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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
and Small Group Ministry Participants
July 27, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
One of our church’s most transformative ways of deeply connecting with fellow church members and experiencing profound spiritual growth is by participating in a Chalice Circle or Wellspring ministry group. Join us and hear four participants share their experiences and the real differences they make possible.
Chalice Lighting
This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.
Call to Worship
May we be reminded here of our highest aspirations and inspired to bring our gifts of love and service to the altar of humanity. May we know once again that we are not isolated beings but connected in a mystery and miracle to the universe, to this community and to each other.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
from THE HEALING WISDOM OF AFRICA
by Maladoma SoméWhether they are raised in indigenous or modern culture, there are two things that people crave. The full realization of their innate gifts and to have these gifts approved, acknowledged and confirmed. There are countless people in the West whose efforts are sadly wasted because they have no means of expressing their unique genius. In the psyches of such people, there is an inner power and authority that fails to shine because the world around them cannot perceive it.
Sermon
NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.
Chris:
There are two things that people crave the full realization of their innate gifts and to have these gifts approved acknowledged and confirmed.
I love that statement from our reading earlier and given our current societal and political situation. I don’t know about you all but for me it can feel like as the author pointed out those innate gifts are being stifled.
Anyone besides me feel like living under the threat of rising fascism can be challenging to our psychological well-being and spiritual development? Well today we have some terrific folks who are going to testify about how participating in or even leading one of the small group ministries our church offers can provide a sense of connection and belonging. These groups provide a space where folks can talk honestly and vulnerably about some of the most vital and meaningful aspects of life, where folks can perceive, and then approve, acknowledge, and confirm one another’s unique inner power and authority.
I am delighted to invite these folks to share with you their experiences with our Chalice Circle and Wellspring small group ministries.
Hi, I’m Signe. Wellspring was my first introduction to small group ministry in 2021 as a participant. After that, I signed up for Chalice Circle and recently co-led a group, and I see some of my members out here, so that’s kind of fun.
Some of you may have seen me sitting over there near the candles in natural light. I’ve smiled and waved and shook the hands of many fellow UUers during the beginning of the service. Thus my smaller UU community started, the ones that like to sit in the same place.
Yes, we sat, sang, and stood together, but that was not the deeper connection I desired. It was during a homily someone else spoke about being in a chalice circle and how that impacted them and their UU faith. That sounded like something I needed to hear at the time, thus starting my UU spiritual journey.
So I signed up for Wellspring. This group explores in depth UU’s spirituality practices within safe structured group format as designed by Parker Palmer. Learning by doing, deep listening, and spiritual reflection within the group process requires dedication. Practices shared were drafting a group covenant, learning to craft a personal prayer, and how art, music, and movement are essential to a spiritual practice.
My inner Catholic contemplative mystic found this type of soul work familiar, now fueled with UU spiritual practices and like-minded people.
My journey of self-transcendence continues with a spiritual director, also called companion, from resources provided by Wellspring. Well, Wellspring requires a commitment of self-discipline and time for deep reflection and spiritual practice. The following year, I needed something lighter and signed up for Chalice Circle, which directly relates to the monthly topics of the church.
Chalice Circle continues to use safe group practices while reflecting and sharing about the church’s monthly themes. Each year, the themes change based on practices of our faith, values, and principles, like practicing resistance and cultivating compassion. Complete materials are provided via packets that are 10 to 15 pages long. The contents are carefully curated spiritual questions, exercises, poems, videos, playlists to expand on the Church’s theme. I found them worth saving for self-reflection, thus building my online spiritual library.
One of the past spiritual questions from the Path of Belonging Packet in 2022 was, “When was the first time you thought to yourself, Now I belong?” And because of Wellspring and Chalice Circle, I believe now I belong here. Thank you.
I’m Peggy Morton and I’m honored to have time to talk to you a little bit about my wellspring experience, the wellspring love at the center experience.
So I’ve been a part of this First-UU community for 29 years and have attended two chalice circles over the years, organized several social justice activities, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to finally sign up last spring for a wellspring class, but I’m truly glad I did. And I must say, it’s been the most enlightening experience I’ve had in this community.
I need to admit, I was not excited when our national denomination decided to go with this Article two. Because I thought I was very grounded in UU theology from our eight principles. But embracing this wellspring Love at the Center class, where we met twice a month for six months, opened my eyes and heart more deeply to UU theology, both historically and into today, and I now understand Article two better, and I like it.
