UUMKE Sunday Service Podcast

What do we do when we fail to live in our integrity, as individuals or as a people? Unitarianism has its roots in Puritanism, baking a rigorous distinction between good and bad into our culture. On the other hand, Universalism has its roots in mercy and grace, honoring the inherent worth of all people beyond our worst mistakes. How do we return to integrity when we make mistakes, how do we return...

There is a difference between saying you have integrity and living it. There is no pretending with integrity. We can’t have integrity unless we practice living it. What are your core values and how do you live them out in daily life? Do our self-proclaimed values match how others experience us? Integrity doesn’t happen just once. It takes practice, although there are usually some defining moments....

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” As we move into a new year, faced with urgent demands for equity and justice, let’s reflect on the power and necessity of community.

The magnitude of our universe—time and space, black holes and galaxies, quantum physics and the theory of relativity—can be fearsome. How do we mere humans gain perspective in a world that has evolved in geologic time? What is our small contribution to the cosmos, and how might knowing the scale of the cosmos contribute to our small lives? Join us for this service that explores the awesome fear of...

Humans are some of the most powerful, resilient, destructive, and connected creatures on the planet. We have an incredible capacity for love and beauty, as well as a shocking capacity for destruction. How can we nurture the better aspects of human nature? Join us for this service that explores the power of human connection and resilience in the face of suffering.

As Unitarian Universalists around the country grapple with what, if anything, connects us, questions of power and authority create narratives about how we are and aren’t in relationship. Rev. Marcus Fogliano will speak on the subject of Congregational Polity, the 1600’s document that defines how our faith is organized, and how our faith and language has changed over the centuries. Rev. Marcus Fogl...

In today’s political climate, being a Welcoming Congregation requires more of us than simply opening our doors to LGBTQ people. We are called to the work of transformation of our selves and our awareness, transformation of our congregation and its culture, and transformation of our wider community and world. In this service, guest speaker Zr. Alex Kapitan, a queer and transgender UU leader, will p...

When we pay attention to one thing, we necessarily ignore a lot of others. How do we balance a wider, more panoramic view with zeroing in on something important? The Latin root of attention literally means ‘to stretch towards.’ Come join us for this service that explores making space for the new information that comes as a result of widening perspective, and how to balance the panorama with stretc...

Paying attention implies a transaction, a currency. We pay attention, we give and receive attention, there is a current of energy moving between us. Paying attention is a way of investing in what we value. We pay attention to what we need or who needs us. Some would say that what we pay attention to is who we are. Join us as we honor our pastoral care ministry this Sunday, a priceless way of payin...

A turtle carries its home wherever it goes in the world. How can we humans build our own containers of belonging that travel with us? How can we learn to be at home in the world, with the divine, and when confronting ultimate mystery? Join us for this Halloween/All Souls Day service where we explore being at home in life and in death.

The lemniscate, or Devil’s Curve, is a polar curve that traces back and forth in a series of loops. In a bonded community, we might feel safe enough to be vulnerable and authentic. In turn, this kind of vulnerability breeds the bonds of trust that build community. Where does individual responsibility lie in this dynamic, and where does the community’s covenant-keeping make space for individual hea...

We can belong in a place, but might we also belong “to” a place? How are our bodies connected to the world around us? What is the relationship between a place and its people and their place? Join us to reflect on belonging to a place on this Sunday before Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

We usually think about belonging in terms of the quest to find a place and a people where we feel at home, where we fit in, where something hard and protected in us can finally soften and relax. We usually think of belonging as a choice and a one-time event. What if it’s a process instead? How would our relationships and community change if we think of belonging as a process of becoming, being and...

Expectations are inherently about the future, binding them in time. What happens when a lack of time, or uncertainty about how much time is ahead, unmoors expectations? Join us for this service that explores time, mortality, freedom, and the song of the present moment.

Balancing our expectations and responsibilities is difficult when we can’t predict the future. How do we regain our balance when life brings surprises? What happens to families when a child’s journey is not the one that was expected? What is our responsibility as a faith community in supporting families and meeting parents’ expectations for us to help raise their children?

There is a qualitative difference between a sense of expectancy, and having expectations. High expectations can lead to regular disappointment, while an open expectancy leaves room for mystery and surprise. As a people, how might we dial down the concreteness and height of our expectations, and leave room for an open hope? Join us for this service that leans away from expecting perfection and towa...

People use the phrase “we’re expecting” when they are planning to have a child. What are we birthing together as a people? Join us for this Ingathering Sunday, where we will celebrate coming together, introduce our new staff members, and explore what we expect to create in the world.

The sacred idea of rebellion begins in our hearts, in the soles of our feet, and the centers of our palms. This work is hard, but it is necessary. In the space of beloved community, we will explore how we can best hold rebellion in our hearts and minds to combat today’s modern society and the forces of hate.

Aristotelian and Buddhist ethics can enhance each other. The outcome can be behaviors conducive of a more flourishing and fulfilled life. Having a clearer sense of the philosophical underpinnings of one’s moral / ethical system and how those underpinnings connect with Unitarian Universalist principles can strengthen and vivify our moral lives. Their systems, Aristotle’s and the Buddha’s, are in ma...

Inspired by the Great Lakes, this service will outline the evolution of Rev. David Kraemer’s naturalistic, theological humanism. The Rev. David Kraemer serves United Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Waukesha. He previously served for two years as interim minister in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and as intern in Rockford, Illinois. He is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cit...

Choreographer Martha Graham said, “the body never lies.” I wonder, how is your body dealing with your lies—the ones you tell yourself and the ones you tell others? Honesty will always entail a risk, yet so does deception. Drawing from Harvard Negotiation Project authors Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, and their books “Difficult Conversations” and “Thanks for the Feedback,” we’ll explore how honesty...

Honesty means telling the truth. Or does it? There are usually many sides to the same story, many truths to be considered. There are many kinds of honesty, too. Brutally honest, gently honest, and nuances in between. Honesty can be used to harm or to heal. Perhaps truth is not the only measure. In relationships and in community, fear of being held accountable can deter people from being honest. Be...

Dr. King’s strong belief in the great importance of a solid education for creating a good life remains as relevant as ever for the well-being of our youth. Unfortunately, quality education for struggling African American scholars is just not happening in far too many cases.

Desire is a double-edged sword. Desire helps us focus, but when we get too single-minded, we cannot perceive the whole. Desire forges connection, but also powerful cravings. Our gendered bodies are socialized to deal with desire’s power in different and sometimes destructive ways. Mark Epstein, psychiatrist and Buddhist practitioner, says “We must learn how to use desire instead of being used by i...

Western religion has an uneasy relationship with desire. Yet desire is often what drives people to seek union with the divine. Desire is what motivates us to seek meaning, find hope, and work for justice. How do we uncover the thirst behind the thirst, the hunger that can’t be satisfied, our deepest longings?