Wavelengths: A WUU Podcast

Come listen to a WUU service! At a time when the world seems to be coming apart, let us find healing power in reimagining together a vision of social justice that benefits all people. "For people to thrive we need a planet that thrives.” Andrew Batcher has worked as a community organizer and activist for more than 20 years, working in the peace movement, environmental movement, anti-racism, educat...

Come listen to a WUU service! This service is led by the WUU Annual Giving Committee, whose purpose is to encourage the congregation’s generosity to blossom. Asha McLaughlin, Worship Associate William & Mary Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, directed by Anne Rasmussen Annual Giving Committee Fred Gilbertson, Reading John Keating, From the Heart Camilla Buchanan, From the Heart The YouTube version...

Come listen to a WUU service! Natalie Miller Moore will be reviewing highlights of the book Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. The book has an accompanying free common training for personal reflection or group discussion. The subhead of the book is: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy... let's endeavor to find out ways to do that. The opportunity to have a discussion abo...

Come listen to a WUU service! Approaching the end of one’s life presents challenges for both those with deeply held faith beliefs and those who do not hold such beliefs. We all desire death with dignity, but just what does that mean? As a volunteer and advocate for the organization Compassion and Choice, Dan knows what he wants that to mean for everyone in their own way. “In the end it is not the...

Come listen to a WUU service! One photo accompanying one Facebook post changed me forever. It’s an ongoing journey, and a lot of work, to free ourselves of the lies that shaped and formed us for so long. Today I want to share with you one of the most important times for me in my journey, and hopefully challenge and inspire us all to live more freely, truly, courageously, and compassionately. About...

Come listen to a WUU service! In a world on fire, celebrating our blessings might seem like putting our heads in the sand. But we can find blessings in everything, even the "bad stuff." And when we do, our lives can become beacons of hope for everyone around us. Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Carolyn Greathouse, Worship Associate Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education The YouTube ver...

Come listen to a WUU service! 100 years ago, Czech Unitarian ministers Norbert and Maja Čapek created the Flower Celebration to honor the values of community and diversity. Today we celebrate this beloved annual tradition at WUU, both in person and online. In-person participants, please bring a cut flower to share, and you'll get to take another one home. Zoom participants, we have a special bless...

Come listen to a WUU service! David Fabian, MD, struggled with his male identity for much of his first 62 years. Finally, 20 years into his marriage to Leslie, Deborah emerged full-time, in 2011. During the 2-year transition, Leslie was compelled to write about the challenges of supporting her beloved, as she relinquished her male spouse. Her efforts resulted in the 2014 publication of her book, M...

Come listen to our WUU service! Let's celebrate WUU's 33rd birthday! This Charter Sunday, we'll hear from WUUs new and old about their hopes and dreams for the congregation, then and now. And, of course, we will add another bolt to the spiral sculpture in our sanctuary that represents the shared journey of this community. Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Ed...

Come listen to a WUU service! As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm that all of our voices matter, and our questions are as valuable as our certainties. Today, you're invited to bring your questions about religion, spirituality, ethics, or anything else keeping you up at night. Rev. Laura will respond to as many as time allows, and all of us will have opportunities to share our own answers after t...

Come listen to a WUU service! As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm that all of our voices matter, and our questions are as valuable as our certainties. Today, you're invited to bring your questions about religion, spirituality, ethics, or anything else keeping you up at night. Rev. Laura will respond to as many as time allows, and all of us will have opportunities to share our own answers after t...

Come listen to a WUU service! Last month, eight WUUs got online along with nearly 5000 other UUs to participate in the UUA General Assembly, the largest annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists. Today we'll share what we learned and what we're committing to going forward. Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Susan Marcinkus, Worship Associate Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education Ellie...

Come listen to a WUU service! This sermon strives to answer two simple questions. Do others really see us, as we see ourselves? And two, how do people muster the strength and fortitude to live into the best of oneself? Rev. Kaaren Anderson, Guest Worship Leader David Hopkinson, Worship Associate Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano Neva...

Come listen to a WUU service! We are thrilled to be joined again today by guests from the Williamsburg Buddhist Sangha. Sangha member and our Quaker Neighbor Friend Darrell Key will share the story of his journey from growing up in the deep South to his life in the United States military to his world today in Williamsburg. Darrell Key, Williamsburg Buddhist Sangha, Guest Worship Leader Mary McGove...

Come listen to a WUU service! Playing games, telling jokes, having fun--the lighter side of being human, right? And maybe something more: today we'll explore the deeper meanings of play as resistance and deep spiritual connection. Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Susan Marcinkus, Worship Associate Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education T...

Come listen to a WUU service! Most Unitarian Universalists are surprised to learn that we are the religious descendants of the Puritans and that the foundation of our living tradition comes from the Puritans’ interpretation of the Bible. Indeed, The Cambridge Platform of 1648 not only gave us freedom from kings and bishops but also placed us in mutual relationship with one another, both as individ...

Come listen to a WUU service! With Covid 19 restrictions being lifted, we are faced with a post pandemic reality very different from the life we led before the March 20 shutdown. How will we negotiate that crossing? What will we leave behind? What will we create that's new and life affirming? Coming as we are from a year of isolation and drastic societal changes? Most Unitarian Universalists are s...

Come listen to a WUU service! With Covid 19 restrictions being lifted, we are faced with a post pandemic reality very different from the life we led before the March 20 shutdown. How will we negotiate that crossing? What will we leave behind? What will we create that's new and life affirming? Coming as we are from a year of isolation and drastic societal changes? The life we enter will seem strang...

Come listen to a WUU service! UU principles call us to "a free and responsible search for truth and meaning." In this time of "fake news" and lying for the sake of power, how can we contribute to rebuilding a culture of truth? Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano The YouTube version is here . Thank you...

Come listen to a WUU service! Come celebrate with our high school seniors at our annual "Bridging" service! Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister David Hopkinson, Worship Associate Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano Emma's Revolution, "Swimming to the Other Side" The YouTube version is here . Thank you for listening. For more information...

Come listen to a WUU service! Each of us can tell the personal stories of our lives. But we're also held in the much larger stories of culture, religion, and the cosmos itself. On this 60th anniversary of the merger between the Unitarians and the Universalists, we'll celebrate the liberating stories of our historic faith...and tend to their shadow sides. Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister Nicki Pe...

Come listen to a WUU service! Please join us virtually in our annual May Day Gathering! We will be celebrating Spring, flowers and gardens. Please share photos and short videos of your gardens, family, outdoor movement, color, joy, flora! Come let us blossom together! Liz Wiley, Worship Associate Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano Hayda Jinmaku-Brown, Offertory Music The YouTube vers...

Come listen to a WUU service! Social worker JoLillian Zwerdling writes, "From Starfish I have learned that if we keep our core intact, we can regenerate. We can fall apart, lose limbs, and re-grow them as long as we don’t let anyone threaten that central disc’s integrity." How can we keep our own center strong in this time when so much change and creativity is needed? Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Min...

Come listen to a WUU service! It's human nature to create new things--crafts and tools, arts of all kinds...and, in the last 150 years, industrial technologies that, along with their many undeniable gifts, have also brought our planet to the brink of collapse. On this Earth Day Sunday, how can we shift our dreams of "more and better" toward being content with what is sustainable? Rev. Laura Horton...

Come listen to a WUU service! All around us we see signs of new life emerging from the stark landscape of winter. Flowers, birdsong, the drone of bees. The world is coming to life again. In the Northern hemisphere, spring happens to align (helpfully) with the Christian celebration of Easter - the essential and foundational event of the Christian community. Easter is really a story about new life -...