Harmony UU Podcast

In this sermon, Harmony member Julie Gebhart explores the history of the “ideal female form” and how this ideal has been used to maintain power over women throughout recent history. Diet culture will be examined from a historical and personal lens, while listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences with diet culture.

Three years ago, Karen Gottschall talked about the many traditions of spring that parallel Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This time, Sally talks about what Unitarians and non-Christians see in the story of the Resurrection or, if you will, in its message of Resilience as we seek to live meaningful lives. […]

Fighting the oppression of organized religion, or just too lazy to get up early on Sundays? On Sunday, March 21st Harmony member Dale Bodmer helps you think through questions of spirituality and religion. This sermon is also available on Harmony’s YouTube channel.  https://youtu.be/TAQEmdlSWaM  

Did you know that Sunday, March 7, 2021 is Girl Scout Sunday? In this sermon, Briella Chambers (she/her/hers) along with her parent Kim Chambers, share how the Girl Scout Promise and Law reflects UU Principles. This is the final requirement for the UUA’s Religion In Life Program for Younger Girl Scouts, an award Briella has […]

Alexx Cook shares her personal experience with secondary infertility and miscarriage, and how it changed her perspective on connection, grief, and mental health. This sermon is also available on Harmony’s YouTube channel at  https://youtu.be/6IL7DIvTMyg

Do you sometimes feel as though your social media platforms have completely overtaken your life, or the lives of your family? That is no accident. In this revealing sermon, Harmony members Emily and Jon King discuss the social media landscape and the deliberate design choices behind them that drive addiction, extremism, and polarization in our […]

To help start 2021 off on a positive note, Paul Smith will share 21 insights from Steven Pinker’s new book Enlightenment Now showing how life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. Join us for a time of positive reflection following one of the most tumultuous […]

Sometimes you just need to get away, and be you.  In this first service of the new year in 2021, Harmony member Susan Jackson discusses her decision to take a personal retreat for herself, and how it can help. This sermon is also available on Harmony’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/QgNQHxBEC5c

When we try to talk openly and honestly about race, white fragility quickly emerges. White fragility is a social strategy that whites learn which functions to hold the racial hierarchy in place. In our 15 Nov 2020 service, Harmony member Karen Morgan explores what white fragility is and how we can do the work to […]

The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher Calmer and More Resilient teaches us how to transform life’s stumbling blocks into opportunities. Not only can we overcome everyday obstacles―we can benefit from them, too.  Join Harmony member and first-time sermon writer Andrea Markey as we discuss applying the principles of stoicism in our lives. […]

From our October 18th service, join Paul Smith for a historical look at Humanism, a detailed look at the Humanist Manifestos of 1933 and 1973, and how to tell if you’re a Humanist yourself. This sermon is also available on Harmony’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/IIXtno0Gdis.

Harmony member Tim Lockridge has read countless dystopian novels about people living in disastrous moments on ruined worlds, and he’s thought about many of those stories in 2020. On Sunday, October 4th he reflects on disaster stories, isolation, and the pandemic, asking how large problems and difficult times change us. This sermon is also available […]

Freedom of speech and allowing space for a wide range of ideas is a cornerstone of a liberal society, however tolerance for a range of ideas seems to be decreasing. Is this lack of tolerance moving us toward accountability or giving more power to the “canceled”? Harmony members Julie Gebhart and Rob Rogan work together […]

Harmony member Doren Cook gives a brief explanation of what events and policies shaped child welfare law and how well it’s serving at-risk children. Do JFS social workers and foster parents deserve to be vilified as they often are, or should they be considered heroes? She will also discuss her experience as a mental health […]

The Enneagram is a system of nine personality types that describe how people view, think, feel and interact with themselves, other people, and the world. In this sermon, Harmony member Tony Gross covers a brief description of the Enneagram and the nine personality types along with its history and application. If you’d like to begin […]

Rev. Joan Van Becelaere, the Executive Director of UU Justice Ohio, joins us as a guest speaker on Sunday, August 2nd.  The conversation focuses on the fight for justice in voting rights in a time when many minority voters are being systematically disenfranchised.  Accompanying this sermon is a short documentary “Suppressed: The Fight to Vote” […]

This year has brought many “interesting” events to the world, and the hits just keep on coming. In this sermon, Kim Chambers (they/them/theirs) addresses the trauma that we have faced, the potential long-term effects of it, and how we can not just survive but thrive through 2020. Much of the inspiration for this sermon comes […]

Harmony member Barbara Bruce describes small changes we can make that are simple, free, easy, yet transformative in the areas of mind, body, and heart.  By doing small things often, we can find peace and satisfaction.  

Who deserves basic human rights is up for debate, white supremacy is on the rise, and things feel dire. So how do we hold up our UU principle of seeking compassion in human relations, even when faced with people whose values we don’t share?  Harmony member Julie Gebhart relays how we can still hold onto […]

Intermittent Fasting (IF) has become quite the hot health and weight loss topic lately—with good reason.  In her sermon on May 3, Susan Wenner Jackson shared what she’s discovered about the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of fasting over the past year. WARNING: The information presented in this podcast represents the views, opinions, and experiences […]

On Sunday April 19th, Harmony member Jon King will discussed the origins of some superstitions, and how they can shape the way we live our lives. Both positively and negatively. Service originally scheduled for March 15th (Covid problems).

Sure, everyone looks up to the superheroes. But on Sunday, March 1st, Jeff Chambers argued that there are actually some compelling reasons to consider the other side of the coin in our everyday lives. Mwuah-ha-ha-ha-ha-HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!  

In this interactive sermon on Feb 16th, Kim Chambers leads us in exploring our values as we express them in our relationships.

On Sunday, February 2, Megan Lednik takes a look at shame culture and asks how allowing ourselves to be vulnerable can transform the way we live, love, parent and lead.

We all perform different versions of our self: Our work self, our family self, our “old friends” self. But what happens when those different versions blur together? On Sunday, January 19 Tim Lockridge  examined how we perform our identities and asked how we can navigate a potentially contentious 2020 in which friends, families, careers, and […]

At our first Sunday service of 2020, Rob Rogan discusses the impact of pop culture on our ethics, and how we reconcile concepts like Consequentalism and “Moralism”.   Points are illustrated by examples ranging from Spock, to Batman, to Private Ryan and “Outbreak.”

On November 3rd guest speaker Dr Sherry McAndrew spoke with the Harmony congregation at length about mental health topics.  Sherry also graciously conducted a wide-ranging Q&A session after her talk.  

A special guest from Tennessee joined us to deliver the sermon on Sunday, December 1st. Mr. Kenny Tedford was born with brain damage that left him with a learning disability, deafness in both ears, blindness in one eye, partial paralysis on his left side, and difficulty speaking until the age of ten. Mocked as the […]

On November 17, Harmony member Dylan Posa explored various ways in which we grapple with concepts like “truth” and “knowledge” and what we do with what we learn.