2026 Question Box

September 30, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
September 27, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Rev. Chris and Rev. Carrie will answer your questions about the church, our UU faith, life, the universe, and everything (though neither will pretend to have the answers to all that).

Welcome

“Etude No 5” (Kachaturian) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

“Sitting with our questions and allowing them to exist as they are is a way to promote greater self-kindness and self-compassion. The unique ability to question is part of what makes us human… we can trust that our questioning is there for a reason, and we owe it to ourselves to find the beauty in that.”

– Dr. Maureen Sessa

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Music for 18 Musicians: Pulses” (Steve Reich) – Brent Baldwin, guitar

Time for All Ages

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Sol

Hello, hello, everybody. If you are curious, if you have questions, or if you would like to hang out on stage with me and the ministers for a few minutes, come and join us all.

So, wanted to give some of our younger members, thank you, a special opportunity to ask any questions that you might have about church to the ministers directly.

Okay. So I have a starting question just for us to kind of get the idea of what a question about church might sound like. I know you have all sorts of very, very awesome and creative questions, but right now we’re just going to ask questions about church.

So I’m going to start, give you some time to think if you have any percolating in your mind. Okay. So, ministers.

WHY DO WE ALL STAY IN THE SANCTUARY TOGETHER FOR SPECIAL SERVICES?

Carrie

So when we do our special services like water communion or fire communion or flower communion, we’re doing a ritual about our community and about what we believe. And we don’t want to just do that with some of the people in our community, right? So we want you all to be with us because you are just as part of this community as anybody else. in the church. So we want you all here with us to do that ritual because it’s really important that everybody participates in it.

Chris

Thank you, Carrie. That’s perfect. The only thing I would add is you all aren’t here all the time, but you may have noticed when you did stay that at the end of the service we say that we, the ministers, love you fiercely, and that includes all of you. We love you fiercely.

WHY IS CHURCH A LONG WAY?

Sol

Why do services take so long, maybe? Ministers, why are our services the length that they are?

Carrie

I’m so tempted to say you didn’t have my childhood. We have a lot to do in an hour. We pack a service. We do a whole bunch in an hour. And I know when you’re a kid, an hour seems like so long. But when you get… Further from the ground, it’s not so long.

WHAT IS ONE IMPORTANT IMPACT YOU THINK YOU’VE MADE ON THE CHURCH SINCE YOU’VE BEEN A MINISTER?

We’re asking the hard hitters.

Chris

I’m going to answer for Carrie and she’s going to answer for me. How about that?

So I think that one of the things we’ve seen from Carrie is just we have really upped our game and raised our profile in terms of social justice, in terms of mutual aid, in terms of actually having a national presence for that. And I am just so proud of the work Reverend Carrie has done with that.

Carrie

Thank you. That was very kind. So the fact that this church exists and it’s such a well-oiled machine that we have a mission, that we have these beautiful ends, and not only that we have these beautiful ends, that we are meeting those ends, that’s all Reverend Chris. This is Reverend Chris is, yeah, I love getting to learn from you, especially on the board, because the unexciting things that keep the church healthy and growing, that’s all Reverend Chris. And Shannon.

Sol

All right. I have time for one more question, okay?

WHAT IMPACT DO WE THINK THE CHURCH ITSELF HAS MADE?

Carrie

First of all, your hat’s really cool. I just wanted to say that. That’s really hard to know. I can only speak from my perspective, but when I found this church, It gave me a community where I could feel really safe. And by safe, I mean it allowed me to ask questions without fear. And so I hope that people sitting here today come here and the impact is that they feel held and that they feel loved and they feel safe to sit with questions, even if they don’t know the answer to them.

Chris

Yeah, I mentioned this in the sermon last week, but I can’t tell you how often someone in this church says to me, my group or my caring companion or Carrie reached out to me or my meditation folks that I get with some aspect of this church has helped me make it through the last few months and I think in the environment socially and politically in which we find ourselves I think this church is serving as an anchor for a lot of us as we try to make it through this time and do something to change what’s happening for the better.

Reading

The ancients told stories and wrote parables to explain what they had found when exploring the mystery. That is all religion is: people wondering about where we came from, why we are here, and where we go after we die. The Bible, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Seven Principles of my own Unitarian Universalist tradition – all are just ideas people had about what made life meaningful. What you think about holiness is just as valid and just as true. So what do you think about holiness? What do you think about God? There is nothing to be afraid of. Your spiritual quest begins now.

– Rev. Kate Landis

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Within My Garden Rides A Bird” (Baldwin) – Brent Baldwin, harp

Sermon

QUESTION BOX
– Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

Chris
So thank you all for your questions. The way that we’re going to do this is we’ll start with Carrie picking a question to ask me. I will answer that, and then Carrie will add to it if she would like, and then I will pick the next question to ask Carrie. Okay.

IF YOUR PERSONALITY HAD A WARNING LABEL, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?

Cris
Do not push too hard here.

Carrie
I would say she looks pretty normal, but she’s a human can opener. You will be telling her your deepest, darkest secrets within seconds. There you go.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST USELESS BUT IMPRESSIVE SKILL?

Carrie
I can hear a voice actor, but I’m awful with names, but I can remember other actors. I can do an IMDb search within like 45 seconds. and find out who it was and what movies they were in. It’s totally useless, but the people around me now have that information.

Chris
I can flip myself upside down and stand on my hands for a few seconds before falling down. Or at least I used to be able to do that. I’m not sure I still could. Is this mine?

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS OF YOUR SERMONS, GIVEN THE MYRIAD OF BELIEFS IN THE CONGREGATION?

Chris
Yeah. Oh, that’s a big one. Yeah, I think that, and I’ve seen this with you too, Reverend Carey, that I have a personal theology that almost always anchors my sermon and shows up, and it has to do with fierce love and sort of process relational theology, which I won’t go into right now, but basically that we’re all still evolving and we help each other do that spiritually, especially. And that’s the anchor, and it shows up without me even realizing, and I’ll read the sermon later and go, oh, that’s what that is. But I think all of the other theologies that people hold in this church, whether it’s humanism or Buddhism or whatever it might be, can tie into that. And so I don’t normally go in saying, I’m going to preach about this theology and this theology and this theology. I draw from the wonderful pluralism that we embrace. to inform whatever the topic of the sermon might be. And so one sermon might be informed by four or five different theologies.

Carrie
Yeah, I would agree with that. I would also say my highest call is liberation. And so there are so many ways to get to liberation and we have such a wealth of wisdom and beauty that we can pull from. And I always try to be cognizant of the people that… we’re ministering to because it is for y’all. Yeah.

Chris
And I think I would also add, Carrie and I have talked about, Reverend Carrie and I have talked about, if there is a particular theology that’s interesting to some of you that you’re really fascinated with or a world faith or whatever it might be, talk to us about maybe doing an adult religious education class because I think the more we let each other’s beliefs and theologies interact with each other, the more we all grow.

I GENUINELY DO NOT GET THE END GAME. IF THE PLAN ENDS WITH A RUINED PLANET, COLLAPSED ECONOMIES, AND NO WORKING CLASS LEFT TO SPEND MONEY, WHAT ARE THE BILLIONAIRES ACTUALLY HOARDING WEALTH FOR? TO SIT IN A BUNKER WITH NUMBERS ON A SCREEN THAT DON’T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE? LIKE, WHAT IS THE ACTUAL POINT?

Carrie
So some of this, I’m just going to give credit to my husband because he and I were talking about this one. Thank you for sending your questions in early, by the way. so greed right that’s like the motivating factor but i think sometimes we think that if you’re wealthy you’re smart right if you’re wealthy you’re intelligent i don’t think that’s true y’all i think you inherit wealth and maybe you’re really good at um i don’t know taking risks in business because you can because you have billions of dollars or being cutthroat that’s not smart that’s greedy so i think the end game is i don’t think they have an end game i hope not if not it’s pretty bleak but i just think that the end game is money first and foremost and everything else is not even a thought because why would it be

Chris
I couldn’t agree more Reverend Carrie i think i would only add and i whoever submitted this thank you i love this question i think that The problem is there is no end game and there is no point because people have gotten themselves so attached to money and the power that goes with it that they can’t see past that. And so they are living for that in every moment. to tell you that from what I can see at least on my television and the few people I have known that have that kind of wealth and power they seem to me to be some of the most unhappy people I have ever met in my life because they’ve lost track of the fact that it’s our relationships with one another that matters and that brings us contentment and happiness and spiritual growth in life. And when we let power over others become our entire focus, that damages us beyond belief.

WHEN WE TALK TO OUR NON-UU FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE WORD CHURCH THAT WE CAN USE TO DESCRIBE OUR SPIRITUAL HOME? For many people, this carries heavy baggage, and it doesn’t seem to really capture the true diversity of our community. How can we accurately explain who we are without getting tripped up by the words?

Chris
Yeah, thank you for that question. Having grown up a very fundamentalist Southern Baptist church, I can relate to the question, and I guess I can only speak for myself. I am reclaiming that word church. It doesn’t belong to them. It can belong to us. And I think what we are doing here is church in the best sense of that word because it’s based again on fierce love and building relationships and then going out in the world and building more relationships for justice. And if that isn’t church, I don’t know what church is and I don’t want to be a part of it. So I’m reclaiming that word.

Carrie
Agreed. Yes.

IS THE ANSWER TO THE UNIVERSE REALLY 42?

Yes, but if you’ll remember from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s only 42 because they didn’t actually state a question.

Chris
Yeah, that’s true. And I think… science has debunked that, and it’s actually an irrational number that stretches on to infinity. And as Fred says, raises more questions than answers. And isn’t it wonderful, though, that in our mysterious universe, so often when we get a new answer, it raises four other questions. And I don’t find that frustrating. I find that spiritual. I think that’s lovely.

So religion. IS UU A RELIGION?

Chris
So one definition of religion, and this was submitted early, so I went and looked up like, what do we actually mean when we say the word religion? And one definition that I loved is:

a set of values. priorities and or beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially involving superhuman factors, usually involving devotional and ritual observances and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

So by that definition, I would say we actually are. religion because superhuman factors can be the environment it can be our relationships with each other it doesn’t have to be something supernatural superhuman doesn’t have to mean supernatural and again kind of like I was talking about with the word church I want to reclaim that word because I think what we are doing is true religion because it’s about relationship building and love and that’s what religion ought to be all about I also think we do have faith. I think we have faith in the inherent worthiness and dignity of every person. I think we have faith in the fact that it is our inter… connectedness, our interrelatedness that will save us. I think we have faith that we can make a better world and that we can build that beloved community that we talk about every Sunday. So yeah, I do think we have faith, and I have faith that we can make real differences in our own lives and in lives out there in the world, and that’s what a religion should really be about.

HOW CAN WE KEEP HOPE AND KEEP THE FAITH IN A WORLD THAT FEELS MORE AND MORE DIRE ALL THE TIME?

Carrie
Well, hope is a practice. Hope is not something that you can wait for. It’s something that you cultivate in your own life. Kind of to answer the last question, we come here because we see something in humanity, right? The beautiful, the diverse, the something to save, something to protect. And so we already know that we can, right? We already have a faith that there can be something better than what we’ve been given. So that’s our faith. But you have to run, faith runs on hope. And hope is something you get out there every day and you do. And I will say that we are at a time where I feel like their number one job is to quash our hope. Y’all get petty. Don’t let them. Do not let them quash your hope. Your job is to stoke your hope. And you can do it because you know the outcome. Yeah.

Chris
I don’t think I have anything to add to that. I think that’s wonderful. Okay.

WHAT DOES THE PHRASE, OUR STRUGGLE IS OUR SALVATION MEAN?

Chris
I should know the answer to this because I actually wrote the chalice lighting that we say every Sunday. I think what it means is we can’t put our hope since we were just talking about hope in an ultimate outcome because we don’t know what the outcome’s going to be and we can become very discouraged very quickly if we’re not getting there and not getting there as fast as we think that we should be and so for ages upon ages i mean i think about the struggle for civil rights in this country People have had to find their hope in the struggle itself because we know that the struggle itself is worth it because we are working to build that world that we dream about. We’re working to build those loving relationships. and we don’t need to always be looking at what’s the outcome when we don’t know what that’s going to be when there is so much value in the struggle itself, the doing. What Carrie was just talking about, one of the ways that we stay hopeful in this environment is we stay in the struggle. We actually get engaged. We do things so we’re not sitting at home on the couch with our, you know, pad open and doom scrolling through the news. because that’s a great way to lose hope. Let’s go out and change the damn news. How about that? Oh, I’m supposed to ask a question. I got all whipped up there. Let’s see.

DOES THE CHURCH STILL HAVE A MORTGAGE? IF SO, WHAT IS THE BALANCE?

Carrie
It does not because of you good people in a capital campaign. So the balance is zero. Okay.

HOW CAN I NAVIGATE TALKING TO MY STAUNCHY CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN FAMILY ABOUT THE UU FAITH AND TRADITION WHEN THEY DON’T CONSIDER US A FAITH, A TRADITION, OR A CHURCH?

Chris
If you figure that out, tell me so I can talk to my mom. Yeah, I think that the best that we can do is to say this. these are the values of my church. This is our mission. This is what we do. And again, it’s all about relationship. And then demonstrate that in the way that we live our life. I have to tell you, I joked about my mom, but let me tell you something humorous. She’s been to this church a few times now, and she’s still very conservative Christian. And she goes, those are just the nicest people I think I’ve ever met, especially in a church. That’s funny, but I think it also means we’re living what we’re saying we believe, and we’re living the values that we say we hold, and she picked up on that. So I think one of the ways we talk to folks in these difficult conversations is to talk about, again, our values and our mission, and then demonstrate those, live them.

Carrie
Yeah, I agree. And I’ll just say that the way that I’ve done it in my own life is that I realized that the reason they can even challenge me with that is because they’re so confident in their faith, right? But I’m confident in my faith too. So I stopped defending myself because there was no reason to. I’m supposed to live out my faith. And as I’ve done that, it’s become less and less of an issue because they see the fruits, right? If you’re raised with those fruits of the Spirit, they see the fruits.

Chris
And I bring pepper spray. Only kidding. I don’t do that. I think we have time maybe for one more.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY?

Carrie
It’s been a long time. I’ll talk about the most transformative social justice work that I did that I think is the reason that I’m here. I was the president of the PTA a long time ago. Yeah, PTA is forever. And this was during the first Trump administration. It was a Title I school, and many of our parents were terrified, as you can imagine. And so that was the first act of mutual aid. We figured out what our… fellow parents needed and we started we got in lawyers and notaries so that we could fill out paperwork so that if those parents were taken their kids would go to the people they wanted to go to which was awful it was awful work and at least it created some sense of peace and i think that was the first time that that i really connected it to the individual as opposed to just like a platform or a politic And I’ve tried to center myself in that ever since.

