First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston Podcast

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The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston podcast presents sermons, interviews and programs that highlight our attempt in making the world a better place for everyone and everything. While aligned in our desire to make a difference for the good

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston


    • May 15, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 27m AVG DURATION
    • 141 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston Podcast

    "The Mother of All Grief"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 26:37


    This will be the first Mother's Day sermon Rev. Scott will preach since the passing of his parents. Less than a year into grieving their deaths, much of the country began collectively mourning what has been described as the ‘death of our country.' Rev. Scott will look at the emotions tied to Mother's Day as well as the ways we all may work through our grief.

    "Beyoncé! Amen!"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 23:55


    We concluded our series of three occasional services on the spirituality of music with a special service devoted to the spirituality of Beyonce.

    "M'aidez, May Day"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2025 26:01


    Mayday, or m'aidez, is an international distress signal. May Day is also International Worker's Day. Massive government layoffs and economic mayhem are prompting a distress signal. More happily, May Day is also a traditional festival to welcome summer, celebrated down through history by diverse peoples and religions.

    "Easter, The Crucified God"

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 26:40


    The image of the crucified god is found in many religions. What does it's ubiquitous nature suggest about humanity? How does it's widespread presence change our understanding of the life and death of Jesus?

    "Renewing Ourselves, Renewing Our World"

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2025 20:34


    For Earth month we will explore the questions: What do we owe future generations? How will our actions impact the future of the planet? What if future generations had the same rights as those now living?

    "Creating Compassionate Community"

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2025 28:18


    Across the state and across the country the politics of cruelty are on the rise. We can build a community of compassion as a counter and a refuge. Let's celebrate that possibility as we launch our 2025-2026 stewardship campaign.

    "Trans World Careline"

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2025 26:29


    Peddling fear to maintain power, the current administration has cynically presented the Trans community as Exhibit A. Author Tinnekke Bebout said, “Fear of the unknown and the other is the root of almost all hate. It is born of ignorance and fed by those who would keep us divided.” Join us as we observe the International Transgender Day of Visibility. 

    "I'm the Greatest Star"

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 26:41


    Peddling fear to maintain power, the current administration has cynically presented the Trans community as Exhibit A. Author Tinnekke Bebout said, “Fear of the unknown and the other is the root of almost all hate. It is born of ignorance and fed by those who would keep us divided.” Join us as we observe the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

    "Flight, Fight, Fawn, or Freeze"

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 21:47


    The guest preacher is Rosemary Bray McNatt, President of Starr King School for the Ministry.   Now that the worst has begun, what is our task as free religious people? Before we can decide, we must understand how trauma shapes our decision making – and the real difference faith can make. 

    "A Future Amongst the Stars"

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2025 32:59


    Does humanity's future lie amongst the stars? Or shall we remain forever terrestrial bound? What will happen to how we conceive of our selves and our species if we ever become interplanetary? 

    "Exorcising the Spirit of the Confederacy"

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2025 31:01


    The spirit of the Confederacy appears to animate much of the politics of cruelty. What would it mean to exorcise it from national life? How might we rekindle the spiritual practices of abolitionism during these times as its counter?

    "Black History: The Continuous Struggle for Liberation, Democracy, & Human Development"

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 45:13


    This sermon seeks to assist people of faith in understanding the historical complexity of the "Black experience" which pre-dates the American encounter with enslavement and racism. Wherever and whenever Black people have encountered different cultures, they have likely experienced dehumanization, marginality and "racial-ethnic" bias. Thus, one way to understand Black History is as a spiritual and socio-political struggle to  respond to these encounters both in Africa and in diaspora locations around the world.   

    Life After Death

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 32:36


    What comes after death? Does some part of us continue after we have shed our mortal coils? Religious communities have helped people to wrestle with questions like these since as long as they have existed.

    "Marian Anderson as Religious Guide: She Shattered Glass Ceilings So We Can Soar

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2025 25:39


    Marian Anderson was an internationally-acclaimed contralto and goodwill ambassador for the United States government. A woman of faith, she was devoted to her mother and family for her entire life. Anderson masterfully navigated deconstructing and reconstructing her performative identity, which enabled her to attain the status of iconic internationally-renowned contralto and U.S. government asset who broke multiple barriers of race and gender.

