Jim Klipp returns to our pulpit to ask, and to attempt to answer the question -  What is a Unitarian Universalist, and What, if Anything, Do you Guys Believe In?

Community: An Opportunity to Experience Mothering
With Rev. Deneen Robinson

Beltane: What is your feast, your drink and your dance? With Rev. Deneen Robinson in our pulpit.

Guest in our pulpit, Rasheed Hooda presents the lessons learned, beliefs formed, values adopted through 68 years of adventure called Life, and it’s a Trip.

A reflection on the 4th UU Principle, with Rev. Deneen Robinson.

With Beth Ferree in our pulpit.

Finding Balance: Creation Must Guide Our Critique

Paul Fucile returns to our pulpit.

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

Sarah Ricke honors the traditions and shares hope for a new Spring.

March is Women’s History Month! We are celebrating by revisiting a service from May 2019 with our own Susan Ammons, Mavis Belisle, and Elaine Wildman, speaking on different aspects of the fight for women’s rights.

Revisiting: "Anticipating Joy"
Renée Brill updates her message from last April - Getting ready for change with our feet on the ground, head in the sky, and our heart on our sleeve.

Paul Fucile continues his message from his last time in our pulpit where we discussed that there was no separation of church and state. What was science in the Ancient World and how did science contribute to the indoctrination of dualism? What is the impact of this dynamic today?

UUCOC Sunday Service, Feb 13, 2022: "What is the big deal about Being Black?"
Rev. Deneen Robinson is in our virtual pulpit and talks about learning how to be proud in your own skin.

Honoring Our Volunteers - A special service to thank everyone who keeps our church going through thick and thin. Congregational President Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit.

Doubting Thomas - Thomas Torlincasi
This the true story of a death penalty case and the infinite hope of a wrongfully convicted man who never stopped believing that God is good. Thomas Torlincasi shares how faith and goodness carried a man through an amazing test and that sometimes the arc of justice bends slowly toward salvation.

The Groundwater Approach
Dr. Head-Dunham will examine the nature of racism in the United States by use of the groundwater metaphor. When one fish is floating belly-up, you look at the fish. When several are, you look at the lake. But when many fish are dying in multiple lakes, you must look at the groundwater connecting all the lakes.

Rochelle Head-Dunham MD, DFAPA, FASAM, is the Executive Director and Medical Director for the Metropolitan Human Services District and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, LSU and Tulane Schools of Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The information provided in the presentation of the “Groundwater Metaphor” is the proprietary content of the Racial Equity Institute, LLC. Its emphasis is in helping organizational systems advance racial inclusivity and diversity.

Groundwater graphics:
Artwork: Jojo Karlin (jojokarlin.com)

Hayes-Greene, Deena, v and Bayard P. Love. The Groundwater Approach: Building a Practical Understanding of Structural Racism. The Racial Equity Institute. 2018.
https://www.racialequityinstitute.com/

Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camara_Phyllis_Jones
https://sph.emory.edu/faculty/profile/index.php?FID=camara-jones-8843

Prison Policy Initiative:
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/
Prison Policy Initiative data from Sundaresh et al., 2021
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/07/12/family-incarceration/

Opiod Crisis:
June 23, 2021, Jonathan S. Jones, PhD
Psychiatric Times, Vol 38, Issue 6 (June, 2021)
https://jonathansjones.net/portfolio/publications/

Business taking action - Say Something:
Be a Better Ally
by Tsedale M. Melaku, Angie Beeman, David G. Smith, and W. Brad Johnson
Harvard Business Review, (November-December 2020).
https://hbr.org/2020/11/be-a-better-ally

"Summary - The Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements have forced people in positions of power—namely, the white men who dominate institutional leadership roles—to realize they must personally step up to make organizations more fair and inclusive. That means playing a truly active role in helping marginalized colleagues advance (instead of just delegating diversity efforts to human resources).