Chris
I got involved at a very young age. So speaking of those conservative religions that we were just talking about, the very conservative religion in which I grew up, although they were terrible on LGBTQ issues and things like that. They also did social advocacy. They went out and took care of people that really needed it, and they went out and advocated for better housing for folks that were living in deplorable conditions. And so my church, when I was five, seven years old, was out doing this stuff. So I think it’s a good reminder to me that sometimes we can stereotype and demonize people when actually they may, as much harm as we may think they’re doing, they may be doing some real good also. So I think we have to remember that.

Thank you all for excellent questions. There are many more that we couldn’t get to, so thank you for those too. Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to answer some of those sometime very soon. Thanks. Thank you.

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

Let us go forth now, finding divine mystery in questions more profound than answers. Knowing uncertainty may contain our path to transcendence.

Experiencing a sense of love and interconnectedness beyond words and past reductive understanding.

May the congregation say, “Amen” and “blessed be”.

We love you fiercely. Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 26 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

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2026 Commitment Sunday

September 23, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
September 20, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We join together with love, joy, and a sense of belonging to express our commitment to our values and mission – building the dream of Beloved Community together. Join us on this special Sunday when we explore the real differences committing to that dream can make. On this Commitment Sunday, we live love and make our pledges for 2027 so that we may live that commitment into the future.

Welcome

Prelude: “Sonatina in C major Op 20F” (Kuhlau); Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

Quote from Henry Nelson Weiman

Inevitably in our lives we commit ourselves to something, whether worthy or not. The direction and intensity of our loyalties give shape and meaning to our lives. Loyalties, commitments, covenants, the promises we make to one another, these are the things that tell us to what we belong. By giving so they tell us who we are.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“We All Belong” (Dr. Dog) The First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble & Band Brent Baldwin, vocals & guitar, Jill Csekitz, drums, Efrain Davila, bass, Valeria Diaz, piano

Stewardship Moment

As you’ve already heard, today is Commitment Sunday. Now is the time that we make our pledges to support the community that supports us with inspiring sermons, educational opportunities, chalice circles, children’s RE and more, great music and art, and opportunities for social action, as well as a safe place to be our authentic selves. All of this is critical at a time when we face rising dysfunction in so much of public and private life.

Our pledges provide about 87% of the funding for this church and its work. And probably you have pledged in the past. But we need to step up our game and increase our support. For the last three years, our pledge goal has remained the same, but inflation has not. It’s been about 3% every year. So, our budget has not provided ministers and staff with wages consistent with UUA recommendations.

So here’s our ask. Think about how this community supports you, your family, your friends, our neighbors, and make an increased pledge. Stretch just a little bit, look inside your heart, and make a generous pledge. There are several ways that you can do this. You can visit with us in Howson Hall at the stewardship table after service. On the pews, there are those little square pieces of paper that have a QR code that you can use to get to our pledge area. Or you can just go online at Austinuu.org and Click on the pledge button.

Again, thank you for your attention and thank you for being supporters, whether you are members or active participants, all of you, you are all very special and a part of our living love in this community. Thank you.

Reading

Quote from Tina DeYoe,
Director of Lifespan Religious Exploration,
Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM

Every act of kindness, generosity, or love overflows its original bounds. Our acts of kindness, generosity, and love multiply. Stewardship is a call to transformation.

Stewardship is an invitation to do new things in relationship with people in this community and beyond our walls. Generously giving of our time, talents, and treasure to this church community is a radical act of hope that has ripple effects that continue to multiply in people’s lives and in the world. We give because we are invested in the creation of a truly Beloved Community for all.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Together We Can Soar” (Brent Baldwin) The First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble & Band

Sermon

LIVING LOVE-BUILDING OUR DREAM TOGETHER
Rev. Chris Jimmerson

Raise your hand if you just love talking about money.

All right now give me a hearty “Amen” if you love being asked to give away your money.

Any takers on really loving having to ask other people to give away their money? if so, sing hallelujah.

Well, at this time every year we have our annual stewardship campaign, our pledge drive, when we have to do all three of those and more.

We have to talk about money because we have to come to you the people that make up this religious community, this church, and ask you to pledge some of yours to the church in the next year so that together we can all commit to continuing to live out that mission we say every Sunday.

And to make matters even worse, the moment, all those many years ago now, when our universalist ancestors declared that God would never condemn anyone to hell, the minute they removed that threat, our fundraising fell through the floor.

OK, I don’t actually have any historical evidence for that, but it does seem intuitive that the threat of hell might provide a pretty darn strong incentive for giving to churches that still hold that theology of eternal fire and damnation.

And yet, we would seem an awfully disingenuous faith, as would I as minister, if I were to bring back a theology of hell only during the pledge drive.

So on this, our commitment Sunday that kicks off our drive, I am charged with providing you with a Unitarian Universalist theology for why supporting your church matters spiritually.

If you are visiting with us today, I hope hearing all of this may help illustrate a little more about the core values of our faith and this church.

And since we Unitarian Universalists respect and learn from the wisdom of the world’s faith traditions, we could start by looking at the very telling fact that most all of them embrace generosity as a spiritual practice and value.

The Christian bible states “You shall open your hand to your neighbor, to the needy and to the poor” and simply, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”, connecting spiritual generosity with loving our neighbors and doing for others.

Judaism embraces the concept of tzedakah, which is often translated as charity but actually means something more like justice through righteous giving.

Zoroastrianism generally understands generosity as part of humanity’s responsibility for acting with truth and righteousness toward others.

Sikhism states, “One who shares what he has with others, receives the fruits of his generosity.”

The Quran in Islam says, “The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed which grows seven ears of corn; in every ear are a hundred grains.”

Hinduism holds generosity as a fundamental spiritual practice. And in fact, similar concepts around spiritual generosity arise in buddhism, jainism, the Bahai faith, Taoism, Confucianism and many more spiritual traditions throughout the world.

In common among them, is that generosity is rarely presented simply as giving away things. It is more often about letting go of one’s material attachments, supporting the dignity of others, cultivating compassion, understanding that our own well-being is connected to that of the larger community and our world.

And that relates so strongly to our Unitarian Universalist understanding that we are inextricably held within a sacred, interdependent, web of all existence, and thus our generosity is integral to our own sense of wholeness within that interdependent web.

So much so, that our larger Unitarian Universalist faith has adopted generosity as one of our core religious values, describing it like this, quote:

“We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.”

And so, I think when folks here at First Unitarian Universalist pledge your generous support toward the church and the many different ways it makes it possible for us, together, to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice, we are engaging in the spiritual practice of nurturing and valuing that interdependent web of which we are a part and upon which we depend.

We are embodying that Unitarian Universalist theological value of generosity.

We are living love and building our dreams of Beloved Community.

OK, now that I have, hopefully, outlined a Unitarian Universalist-centric theology for it, please bear with me while 1 have to talk about money just for a bit.

So that we can continue to fulfill our mission as a religious community, keep living love and building our dreams together, we have had to raise our pledge goal for 2027 by $60,000 over last time, from $825,000 to $885,000.

That’s the first time we have raised it in three years, and it is still by an amount lower than the rate of inflation.

Here is the need for that increase.

Here’s why the church needs your support to meet that $885,000 pledge goal for 2027.

Expenses in Austin continue to rise, so for several previous years, we have run budget deficits. We’ve funded expenses that were growing faster than our projected revenue by drawing down our savings and reserves.

That’s not sustainable. Those reserves will eventually run out.

Beginning in 2027, we must begin the spiritual discipline of running a balanced budget when at all possible.

We also have not been able to pay our church staff at the Unitarian Universalist Association (or UUA) recommended levels for the past few years, and we have further reduced personnel costs through attrition by not replacing some staff positions when the folks who were in them left our employment.

This is also not sustainable.

The UUA establishes its salary recommendations by conducting wage and living expenses surveys in various regions throughout the country. They have recently found that what it costs to live in Austin is more similar to cities of a similar size on the East coast and grouped us as if we were in that region as far as salary needs.

To truly live our values, we must pay our staff fair, livable wages and support enough staff positions that the work of fully carrying our our mission is possible.

Our 2027 budget pays at least the minimum UUA recommended salary for every staff member, and we begin a multiyear year plan to move us toward fully staffing the church.

Well, finally, as our property ages (along with some its occupants) costs for repair and upkeep of our building and grounds, as well as for property and liability insurance have outpaced our ability to budget for them.

To sustain our church property, we must begin to more fully fund these needs starting in 2027.

An increase of $60,000 is a challenging goal, I know. I hope that this has helped explain the need for it.

And I also know this church is up to it. I know this church can meet the challenge because I know how committed this community is to this church.

After all, only a few years ago, we were told that having a capital campaign to pay off a more than one million dollar construction loan the church held at the time would never work because we were told, “people won’t give to pay off debt.”

Well, we did! You did!

We paid off that loan AND met our stewardship goal in the very same year because this religious community is that committed to living love and building our dreams together!

And that’s actually little wonder. We’re committed to it because we can see what that commitment does in our lives, in our communities, and in our world.

Just a few examples…

Our extremely active social action groups are showing up in our world, working for justice, battling the climate crisis, joining in solidarity with groups like Austin Sanctuary network, Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry, Austin Mutual Aid and so many more.

Your commitment this year provided the resources for Rev. Carrie to go to Minnesota to join in faith witness and opposition to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement invasion and occupation that was going on there, as well as to Newark to join with other faith leaders to demand the closure of the Delaney Immigration Detention center there.

From LGBTQ rights, to immigrant justice, to antiracism, to registering people to vote, to getting out the vote, to protecting the vote, to climate justice, to reproductive rights, to declaring ourselves one of the “apartheid free churches”, to providing community care bags, winter coats, supporting food banks and other forms of aid, and so much more, we are showing up, doing justice in our world.

And next year, when the Texas State Legislature reconvenes, because of your commitment, we will be there. We will show up.

And no matter what legislative horrors they attempt, we will demand public policy that respects human rights and dignity – that reflects the compassion and generosity toward others that all the world’s religions embrace.

Every Sunday, our attendance at worship has been up and our number of repeat visitors grows, as folks, at least in part, seek spiritual refuge from a world around us that seems to have gone berserk at times, hasn’t it?

I can’t tell you how often someone comes up to me in the receiving line after the service and tells me that they came to First UU because they saw how we are living our values in the world or they encountered us at an event or rally for justice. They routinely tell me something along the lines of, “I am so glad ya’ll are here and that I found you.”

Enrollment in our small group ministries like Chalice Circles and our spirituality groups like Monday Meditation is simply overflowing with literally several hundred folks participating. And I routinely have folks tell me about having suffered the loss of a loved one or faced other daunting spiritual challenges in their life and then look at me and say something like, “I don’t know how I would have made it through these last few months without my group here at the church.”

Our music (and arts programs such as our gallery) are also nourishing our souls and those of many others!

In fact, other churches sometimes snag our Sunday online videos for their own musical needs! I’ve asked Brent to check on collecting royalties for that.

Our religious education programs are growing and expanding as people seek ways to further explore their religious values and a place for their children to do so.

Just last Sunday, we opened up the class on healthy conflict, and it filled up in two days. We added a few more slots and those filled the very next day.

We are fulfilling a hunger for spiritual learning and nourishment.

OK, one more example, and then I’ll stop extolling the wonders of this religious community, I promise.

For now.

Our First UU Cares Team is providing so many forms of pastoral support to dozens upon dozens of people in this church, including robust grief and care giver peer support groups.

Again, I can’t tell you how often someone tells me how much it has meant to them, what a real difference it has made, that someone from the church reached out – how much it helped them through a time of sorrow or distress.

Well these are only just a few of the ways in which your commitment to supporting this church makes real differences in real people’s lives, both within these church walls and beyond them.

There are so many more that I couldn’t possibly mention them all today.

So, if I’ve left out one of your favorites, please feel free to duly chastise me in the receiving line after the service.

And then go make your pledge if you haven’t already done so.

On this commitment Sunday, thank you to so many of you who have already committed so much to this church.

Let us continue to engage together in our Unitarian Universalist theology of generosity.

Commit together to living love.

Commit together to building our dreams.

Commit together to a faith that has no need for a theology of hell because our theology keeps us busy working toward manifesting the divine, the Beloved Community in this world, right here, right now.

Go pledge. Amen.

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

Now as we go out into our world today, let us carry our commitment forward. Our commitment to all this church makes possible.

Community.

Transformation.

Spiritual Nourishment.

Justice.

Building the Beloved Community.

The manifestation of fierce love in our lives and in our world.

May we commit to building this dream together.

May the congregation say, “Amen”, and, “blessed be”.

I love you fiercely. Go in peace

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

Can Conflict Be Good?

September 15, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
and the Healthy Relations Team
September 13, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Conflict is uncomfortable, and most of us would rather avoid it. But when we face it with love and wisdom, conflict can deepen our relationships and strengthen our community. This Sunday, the Healthy Relations Team will help us explore how we, as a community, have dealt with conflict and how, if we embrace healthy conflict as a means of growth, we can face challenges together and stay aligned with our values.

Welcome

Prelude: “Invention N.8 in F major” (JS Bach) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

BRINGING CONFLICT TO THE TABLE
Amanda Doyle

Conflict resolution is in fact one of the greatest things that you can accomplish in your life and in your relationship. When I view people as not bringing conflict up, I think it’s being unfaithful to the relationship. I think it’s an abdication of your role in the relationship, and you are actually hoisting on the other person the responsibility to resolve your conflicts, the responsibility to speak those things out loud.

Because people go their whole lives never voicing any conflict. Not because there isn’t conflict, but because they’re either too lazy to do it; they don’t have the trust in their partner to receive it. Or they’re just like,”You know what? I tried that for seven years and not a damn thing changed and I’m done.” And that’s when you get in scary places in your relationship.

When I catch myself not bringing up conflict, I am like, ooh, red flag. It is an atrophy of the relationship because it’s an investment. The willingness to bring conflict to the table, to make yourself vulnerable, shows a faith in your relationship, an investment in a relationship, a belief that your relationship could be better than it is. And if you do not bring conflict at the table, you are saying, “My relationship is never going to get better. It’s going to be the same every day, over and over.”

