This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Chris Russert

"Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born." — Howard Thurman 

Often this phrase is used to explain a painful moment or failure, an uninvited or unwelcome “opportunity for growth.” Yet, it is from these places of challenge that we do, indeed, emerge and develop, whether as planned or, more often, with an unexpected or creative outcome. We grow from places of strength, of hope and resilience, that once were edges themselves. Let us look to these edges together, that we may commit to a generative practice of being transformed.

Join us for Unity Church’s annual service of remembrance for the members of our community who have passed away in the last year. This sermon podcast begins with eulogies offered by Rev. Lara Cowtan and Rev. Oscar Sinclair.

This podcast begins with a reflectin offered by worship associate Peggy Lin.

The story of the Maccabean revolt is the inspiration for the Jewish festival of lights, Hannukah. The miracle at the heart of the story is simple: lamp oil that appeared to only be enough for a night lasted for eight days. But even in simplicity, the story holds meaning for what it means to live sustainably, hopefully, and what it means to rededicate ourselves to a cause.

At the start of the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph are internally displaced refugees, traveling from their home in Nazareth to be counted in a census for a far-away imperial capital. By the end of the story, they are fleeing their homes as refugees, looking to start a new life in Egypt, away from political violence and oppression. In 2024 in St. Paul Minnesota, where do we locate ourselves in this story? Are we the innkeeper, telling the young family there is no room? Or are we the shepherds, called from the fields to witness and provide what help they can?

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection offered by worship associate Sara Ford.

In the Christian calendar, Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Christ child. The story from first century Palestine tells us that with the birth of Jesus comes hope, love, the undoing of the status quo: a new reign of peace on earth. In times of fear and uncertainty, where is hope to be found in these ancient stories? In our own stories?

“My Soul Magnifies the Lord,” Mary tells the Angel Gabriel in the gospel of Luke. The song she sings next is a vision of a world that might be, one where the mighty are thrown down, the hungry are fed, and the beloved community arrives. What lessons do her words hold for us, 2000 years later? ​

How do we build hope from the gifts and wounds we carry with us, while also navigating the fear of change?​

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we consider the traditions from around the world and at our own tables of offering words of gratitude. How do these rituals provide opportunities for deepening and growing in our spiritual and personal relationships. What is grace? How can we give and receive it in our lives and the larger world?

Vaclav Havel, the Czech statesman and literary figure, wrote that hope “…is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.” How do we anchor ourselves to hope, even when it exists beyond our vision, on the other side of the horizon?

This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Anna Newton.

What can we say, in the aftermath of an election? How have the church’s commitments changed, or have they? How do we balance the uncertainty of this moment with the certainty of faith?

“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  “A republic, if you can keep it.”  Benjamin’s Franklin’s words at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787 have obvious relevance in 2024. The first Unitarians and Universalists in the United States came from the first generation after the American Revolution, and from that first generation, our tradition has been actively involved in the democratic process. How does that legacy speak to us today?