How can white men be effective allies to those employees? First, by taking responsibility for their own behaviors, educating themselves about racism and privilege, and getting and accepting feedback from people in underrepresented groups. They can also become confidants to and sponsors of women and people of color and insist on diverse hiring pools and practices. They can vigilantly watch out for bias at work, intervening decisively if they discover it. Last, they can work to build a community of other allies against racism and sexism."

Federal statistics:
African Americans are 2.3 times more likely to experience infant death (CDC).
African Americans are 1.9 times more likely to die of diabetes (CDC).
African Americans are 1.5 times more likely to be below “proficient” in reading in the 4th grade (NAEP).
African Americans are 3.7 times more likely to be suspended in K-12 (ED and OCR).
African Americans are 2.7 times more likely be searched on a traffic stop (BJS).
African Americans are 7.0 times more likely to be incarcerated as adults (BJS).
African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to be identified as victims by the child welfare system (DHHS).
African Americans are 2.1 times more likely to be in foster care (DHHS).
African American business owners are 5.2 times more likely to be denied a loan (SBA).
African American business owners are 1.7 times less likely to own a home (SBA).

Suggested readings:
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - Isabel Wilkerson

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
by Dr. Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson

From Tami H:
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
by Peggy McIntosh

Peggy McIntosh is associate director of the Wellesley Collage Center for Research on Women. This essay is excerpted from Working Paper 189. “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies”(1988), by Peggy McIntosh; available for $4.00 from the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley MA 02181. The working paper contains a longer list of privileges. This excerpted essay is reprinted from the Winter 1990 issue of Independent School.

https://admin.artsci.washington.edu/sites/adming/files/unpacking-invisible-knapsack.pdf

Dennis E. Wooldridge shares with us a profound thought, one that stopped him in his tracks. The source material is from James Michener’s novel “Space.” Our conversation centers around an event in 1054 that illuminates for Dennis what it means to be in a Dark Age.

An interesting follow up posted by Dennis for the discussion: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2103/2103.13290.pdf

We will be answering the question of how the dualism of the ancients invades our daily lives more than 2000 years later. With Paul Fucile in our virtual pulpit.

What Would Martin Do?
Susan Ammons leads us on a brief exploration of Black Lives Matter, Martin Luther King, Jr., and The 8th Principle OF Unitarian Universalism.

Revisiting Zen and The Art of Transcendence. We are revisiting and updating a previous message from Beth Ferree.
How our spiritual practices can allow us to find the wisdom and courage to deal with trauma and adversity.

A Very UU Christmas
Christians around the world, including Unitarian Universalist Christians, are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ this week. But what does Christmas mean for UUs that aren’t Christians? What can we take away from this high holy day, and what can we take away from a man born in a manger so long ago? Join Tanner Trask, of Westside UU Church, as we try to find our own reason for the season.

21st Century Christmas
Religion, consumerism, and spirituality—does it all fit in, or should it? Paul Fucile is in our pulpit to ask these questions.

Love Is ... We often say "Love is our doctrine" but rarely elaborate about what that love means. Daniel Polk thinks we need to practice more of our Fierce Love and asks if you have caught any bricks.

With Rev. Deneen Robinson - Welcome Back! Now What? How will we use this opportunity to show up in the earth?

Turtle Island Languages: A Surprising & Enduring Heritage
Prof. Jonathon York talks about Indigenous influences on the contemporary American Vernacular English language - some of which may surprise you.

Awakening
BB Gafoor, licensed spiritual coach, will share information on the 4 states of consciousness and how we can use the information to assist us in life. For more on BB Gafoor, please visit: bb-gafoor.square.site

It is important to have a spiritual, physical and emotional support in place for when the hard times come. What is your plan? Rev. Deneen Robinson returns to our virtual pulpit.

Creation as a Path to Authenticity
Creation language and narratives aren’t only about community and connection, they begin with our inner voice. With Paul Fucile in our virtual pulpit.

Sarah Ricke is in our virtual pulpit along with three other members of our church family to share their observations on Samhain.

Into the Unknown with Renée Brill in our virtual pulpit to talk about the excitement and the fear of taking a leap of faith, of crossing thresholds, and standing at crossroads.