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“We Just Disagree” (Jim Krueger) – Jordan Price, lead vocal; Brent Baldwin, guitar & backing vocal; Noah Reinhuber, backing vocal; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Rachel Fuhrer, drums

Been away, haven’t seen you in a while
How’ve you been, have you changed your style?
And do you think that we’ve grown up differently?
Don’t seem the same, seems you’ve lost your feel for me

So let’s leave it alone
‘Cause we can’t see eye to eye
There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy
There’s only you and me and we just disagree
Ooh, oh-oh-oh

I’m going back to a place that’s far away
How bout you, have you got a place to stay?
Why should I care when I’m just trying to get along?
We were friends, but now it’s the end of our love song

So let’s leave it alone
‘Cause we can’t see eye to eye
There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy
There’s only you and me and we just disagree
Ooh, oh-oh-oh

So let’s leave it alone
‘Cause we can’t see eye to eye
There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy
There’s only you and me and we just disagree
Ooh, oh, oh-oh-oh

Reading

APPROACHING CONFLICT LIKE A POEM
Tania Y Márquez

“Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict.”
-Dorothy Thompson

I joined a poetry class because a new acquaintance invited me to. I mostly joined so I could get to know this person better. I was captivated the first day by the deep wisdom my professor shared. To me, it was like being at church. Every word he spoke found fertile soil in my heart. There were times where I felt myself overcome with beauty. The beauty I found in this class contrasted with the conflicts I was witnessing at work, in society, and almost everywhere.

One Friday, as I listened to my teacher recite one of our poems, I wondered: What if I approached conflict like writing a poem?

What if everyone did?

Most of the time, conflict is reactive: people tend to do and say things before they’ve had a chance to process their emotions, or to understand the totality of the conflict.

But I learned in my poetry class about carefully choosing words not because they need to rhyme or have a specific number of syllables, but because they need to be precise and beautiful. Poets are intentional about how to best deliver the message; how to best uncover the mystery of life so that others can experience it. Silences matter, too; part of the message is to pause, to wait, to leave space to breathe before the next line. There’s also the rhythm; a poem is a song and songs can touch on difficult subjects, too, but the rhythm, the melody matters.

Since that moment, I’ve been wondering: What if, the next time I find myself in the midst of conflict, I can slow down and imagine I am about to write a poem? Then, conflict resolution or transformation would turn into a craft, a laboratory where beauty is created. There would be a slowing down that would help me connect with what I’m feeling so I can find the right words to share that experience, and a silence to let me listen to the poem of the Other.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Dig” (Incubus) – Noah Reinhuber, vocals; Valeria Diaz, piano

Sermon

CAN CONFLICT BE GOOD
Margaret Borden, Tomas Medina, and John Scott

Margaret Borden

From Conflict to Covenant: A Part of Our History

I want to share a piece of First UU Austin’s history one that explains why we have the values, mission, and Healthy Relations Covenant we have today.

The story begins with conflict.

In 2008 and 2009, our church went through a very difficult period. A contentious congregational meeting ended with a close vote that dismissed our minister. People were hurt, relationships were strained, and the congregation was deeply divided.

But what happened next is an important part of our history.

Rather than simply trying to move on, the Board focused on reconciliation. It organized listening sessions and brought in a consultant to help the congregation understand what had happened and determine how we could move forward.

And throughout this process, there was a deliberate effort to involve as much of the congregation as possible.

The consultant interviewed Board members, staff, volunteers, and lay leaders, and made himself available to anyone in the congregation who wanted to talk.

One of his findings was particularly important. Our church had a mission statement -but it was long, wordy, and very few people knew what it was. More significantly, we lacked a shared understanding of our purpose: Who were we as a congregation, and what did we want to be in the larger community?

So we began asking.

word-cloud

This word cloud records what members of this congregation said they wanted First UU to represent.

Notice the largest word: COMMUNITY, Two other prominent words are TRANSCENDENCE and CONNECTION.

Those ideas didn’t disappear.

	OUR VALUES
TRANSCENDENCE	To connect with wonder and awe of the unity of life
COMMUNITY	To connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch
COMPASSION	To treat ourselves and others with love
COURAGE	To live lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty
TRANSFORMATION	To pursue the growth that changes our lives and heals our world

They became part of the values we still profess today. Connection is embedded in our definition of community: “To connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch.”

So our present-day values aren’t simply words somebody chose for a plaque. They grew out of a difficult moment in our history and a congregational process of asking. Who do we want to be?

At roughly the same time, after our interim minister arrived in 2009, we began another congregational process. This one asked two simple questions:

How do we want others to treat us? And how do we promise to treat others?

Again, participation was extensive.

Meetings were held at different times during the week and on weekends. Tables were set up in the gallery before, between, and after our two Sunday services. Members wrote on yellow and blue notes three ways they wanted to be treated and three ways they promised to treat others.

Hundreds of those notes covered the windows of the foyer and gallery and the walls of Howson Hall.

A team gathered all of that input and distilled it into what became our Healthy Relations Covenant, introduced in 2010.

And the covenant itself has continued to evolve. It was revised in 2013 and again in 2023, each time with opportunities for congregational input.

Healthy Relations Covenant

As a religious community, we promise:

To Nurture and Protect by:

Communicating with one another directly in a spirit of compassion and goodwill

Speaking when silence would inhibit progress

Disagreeing from a place of curiosity and respect

Interrupting hurtful interactions when we witness them

To Sustain and Build by:

Forgiving ourselves and others when we fall short of expectations, showing good humor and the optimism required for moving forward

Thus, do we covenant with one another.

That history matters because the covenant was born from experience. Our congregation had learned what unresolved conflict could cost a community. When we are in conflict and avoid resolving that conflict, we are not connected and we are not in community.

So we made promises to one another:

We promise to communicate directly in a spirit of compassion and goodwill.
We promise to speak when silence would inhibit progress.
We promise to disagree from a place of curiosity and respect.
And we promise to interrupt hurtful interactions when we witness them.

These aren’t abstract ideals. They are part of our congregation’s response to its own history.

And there is one more promise I think is especially important:

We promise to forgive ourselves and others when we fall short of expectations, showing good humor and the optimism required for moving forward.

I might substitute the word aspirations for expectations.

Because Unitarian Universalists are covenant-making, covenant-breaking, and covenant-remaking people. We make promises knowing that we will sometimes fail to keep them. The important thing is what we do when that happens.

Years later, when Rev. Meg arrived in Austin, she created the Healthy Relations Ministry Team to help make this covenant come alive in our congregation. That work continues today.

But keeping the covenant alive isn’t the responsibility of only a committee or a minister. It belongs to all of us.

Our covenant shouldn’t simply be a plaque hanging on the wall of every room in this church.

It is part of the history of this congregation a history in which conflict led us to ask who we wanted to be, what we valued, and how we promised to treat one another.

And every time we choose to live those promises, we continue writing that history.

Tomas Medina

Having a covenant, and knowing why we have it is not the same thing as actually living it.

Living in healthy relationship with one another can be hard. It asks us to do things that may not come naturally to us:

to speak directly,
to stay curious when we disagree,
and to engage with conflict rather than run from it.

And I know something about wanting to run from conflict. In fact, I hate conflict.

And, if you’re a member of this congregation, there’s a better than even chance that you hate conflict too.

If you were around here during the in between time, the time between Rev Meg retiring and Rev Chris being called, you likely remember that we had two interim ministers, Rev Erin and Rev Jonalu.

What most of you probably don’t remember is that our interim ministers produced an “interim report” about our congregation based on their observations and their interviews with members and staff. One of the findings of their report was that we are a conflict avoidant church.

You may think that avoiding conflict is a good thing and something to strive for. That’s what I thought when I joined the Healthy Relations team here at church. And,I thought our healthy relations covenant outlined a way for us to be together and avoid conflict. But, I was wrong.

During my time on the Healthy Relations team, I came to learn, or to remember, that avoiding conflict is, in fact, not healthy.

Here is how the interim report described conflict avoidance at First UU:

Many members continue to avoid conflict, fearing that difference could erupt in unexpected ways. Conflict avoidance can be seen in:

the reluctance of members to raise issues directly with leadership (including with the Healthy Relations Team),

uncertainty around how to deal with conflict when it arises,

blaming of anyone who names a problem, and

the tendency for people with concerns to fade away and leave the church rather than work together.

I now understand that the work of the healthy relations team and the goal of our healthy relations covenant is not to help us avoid conflict but rather to deal with conflict in a positive way so that it strengthens our congregation and our relationships.

Having spent 64 years avoiding conflict as much as possible, I really have very little idea of how to handle conflict in a positive way. I’m guessing that this may be true for some of you as well. And, that is why the Healthy Relations team will be leading a discussion group on the book Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High.

The book’s outlines a process for holding conversations that are “crucial”, that is those that involve

high stakes,
opposing views
and high emotions.

The book came recommended by our ministers and had been read by all members of the Healthy Relations team, except for me (Hence, my belief that conflict was to be avoided).

I have since read the book and found it very helpful. If you decide to join us for the discussion group, I am highly confident that you too will find it valuable.

John Scott

The Healthy Relations Team will be hosting a facilitated book discussion group using the book Crucial Conversations, 3rd edition.

This book has been around for about 25 years and has been widely used in organizations of all sizes.

The 3rd edition notes that over 5 million copies had been purchased as of 2023.

A crucial conversation is defined as a conversation when

Opinions vary,
Stakes are high, and
Emotions run strong.

Sometimes we can anticipate a crucial conversation if we know we have something important to discuss with a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, etc.

Other times what starts out as a “normal” conversation suddenly begins to feel different, and we realize that the conversation has become crucial because opinions vary, the stakes are high, and emotions begin to run strong.

This book offers many strategies that can be helpful. It addresses questions such as:

What is lag time, and why is it so harmful to crucial conversations?
What are some ways we get distracted from the real issue we need to talk about?
What role do stories play in the creation of our feelings and actions?
How do we ensure that conversations are safe?
When a crucial conversation comes to an end, what mistakes do we often make and how can we be more skillful?

Group Meetings/Schedule

The course is called “Healthy Conflict Skills.” The group will meet for 8 sessions. We’ll meet here at the church on first and third Sundays from 1:00-2:30. There may be some adjustments due to holidays, but that’s the general plan. Our first meeting will be Sunday, October 4, and we’ll run through early to mid-January.

The book has 13 chapters, and we’ll cover 1 or 2 chapters per meeting with discussion questions for each chapter, and sometimes the discussion may incorporate activities or practices.

You will need a copy of the book (3rd edition) in time to read Chapters 1-2 before our first meeting on Oct. 4. Class size is limited to 16, so please register early. A link is included in the Sunday e-newsletter.

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 forth today, may we dedicate ourselves to relationships of fierce love and the honesty, commitment, and shared vulnerability they require.

May we dwell in that fierce love until next we gather again.

May the congregation say, amen”, and “blessed be”.

I love you fiercely. Amen.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

2026 Ingathering and Water Communion

September 8, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson & Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
September 6, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

This Sunday we begin the new church year with our annual Water Communion Service. During this beloved service, we will engage in a ritual blending of our waters to remind us of our shared faith tradition.

Welcome

“River Flows in You” (Yiruma) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

WE GATHER HERE AS INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE
Barbara Hamilton-Holway

We gather here as individual people:
young and old;
Cis, trans, and those beyond the binary;
temporarily able and disabled;
gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people,
all the colors of the human race;
theist, atheist, agnostic;
Christian, Buddhist, feminist, humanist.

We gather here as a community of people who are more than categories.

We gather here each ministering to the other, meeting one another’s strength, encouraging wholeness.

We give thanks for this extraordinary blessing-the gathering together of separate, unique individuals as one whole, one body, our church.

Here may our minds stretch, our hearts open, our spirits deepen.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Black Muddy River” (Hunter/Garcia) – The First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble & Band; Brent Baldwin, voice & guitar; Jill Csekitz, drums; Valeria Diaz, piano; Angel Roman, bass guitar

Time for all ages

THE FIRST WATER COMMUNION
Sol Cornell

NOTE: This is a AI generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Today we have a story. about a woman named Lucille Shuck Longview, and she was a Unitarian Universalist. Now our story begins in 1975, which despite what y’all might think is not that long ago, okay?

Now in 1975, Lucille went to this big important event called a United Nations Assembly, and she met a lot of cool people there, and they talked about lots of very important things. Did you know, said one person to Lucille, that the Unitarian Universalist principles only talk about mankind, and they don’t actually mention women at all? Strange,

Lucille thought. That doesn’t sound very fair. Ah, someone else chimed in, and the principles say nothing about Mother Earth either, and how we rely on her as every other creature does.

Lucille was shocked. This religious community she had always thought to be so inclusive seemed to have forgotten about a good half of the world’s population. Now, unfortunately, this was not uncommon at the time. Most other religions were about the same, and the wider community beyond was no better.

Lucille thought to herself, I can do something about this. So when she got home from the assembly, she began to make some calls. She called her friends, her community, even strangers, and she told them about the injustice she had found.

When she had enough people standing beside her, they all called up the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. They told him, excuse me, sir, it’s time we get serious about women’s equality in Unitarian Universalism. He agreed. and he asked lucille if she wanted to create the very first UU service led entirely by women.

Lucille said yes and so she got together with her friend Carolyn Mcdade. They created a new service that they called Coming Home Like Rivers to the Sea, and it was a very special service.

Now, just like we do today, Lucille and Carolyn asked all of the women participating to bring some water from far and wide, water from different rivers and lakes, oceans, and rainfalls.

On the day of the service, everyone brought their water and poured it into a great big clay bowl.

Lucille looked into this bowl of water, their combined energy, and then out at the crowd. Lucille said,

“Today we’ve come together as rivers do, from near and far, all to join the sea. Today, we create something new, something that calls women to strength, action, and expression, rather than to be quiet and passive and pretty. I wish for us all to take a piece of this personal ocean home with us. Open your bags, dig through your pockets, and pull out your bottle of perfume or makeup. Empty it out. Get rid of that product that says you are not beautiful enough or sweet enough, and fill the bottle back up with our sacred water. Our sacred water that says you are strong and powerful like a raging river. That you are expansive and loving as the ocean. You are exactly as you are meant to be. And may this water always remind you.”

Lucille and Carolyn started something very powerful that day. Powerful enough that Unitarian Universalists carry on the tradition today.

Every year we come together and we bring our water together to combine in one community.

Reading

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Washing of the Water” (Peter Gabriel) – The First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble & Band; Brent Baldwin, voice & piano; Jill Csekitz, drums; Valeria Diaz, keyboard; Angel Roman, bass guitar

Sermon

INGATHERING AND WATER COMMUNION
Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

Chris
Well, here we are again, at the beginning of a new church year – coming together for our annual ingathering.

Summer traveling to escape the heat has mostly wrapped up, though our sweltering days, apparently have not.

Our schools are back in session. Our religious education activities here at the church have ramped back up.

And so we gather together to renew our commitment and covenant with one another as a religious community. We recommit to our Unitarian Universalist faith – our values and mission as the church.

