Sermons
The following selection of sermons can be played directly on your computer by clicking the links below or can be downloaded to your computer or MP3 player as a podcast by following the directions at the bottom of this page.
January 29, 2012 Addiction: Challenges, Hope and Gifts
David Verbon, Kailin Tyler-Babkirk, and Tess Schulze
Addiction impacts all of our lives, and has become a monumental challenge for millions of those afflicted with this disease. Join us in bringing light to the stigma of addiction and celebrate the blessings of recovery.
January 15, 2012 What If the Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. Occupied America?
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
What would the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have said about the present political, economic and social state of these United States? How might he have related to and possibly informed the Occupy Movement?
January 8, 2012 To Enjoy an Original Relationship with the Universe
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
In his essay, Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchres of the fathers. It writes biographies, histories, and criticism. The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes . Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?” As we begin this New Year, we will consider how we might re-imagine this human endeavor.
December 25, 2011 Gifts
Karen and Jack Jackson
As we come together on this Christmas Day, we will reflect on the gifts we have received and those we have given and how they have enriched our lives and the lives of those around us.
Jack and Karen Jackson are members of the Worship Arts Committee, and have each given their own "This I Believe" service at OUUC.
December 18, 2011 The Requirement for Compassion, Part II
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
In 2009 a Charter for Compassion was created that reflected the sentiments of a number of religious traditions and thousands of people from around the world. It read in part: “Born of our interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.” This season that often inspires compassion seems like a good time to consider how we might help realize greater compassion in our lives and in the world.
December 11, 2011 The Requirement for Compassion, Part I
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
In 2009 a Charter for Compassion was created that reflected the sentiments of a number of religious traditions and thousands of people from around the world. It read in part: “Born of our interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.” This season that often inspires compassion seems like a good time to consider how we might help realize greater compassion in our lives and in the world.
December 4, 2011 Wealth and Inequality
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
If the Great Recession and the Occupy movement have highlighted anything, it is the growing inequality regarding the distribution of wealth. Such inequality is unjust and unhealthy to individuals and to society.
November 27, 2011 The Voice Behind the Backstop
The Reverend Bill Graves
We all need the support of that voice, that wing extended as a bridge inviting us to join in realizing our potential, in blessing the world. I first encountered that voice growing up in Walla Walla. Our Third Principle calls us all to be ministers encouraging each other's spiritual growth. It is an invitation to experience church on a far deeper level than merely as consumer of spiritual offerings.
Rev. Bill Graves is minister of the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation. After many years as a practicing attorney and lay leader in several UU congregations, Bill obtained a Master's of Divinity degree from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry. In January 2011, he was ordained as a UU minister and commenced his ministry in Tacoma.
November 13, 2011 The Dream of the Diaspora
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni and The Reverend Zoltán Kopándi-Benczédi
The expression Diaspora describes people of a common ethnicity who moved away from their home community, and are currently living among foreigners. In the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, the term Diaspora is used for ethnic Hungarians of the Unitarian faith who are spread in areas where there is a vast Romanian majority, and where in many cases it is difficult to build autonomous, self-supporting church communities. I am a Diaspora minister, living in the once thriving, now remote Zsil Valley in Romania. In doing community building in the Diaspora, we must adopt the visionary attitude of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which starts with “I have a dream.”
The Reverend Zoltán Kopándi-Benczédi is the 2011-2012 Balázs Scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry, and is minister to congregations in Lupény-Vulkán, Déva and Vajdahunyad, Transylvania. He hopes to return at the end of his scholarship year with new insights into the connection between church life and community development, particularly work done in multicultural environments.
November 6, 2011 We Have Only Begun
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
We come to this congregation to inquire into life’s big questions, to help make justice and equity manifest in creation, and to know what it is to live in the presence of love. Even so, in her poem entitled, “Beginnings” Denise Levertov reminds us that “we have only begun to imagine the fullness of life.” This Sunday we begin our double feature capital campaign and stewardship drive. We have come so far, yet we have only begun.
October 16, 2011 Michael Servetus: A Heretic in Search of Truth
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
Born September 29, 1511, this year marks the 500th anniversary of Michael Servetus’ birth. With a commitment to seeking truth that ultimately cost him his life, Servetus was one of our religious Tradition’s antecedents whose courageous quest helped lead to our existence.
July 24, 2011 Perspectives on Prayer in Our Lives
The Worship Arts Committee
What meaning and value does prayer have in the life of a Unitarian Universalist? Our UU Association states “Few words in the liturgical lexicon are more problematic for Unitarian Universalists (UUs) than ‘prayer’.” Members of the Worship Arts Committee will share their perspectives on prayer and what it means to them.
Karen Jackson, Diana Finch, and Myra Barker are members of the Worship Arts Committee. Each has been involved in various aspects of our congregational life.
May 1, 2011 Finding Refuge in Unitarian Universalism
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
What does it mean to seek refuge in our religious tradition? Where do we find comfort when our souls feel besieged?
September 14, 2008 Four
Reasons to Try Something Different by
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
Reason number 1: The experience of
human life is incredibly precious.
Reason number 2: The experience of
human life is incredibly short.
Reason number 3: Society is often
designed to deny reason number 1.
Reason number 4: As short as life
may be, we are continually sowing the seeds of our future in our present
actions.
November 25, 2007 The
Values of Liberalism by
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
In his book, Freedom’s Power, Paul Starr writes: “The proposition that each of us has a right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ remains as good a definition as anyone has ever come up with of liberalism’s first principle and America’s historic promise.” The values and understanding of what constitutes a healthy society derived from liberalism are central to the American experience and to the possibility of fostering freedom, justice and equity throughout our society.
September 23, 2007 Faith
Without End by
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
Some years ago, James Fowler proposed a theory of faith development in which he suggested that people often move through established stages of faith. What can we learn from this about the nature of faith, and our capacity to create a faith that evolves as our understanding of ourselves and life grows.
September 16, 2007 The
End of Faith by
The Reverend Arthur Vaeni
The title is taken from Sam Harris’s book of the same name. Both Dr. Harris and Richard Dawkins who wrote, “The God Delusion,” challenge not only commonly held religious perspectives but the wisdom of tolerance for those perspectives that are held by so many people.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a way of
letting a program manage subscriptions to audio content, downloading
programs you subscribe to so you can then listen to them any time,
or even load them onto a mp3 player (or iPod). You can choose to set
the programs to automatically download during the night if you have a
slower modem.
There are a number of programs that can be downloaded to obtain podcasts,
some for a fee, but one of the best is the free download of iTunes from
Apple (which runs nicely on PCs). You can get it at http://www.apple.com/itunes/download.
If you would like information on other types of programs available for
downloading podcasts a list of them can be found at http://www.podcastingnews.com/topics/Podcast_Software.html.
If you use iTunes, you can easily subscribe to our Podcast by clicking
here. Anytime you start up iTunes, new sermons will either automatically
download (if you set your preferences for that) or you can right-click
the OUUC Podcast title in the list and select Update Podcast to get
any new episodes that have been added.
Donations to this audio service
We have had many positive responses to this page, and a number of people have asked if they could make a donation to help support our online audio service. This is now possible through our secure donations page where you can choose any amount you might wish to contribute. You’ll find a spot for Podcast Support in the Contributions section. Podcast funds raised here will be used to make more recordings available by letting us increase our server storage. Thanks!