants us to ask ourselves if we are as good at receiving as we are at giving. Rev. Aaseng was a musician, a community activist, and a Lutheran pastor (among other things) prior to discovering his call to Unitarian Universalist ministry. Scott graduated from the St. Olaf Paracollege with a degree in Peace Studies, and s...

Sermon delivered by Rev. Brian Chenowith on August 7, 2016. Brian is a lifelong Chicagoan with roots in the South Side. His spiritual upbringing was Catholic and Anglican though he came to Unitarian Universalism in middle school. It was there, in that UU church where he spent his formative years, that he heard the call to ministry most clearly. He earned his degree in Theology & Religion from Elmh...

This service from July 31, 2016 was presented by members of the UTUUC Reproductive Justice Committee along with Dr. Cassing Hammond. Dr. Hammond, who delivers the sermon, practices General Obstetrics and Gynecology and also directs the Section and Fellowship in Family Planning & Contraception at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine where he is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecolog...

Sermon delivered on July 24, 2016 by Minister of Faith Development Rev. Emily Gage. "As I hear news that feels to me so overwhelming that it makes it hard to know how to keep going, I wonder about how we keep holding onto hope. And then, I think of Pat Summit, in sheer determination and finding some sort of faith out of despair: 'Right foot, left foot, breathe, repeat.' That's how we keep going."...

Sermon delivered by Rev. Colleen Vahey on July 17, 2016. In September 2015, Colleen joined the Unity Temple staff as our part-time  Faith in Action Coordinator.  She is an ordained UU minister who, over the past twenty-five years, has served as a hospital chaplain, a religious educator, a college lecturer and assistant minister. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Colleen has also lived in Australia, Sw...

This service was presented on July 10, 2014 by the Unity Temple Mental Health Awareness Team (MyHAT). Members of the team who offered their reflections here are, in order, LeeLee Ward, Aaron Grace, and John Tandarich. The Co-Chairs of MyHAT are Bonnie Jordan and Janet Holden. Other members of the MyHAT Planning Team are Joan Greene, Joan Vanderbeck, Alice Ocrey,  Beth Fisher, Lurana Brown and Kimb...

Sermon delivered by UTUUC member Christine Steyer on July 3, 2016. Soprano Christine Steyer was a recent winner of six national awards, including The American Prize in Art Song and The Johnny Mercer Award. Christine received critical acclaim for her operatic portrayals of the Marschallin from Der Rosenkavalier, the title role in Madama Butterfly and Violetta in La Traviata. She has performed roles...

Sermon delivered by Rob Breymaier on June 26, 2016. Rob has been working on fair housing policy for over 20 years. As Executive Director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, he leads the nation's most successful effort to promote integration and fair housing in the private housing market. Through the efforts of the Housing Center, Oak Park has established and sustained a racially integrated co...