We commit to living love and building our dreams together.

And it is an exciting church year we enter now together, as we begin to live out the set of new strategic priorities, or ends, for how we will live out our mission that folks here in the church have recently articulated. Our mission and ends express the ways through which we commit to building our dreams together.

So it is with great joy that we begin our commitment to them this morning.

And so, welcome, welcome to this, our annual ingathering service, which it is our tradition to celebrate with our water communion ceremony, which Rev. Carrie will talk with us about in a moment.

First though, I would like to welcome to our ingathering, a new addition to our ministry and church life.

I am so thrilled to welcome Andrea McDaniel, who will serve as our minister intern in this new church year. Andrea is a local seminary student who is in formation to become a Unitarian Universalist minister.

Andrea, could you please come forward, so that we may formally and joyful welcome you into our ministry in loving covenant.

The work of ministry is too large for one person alone. It is a shared calling. Today, we welcome Andrea McDaniel into our community as our Ministerial Intern. An internship is a sacred time of learning, practicing, and growing.

Andrea, we welcome you to this pulpit, to our pastoral spaces, and into the entirety of religious life in this church. We covenant to learn and grow along with you.

Andrea

I come to you with an open heart, a willingness to learn, and a commitment to serve. I promise to offer you my authentic self, my growing skills, and my deep respect. I enter this covenant ready to learn the arts of ministry alongside you.

Carrie
Members and friends of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, I invite you to rise in body or in spirit and join me in reading a congregational covenant, found in your order of service and on the screens.

Congregation

We welcome you, Andrea, as our partner in ministry. We covenant to provide a safe and courageous space for your learning. We promise to listen to your voice, respect your leadership, and support your growth. We give you the freedom to succeed and the grace to make mistakes as we all do, knowing that both are necessary for learning. We pledge our cooperation, our patience, and our affection as we journey together this year.

Chris
By this covenant we welcome you, Andrea McDaniel, into the ministries of this church. We pledge to you our support and are blessed by your presence among us. May all who are present say, “Amen”

All
Amen.

Carrie
Today is our water communion and so water has been on my mind. I’ve been especially thinking a lot about estuaries, like the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary that I had the pleasure of spending time with and learning from many years ago.

Estuaries are interesting places that stay in constant transition. Where fresh water from a river meets the salty water of the Ocean.

This mixing of waters creates a dynamic eco-systems – the chesapeake bay supports over 3,600 types of species that thrive on it, that is not to mention human animals that are supported by it.

And on top of being life-giving, they are protective.

They hold back pollution that comes from the land so that it doesn’t go into the Ocean

And they protect the coastline from storms on the ocean by absorbing and dispersing the energy of the storm before it hits land.

They are powerful and beautiful places on our planet and they only exist because of the mingling of different types of water.

That feels very relevant to what we are doing today. Today in the water communion we are ritualizing what it means to bring ourselves – with our unique stories, values, and beliefs into this place.

Into community.

A pluralist community. A community centered on the care and concern for one another.

A covenantal community that aspires to hold ourselves and others gently

A community that aspires to be centered in love.

A community is like an estuary in that it is created by the mixing of different types of people. And it is like a estuary in that it can be live giving and protective.

The diversity of this community makes it possible for us to create rich thoughts, ideas, visions for the beloved community….a life giving task if ever there was one.

And because of that it grounds us in our values so that we can be motivated to act on behalf of our neighbors:

And it provides a shelter from the storms that rage.

Our covenantal community gives us the anchor that will hold us fast as the waves crash around us and the tide is pulled out from under our feet.

We bring ourselves into this place and we add to it, just as our new intern minister will add to it.

By bringing ourselves into this place, by allowing ourselves to be a part of a larger community we are co-creating a life-giving, nourishing and protective space.

Because of the power and the beauty that can happen in a community we ritualize it every year.

WATER COMMUNION RITUAL

Chris
Now we are going to consider in what way or ways the water you have brought to share and intermingle with that of your fellow members of the religious community represents what you value most deeply.

Perhaps, you have brought water from a place where you gather with your family or loved ones each year, and so it represents love and relationship, and perhaps in the case of an annual family reunion, the role that ancestors continue to play in your life.

Maybe you simply brought water from a faucet in your yard somewhere, from which you water that which you garden and grow. And so your water might represent interconnectedness with the natural world, or the wonder you find in the cycles of life, or the value of nourishing and tending other life. These are just a few examples.

Carrie
In just a moment, we will invite you to find someone nearby, preferably someone whom you did not come with today, and then share with that person, the story of your water and most importantly its meaning for you.

If you did not actually bring water today, that’s OK, we have provided extra containers of water, and you can bring into your thoughts and heart, a source of water that is significant to you and what it represents for you.

If you are not comfortable sharing verbally, that is absolutely fine too. It is OK to let folks know you would prefer to contemplate this to yourself in a kind of personal meditation.

We invite our children and youth who were with us this morning to also share with one another by finding someone close in age nearby you with whom to share.

If you have joined us virtually and have access to the comments, please feel free to share in that way, or, if you are watching with others, to talk about the meaning of the water you have brought to mind with one another.

Here in the sanctuary, we will give you a couple of minutes each to share, and will let you know when it is time to switch who is sharing. Please go ahead and find someone nearby now, and I will let you know when to begin the sharing!

Chris
Now, I will invite you to come forward with your water, and to intermingle it with the water that others have brought in one of our large vases upfront here.

Now, as our music begins to play, let our annual water communion begin.

SHARING RITUAL

Chris
All blessings upon these waters. All blessings upon each of you who have shared them.

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 leave this special time of holding
Of ingathering
Of ritualizing our contributions to community
May you feel held
May you feel renewed
May you know you are loved

Go in peace

Postlude

“The Moldau” (Smetana) – Valeria Diaz, piano

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

Ceridwen, Taliesin, and Nimble Transitions

August 31, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Bis Thornton
August 30, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Do you know the tale of the sorceress Ceridwen and the boy who stole from her Cauldron of Inspiration? Join Bis Thornton for a dive into Welsh mythology as we consider our own call to nimble transformations amidst the cycles of life.

Welcome

Prelude: “Sonatina Op 27, No 18” (Kavalebsky) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

FROM THE SEA TO STARS
Lóre Stevens

Our ancestry arose in the ancient seas, first lifeforms drinking light.
Our family evolved: senses, roots, limbs, scales, minds.
We raced across the world in glorious green,
stretched aloft the canopy, spread wings to take the skies.
We made simple tools to shape the world,
befriended our enemy, fire,
and painted horses on the cave wall.
We sang, we loved, we gazed up at the mysterious stars.
We tried to understand what had created us, why we were here,
why we suffered and how to keep what was precious.
Once again we raced across the world,
changed colors, befriended the field and the wolf.
We built shelters which grew to palaces.
We fought and died
yet still we sang. Still we mapped the constellations.
Our ancestry arose in the ancient sea
of stars.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Hanky Panky Nohow” (John Cale) – Brent Baldwin, vocals & guitar; Jill Csekitz, drums; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Valeria Diaz, piano

If the sacheting of gentlemen
Gives you grievance now and then
What’s needed are some memories of planing lakes
Those planing lakes will surely calm you down

Nothing frightens me more
Than religion at my door
I never answer panic knocking, falling
Down the stairs upon the law
What law?

There’s a law for everything
And for elephants that sing to keep
The cows that agriculture won’t allow

Hanky Panky Nohow
Hanky Panky Nohow
Hanky Panky Nohow oh

There’s a name for everything
And for elephants that sing to feed
The cows that agriculture won’t allow

Hanky Panky Nohow
Hanky Panky Nohow
Hanky Panky Nohow oh

Reading

TRUTH SERUM
Naomi Shihab Nye

We made it from the ground-up corn in the old back pasture.
Pinched a scent of night jasmine billowing off the fence,
popped it right in.
That frog song wanting nothing but echo?
We used that.
Stirred it widely. Noticed the clouds while stirring.
Called upon our ancient great aunts and their long slow eyes
of summer. Dropped in their names.
Added a mint leaf now and then
to hearten the broth. Added a note of cheer and worry.
Orange butterfly between the claps of thunder?
Perfect. And once we had it,
had smelled and tasted the fragrant syrup,
placing the pan on a back burner for keeping,
the sorrow lifted in small ways.
We boiled down the lies in another pan till they disappeared.
We washed that pan.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Coat of Many Colors” (Dolly Parton)

SermonCERIDWEN, TALIESIN, AND NIMBLE TRANSFORMATIONS
Bis Thornton

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

We’ve had a lot of storytelling today. Let’s have another one, yeah? Once upon a time, in Penhien, which is in the Vale of Glomorgan, which is a place that we in English might call Wales, there lived a man and a woman in a house in the middle of a lake.

The man was named Teged, and the woman was named Ceridwen. and together they had three children. Their eldest was a boy named Morvrin, about whom I don’t know one single thing and can’t tell you anything about him.

Their second child was a girl named Kheri, about whom I know one thing, which is that she was immensely beautiful, the most beautiful girl in the world.

And their third child was named Avagdhu, about whom I know the most.

I suppose that all of the beauty that Ceridwen could create was given to her daughter, and there was none left for her third child, for Avagdhu was his sister’s opposite. All who met him, I would not say this about a child myself, but apparently all who met him found him to be the ugliest boy they had ever seen in their lives.

And Ceridwen, yet at all, Ceridwen was saddened for her boy Avagdhu. She loved him and wanted the best for him.

And luckily, Ceridwen was a formidable sorceress, and she planned to aid her son with her magical powers. She could not change his appearance, but she could give him gifts.

Ceridwen began to boil a cauldron of magical wisdom for her son in the hopes that he would be treated well if he had knowledge of all the mysteries of the world. She set her cauldron on a flame and filled it with its beginning ingredients.

This is the part where I kind of imagine she’s caramelizing the onions, which always takes longer than you think it will. She prepared, like caramelizing onions, she prepared this cauldron to boil for one year and one day, the same amount of time it takes to caramelize onions properly.

After a year and a day, three blessed drops of this massive brew would give the gift of inspiration.

She hired two people to tend to the cauldron. One was a young boy named Guyan Bak, and the other was a blind man named Morda. Guyan Bak was to stir the cauldron, and Morda was to tend to the fire beneath it.

Each day, Ceridwen brought sprigs of charmed herbs that she had gathered according to the placement of the stars throughout the year. And so a year passed in this manner.

When the year was very nearly finished, Ceridwen arrived once more to deliver the necessary herbs and to recite their proper incantations over the cauldron. But as she dropped in a particularly large and heavy sprig, three drops splashed out, landing on the thumb of Guyan Bak as he stirred. The drops were blisteringly hot from having been boiled for an entire year, and so Guyan Bak acted without thinking. He stuck his thumb in his mouth to cool it off.

In that instant, all that is and was and ever shall be was revealed to him in a flash. From a wider perspective, I am sure he was gripped with wonder and awe by the interdependent web of existence, by the revelation of the existence of dinosaurs, by the brilliant simplicity of the invisible atoms that make up our lives, by the unbelievable future of humanity’s journey to the surface of the moon and beyond. But some other part of his mind also understood. a more immediate matter of concern. Ceridwen would surely kill him for this. And so he fled, knocking over the cauldron in his haste.

Ooh. Ceridwen saw all the toil of her year brought to nothing as the poisonous remains of the brew flooded out into the world, and she was indeed enraged, and so she gave chase.

The boy ran into a field, and Ceridwen followed on foot. When he saw her over his shoulder, he turned into a hare for its speed, but Ceridwen became a greyhound, and she was soon nipping at his heels.

The boy came upon a river, and so he dove in and turned into a fish to hide in its racing depths, but Ceridwen became an otter, and she chased him down by the flashing of his scales.

The boy saw the open sky above the river, and so he leapt out of the water and turned into a bird to fly away, but Ceridwen leapt out too and became a hawk, and she gave him no rest in the sky.

The boy was terrified, but in the distance he saw a barn, and he planned his final escape. He flew through the barn doors and became a single grain of wheat on the floor, one grain among a thousand others.

Ceridwen followed him into the barn and saw no living creature within, only the great heap of winnowed wheat. And so she became a high-crested black hen, and she scratched at the dust and the grains until she came upon her target, the grain of wheat, who was a boy. And she ate it.

Ceridwen went home victorious and returned to her human form. At which point she realized she was pregnant. She was, I know, it’s wild. Don’t eat strange wheat when you’re a chicken. I know all of you can use this advice in your daily lives.

She was certain that she was pregnant with this boy, that she would bear the boy she had pursued, and so she resolved to wait nine months and then kill him as soon as he was born. A lot of these old Celtic tales are like this, by the way.

But after the nine months came and went, and once Ceridwen had given birth to this strange son, she found she could not kill him, and so she did not. But she could not bear to be near him either, for he had stolen the gift that she had meant for her other son. And so she cast him into the sea, wrapped in leather bunting, praying that God would have mercy upon him.

I kind of imagine she understood that his gift would keep him safe, because I think saying, well, I’m not going to kill you, but I will throw you in the ocean. It’s a little intense.

Eventually, the bundle washed onto shore, where a king retrieved it. And when he opened it, as he was peeling, you know, opened the leather, he saw the boy’s shining forehead first and he exclaimed, behold, a radiant brow. And so he named the boy for his beautiful head and the baby’s name was Taliesin.

You may recognize this name or maybe not, but he grew up to be the most legendary bard in all the world who sang for many kings over 1400 years ago.

This story is relatively new to me. I’m usually up here to talk about the Bible or Greek mythology, things that I’m deeply familiar with. This one’s new to me. And as soon as I read it, I knew I had to share it.

I’m going to be really honest. I have a second half of this sermon, but the thing I felt charged to do was tell you that story today. So if nothing else sticks, that’s fine. You can get up and light candles, whatever.

But I had to share it. What a tale. And what captured me the most was that shape-shifting.

Boy turns to hair, turns to fish, turns to bird, turns into grain, and turns into a baby all over again.

A sorceress turns into a greyhound, turns into an otter, turns into a hawk, turns into a hen, turns into a new mother again for another child.

This is the time of year when church programs start coming back to life, and so I figured it’s a good time to talk about new beginnings.

But whatever is new? Every new thing brings with itself a sense of the context which birthed it.

Babies look like the people they’re related to. Wildflowers respond to the year’s conditions of rain and temperature. A new piece of art depends on the experience of the artist, the manufacture of the tools and their wear over time, the specific texture of the canvas or the wood or the paper.

And yet, the newness of these things is also real. Much like the characters in this story, they return in an odd mirror image of where they began.

The boy has become a baby, but he is a young human again rather than an animal or a piece of wheat.

The sorceress has become a mother again, although this child is a new one.

