UUMKE Sunday Service Podcast

As we approach All Souls Day and Halloween, when the veil between the living and the dead becomes thin, and our part of the world turns toward greater darkness and rest, we gather in our spiritual community to honor our beloved dead. We bring ourselves into compassionate relationship with one another, with the grieving, and with those we have lost in this annual service of remembrance. Join us for...

When we have compassion for one another, we are moved to act for each other’s well-being. In real relationships across difference, we come to care about the suffering of others, which moves us to act to change it. Join us for this worship service where we explore the power of empathy to till the ground for the seeds of change.

Cultivating Compassion, especially during the times we find ourselves in, can be difficult for ourselves in some of our long-treasured relationships, not to mention those who are learning into fascist tendencies today. As we honor Indigenous Peoples Day 2025, how might we uplift some of our First Nations Communities here in Wisconsin and beyond, who continue show deep compassion towards others in...

Cultivating compassion in a society wrestling with fascism is tough. And yet, compassion is the doorway to understanding our entanglement with one another. Our separation is just a fear-based illusion. Empathy returns us to the truth of our interdependence and mutuality, making it a threat to authoritarians who would prefer us to remain divided and disempowered. Join us for this service where we e...

It takes courage to unlock the heart, to be our authentic selves with one another to truly know and be known. This is what is required to build belonging, though. We must be free to be ourselves and be willing to be open to others’ true selves. James Crews, a poet of connection and compassion, will join us for this worship service where we build belonging through authenticity and presence.

Being a Unitarian Universalist for 25 years and now ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister for the last 16, working to understand and nurture a sense of belonging for myself and others, no matter where I go, is an ongoing practice. My hope is to share a little bit of my journey that has brought me to this city and historic church through the song and lyrics of Gregory Porter’s “Take Me to t...

In Unitarian Universalism, what does it mean to belong to something larger than ourselves, larger even than any individual community? In this service, we will explore belonging to each other, to the water, the woods, the moment, to time itself. Remember to bring water from home or another place that matters to you, as we pour our individual waters together in a water ceremony of belonging in commu...

Belonging is hard to find in our divided, individualist, post-industrial society. But what if we don’t need to find belonging, but rather need to build it, together? As the oppressive forces try to erase identities, it is counter-cultural to intentionally build belonging with and for one another. In church, we create belonging through radical welcome, showing up for one another, authentic connecti...

Writer John Jay once wrote “A true home requires belonging – both people to belong with and a place to belong to.” In our fractured, divisive world, with its oppressive systems embedding various traumas in all of us, how do we come home to ourselves in order to create home for each other? Let us look to the healers among us – and to our own UU faith – for practices to help us come home to who we n...

While positivity and kindness are foundational expressions of our shared faith and humanity, they can also serve as tools that mask inequity, reinforce unjust power dynamics, and delay transformative action. Pardeep Singh Kaleka will share his journey as a first-generation immigrant in America and how his path of healing from hate compelled him to move beyond surface-level conversations around kin...

With so much going on, from autocracy to the climate, an individual might be forgiven for losing faith in the value of taking action. What can one person do in the face of overwhelm? Fortunately, we have a say in how these times change us and our communities.

Too often lately many of us find ourselves feeling homeless in a nation and world we hardly recognize, groping for a way forward in the midst of unprecedented events. We want a map that shows us the road to get back ‘home’ to a place that feels, if not safe, at least familiar. In her book, The Journey Is Home, theologian and educator Nelle Morton wrote that “There is no road ahead. We make the roa...

In a world that constantly feels overwhelming, how can we create change in the small interactions and moments of our lives? And how can those small changes be part of our larger vision for a transformed world?

Saying “bless you!” after a sneeze began as a protection ward against evil spirits. How can blessing protect us today? In these trying times of grief and struggle, counting our blessings, turning our attention to gratitude can protect us against the evil spirits of cynicism, nihilism, and despair. Practicing blessing, both through expressing gratitude for the beauty in our lives, and through choos...

2025-07-20 ● The Rev. Kelly Asprooth Jackson ● A Battle of Imagination by First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee

Black futurist and leader adrienne maree brown says we are in a battle of imagination. What does she mean and how do we fight this good fight? Join us to explore future possibilities and avenues for resistance and hope.

We are a nation divided by fear. Some say it is an existential fear of those who have a fundamentally different understanding of truth and reality. Others say it is a manufactured fear, generated by those seeking power playing on the unconscious prejudices of a distracted people. We will explore the various relationships that exist for us in the personal, social, and political dimensions. We’ll ta...

Realizing that holiness/wholeness is not tied to a specific place or person or belief is profoundly liberating. Recognizing that wholeness isn’t something bestowed on us, but is, instead, something we create brings tremendous freedom. In these troubled times, how will we use that freedom?

Our liberation is interconnected. If I am not free, then you are not free, if we truly walk in solidarity. America will only become the “land of the free and home of the brave” when we are all liberated.

LGBTQ+ communities have a lot to teach people about being free. It takes courage and strength to live authentically in a world that does not want you to do so. It also offers a vision of liberation for everyone, and a living challenge to authoritarianism. Join us in this Pride Celebration service where we explore the liberation of authenticity and the power of diversity.

Please join us for Rev. Dena’s last worship service before her retirement when we’ll celebrate the Unitarian Universalist Flower Ceremony, engage in a retirement ritual of blessing and release, and enjoy so much music to honor this transition in the life of our community! Remember to bring a flower from home, your neighbor’s garden, or a weed along the road to add to our community bouquets (we’ll...

Kids often have big imaginations, and their games may reflect ways of being and doing that “don’t make sense” to adults who have adopted the practices of society. But sometimes our practices are harmful and destructive. As we face a flood of challenges in our nation, how might we use the practice of imagination to find a better way forward?

Imagination can connect us across generations, building bridges from child to elder, and between the known and the unknown. Imaginative play erodes generational boundaries by giving us shared access to a world we create together. Join us for this Mother’s Day and Child Dedication service where we explore how imagination helps us nurture each other’s dreams, build real connections, and create new p...

How are you feeding your imagination? Active play opens the imagination which then helps us envision possibilities. Most things don’t seem possible until we imagine them. Join us this Sunday when we explore the practice of imagination and welcome our new church members.

Accompaniment is the radical act of being with someone even when it is hard and you don’t know how things will turn out. With the increase in fascism across our country, our society often tells us to isolate, take care of our own first, and fear the other. However, our faith calls us to hold love at the center, to recognize everyone as family even if we’ve never met, and to support and follow the...