    "Big Bang, Who's Dead?"

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2025 23:56


    Our Future Visions, Future Selves program has promised to explore various topics via three aspects – societal, personal, and planetary. Rev. Scott challenges himself to look at this month's theme, death, through all three lenses, from the Big Bang, to the beliefs of varying traditions (and his theory) regarding an afterlife, to his personal metaphors for a Divine Being.  

    "A Dream Deferred"

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 34:01


    J. Edgar Hoover called the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “the most notorious liar in American.” This Sunday we'll celebrate Dr. King's legacy with a consideration of the roll of lying and truth in religion and politics.

    "Death"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2025 30:33


    “Religion is the human response to being alive and having to die,” wrote Unitarian Universalist theologian Forrest Church. And so, we will started the year with a focus on that most religious of topics: death.

    "Inspired; 2024"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2025 25:40


    Dame Maggie Smith said, “If you're lucky, I think you know what you want to do with your life.” Kris Kristofferson agreed,” To me, if you love it enough to devote your life to it, then you're doing the right thing.” These were just two of the many talented people we lost in 2024 who devoted their life to something they became respected and renowned for. Continuing his annual tradition, Rev. Scott reflects on some individuals who left a legacy.

    "What Lies Ahead"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 24:48


    Unitarian Universalists have historically focused on the immediate future rather than attending to that which lies beyond the grave. We strive to love and to work to achieve justice now. The next four years will no doubt be eventful. How do we plan for an uneasy time spiritually, emotionally, and politically? How do we not lose focus on the Beloved Community that is to be? 

    Rebirths and Restitutions: Healing Religious Trauma

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2024 32:12


    During the winter holiday season we will focus on an issue that impacts many people in our community: religious trauma. For those that wrestle with it, working to heal from it, in a congregation like ours, can be a way to prepare for a more wholistic spiritual future.

    The High Priestess of Soul: Nina Simone as Spiritual Guide

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2024 36:00


    We kicked off a series of three occasional services on the spirituality of music with a special service devoted to the spirituality of Nina Simone.  We include clips from the following: “Black Journal”, 1969 hosted by Lou House and William Greaves "BBC Hard Talk", 1999 hosted by Tim Sebastian "Nina: A Historical Perspective", produced by Peter Rodis in 1970

    The Art of Making Mistakes

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2024 19:48


    Rebecca "Artie" Throop reflects on what art has taught them about mistakes--how to make better mistakes, enjoying the process, and showing others imperfections.   They are a member of our congregation and a senior at Rice University, double majoring in Religion and Studio art. They plan to attend seminary after graduation and become a Unitarian Universalist Minister.

    religion studio rice university making mistakes unitarian universalist minister
    "Gather 'Round the Table"

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2024 11:54


    Families convene around the dining table, partygoers are drawn like magnets to the kitchen table, colleagues work around the board room table, and a Christian religious ritual famously focuses on a table. Nourishment and community both happen around the table. Our Bread Communion expresses the gratitude we hold for both the nourishment and community that happen around the table.

    Silicon Gods: Artificial Intelligence and Religion

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2024 41:42


    The winner of the 2024 auction sermon has chosen “generative artificial intelligence and religion.” We'll honor their wishes with sermon exploring how Large Language Models and other kinds of artificial intelligence are shaping religious experience and religious communities.  Rev. Colin also delivers a "Pulpit Editorial" to address current events.

    A New World in Our Hearts: Reimagining Democracy

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2024 37:56


    As a result of the 2024 presidential election, the country and the world remains at a crucial turning point. New technology, rising inequality, the climate crisis will continue to shape what it means to practice democracy. We focused the month on imagining a more participatory democracy.

    Beyond Hope

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2024 32:01


    The Sunday before an election is often a time of hope and anticipation. Is hope warranted? What would it mean for us to live in a world beyond or without hope. 

    “Widening Love's Circle: Spirit Vision 2050.”

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2024 31:40


    Sermon from October 20, 2024 The congregation voted to call the Rev. Dr. Colin Bossen as its eighth settled minister. Before the vote, he shared something of his vision for the future. He asks the question, what kind of community do we want to be in 2050?