Both the Reverend Carrie Holly-Hurt and a relatively new UU Melanie Caulfield guided us through this work in a way that I learned more about myself, six other attendees, and our facilitators in community together.
After each meeting, the next day, we would be emailed the readings that we were supposed to read and journal about and prepare for our next meeting. Obviously, we had two weeks to do this, which gave me a lot of time to read and think.
But at the next gathering, I would always hear a variety of perspectives about the lessons. And I have to admit, sometimes I would think, Did I misunderstand what we were supposed to do? But in reality, what it was, I eventually realized that we as individuals were gathered in community and embracing pluralism, a new term to me from Article II. And we shared from all of our different experiences, our different backgrounds and perspectives, coexisting quite like that interdependent web of existence that we learned about long ago when my spouse Fred and I first came to this church together and we only had seven principles at that time.
So I had known personally that having taken a sabbatical from teaching to live in Ecuador for a have in return to continue teaching high school journalism and to eventually add or start specializing in teaching English as a second language for the last eight years of my teaching career that I had lived experiences working with people from different backgrounds.
After retirement I stepped into voluntarily teaching adults English as a second language and eventually into advocating for human rights first in solidarity with unhoused people, then immigrants, then formerly incarcerated people. And I knew that I had learned from them about coexisting and embracing the lessons they had taught me in our interdependent web.
Yet through our wellspring group I saw better that Even when so many of us in this sanctuary today may seem like we’re all the same, we too have equally different backgrounds as we seek understanding from each and every individual who we meet. We’re bringing to life that spark of the divine that you used to say we were all born with. And I’m grateful, the many lessons I’ve learned and those that I still have to learn. And I appreciate each of you for listening to me today. I hope several of you will find or be able to make happen the time to explore and join a wellspring class.
Hello, I’m Doug Gower. Thank you, Reverend Chris, for asking me to speak about chalice circles. They say Unitarian Universalism is a process theology, not a belief one. Thus a chalice circle emphasizes not inculcating religious beliefs, but discovering and practicing our own.
What is that focus? To me, it’s the beloved community in the form of getting to better to know a small subset of our church congregants. A chalice circle is an intentional gathering for spiritual reflection. It is covenanted. That means anything discussed in the group stays confidential in the group.
Each session starts with lighting the chalice. In our case, that was a 99 cent plastic battery candle that one of our two wonderful leaders would switch on with a laugh.
A chalice circle is not a debate club. Neither is it a therapy group. Although being human, we always make some time for bitching and complaining. It’s real human beings sitting across from each other. Above all, it’s personal. It’s not performance. It’s not social media. It’s often said that people underneath are surprisingly alike, But we’re also surprisingly, amazingly different.
I met someone in our group who had traveled the world for years. Every continent, with little money, often sleeping outside in fields or under orchard trees on cold ground. I found that amazing. The only way you’d get me to sleep on an air mattress is if it were inflated on top of a king-size bed in a nice hotel with a bar.
In a chalice circle, we discover that we are alike and unique. Everyone has good days and bad days. You are privileged over the monthly meetings to witness these human ebbs and flows.
In the chalice circle, after some deep breaths, we take refuge. On the good days, we laugh a lot, out loud, gales of it. We learn to better know some of our fellow UUers. As much to the point, we get to know ourselves.
There’s a chalice workbook. Its exercises change monthly. I’m 74 years old. The last time I did a workbook was the third grade. Was I ready for this?
Each month has a cover illustration. One was Joy. It pictured a guy in a wheat field wearing a hipster hat playing a saxophone. I had a little trouble with that one. For one thing, I don’t play a sax. For another, my beard really doesn’t grow a good soul patch. So maybe extravagant jubilation under exotic conditions isn’t the whole point.
Some workbook questions were subtle. Others, honestly, a bit simplistic. But the group’s discussions never were. Joy I learned could be many things, working in a garden. Or just stop stopping, taking a moment, in the middle of a hot parking lot, on a tough day with troubles of your own to look up and see sunlight shifting through trees.
In chalice circles, we are not alone with our thoughts. In our chalice circle, the closest thing to an electronic device is the 99 cent battery calendar candle. In those 90 minutes, its scrawny, flicker, makes for not just a safe space, but a sacred one.