Their relationship is transformed, and Ceridwen can no longer bear to kill him.

The two of them have come back around to being a boy and a woman, but their relationship to one another is completely different. new and old, transformation and constancy, they seem to go hand in hand despite being opposites. And this has been true forever.

And it also feels true now, which is the part of forever that we’re in. And it’s true about everything. It’s true about everything that’s nourishing and beautiful in our lives. And it’s true about the harm in the world too.

When immigrants are caged by our government, it is a new head of the old hydra, reenacting this country’s history of enslavement, internment camps, incarceration, the destruction of families.

When indigenous people are captured by ICE today, it is a new head of the old hydra, finding a new way to control and relocate and kill as it has done for hundreds of years.

When trans people are humiliated by our care providers, assaulted at airports, surveilled by our government, and named predators by society, when all of this happens, we may be shocked, horrified, dismayed, afraid.

But we do a disservice to everyone by letting the powers that be trick us into thinking we’ve never heard this song and dance before.

The forces which have made it their business to do us harm are nimble. These forces shapeshift enough at least to get the ball rolling. They interweave real fears and bigoted nonsense into weapons of immense power.

They ride the waves of progress, and as soon as we come up with a new way to resist, they recuperate it and sell it back to us for a $20 a month subscription charge or whatever.

These forces are nimble, but the good news is we can be nimble too.

Today I’m telling you something I need to hear in the hopes that it will help me live a life that I want to live. I get stuck easily.

Transitions are hard for me. All of this sounds really silly because I like to think I’m doing okay up here with the spirit of chaos that has joined us this morning. And transition is an important part of my life.

But it’s true. And when plans change, it often takes me longer than the people around me to pivot alongside them.

This is a message for me. So if that sounds like you, I am right there with you.

Forcing ourselves won’t get us moving, and neither will shame.

But this story, it showed me another way, a third door out of the room of being stuck.

When I first read the story I told you today, my mind felt like it was bursting with light, like the flame of our chalice was in me, like a jack-o’-lantern shining out of my eyes, like I could feel the burst of inspiration and action acting together. all at once to turn a boy into a hare, a sorceress into a greyhound, an otter into a hawk, a little bird into a grain of wheat.

My heart and spirit and body believed in it, the beauty and freedom of being so nimble and the power it could have. The story made me feel free, and this, I think, is the power within Ceridwen’s cauldron of inspiration.

Earlier this year, Although it feels like forever ago and yesterday, organizers in Minneapolis put out a call for religious leaders to help resist ICE.

I’m proud to say that some Texan UUs answered that call. You may remember this. Our very own Reverend Carrie joined them. Thank you, Carrie.

Other Texan UUs included Texas UU Justice Ministry organizer Michelle Venegas-Matula, as well as Reverend T.J. Fitzgerald from First Unitarian Church of Dallas.

They brought back wisdom that I have been turning over in my head and in my heart and in my spirit. They brought back wisdom that lives inside of the story that I told you today. Because in Minneapolis, they had to be nimble.

Conditions changed at a moment’s notice. Communication had to be clear and concise and thoughtful, but also had to be reacted to with speed. People had to be ready to change plans, to do what needed to be done, to say yes to some new circumstances which had only just now presented themselves.

Can we, too, learn to be nimble like they are? I believe the answer is yes.

I believe that we can with all my heart. I believe that we can shake off our locked knees and frozen hearts.

I believe that inspiration will strike and we will transform and transform and transform.

And when I pray for that continuous transformation, I see a boy running through tall grass, his heart pounding with fear and with joy, his stolen gift of inspiration glowing within him like a flame.

I feel his rush of excitement as it dawns on him that he could escape on swifter feet. He imagines the speed of a hare just as he leaps and grows long rabbit legs.

He spies the river with his rabbit eyes and instantly becomes a fish.

He sees the waving sky through the sparkling surface of the water from beneath. and leaps into it, now a soft feathered little bird, free and free and free at every turn.

That gift, it could be mine, it could be ours, it could make a whole new world. Thank you.

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

Here comes the new church year. What do you think this moment asks of you, of us, of this community? Whatever it is, may the memory of Taliesin and the cauldron of Ceridwen bless you.

May the wisdom of Minneapolis and all of Texas enlighten you.

May the stories in your life inspire you. And when it is time to transform, may you take the shape required of you by love.

May it be so. Go in peace.

Postlude

“Marinera y Tondero” (Lopez Mindreau) – Valeria Diaz, piano

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

2026 Pride Sunday

August 25, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 23, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

As we celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Week here in Austin, join Rev. Chris and some of your fellow church members as we reflect on the significance in our lives and our world of this annual event and being a part of an LGBTQ+ affirming church and faith that celebrate it. In these times in which we find ourselves, such a church and faith can become a spiritual lifeline.

Welcome

Prelude: “I Will Survive” (Fekaris/Perren) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

A PROTEST AND A PARTY
Hannah Roberts Villnave

People sometimes ask, is it pride? a protest or a party?
And the answer, of course, yes.
And why not?
Why not rejoice as we resist,
dance as we demand change,
celebrate as we create community
that delights in all of who we are.

So bring all of that with you this morning.
Bring your policy demands,
bring your glitter.
Bring your Supreme Court broken heart.
Bring your rainbow socks.
Bring the emptiness you feel for our siblings gone too soon.
Bring your Gloria Estefan remix.
Bring your tender hope for change.
Bring your most garish eyeshadow.
Bring your spirit tattered and battered
by a world that seems insistent on choosing fear and hate.

Gather up all these things and bring them here to a place
where we don’t have to shoulder these burdens
or celebrate these joys alone.

Come, let us worship together.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“The Origin of Love” (Stephen Trask) – Nakia, lead vocals; w/the First UU Vocal Ensemble & Band; Brent Baldwin, guitar; Jill Csekitz, drums; Efrain Davila, bass; Valeria Diaz, piano

Reading

JESUS AT THE GAY BAR
Jay Hulme

He’s here in the midst of it,
right at the center of the dance floor.
Robes hitched up to his knees to make it easy to spin.

At some point in the evening,
a boy will touch the hem of his robe and beg to be healed.
Beg to be anything other than this.

And he will reach his arms out,
sweat damped and weary from the dance.
He’ll cup the boy’s face in his hand and say,
My beautiful child, there is nothing in this heart of yours
that ever needs to be healed.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Going to a Town” (Rufus Wainwright) – Nakia w/the First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble & Band

Sermon

PRIDE AS PROCLAMATION
Rev. Chris Jimmerson, Jim Riddle, and Jill Csekitz

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.Jim Riddle

I’m Jim Riddle. I’ve been attending services here at First UU for just over a year, but this wasn’t my first time at a UU church. I started up at Life Oak UU in Cedar Park a few years ago. That’s when I heard that Carrie was doing one of her first sermons there. And it piqued my interest. I decided to check it out.

So that first Sunday after the sermon, I sat down at a table with a whole group of folks who were just bustling away in lively conversation. But I found it super easy to just jump in with them. and quickly learned how diverse everyone’s spiritual backgrounds were. We had Christians, pagans, agnostics, atheists, and Buddhists all at the same table and speaking the same language of spiritual and intellectual curiosity.

I soon realized that the UU Church was different. It was a place of spiritual kinship where good faith ideas can be openly discussed. Though I was still closeted at the time, I loved that everyone, especially queer folks, are always affirmed and cared for at the church. Not tolerated or accepted or looking the other way, but a faith that actively celebrates who we are, our unique perspectives, and fights for social justice.

In 2023 I was working through some post-traumatic stress stuff through a form of therapy called EMDR. EMDR helped me put traumatic memories from my past into the past where they belong. And on the other side of that, I realized it was time for the next big chapter in my healing journey. It wasn’t easy to come out to friends and family after hiding for so long. But luckily for me, everyone in my life was supportive and I was definitely glad that I did.

But then by early 2025, I had hit another rough patch. I hadn’t been to church in a while. I was processing a lot of grief and dating was not going well. I was experiencing a whole sexual identity crisis and a bit of internalized homophobia too. That’s when I found PFLAG through Meetup. PFLAG meets here at the church. The group is led by, at least at the time, Anna Nguyen and Leo Collis, our own Leo. They meet here anyway. I highly recommend for anyone starting their queer journeys. It has helped me gain a lot of perspective on my queer identity. And I also found community. that helped me move forward towards self-acceptance.

A few months after that, I was semi-regular here at First UU. It suddenly dawned on me after I’d been here a bit that I was coming back week after week.

Why is that, you know?

Well, it’s because I actually enjoyed being here. Who would have thought? I was being spiritually fed by the sermons. and socially fed by all the awesome new people I was meeting. Then at the end of July I signed up for a vocal workshop here at First UU where i was immediately invited to sing with the church choir for last year’s pride sunday with the full three days to practice.

I said sure I’ll sing with you. That is how it goes sometimes in the First UU choir I actually got pretty excited about that Pride service. It was my first time celebrating as an openly queer man, and I invited my mom at lunch one day, but her vacant stare told me she had doubts, so I decided to leave it be.

That Sunday was full of joy and beautiful music. Tears formed as I heard powerful stories from people like me right here. And that’s when I knew that I am safe here, that I am loved here, and that I belong here.

At the end of the service, everyone was singing and dancing to I Will Survive, our opening song today. So there I am. It was supposed to be more dramatic. singing my little heart out, clapping along, and having a good old time. And that is when I saw my mom sneak in through the main doors there and join in the celebration. More tears. So many tears. Tears of acceptance, tears of joy, and tears of pride.

Following that Pride Sunday, I met many wonderful new friends through this choir. We then found more friends in Howson Hall, and to this day, we sit together nearly every Sunday, engrossed in conversations, supporting each other through struggles, and also there’s some pretty decent comedy in the group.

I’d also like to mention a couple of groups that helped me along the way here at the church. The LGBTQ Community Heart Circle, third Sundays, y’all, every third Sunday. It’s kind of a next-level exploration into a lot of powerful topics that affect our community. The conversations there, the supportive environment, the leaders, Leo and LB, thank you, they help us elicit curiosity, reflection, and true vulnerability in a space that really feels safe for us.

I also want to thank the grief support group here at the church helped me through a lot of that grief that I mentioned earlier. You know, I had lost my cat and lost my job and was going through some difficult family boundaries. It was a lot. And the grief support group really helped.

And so like I’ve got all this support from the grief group and the choir and the LGBT group and my friends here at the church. And looking at all that, I now realize that we are what makes the church special.

Now I know that I am home. Thank you.

Jill Csekitz

Nobody rocks a fan like a gay man. Am I right?

My name is Jill Csekitz. I’m the drummer here. I’m also a board member. And surprise, I’m a lesbian. All right, so Happy Pride, everyone.

I’m going to talk briefly about what it means to be a queer person in this church. When I first started thinking about this, the most immediate thought that occurred to me was, it’s no big deal to be gay here. However, that in itself is a really big deal.

In this church, you can be gay and still be the drummer, a board member, a minister, a lay leader, really anything. You can fully participate in all church activities as your true, authentic self. What a concept.

This is also what true acceptance and belonging looks like. It means you don’t have to change who you are in order to fit in, participate, and get to know one another.

In this church, acceptance and belonging extends well beyond sexual orientation and gender identity to other groups as well. All ages. all abilities and disabilities, different races, and religious backgrounds. In essence, we, this church, and all of you, are living the concept of pride is for everyone, which is how I think pride is best celebrated.

True acceptance and belonging means we need to show up for each other, all of us, for the many needs and critical issues occurring during our time. In my 11 years as a member here, the church and its network community have provided a lot of opportunities to show up for one another.

Here are a few examples.

One year, I played drums for the UU Choir. It’s a theme, isn’t it? For an event raising funds for Drive a Senior during the holiday season. The event was especially memorable for me. At the time, I had aging parents who had difficulty driving, and I was having a very difficult time being a caregiver. Because I did the gig coming straight from our work holiday party, my outfit was seriously out of place, and I was seriously underdressed, even for me. While I was wearing my favorite Texas Longhorn Santa hat and ugly sweater, featuring a cat with antlers, lights, and jingle bells, Everyone else was dressed in their choir best and looked totally amazing.

Although not intentional, that event was certainly an example of me showing up and participating as my true authentic self. Regardless of what we all were wearing, we rocked the gig, had a great time, and raised a bunch of money for Drive a Senior.

We show up for each other in other more serious ways, too. Legislative session after session, we show up when bills are inevitably introduced that threaten our shared values and harm our community. The legislative topics extend well beyond LGBTQ plus issues. We show up in person at the Capitol, we drop cards, we call our representatives, write emails, attend protests, attend vigils, the whole nine yards.

The Texas UU Justice Ministry and the church’s Social Action Committee do an amazing job of keeping us informed and providing opportunities for action. If you haven’t yet participated in these groups, I encourage you to do so. Through our collective efforts, we have done a lot of good in the community and have helped fend off hundreds of harmful bills.

Unfortunately, we are all aware of the dire status of our state and nation. The struggle never ends. There is plenty to worry and be concerned about. far beyond the price of gas and groceries, although these are real concerns, too.

The good news is we have each other and we have each other’s backs. Although the struggle continues, our salvation is achievable through solidarity and supporting one another.

In closing, happy pride, everyone. Be yourself. Have fun. Laugh at yourself occasionally. Now, let’s all get to work.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson

Thanks so much, Jill, and thanks so much, Jim. I kind of wish I weren’t speaking now. That was so powerful.

As you all just heard, having a spiritual home like First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin and an event like Pride where LGBTQ plus folks can be our true authentic selves, where we find acceptance, affirmation, belonging. This can be so vital.

This morning, especially in light of the times in which we find ourselves, which Jill mentioned, I find myself reflecting on how it can be truly a spiritual lifeline for us.

One of the things that can be hard to fully apprehend sometimes if one has not experienced long-term systemic oppression is This way in which you start to constantly self-monitor and to continually scan your environment and the approach of others toward you when you perceive that your own well-being may well be persistently at threat.

That’s right. For LGBTQ plus folks, this hyper vigilance where our flight or fight response is almost always on often starts at a very young age and becomes embedded because Young LGBTQ plus children sense a threat to family and social connections that can mean our survival, both emotionally and quite literally, if our authentic selves were to be perceived, again, can be threatened.

And it comes at great cost. Research has found that this ongoing state of self and environmental surveillance floods the body with cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to psychological and physical distress, depression, trauma, difficulty concentrating, sleep problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, just to name a very few.

And over time, it can result in what is sometimes called allostatic load. This can lead to what’s called weathering, the literal wearing away of the body due to continuous adaptation to chronic stressors. This happens with other oppressed groups as well.