The State Fair of Texas, Donuts, and the UUCOC
Sally Jones returns to our virtual pulpit with a message about a piece of our church history, and about opportunities.

NTUUC: its history and possibilities. More than fifty years ago, the North Texas congregations formed an organization to work on housing. What else have we done and what could we do? NTUUC Executive Director, Daniel Polk is in our virual pulpit

Sunday, Oct 3, 2021: Creation Part 2: The Creation Experience
Paul Fucile seeks to answer the question: what is it to be good stewards that have dominion and multiply?

Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Us
Westside Unitarian Universalist Church member Tanner Trask is in our virtual pulpit to ask What does it mean for Unitarian Universalists to be truly involved in the civil rights movement of the twenty-first century? What lessons can we learn from the movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? And what does the proper use of adjectives have to do with it?

Why do you insist on controlling my vagina?
Reproductive justice activist Rev. Deneen Robinson takes to our virtual pulpit to discuss the impact of SB8 on the lives and communities of people with vaginas.

Community Care: building, protecting, healing and growing our collective power through relationship. Renée Brill is in our virtual pulpit.

The State of the Congregation
UUCOC Board President, Beth Ferree, presents "The State of the Congregation: the wonderful things we have, and are accomplishing."

August 29, 2021:  Creation, created, creators...
Paul Fucile returns to our virtual pulpit to ask what happens when we make a paradigm shift from critique to creators?

Reparations and the Church. What are reparations and how can we as individuals and a church take this on as a sprirital practice? Renée Brill will be in our virtual pulpit.

Leading in Challenging Times - or - Three Lessons For Leadership -  NTUUC Executive Director, Daniel Polk, is in our virtual pulpit. Daniel will be talking about being self-differentiated, and a non-anxious presence - which means not running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

"What is Black August?" What can we learn and use in our engagement in community? Rev. Deneen Robinson is in our virtual pulpit.

Dwelling In Possibility - Sally Jones returns to our virtual pulpit with a message inspired by the Emily Dickinson poem I dwell in possibility. The poem serves as an example of how the words of one person can reach and touch the lives of many. If you don't happen to remember the poem from high school English class, you can read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52197/i-dwell-in-possibility-466

Who do you serve? Having a community that both supports you and your interests is so very important in a world that is very individualistic in its orientation. Rev. Deneen Robinson is in our virtual pulpit.

Ableism: the language we use and what it means as we work on Widening the Circle of Concern. Beth Ferree is in our virtual pulpit.

Back to Normal: What do we mean by recovery, exactly? Renée Brill brings up ten questions about revolution, reconstruction and reparations we should ask ourselves and each other as quarantine restrictions ease. Please see the ten questions mentioned in the service, and the links to the reference materials from the sermon below.

10 questions asked in the sermon:
1) what makes you feel like you have come alive? What lights you up with excitement?
2) When do you feel confident valued and respected?
3) What parts of your life are precious and worth holding onto?
4) When do you feel connected and part of the community?
5) What gets in the way of your passion & excitement?
6) What are your highest and most important values? What do you hold so dear, and so holy that it is worth holding up in worship as worthy and important?
7) Where do you put these values into practice in your life, family, and community?
8) What makes you feel safe?
9) What makes you feel unsafe?
10) What resources, skills, experiences, and strategies do you have that can support you in practicing your values in the world?

June 27, 2021: The Fabric of Spacetime & The Church of Tomorrow
Woven in the Fabric of Spacetime is the Church of Tomorrow. If we build it, we will Become. Paul Fucile is in our virtual pulpit.

June 20, 2021: Father's Day
Jim Klipp takes to our virtual pulpit with a celebration of Father's Day.

It Too Noisy Out Here! How to find the quiet. Rev. Deneen Robinson is in our virtual pulpit.

Widening the Concern: Spiritual Practices for the Beloved Community.
Let's talk about who we want to become and the Spiritual Resources we have to help us on our way. Renée Brill is in our virtual pulpit.

The Last Full Measure Of Devotion
Kenneth Jackson is in our virtual pulpit with a special service honoring our veterans. He describes it as a little history and a lotof editorializing.