Americans are quick to focus on individual desires rather than the needs of the community, says Scott Hayes, a clinical psychologist. Looking around, I see people from my chalice circle right now, especially if I wasn’t wearing my reading glasses. (audience laughs) When I spot you in the pews or in the hallways, we often say hello, or stop and chat. But seeing you, I always think, “There’s people I know. There’s my community.”
The Chalice Circle is a UU program that helps make more real the beloved community. Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Nancy, and as many of you know, I am in the long process of preparing to go before the ministerial fellowshipping committee, a committee that will ultimately determine whether or not I’m fit to serve as a Unitarian Universalist Minister.
Now the majority of people who choose this route also choose to attend one of the two Unitarian Universalist Seminaries, Star King or Meadville Lombard, and most can anticipate leaving these seminaries with a strong sense of what it means to be a Unitarian.
But unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. As a mom of three, I am unwilling to relocate and my budget is tight. I know there are educational opportunities online, but trying to find privacy in a house of five is a near impossible task. So instead, I opted to attend Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which is a Christian Seminary here in town.
At Austin Seminary, I was constantly making note of the differences between their faith and ours, and so I left feeling like I had a pretty good grounding in UU theology.
But then I began to worry. As you can imagine, there is much speculation about what candidates will be asked by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. And my fellow seminarians and I soon began to suspect that we’d be expected to prove our grounding in UU theology, specifically because we had attended a Christian seminary.
And so, to cover my bases, I decided that I’d better take as many adult R .E. classes as possible. And soon, I found myself co-facilitating the Wellspring Sources Group with another one of my fellow UU Seminarians, Zach Havenwood.
Now, I thought I had a good understanding of my UU identity, but sources made me realize the depth and breadth of our theology. The Wellspring Sources Group explores each source in detail, complete with readings, essays, music, and of course, small group discussions. The class significantly deepened my appreciation of this faith, and it actually strengthened my commitment to this congregation, which is truly a statement I never anticipated saying.
I’ve always been very suspicious of organized religion in general, And I’ve always bristled about being told what to do and what to believe. Indeed, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always believed in the subjectivity of truth, which in most religious traditions is problematic. But our sources support this belief and celebrates the many different ways that people make sense of the universe.
For me, our sources go far in explaining who we are as a religious body. In fact, I often rely on our sources when I give people my elevator pitch for being a UU. I guess it makes sense then that sources is the foundational wellspring group. It is a prerequisite for most of the other courses.
In addition to exploring each source, I learned so much about myself and about my fellow group members throughout the entire class. It made me realize and appreciate the diversity of beliefs within this congregation. And it allowed me to form friendships with fellow congregants, something that can be challenging when you’re in a church as big as ours.
I enjoy the Wellspring Sources group so much that I went on to co-facilitate spiritual practices with fellow church member John Scott in the newest wellspring offering Love at the Center with Zach once again as my co-facilitator. And I’ve left each of these experiences with new friends a better understanding of my biases and a deep understanding of just how rich our faith really is.
As an added bonus, I started seeing a spiritual director, namely the Reverend Kathleen Ellis who is also a member of this church. The Wellspring groups encourage participants to take part in spiritual direction and I can honestly say that spiritual direction has been life changing for me. It has taught me much about the importance of presence and deep listening. I can’t say enough about the great experiences that the groups offer.
So instead, I’ll simply invite you to experience it yourself first-hand. This fall, I invite you to deepen your UU identity, to make new self-discoveries, and to get to know the members of this church a little bit better. All this and more awaits you. Thanks.
Chris:
Thank you so much to each of you for sharing those moving and informative experiences this morning. And if after hearing these folks you might be interested in getting involved in a small group ministry a special email announcement will be coming out later this afternoon or you can go to www.austinuu.org and get more information on how to get involved in a chalice circle or wellspring small group.
From our universalist heritage, we draw that sense that a river of divine love flows through our universe and through each of us. Small group ministries are one way in which we can help each other find channels for the expression of that divine love in our world, not in the abstract, but in the here and now, in this world as we find it.
Our small groups are a way that together we can combine those rivers into oceans of fierce love for our times.
Extinguishing the Chalice
We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.
Benediction
As we go back out into our world today, may we carry with us the love of this, our beloved religious community. May we center our lives in love just as we center our faith in love. May the melody flowing through our souls be a river of love that carries us forward. Until next we gather our spirits again.
May the congregation say amen and blessed be.
Go in peace.
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