In plainer language, I know even for me, it can just start to wear me out. I get so damn tired of the BS. Bigoted stupidity. Or a curse word if you prefer.

I can get impatient with the pace of change because despite the progress that’s been made, that need for hyper-vigilance often continues, especially in these times when the currently dominant political force in this country seems hell-bent on sending us backwards. I can even start to wonder if events like Pride really will make any difference in our larger social and political context.

Let me give you just a few examples. Right now, today, If my husband Woodrow and I were to drive an hour to an hour and a half in most any direction from here, and we forgot, let our guards down, acted in overtly physically affectionate ways in a public place like a restaurant with each other, we could quite literally be in danger.

We have to be vigilant.

Though one case failed, LGBTQ plus hate groups are pushing other legal cases, challenging marriage equality through the lower courts with the hope of reaching the Supreme Court and snagging the votes of just a few more conservative justices so that they can take away the legal marriage that Woodrow and I only just entered into back in March. That would break our hearts. and deprive us of numerous legal protections and financial safeguards that other couples enjoy.

We have to be vigilant.

In so many other religious denominations and faiths even today, I could not serve as your minister or a spiritual leader of any kind unless I hid or denied myself of the insanely head-over-heels love I feel for Woodrow. I couldn’t be my most authentic self in my role as minister, which I believe would make me ultimately a less effective spiritual leader. Love is too important a part of who we are to be denied like that.

That’s why I am so blessed. to serve a faith and a church where I can offer my whole authentic self and why I strive hard to do so every day because in this day and age we have to be vigilant.

I am so blessed that a few years back when the spouse I lost, Wayne, got sick and went into hospice and later died, That I was serving this faith and this church where I could be honest about what I was going through and I was supported and I was able to take the time I needed to take care of him and then to take care of myself as I grieved.

I didn’t have to be vigilant and I will be forever grateful for that.

This is why events like LGBTQ plus pride are so vital. They create a space where, at least for a while, we can let our guards down. We can be our authentic selves. We don’t have to be vigilant. And I believe that this, I have to believe, that it makes a difference in our society and our polity also.

This is why having a faith like Unitarian Universalism and a church like this one are so vital. To pursue spiritual growth and transformation requires a religious community and a faith where we don’t have to be hyper-vigilant all of the time, where we find belonging, where we can all proclaim who we are without fear, where we show up for each other. The allostatic load is unburdened. The weathering begins to reverse.

And as you heard earlier, we are making a societal political difference too. Happy pride, my beloveds. May we always be that welcoming, affirming, inclusive religious community where pride is for everyone.
I am so proud of this faith of ours.
I am so proud of this church.
I am so proud of you.

Blessed be. Amen.

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, let us carry with us a sense of fierce love that creates a place of fulfillment. affirmation, and a spirit at rest for all. Let us build the beloved community where pride in who we are includes every single person, not just for a day or a week, but for every moment of every day, of every week, of every year, everywhere, and always. May the congregation say amen. And blessed be,

I love you fiercely. Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

The Work of Our Times

August 17, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
August 16, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

One of our new ends challenges us to see ourselves as a congregation made up of ALL the people who attend the church and to prioritize the spiritual nourishment of that diverse congregation. Join Rev. Carrie as she explores this good, holy, and timely work and how we might both do it and benefit from it.

Welcome

Prelude: “Barcarolle” (Chopin) – Maurício Starosta, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

FREEDOM FROM DOUBT
Paul Stephan Dodenhoff

The freedom to doubt, to question, to be content to live in Mystery is central to the liberal religious tradition. Like the process of evolution itself, the path that we follow – our practice, if you will – is not easy or simple. It isn’t without its dead ends or its disappointments. It doesn’t guarantee that all our conclusions will be final or that we will ever find an answer to all of our questions. But also like the process of evolution, it is filled with great expressions of beauty and awe that are sometimes born of great struggle and at other times come as unexpected Grace.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Carry On” (Stephen Stills) – Brent Baldwin, voice & guitar

One morning I woke up and I knew
You were really gone
A new day, a new way, and new
eyes to see the dawn
Go your way,
I’ll go mine and
Carry on

The sky is clearing and the night
Has gone out
The sun, he come, the world
is all full of light
Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but
To carry on

The fortunes of fables are able
To sing the song
Now witness the quickness with which
We get along
To sing the blues you’ve got to live the tunes and
Carry on

Carry on
Love is coming
Love is coming to us all

Stewardship Testimonial

Toni Kennedy

Hello everyone, I am Tony Kennedy I have been going to this church for about a little over a year now and I would just like to tell you some words about why I’ve chosen this beloved community to be my home

I will start this testimony with a quote my dad often says: “Where science ends, religion begins.” I never truly understood what that meant when he first told me that at 11 years old.

All I knew was that life had many questions, from why is the grass green to how do memories get created, the ones everyone asks, like why are we here or what is the meaning of life?

Asking these questions in a traditional church made you feel like you were a heretic or they would simply get ignored. You would be told to just go read the bible and pray and I did but to no avail these questions still remained and I felt no closer to enlightenment after years of my religious journey going from denomination to denomination from religion to religion like a spiritual nomad trying to find a home.

I found a friend L.B, and they introduced me to Universalist Unitarianism a place where we don’t paint our faith with one color we create a rainbow of faith from every walk of life and every faith community, where questions are explored, not ignored, or minimized. They say, that question’s interesting, let’s dig deeper. Or, I don’t know, but let’s find out together.

Universalist Unitarianism is where the divine is in everything, not just a god. And our Bible is each other that we get to read every day, whether in these walls or miles away.

And with that, I am proud to be a UU and glad to call this place home, where I can learn how different people interpret where their religion begins when science ends. Now with this community around me, I understand my dad’s words more than ever.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Reading

A FAITH OF HOLY CARTOGRAPHERS
Teresa Youngblood

I don’t want a smoothed-out, disproportionately aggrandized faith that attempts to draw all comers to its one self-righteous place at the top of the map of humanity, leaving the messiness of their upbringings and lived realities behind them. Instead, I want an imaginative and wandering faith of holy cartographers, eager encounterers who pay exquisite attention to the terrain and the systemic forces that shape it. Leaders who meet people where they are, approach them with curiosity, hold lightly to their own individual stories, and are willing to be surprised and delighted and moved by what they discover in the treasure trove of another.

This cannot happen with assimilation; it has to be transformation. We all have to be aiming for transformation, and to be willing to be guided not by positions and placeholders but by principles held in covenant, and to which anyone of loving intention can guide us back. The old, top-heavy map simply cannot get us there….

Could we teach one another how to do this! Could we make the foundation of our faith development learning how to inhabit an open and curious presence, by rooting firmly in our own mutual belovedness as it is so beautifully articulated in the Universalist half of our heritage? I want us to heal one another through our fiercely compassionate presence so that we can chart a different path as a matter of lived theology. So that we can caringly release the old one-directional paths that aren’t broad enough for all of us to accompany one another.

I think this degree of spiritual security and resiliency could be what gets us there, what frees our souls to encounter the sacred terrain of one another’s experiences. What we discover and share could be our new map, more complete and truer than the one we were handed and that we didn’t know we could leave behind. This could be how we grow our new way together.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Prelude in C” (Bach) – Maurício Starosta, piano

Sermon

THE WORK OF OUR TIMES
Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

About a year..ish ago the stewardship committee had people write what they love about the church on multi-colored hearts and then they put them up in Howson Hall. It was beautiful…a good portion of the east wall was covered in these hearts. They said things like I love “community”, seeing my friends, my small group, learning, chalice circles, wellspring, OWL, Kids RE, the music!, social justice, bagels! Over and over people expressed these sentiments.

There were two that said “sermons”
Now, at the time that was a bit of a humbling experience but now its actually become a calming tool…. when I’m stressing about a sermon and start to spiral I think “only three people care about this and one of them is me.” Humility is a grounding practice.

Church is so many different things to different people. Some people come because they have found a community and want to catch up with friends. Some come because they like to have a quiet start to their week or they want to hear amazing music.
Others want a place to go where they can join up with social justice efforts. Or have a place for their children to get a foundation in a values based religion of love!

People engage with this space in many different ways but I think ultimately it’s all with one purpose

Its all for the purpose of being nourished.

And because we are a church …
and more importantly a religion of shared responsibility… that task is ours to do. All of ours to do.

Yes, its Rev. Chris, Brent’s, mine, Shannon’s job to do but that mission, of transforming lives, nourishing souls and doing justice to build the beloved community….

That mission…if you have chosen to accept it ….

That mission is yours as much as it is mine.

Which means we have to make that mission actionable. Now Both Rev. Chris and I have been talking a lot about our new ends. Or rather the goals that were created through all that work the board and y’all did last year. These four goals y’all came up with, are how we make our mission actionable. They will help us to know where to put our focus, our energy, and our resources.

Our second end, the end I am talking about today says “We are an intergenerational church that invests in and priorities spiritual nourishment for all.

For all.

For those seeking community
For those who want to see their friends
For those needing a bit of quiet contemplation before the week begins
For those wanting to dive into their spirituality
For those who want to form and reform their faith and values to meet
the moment.
For those who are looking at the precious kids in their lives and seeing the encroachment of christian nationalism into their schools and wanting to give them a strong foundation that is based in love to counter all that they will be exposed to.
And for those that are in those class rooms having to face that fascism
and wanting a foundation that as our reading by Teresa Youngblood said

“is without attempting to draw all comers to its one self-righteous place at the top of the map of humanity”

Spiritual nourishment for all

Its so beautiful

And…..Its so big
Such a big task.

But instead of getting overwhelmed with the enormity of it
I focus on the “We”

We are an intergenerational church – whether you are on the playground right now or the nursery or in this space… we are an intergenerational church

We invest in the spiritual nourishment of all
We prioritize the spiritual nourishment for all

Because ….

People come to church to get nourished

Because
life is hard
Lets face It is hard to be a person…even on a good day its hard

Its hard to live in a world that feeds you into an algorithm and then sells all your insecurities back to you.
All Your fears

And when you are an informed compassionate person
Its hard to live in a world where so many people are being harmed
Where the powerful operate only in their own interest
Causing harm
Enacting violence
Its hard to live in a world where there is no accountability or recourse for all of the harm
And its hard to be a target of all that harm and violence

Its all so hard

Because it is hard we need a place that will nourish our spirits

And WE are that place because WE invests in and prioritizes exactly that.

In their book Another Way, Stephen Lewis, Matthew Williams and Dori Baker remind us that the word religion comes from the latin re-ligare which means to reconnect. They write

“religious leaders are called to reconnect us to the profound, the inescapable mutuality of life that is deep within us and between us.”

Sounds like Spiritual Nourishment doesn’t it

They go on to say

“That which transcends and guides with us to work on behalf of shaping a more hopeful future. A future [that] assumes that all of us, not just religious leaders, have a calling and that we are all called to participate in shaping the world beyond ourselves.”

In this end we have called ourselves
To hold one another so that we are not defeated by all that is hard
To help one another so that together we can dream big, we can have the resilience to show up
To be brave
To be in solidarity.
To do justice to build the beloved community.

Heck just to thrive in this one precious life we got.

But what does that look like practically speaking
How can we do this profound and good work…?

We make sure that opportunities for spiritual nourishment can happen.

I am over adult religious education and I manage Sol who is the religious education manager for pre-k through 12th grade.

We have spent a lot of time this past year talking about what people in the church needs and we have come up with so much.

But mostly we come back to the fact that we need each other. Often in this building we have the kids back there, often with their parents volunteering and all us older folks in here.

And all too often never the two shall meet.

But we need each other. I want my own kids to know that there are adults that are interesting and wise that they can rely on that aren’t their parents.

And y’all we need the younger folks because they are as Issac said in his sermon a few weeks ago, usually on the right side of history. They are pushing us to live more into our values. I hope you were able to see the youth service a few weeks back but if you haven’t you really ought to check it out. The kids and youth of this church have so much to teach us.

We all can benefit from each other.

But getting us all together can be a challenge. Its a challenge to bring us all together. And while we as staff have made lots of small changes over the last year to make kids feel more comfortable in the sanctuary there is still division.

We will continue to address that so that kids know that belong here just as much as anywhere else in the church and more importantly that they want to belong here.

And of course some of that division is good.
As I said earlier we all come to church for different reasons and because of that we will need different ways in which to be nourished

Our needs may often physically and programmatically divide us but our mission isn’t divided.

We need each other.
But we can’t do it alone and parents shouldn’t always have to volunteer to make sure we have a pre-k through 12 religious education program.

We need those of you who don’t have kids or whose kids are older and out of the house to invest and prioritize the spiritual nourishment of our youth. Meaning I need you to volunteer. Not always but sometimes.

And you know what, you need them too. Listen, there is something deeply spiritually nourishing about being around kids. And because of that It is not a sacrifice to spend a Sunday morning with them, it can be a symbiotic relationship.

Kids are interesting, they are often weird,
their frame of reference and understanding of the world is so different than ours.
Often much less jaded.
Its so refreshing. And who doesn’t need some of that for the ol’ spirit?

Besides, how can we dream up a future together if we don’t know one another?

So do yourself a favor and invest in and prioritize our kids. Their spiritual nourishment. Volunteer volunteer volunteer!

And as the person over adult religious education. Invest in and prioritize adults too….

We all need nourishment
And
We have different needs.

This is why we try our best to provide so many different avenues of religious education.

From one-off class on “what does the bible say about” to monthly vespers to short series on specific topics – to small group ministries

And all of those things are made possible because people like you offered to lead and in some cases like the, health relations team, to create and lead.

Y’all we have a big task we have set for ourselves and to do it WE need facilitators

Specifically we need facilitators for small groups. Small groups are some of the most profound experiences people can have in a church.

Small groups allow you to connect deeply with a group of people with whom you are learning from and growing with.

And there is something very powerful about small group that exist in a pluralistic tradition because we are not asked to grow the same but we asked to support one another as we are developing our own faith identity. Its such a beautiful thing and one that makes life and our beliefs so much richer.

We are meant to be with one another after all.

We have two small group opportunities coming up.

Our new intern will hold a Wellspring Sources group this church year. Sources is a way to explore various aspects of theology and belief while you refine your own. Sign ups as always are in church center or the newsletter.

You can also sign up through your friendly neighborhood assistant minister who never wants technology be a barrier to entry. Just let me know and we will figure it out.

We also have several Chalice Circles open right now. These are small groups that meet once a month throughout the church year to practice deep listening. The purpose of the groups are to be a place where we can discern for ourselves what our inner guide, inner voice, intuition, or inner wisdom might have for us.

It is also about being introduced to and trying on new spiritual practices. The people who have been involved in these chalice circles can tell you about how profoundly the groups have impacted their lives.