May 23, 2021: Beyond Our 60th
Beth Ferree was in our virtual pulpit with a brief message for our church family and friends before our Spring Parish Meeting and 60th Anniversary Celebration.

Ideal, Real, Surreal; What’s the deal? Being Beyond Material Concepts of Reality
Paul Fucile returns to our virtual pulpit exploring Indigenous cultures to unbind ourselves from material concepts of reality.

The Value of Honor
Former long-time member Sally Jones returns to our virtual pulpit with a special message for Mother's Day.

Self Care, Community Care, and Active Hope:
How we build resilience, act in solidarity, and enjoy the good life together. Renée Brill is in our virtual pulpit.

This Thing Called Life
With Rev. Deneen Robinson - Life is. It is natural goodness and kindness. It is peace, joy and wholeness. I live in this Life. This Life flows through me. This Life is in everyone and in everything. Therefore, I am one with all that is--all people, all things, all events.

Hearthstones and Hope: Transformative action in a post pandemic world.
Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit. (Please note that the opinions expressed in this sermon are not representative of the church board and should not be considered a board decision.)

What A Wonder-full World
Paul Fucile takes our virtual pulpit to ask the questions; "What does a World of Wonder look like? What makes that same World opaque?"

Anticipating Joy
Getting ready for change with our feet on the ground, head in the sky and our heart on our sleeve. With Renée Brill in our virtual pulpit.

Decisions - We welcome back Sally Jones, former long-term member and mother of our Labyrinth, to our virtual pulpit. Sally talks about decisions, and how we all make them, all day, every day. She suggests that the power of decision is our own.

The Power of the Feminine Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit with - How Women Can Propel the World Forward through Solidarity.

Refuge - Rev. Deneen Robinson will be in our virtual pulpit to discuss - Self: The best refuge is the self.

Zoom Out! How The Big Picture Leads Us to True Service Paul Fucile asks us what is the difference between the power of service and service to power and how does the Big Picture show us the way?

Life in Stereo Paul Fucile takes our virtual pulpit to present this Sunday's sermon - How the Oneness of the Universal Life Force amplifies All.

What Did You Miss? Look Again! Rev. Deneen Robinson will be in our virtual pulpit to deliver this meesage - When we move through life we can miss the unexpected resource because we are looking for help based on the package, the color and miss our access to freedom. Look Again.

Beth Ferree takes look at the history of Valentine's Day and the different incarnations of Love.

Life is Like A Box of Chocolates:You Get What You Give
Paul Fucile will be in our virtual pulpit to discuss how Gratitude & Service are the cornerstones of Love, Faith, and Community.

We all have to be part of dismantling white supremacy. Daniel Polk is in our virtual pulpit.

What Would Martin Do? A brief exploration of Black Lives Matter, Martin Luther King, Jr., and The 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism. Susan Ammons will be in our virtual pulpit.

2020: The Year to End All Years The COVID-19 pandemic and what it means for the future of the UUCOC Community. Paul Fucile will be in our virtual pulpit.

Widening the Circle of Concern: how we can become more diverse and welcoming as we move forward into a new year. Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit to welcome in the new year.

Kujichagulia:Defining, Naming, Creating & Speaking for Yourself. Kwanzaa starts the day after Christmas and Cat Luster will be sharing the 2nd principle of Kwanzaa on Sunday, Dec 27th, the 2nd day of the seven day celebration.

Christmas Eve: Celebrating the Greatest Unplanned Pregnancy Join Paul Fucile in our virtual pulpit for our Christmas Eve Service - Did Mary give consent? Reclaiming the Infancy Narrative!

Josh Hile will be presenting a message, co-written with Joeie Hile, about how Norse Pagans view the Winter Solstice, its meanings for the year past and the hope it holds for the year to come. Hail and well met!

Circle of Concern. The UUCOC Social Justice Ministry team has put together a service to introduce the Circle of Concern report from the UUA to the congregation. Sarah Spencer is in our virtual pulpit.