    "All Soul's"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 21:39


    As part of our All Soul's service, Rev. Scott offered a beautiful homily honoring the lives of our beloved departed. We honored their legacies and the light they brought into our lives, leaving us with the peace they carried.

    "The Next Revolution"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2024 30:05


    Is society on the cusp of a “Great Turning,” as Joanna Macy has claimed? How do we prepare ourselves for a great moral awakening and spiritual revolution? What is the nature of revolution? Since it is a political season, we'll focus on this question from a political perspective and take adrienne maree brown as our guide.

    "Vidas Robadas"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2024 30:31


    Vidas Robadas is a state-wide installation campaign, where congregations, universities, and any other interested locations display t-shirts that name or represent victims from their community whose lives where stolen by gun violence.This project seeks to connect the various silos of advocacy and violence prevention, and to unite communities of faith with other advocates to create positive change. The project starts with municipal initiatives, connecting city leaders with advocates to enact gun violence reduction measures.   First Unitarian Universalist participated in this project and honored our participation through a service calling for gun reform.

    "Climate Justice Revival"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2024 32:26


    The Unitarian Universalist Association organized a nationwide Climate Revival. This special service is devoted to helping us picture the world we want to bring into being by the year 2050.

    "The Dawn of Everything"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2024 29:44


    We begin our series “Future Visions, Future Selves” with a look to the past. We ask a simple question: How do our understandings of the past shape our dreams for the future?

    Future Visions, Future Selves

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2024 31:31


    Religion has long helped people envision the future. The 2024-2025 program year will be one in which the congregation is oriented both its future and the futures of its members. Over the course of the year there will be a pivotal national election, the adoption of a congregational strategic plan, and a vote to elect a settled minister. Throughout the series questions about how the climate crisis, the global rise of right-wing populism and white supremacy, and escalating inequality will shape the coming years will form a backdrop. As we grapple with them, we will aspire to deepen the spiritual life of our community, and the spiritual lives of our members and friends, by offering a program devoted to exploring three aspects of the future—societal, personal, and planetary--from a variety of religious perspectives.

    "Who is UU

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2024 26:10


    Summer often sees an influx of visitors and people seeking a new faith community. Rev. Scott again takes this opportunity near the beginning of the new church year to give a quick review of what Unitarian Universalism is - for their benefit and as a refresher to others. Come and hear why he thinks this faith is more important than ever. 

    "Labor in the Pulpit"

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2024 19:11


    We observed Labor Day with a service devoted to celebrating the accomplishments of the labor movement. We explore why and how solidarity can be a spiritual practice. Also included are two testimonials from local labor organizers.

    "Through Eyes That Have Cried"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2024 29:04


    “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried,” wrote the martyred Catholic Bishop Oscar Romero. August 11th to 14th Rev. Dr. Bossen and members of our congregation traveled to Brownsville to offer witness to the ongoing crisis at the border. In this service, Rev. Dr. Bossen and others reflect upon their experiences and why solidarity with migrants and refugees is a religious practice.

    "Ingathering and Water Celebration"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 15, 2024 14:00


    First Unitarian Universalist, like many other congregations in our tradition, kicks off the new congregational year with an Ingathering service. Members and friends reunite, re-covenant, and prepare for the new church year.

    "Power"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2024 25:40


    The dictionary lists twenty definitions of power, and that's just as a noun. Rev. Scott's power, definition number seventeen, “a particular form of mechanical or physical energy,” was restored after a week following the environmental power of Beryl. That was the afternoon before he flew out to the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) training, where developing community power was the topic. Alice Walker said, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” How well do we use the power we have?

    "Finding God on the Metro"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2024 34:19


    Dr. Bossen regularly uses mass transit. In this sermon he reflects on how taking it can be a form of spiritual practice and what he has learned over the years from engaging in this kind of spirituality.

    "Bringing Us Together"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2024 20:58


    Rev. Dan shares the need for people of different backgrounds to be able to find unity and common goals.

    "Choose"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2024 23:53


    Historically, Universalists, believing humans are good but flawed, railed against the Calvinists, who asserted humans are inherently sinful and depraved. Dr. King told us, “That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good.” Perhaps it might be more useful to focus on the choices we have. 