And if you aren’t sure its for you, come by room 15 today at 12:30 for a taste of soul. We will have pizza and lead you through an abbreviated chalice circle together.

There are many ways to engage in spiritual nourishment and there are many ways we could engage in nourishment.

So many ways we do and could do the work of religion
To do the work of reconnecting
To do the work of saying centered and grounded in these times
Of being spiritually nourished

It only takes those of us who are called to lead to do so. To raise your hand …or rather send me an email.

And it’s takes you doing, what Rev. Erin Walter calls, the spiritual practice of reading your newsletter.

The Sunday newsletter is the one that will let you know what offerings are available and how you can sign up.

So volunteer
Read your newsletter
Sign up for things
Or ask me or other for help signing up for things

Invest and prioritize the spiritual nourishment of yourselves
And your neighbor

Because things are hard
And we need a place to connect and reconnect
We need a place that gives us the tools to grow and thrive
We need to place that helps us build resilience and community so that we can face whatever it is that will come our way

And I know this because this is what y’all created. This is what you said, as a body through hours and hours of small group session, surveys, and one-on-ones.

Y’all have said that
We as a church of shared responsibility want to invest in

Want to prioritize

The spiritual nourishment of all
as we live out our mission in the world.

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 leave the sacred time of being together, I hope you feel nourished. I hope you feel loved. And I hope when things get hard throughout the week, you can return to that place because you are so deeply loved.
Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

The Interdependent Web of UU Faith

August 10, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 9, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

As we continue this second in a series of services on the ways (called “ends”) we have prioritized for living our mission as a religious community, we will explore our second end, “We are an intergenerational church that invests in and prioritizes spiritual nourishment for all.” As we live out the part of our mission that says we ‘nourish souls’, this end encourages us to both embrace difference and celebrate unity in order to do so.

Welcome

Prelude: “The Girl With the Flaxen Hair”

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

WE UNITE IN OUR DIFFERENCES
Rev. David Breeden

We unite in our differences in background & belief;
We unite with gratitude and hope:
Hope for a world of differences;
Hope for a world that honors difference;
We unite in community
With gratitude for difference.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“The Call” (Vaughn Williams)

Reading

Our soul does not grow only in solitude.
We find our faith in community; our spirit in relationship –
When a child expresses wisdom we had forgotten.
When an elder shares stories that remind us from whence we came.
When our youth rouse our faith toward action.
When a beloved from a different culture opens a window for us that allows a gust of new perspective on our world to blow through us.
Then, do our individual uniquenesses nourish one another’s souls.
Then, does our collective unity invite each of our spirits to soar,
As together, we move one another toward knowing God.

by anonymous author

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Bach Prelude in C”

Sermon

THE INTERDEPENDENT WEB OF UU FAITH
Rev. Chris Jimmerson

Imagine for a moment that on every wall of the fellowship hall here at the church, and all down the hallways to the very back of the church through our religious education wing and over every empty space in every classroom and every nook and cranny in the church, hung sections of a giant handmade quilt that had been stitched together by every single person since the founding of this church, one quilt square representing each and every one of us.

Of course, even all of that space would not be enough to display such an enormous quilt in a church whose ancestors go back for more than a century.

Imagine if it were possible though – on this quilt, might be carefully embroidered pieces with intricate patterns, simple scraps of denim, bits of flannel, babies pajamas and more.

One square might be from the work shirt an original founder wore when breaking ground for our first sanctuary.

Another might be from the bright purple dress someone wore as a teenager when she participated in the coming of age service, yet another might contain an inlay of drawings that our children made just last year for the stewardship campaign.

There would be pieces representing different cultures, languages, life experiences – perhaps a rainbow flag on one square and a Black Lives Matter emblem on another.

It would be an ever-growing quilt, the older pieces reminding us where we come from, the newer squares continually expanding our spiritual horizons, the multitude of cultures, races and life experiences represented within the patchwork forming a rich and dazzling array of shapes and colors, anchoring us in the understanding that we can only realize the full depth and breath of our Unitarian Universalist faith through embracing the beautiful diversity of our differences.

The individual pieces of this perpetually expanding patchwork of souls representing each of our divine uniquenesses; the quilt as a whole powerfully holding our combined unity and interconnectedness.

This was an image I got as I meditated on the second of four priorities (or ends statements) that folks in this religious community have established recently for how we will live out the mission that we say together every Sunday.

Today, we will be exploring the second of those ends statements,

“We are an intergenerational church that invests in and prioritizes spiritual nourishment for all.”

If you are visiting with us today, I hope this exploration will reveal at least some of who we are as a religious community and a faith movement.

Now, last Sunday, Rev. Carrie began demonstrating the whole church activities and programs we might undertake to implement this end, when she had folks participate in various activities of church life throughout different areas of the church building for our Sunday service.

And you’ll hear even more next Sunday, when she addresses our religious education programs and small group ministries.

For today, I’d like us to reflect for a while on why this end is so vital to our values and mission as a faith community.

I want to delve into this because I think the congregation expressing this end involves a profound shift in mindset concerning how we think about religious education and how we do church more broadly.

If we say that we invest in and prioritize spiritual nourishment for all, that means that, yes, we invest financially in religious education, nourishing souls, transforming lives, for people of all ages, backgrounds, life experiences, including differing experiences with race and culture.

We invest in not only restoring the staffing cuts we’ve had to make in recent years in our religious education department, but also the staffing we will need to grow our faith and our church into the future.

However, investing and prioritizing means more than just doing so financially.

It means we invest in all of this as a way of being in the entirety of our church life.

It means that we form a mindset that religious education, spiritual nourishment, faith formation is not just something that happens over there in that wing at back of the church where the classrooms and nursery are.

It means redefining what we consider religious education to invest in it beyond traditional classroom activities – it mean including in it, worship, spiritual practices, doing justice, all the faith activities of this church, including for our children and youth – sometimes engaged in as separate age groups and at other times done with all of our generations together.

So, your children’s RE one Sunday morning might involve children’s chapel, or age-appropriate spiritual practices, rather than classic classroom activities.

And speaking of our children and youth, and even though I know we UUs are normally opposed to censorship, one mindset I want to propose that we ban is that thing those of us well beyond our youth or childhood sometimes blithely like to say, “the children and youth are our future.”

As theological professor and faith educator Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka wrote,

while they may be a part of the future of the church, more importantly, our children and youth are “… the church today… the church right now.”

We risk diminishing our investment in the children and youth of today if relegate their value to being instruments of some future church legacy. Their inherent worthiness already exists and invites their current, full, active participation in the whole of this religious community right now.

Oh, and while I am proposing bans, let’s also ban shushing other people’s children.

OK, that brings us to how being an “intergenerational church” is so central to our ability to nourish souls and transform lives, as well as how “spiritual nourishment for all” necessarily requires multiculturalism.

Several years ago now, many of us within Unitarian Universalism participated in a faith formation training on the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity.

Slide

A lot of us took a test or inventory for where we were within the model’s framework that you see here for recognizing and valuing cultural/racial differences on a continuum from denial to adaptation.

Now, we can’t go into it in detail today, and like all models, this one has its short comings. It lacks an analysis of power and may be overly linear.

One real gift it offers us though, is pathways through which we might come to value both our common humanity and important cultural differences.

Now, the majority of Unitarian Universalists fell into the minimization area of the continuum, which is not bad, especially compared to the general population.

In minimization, folks do tend to see our similarities and commonalities.

So for instance, someone in minimization would likely recognize that race is a social construct that in this country was promoted by the wealthy and powerful to keep black slaves and poor whites from joining together in common cause and shared humanity to rebel against the injustices each were suffering.

So, in minimization, we would recognize that race is a false construct and embrace that genetically we are all astoundingly similar.

What we miss, if we remain in minimization though, is that after so many years of living within this construct, false though it may be, profound cultural differences have developed depending upon a people’s lived experience of racial labels and racism, not to mention the beautiful ancestral cultures that folks have carried forward from before this false construct was forced up on us.

And embracing these differences along with our common humanity is not only necessary for reconciliation and dismantling that very construct of racism, it also offers valuable wisdom and creativity, that when shared across the cultural divides that racism has created, can help bring healing and spiritual nourishment and growth to all.

So, here, in our church, our faith development is stunted at best without the embrace and integration of antiracism, anti oppression and multiculturalõsm.

Our differences can nourish one another’s souls.

Like in the image of the church quilt we began with imagining, the multitude of cultures, races, life experiences represented within the patchwork form a rich and dazzling array of multicultural embrace vital to fulfilling our Unitarian Universalist faith.

And as our quilt image also illustrates and our new ends statement makes explicit, another aspect of this beautiful diversity lies between and among our different generations – spiritual nourishment for all is to be found within intergenerational faith activities and interactions throughout the whole church and our religious life together.

Faith formation is not simply information to be poured into our heads in classrooms. It is the sharing of wisdom. Generations exploring life’s biggest questions together – practicing justice and compassion together – renewing hope together.

And an extraordinary blessing of this intergenerational, whole church mindset and approach is that it sometimes spurs this surprising, unplanned and unexpected spiritual movement of fierce love within us all on its own – if we only let it. If we just stop shushing our neighbors’ children.

Some of you may have heard me tell this story before from a time when I witnessed this happening.

Many years ago now, when I was a ministerial intern, I was assigned to coordinate the annual Christmas pageant.

Unlike the no rehearsal pageant we do here, this one came with a complete script, pre-assigned roles, lines and songs to be learned, full costumes, props, and simple set pieces to be built representing the nativity scene for the story of Jesus’ birth.

Our cast included folks ranging in age from pre-schoolers all the way through to an amazing woman in her mid-eighties who served as a sort of makeshift stage manager and self-appointed executive producer.

One of my challenges during the several rehearsals that we did was to help the younger children playing the animals in the stable to remember that there were imaginary walls around the little platform we had constructed to represent the stable.

On several occasions, a cow or camel walked right through one of those imaginary walls, bringing the rehearsal to a temporary halt so that we could go back and reset with all humans and critters in their proper places.

On the Friday before we were scheduled to present the pageant for our Sunday service, a 20 year old gunman armed with assault weapons broke into Sandy Hook elementary and murdered 20 children ages 6 and seven, as well as six adults.

After much deliberation, we decided to begin the Sunday service with a time for addressing and grieving this horrific event and then to go forward with the pageant, given its healing message.

I could feel the intense heaviness and sense of sorrow that folks were carrying as we shared a time of silent meditation and prayer for all of the lives lost and those mourning their children and loved ones.

And after the silence, the music for the pageant began.

We got to about halfway through the pageant, when one of the children costumed as a cat in our imaginary stable, got so caught up in the pageant song we were singing, that she stood up and started dancing.

She did a sort of stumbling twirl right through one of our imaginary walls, whirling around in balletic circles right in front of our carefully staged nativity scene.

She was about the same age as the children who had been killed at Sandy Hook.

She kept dancing. The music kept playing. The people kept singing. At one point the song almost faltered – the children mesmerized by the little girl’s impromptu ballet; the adults nearly overcome with emotion.

We kept on singing, and the little girl kept her ballet afloat, and our spirits were dancing through fierce love to immense grief and back again in small, fragmentary slivers of time.

And in those small, fragmentary slivers of intergenerational worship turned unexpectedly transformative, fragmentary slivers of spiritual hope and healing began to be born. III I am so thankful that no adult tried to “such” her.

A little girl’s dancing broke the rules and broke through the fog of faith having been so severely tested.

This the power of intergenerational church that invests in and prioritizes spiritual nourishment for all.

May we make it so.

Amen.

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

For our benediction, I leave you with the words of theologian and educator John Westeroff:

“Faith is not taught; it is caught through shared life across generations and life experiences.”

May the congregation say, “Amen” and “Blessed be”

I love you fiercely. Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

Choose your own Adventure

August 5, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
August 2, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

This Sunday we are going to worship a little bit differently, this intergenerational service will start out in the sanctuary for some worship, and then members have the choice of one of six activities to do throughout the church. The audio of this service features “Songs of Resistance” lead by singer/songwriter Sarah Bentley.

Welcome

Prelude: “Minuet from Sonata Op 49” (Beethoven) – Valeria Diaz, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Stewardship Testimonial

Choose Your Adventure

Intergenerational activities

Sing Songs of Resistance with Sarah Bentley
Build Community Care Bags for Austin Street Medics
Create values-based art
Immigration Solidarity
Intergenerational Democracy Work
Grounding Meditation Practice

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

I do my justice work and I chase joy so I hope today that the joy that you feel the love that you feel the whatever warm glowing feelings that you feel you will take throughout the week with you and mostly I hope that you always always remember that you are held in love.

Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

No One Is Getting Left Behind

July 31, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
July 26,2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Whether we are talking about an authoritarian crisis or a physical crisis, all of us need each other to survive and thrive. This Sunday Rev. Carrie explores this topic and prepares us for an emergency response. As part of the service, we will all participate in a fire drill, which will be rewarded with great music from Parker Woodland, popsicles, and (possibly) firefighters.

Welcome

Prelude: “Last Song on Earth” (Parker Woodland)

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

A PERSON IS A PERSON THROUGH OTHER PERSONS
Bishop Desmon Tutu

A person is a person through other persons. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think or walk or speak or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are.

Hymn

“No One is Getting Left Behind” (Joshua Blaine)

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Moment for Beloved Community

Good morning. I am David Overton, and Wendy Erisman and I are the co-chairs of our first UU Democracy Pillar. We’ve restarted the Democracy Pillar because, as we all know too well, in 2026, our democracy is under severe threat.

In fact, a fire drill is a great analogy for what we’re experiencing. So we plan several actions leading up to the November elections, all of them nonpartisan. And you are invited and encouraged to participate in all of these.

First is voter registration. If you’re not registered, you can register at the table in the gallery. It’ll be there every week until the election. And if you are or if you think you’re registered, you can check to be sure at that table.

Second, we’ll be writing postcards. And those are to registered voters who didn’t vote in the last… to encourage them to vote this time. Bob and Victoria Hendricks are coordinating this and their goal, this is incredible, but the goal is to complete and mail 40,000 postcards.

Third is poll monitoring. This is to keep an eye on the polls during the November election and to help ensure, to help answer questions from voters. We’ll be providing poll monitoring training in advance of the election.

And then fourth is we’ll be holding a Congregational Solidarity Summit focused on voting rights. Wendy, can you explain more about what the Solidarity Summit is?

Yes, I can. So we very much hope that you will mark your calendar for Ballots and Beyond, which is our Congregational Solidarity Summit. It will be Saturday, August 29th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. here at First UU.

Now, the goal of these summits, from the perspective of UU the Vote, is to connect like-minded people around what we can do to protect democracy, which starts with voting rights but doesn’t stop there. So we’ll be inviting the other Central Texas UU churches, and we encourage everyone to come and learn about the various things you can do to help protect democracy.