The Pendulum between Colonialism and Community, and the Hope in Between. As we enter the time leading up to the Winter Solstice and the season of Advent, Paul Fucile asks the question the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked more than 50 years ago: "Where do we go from here?

Feeding the Community as We Feed Ourselves: How caring for others becomes self care. Cat Luster will be in our virtual pulpit.

Zen and The Art of Transcendence. How our spiritual practices can allow us to find the wisdom and courage to deal with trauma and adversity. Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit.

Spiritual Freedom: It’s yours but make sure you are prepared as it comes.
This sermon will discuss how important it is to go on the quest to find one’s spiritual connection. One that is centered and grounded in how you see yourself and what you need to grow and manifest in your life. What are the responsibilities to yourself and community? How do you live this out? UUCOC Pastoral Counselor Deneen Robinson will join us Sunday for the beginning of a life long quest.

Holy Sh*t Everyday Finding the holy where you're at-- even if where you're at is depressed, stressed, and a mess! Renée Brill will be in our pulpit with a message about making holy moments in hard times.

Make Something! Poetry. Painting. Fabric Arts. Sand-sculpting. Song. Dance. Dinner. A garden. A curated display shelf of aesthetic trinkets. Make something, because the act and practice of making is a spiritual practice, regardless of the marketability or "professionalism" of the finished product. Sherri Randall will be in our virtual pulpit.

When the Darkness Seems Too Much: The Light Side of the Dark Taking solace in the positive aspects of darkness. Sarah Ricke will shed some light on Samhain, the wheel of the year, and why honoring the 'dark time' of the year is important.

Holy Hands and Smart Butts: How body care and embodied practice can enrich our spiritual practice. Renée Brill will be in our virtual pulpit.

Holding Space as an act of Building a Spiritual Practice One of the key tenets to building a spiritual practice is to make space for yourself and your spiritual community. Holding Space is one way to do this. Join us for a discussion on how to 'hold space' for yourself and others in your community. UUCOC Pastoral Counselor, Deneen Robinson will be in our virtual pulpit.

Personal & Communal Spiritual Practices: Beth Ferree will be exploring what we do both personally and in community to strengthen our spiritual connections

UUCOC Endowment Committee Member Jim Klipp and Board President Beth Ferree will be in our virtual pulpit addressing stewardship.

Renée Brill will be in our virtual pulpit for an introduction to the Spirit in Practice sermon series. We will begin by looking at a broad definition of spiritual practice and by exploring some of the benefits of having an intentional regular spiritual practice.

Renée Brill answers the question - how can we have ingathering without gathering?

Membership - What does it mean? What is it that people seek when they affiliate with a UU church? What is it that congregations owe to their members and conversely members owe to their congregations? Susan Ammons will be in our virtual pulpit.

As part of a continuing series at UUCOC that follows The New UU curriculum, Matt Pargeter-Villarreal will be presenting a reflection on the church polity, what it is, and why it is so important for us to talk about as UUs.

How social justice ties in with our Seven Principles. Sarah Spencer is in our virtual pulpit.

Benefits and challenges of religious education and exploration at any age, from a veteran volunteer. Leah Pittmon is in our virtual pulpit.

Exploring our UU Roots - Where we began, how the Unitarians became connected with the Universalists, and a short history of our own congregation. Beth Ferree is in our virtual pulpit.

Hold up, wait a second. I joined this church because you wouldn't tell me what to believe. What are you doing giving a sermon about what Unitarian Universalists believe when we don't agree on what we believe? Well... That's a good place to start. What does it mean to do religion differently but still together? What might you learn from practicing religion this way? What might we find we agree on? What might we still disagree on? How might those ideas grow or change over time? How would that influence the way we practice our faith together? Think of this as a sort of snapshot of our current conversation about and amongst our different theologies. What has influenced us so far and what, on average, we agree on. Renée Brill is in our virtual pulpit.

"Radical Saints or Sainted Radicals?" investigates people who helped push the boundaries of UUism and helped expand the consciousness of our church. Daniel Polk is our guide on this exploration.