    "To the End of the World.... And Back Again"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 4, 2024 22:45


    Our guest minister Rob Hardies recently returned from a pilgrimage to a place that some ancient peoples believed was the end of the world. Rob will reflect on what it means for each of us to confront the end of the world as we know it, and offer lessons for how we might journey with grace and faith toward the many endings (and new beginnings!) of our lives.   The Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hardies is Lead Minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, MA, and the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain at Harvard University. Rob is an experienced preacher, teacher, counselor and activist. From 2001 to 2020, he was Senior Minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC, a large, dynamic multiracial congregation. During his ministry at All Souls, Rob helped found and lead award-winning justice organizations that advocated for marriage equality and for voting rights. Before entering the ministry, Rob worked for Habitat for Humanity, and served as a human rights worker with Indigenous communities in Guatemala. A student of Emerson, Thoreau and the New England Transcendentalists, Rob often encounters the sacred in nature, and in his spare time enjoys leading walking pilgrimages along the Camino de Santiago.  

    "Redefining Religion, et al"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2024 25:24


    Gene Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination, once declared, “I think people often come to the synagogue, mosque, the church looking for God, and what we give them is religion.” Many Millennials and many LGBTQ folks identify as Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR). During Pride Month, Rev. Scott asks, “How do we transform the perception of Religion to work for those who have been turned off – and turned away?

    "A Kid from Altoona on the Line"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2024 36:09


    Rev. Teague is grateful to be back at UU Houston. This time he is pondering that we are fairly consistently celebrating the PRIDE Month events and participating in parades as radical welcoming religious communities of Unitarian Universalists. We have the appropriate rainbow attire and are led in these events by our own LGBTQQIA+ members and friends. We have hosted same sex marriages for many years prior to the legal recognition and were present to do more of them as the freedom to marry became the law of the land.   Rev. Teague believes that given our loving stance, maybe we are ready and able to do more. It is Fathers Day Sunday and he proposes we embrace the communal effort to be the providers and protectors of the children now proudly carrying rainbow flags and living in myriad queer identities. He says, "I know I could have used the parental help. I think there are youth looking for what we can uniquely offer."

    "Love & Death: Forrest Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 30:55


    The final installment of “Lives of the Spirit” found us focusing on the late Unitarian Universalist theologian Forrest Church. He taught that the meaning of life comes from knowing that we will die. Almost fifteen years after his death, we will explore what he still has to teach us.

    "Flower Celebration: The Language of Flowers"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2024 14:40


    Flower Communion Join us for a celebration of Earth's beauty and the power of community! We will fill our sanctuary full of brilliant colors for our annual flower communion.    

    "Transforming Holidays, et al"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024 22:15


    Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen wrote “. . . as Unitarian Universalists, our journey is to transform the big and the small, to transform ourselves, and to transform the world.” How might we transform the world by transforming our observance of holidays?

    "No Other Teacher: Swami Vivekananda"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2024 22:52


    The Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing yoga to the United States. A close friend of the Unitarian and Universalist movements of the early twentieth centuries, he helped move our tradition more fully towards religious pluralism. In this month's installment of “Lives of the Spirit” we consider how he might continue to inspire us.

    "Feeling Human"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2024 22:30


    An exploration of what it means to be embodied beings.  Guest Preacher Rev. Tania Márquez is an ordained UU community minister currently serving as a hospital chaplain in San Diego, CA. Rev. Marquez is also a Spiritual Director with a passion for poetry, beauty, art, and community.  Her ministry is informed by her Mexican, immigrant, and fronteriza experience as well as for a passion towards collective healing. She believes in the healing power of words, community, movement, and ritual. 

    "Transformation & Growth"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2024 15:58


    As part of our Annual Music Service, Rev. Dan King spoke about how embracing transformation is important in times of growth and change. 

    The Next American Revolution: Grace Lee Boggs

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024 32:45


    We will celebrated May Day with a service devoted to April's subject for “Lives of the Spirit,” the spiritual activist Grace Lee Boggs. A seminal figure in the urban agriculture movement, a lifelong community organizer, and a philosopher, she believed that social transformation did not come from one big revolution. Instead, it would arrive through many small ones. How might her revolutionary thought inform our own practice?

    spirit lives may day grace lee boggs next american revolution

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