Anthem

“The World’s On Fire” (And We Still Fall In Love) – Parker Woodland w/the First UU Adult Vocal Ensemble: Erin Walter (vocals & bass); Andrew Solin (guitar & vocals); Keri Cinquina (drums & vocals)

Reading

TAKE THIS AS AN INVITATION
Rev. Birch Cue

Take this as an invitation to imagine how wide this world can be, to face the closing doors before us and move toward the opening windows in our lives.

Take this as an invitation to remember a critical truth that none of us have it all figured out, that we help one another grow and change.

Take this as an invitation to cross thresholds of challenge, not on our own, not for ourselves alone, but side-by-side, spirits rising and expanding together.

Let us go now to share our gifts and truth with each other and this world.

Centering

Sermon

NO ONE IS GETTING LEFT BEHIND
Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

So I titled the sermon, “No One’s Getting Left Behind”. And it did not occur to me until this morning talking to Luther that that might be a little triggering for my ex-fundies and ex-evangelicals who are familiar with the Kirk Cameron version of No One’s Getting Left Behind, which is about the rapture. Sorry about that. This is not what this sermon is about.

A few weeks ago, because of the amazing support of this community and because of the wonderful connective tissue of the Texas UU Justice Ministry, I was able to go to Newark, New Jersey, to learn from and be in solidarity with Faith in New Jersey, who are working to shut down the Delaney Detention Center. And it was then, during the rituals that they taught us, that we sang that song. And I love it. No one’s getting left behind. We will get there together. We’re not going to get there at all.

Now that’s purely aspirational, as we know, because that’s not really how things work, right? Not particularly. There are a lot of people who are getting there kind of all the time. Billionaires, for example. And tons and tons of people who get left behind all the time. Which is kind of how it works when you live in what Bell Hooks calls an Imperialist White Supremacy Hetero-Patriarchy.

If you grew up here or lived the majority of your life here, you probably heard this idea at some point that the most important thing is to look out for you and yours. And yours being defined as a pretty small group of people who usually you’re related to. I’d like to think that that is called rugged individualism. Taking care of only ourselves because we’ve been sold the lie that we are pitted in competition or conflict with those who are not like us. Take care of only yourself because you don’t need anyone else to survive.

I do not know how many times growing up I heard, just wait till you grow up and have a family. You’ll be conservative. Jokes on them. I am way more unsufferable now.

The story of competition for resources is a lie. Bootstrap individualism is a lie. But it’s a strong lie. And that strong lie has led to drastic inequalities and all manner of violence. It’s powerful and it’s harmful.

But I truly believe that the tide is shifting. That the story of rugged individualism is being revealed to be the lie that it always was. That more and more people are realizing that they have been pitted in competition and conflict as a means of control. That people are awakening to the idea that we need each other. That mutual aid is how we thrive. That solidarity work is the work of salvation.

A deep knowing that we are going to get there together or we’re not going to get there at all. And so we practice what that looks like. We practice community care. We practice solidarity in our community so we can branch out. And today we’re going to do that practice by doing something that we’ve probably all done a hundred times when we were children, which is a fire drill.

So that is going to be moving together as a unit so that we all can get outside safely. But fire drills are not the only way we protect each other in our community. We have a lot of people who are constantly working to make sure that we are safe and taken care of. But they need our help.

So for example, if someone has a medical emergency, we have two AEDs in this building, automated external defibrillators. If someone passes out and they are not breathing, so we’re going to all stop what we’re doing, right? And we are going to tend to them. We’re going to go out here to the south entrance. In the cabinet, there’s an AED. Or we’re going to go down to the hall by the gallery where the water fountain is and there is an AED. We’re going to grab that and we’re going to do the work of taking care of one another. Because that’s what we do.

We put our energy and attention on our neighbors that need it. Both of those AEDs also have first aid kits and stop the bleed kits.

Now we have several people who are trained in CPR and first aid and stop the bleed, but no one can do that alone. You might be called on to call 911 or to go stand outside until the EMTs get here or to comfort a loved one.

We pay attention. We provide help. That’s what we’re doing here. And all of it is practice.

We also have many fire extinguishers in the building, which is super great when you have a minister who almost caught herself on fire a couple of months ago.

And also a candle, beautiful, beautiful candle wall. But when not done correctly, it has caught some people on fire. And unfortunately, if the sticks are not put out all the way, they can actually catch fire in the glass jar, which guess what glass does when it gets real, real hot?

So first, we all practice fire safety. And when that fails, we have so many fire extinguishers. We have one right back there by the exit. We have one in Howson Hall. We have one that I was told is called the mega in the kitchen. And then one in each of the halls, okay? Which are great for little contained fires.

But y’all, when things get bigger, we’re going to have to work together to get out of harm’s way, right?

Now, Shannon has created this beautiful slide. She has outdone herself, so let’s give it a round as well. So you might have noticed that there are colors in front of you, okay? She’s created this beautiful color-coded system for all of us. So if you’re in this sanctuary, all the evacuation routes are color-coded. The pews, so what you can see in front of you, that’s your color. The doors are marked with your color. Learn your color, know your color, follow your color.

So for instance, I’m in the red section. My red friends. Make some noise. Who are my red friends? All right. Awesome.

Okay. Section captains are going to make sure that we all exit. So we’re going to look to them, and we’re going to follow them using our color.

I love it’s all so beautifully organized. It’s so great.

Now, if this wasn’t a test, if it was, say, an authoritarian crisis or something we would want to look to our leaders and those are the people that are most impacted because they know what to do the best right. So we’re going to look to our section captains always and we are going to follow their lead. Amen, Amen. Now for this test, this practice, we are going to follow our section captains. Would you all stand up for me. We’ve got some, got a yellow, we got a blue, we got a green, we got a red, We got an orange.

Wonderful. Okay, thank you all so much for what you’re doing.

Now, if you need some assistance, please ask for assistance. If your neighbor needs some assistance, please give them assistance because we are going to get there together or… That’s right. So no rushing over anyone to get out of the way. We are going to go at everyone’s pace. We are not billionaires. after all.

Now caveat, if you are a billionaire, please come talk to me because I have some ideas about the religious education program and ending poverty. Let’s talk.

If you’re in Howson Hall, you can leave out through the gallery doors or you can leave out of the north exit. If you’re leaving out of the north exit, you can meet up with a group that are going to be in the credit union. And if you are leaving out of the gallery doors, you can meet all of the people who are going to be past the rainbow. This will all make sense once you follow your section leaders.

Now, the people who are in charge of the children, they have their own orders. They’re going to get the children out safely. And what will happen is once we’re given the all clear, they will bring the kids to the courtyard. We will go to the courtyard.

There will be popsicles. But most importantly, if you are a person with a child, check your child out using the checkout protocol. This Sunday and every Sunday, y’all, don’t cause me to have a panic attack, please. I want to know where the children are, and I want to know they’re with you.

And then that’s it. Like I said, we’ll have popsicles. You can go shop at the merch booth for Parker Woodland, which has some really cool t-shirts, and grab coffee like we always do in Howson Hall.

And if the loudspeaker is working, I’m going to do a benediction over the loudspeaker because Shannon said I could. So I’m very excited about that.

Now, are there any questions that I hopefully can field?

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

July for Justice – Allyship

July 31, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson,
Toga Pendrake, Peggy Morton, and Leo Collas
July 19, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us as some great folks from our social action team discuss the effective allyship that is so vital to living out our values and mission.

Welcome

Prelude: “Für Alina” (Arvo Pärt) – Brent Baldwin, piano

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

If you want to be someone’s ally, but haven’t been hit by stones being thrown at them, you aren’t standing close enough yet.

– Ethan Keller,
a singer-songwriter from Milwaukee who writes Americana, blues, folk, funk, indie, jazz, R&B, soul, and rock.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“The Revolution Starts Now” (Steve Earle) – Jordan Price, lead vocal & guitar; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Brent Baldwin, drums

Monthly Service Offering

Each year, the members of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin select a group of nonprofits that are building the beloved community in our area. Once a month, we take up a special offering that we give away to support these organizations and feature a representative who highlights the great work of one of them.

This month, the special offering was moved from the second to the third Sunday to coincide with the July for Justice Allyship service. If you are with us online, you can go to austinuu.org and click on the second Sunday special offering in the drop-down box. Here in the sanctuary, the ushers will gratefully accept the monthly special offering after a few words from Anna Huynh, whom we are thrilled to invite to let us know a little bit more about PFLAG.

Good morning. My name is Anna Nguyen. My pronouns are she/her. I’m a 60-something years old Vietnamese woman. I am the president of PFLAG Austin. It’s such an honor to be back again to share my thoughts with you what PFLAG Austin does and speak a tiny bit about allyship.

As you may know, PFLAG Austin is the Austin chapter of PFLAG, which is a national organization with a mission to create a trust and equitable society for LGBTQ plus people through advocacy, education and support. PFLAG Austin’s main mission are our support groups, of which we have seven at various locations at various times of the month. One of them is here, has been here probably seven, eight, nine, ten years now.

One of the bit of trivia that I’d like to share about our support group is that at every support group, we almost always have one, two, three first-timers, which is great because that means that people are finding our support group and that people are finding it beneficial.

Another bit of trivia, this month, our Cedar Park meeting, for the first time ever, we have way more first-timers than returners. So that was really good news.

Now, a little bit about allyship. I’m sure you’ve heard that ally, how ally is also a verb. That is something you do and not just be.

I would suggest that ally is also a language. That is something one says or doesn’t say. I’m a firm believer in not speaking about topics and issues in the abstract, but to share stories. which I think make the issues more relatable and more memorable, I think.

So I would like to share two stories that illustrate ally as a verb and as a language. My first, oh, a trigger warning. I will be speaking briefly about arrests and jail. If you have an issue with that, please, it will be awesome. Please feel free to excuse yourself. That will be completely okay.

My first arrest was during a civil disobedience action protesting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Fourteen of us, nine women, four men and one transgender woman, me, were arrested. We blocked ACL traffic on the Lamar Street Bridge. We just walk out there, sit down, block the traffic.

Eventually, APD came and cleared all the traffic of the bridge. And after two warnings to each of us to clear the bridge, they arrested all of us. and transported us to the Travis County Jail on 11th Street.

But that’s not what this story is about. What this story is about is what happened at the jail. I was housed with the women in the group. And they understood what being a transgender woman in jail could mean. I understood what being a transgender woman in jail could mean. We were processed as a group, one by one. And as I was being processed, later one of them shared with me that as I was being processed, they kept a close and watchful eye on me. That is ally as a verb.

Now, the story that I want to share regarding ally as a language is also from about eight years ago. I had seen a Thai TV commercial on hair shampoo featuring a Thai transgender woman. The commercial was very moving, and I shared it on Facebook, and my comment was, get a grip, Anna. It’s only a damn TV commercial. Can I say damn in church? I think here I can.

A friend, a very conservative guy, commented as follows. That’s not just some guy. His name was actually Guy.

Dear Anna,
I don’t know nor can I really ever understand the struggle you have coped with as a child growing into an adult. I simply don’t know what it’s like to be forced to deal with the notion that you are born a particular way and to live with an identity that is at complete odds with that physical reality, nor what it’s like to be told you must live in a prison day-in-and-day-out, appointed for you by culture and society. I can try to imagine it, but I can’t really know it.

Here’s what I do know. You’ve been true to yourself in a way that is courageous. You’ve demonstrated a kind of courage I’m not sure I could or would be inclined to muster. And it’s okay to feel kind of emotional when you see your story articulated in the form of a video, a book, or a song. I think you already have a grip and therefore don’t need to get one. So here’s to you, my friend. I’m glad I know you for the person I know you to be.

Love guy.

That is the language of allies. In closing, I would like to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to be selected to be the recipient of this month service offering. We had been fortunate enough to receive, to share in the offerings last year and we are grateful. These contributions help us to further our mission, hopefully to continue to get first-timers at all of our support groups.

Thank you.

Reading

THE ALLIES
– unknown author

I cannot know your experience of life. I can only know my own.

I know I want for you the wholeness of life and full potential that I desire. I can be with you. I can answer your call for what would feel like support. I can weather the storms with you, demand more for you, be willing to pick up your fight if you might need to rest for a moment.

Let my heart’s sensibility and emotion be affected by your well-being, consider your advancement a part of my own. And it is true also that you cannot know my experience, but if you wish for it to move me toward my fullest potential and would be with me in that struggle.

I welcome you into my experience as a vital part of it. For though our destinies are each our own, they are also intertwined, for together we can become so much more than we might alone.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Come On Up to the House” (Tom Waits) – Jordan Price, vocal & piano; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Brent Baldwin, drums

Sermon

JULY FOR JUSTICE – ALLYSHIP
Rev. Chris Jimmerson, Toga Pendrake, Peggy Morton, and Leo Collas

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Chris Jimmerson

As you have heard earlier, this is July for Justice Month at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin where we are exploring allyship. We’re sponsoring a film festival featuring movies that help illustrate what it means to be an effective ally. And for this morning’s service, we wanted to dive more directly into the subject also.

I want to thank Anna for sharing such moving stories earlier that so beautifully demonstrate the real power, loving, heartfelt allyship can have. In a moment, three of our first UU social justice leaders, Toga, Peggy, and Leo will share with us their thoughts and experiences concerning allyship.

To get us started, I’d like to offer a potential way of framing what it means to be a true ally, knowing that these three leaders will, without a doubt, add depth and nuance through their own personal experiences and their work for justice. Here is that potential framework.

To be an ally is to be in solidarity with the actual folks with whom you claim to be their ally. It requires being in relationship. It requires commitment. It requires being willing to put one’s own privilege at risk. It requires action. An ally works for people, not just broad principles. If we’re not in relationship with the people for whom the principle applies, we are not truly their ally.

To uphold the principle of racial justice, for example, we must be in relationship with people actually harmed by racism. The same is true for all of the other isms. If we are not in solidarity, we are not practicing true allyship.

Solidarity is the language of fierce love. Allyship is that language of love in action. I want to invite Toga now to come forward to continue our exploration.

Toga Pendrick

Howdy, howdy. My name is Toga Pendrick. I use he, him pronouns. I have blue-green hair, periwinkle, long-sleeved shirt, which I’ve rolled up the sleeves of today, blue jeans, and some converse that usually match my hair color.

I did want to start by saying I have burns, most notably on my left arm, you know, the left side of my face, and this is why I rolled up my sleeves today. This happened in 2020, the same year that my story takes place.

I am a construction electrician, and I was pushing for the IBEW of Austin to sign up with the National Mobilization for Reproductive Justice. I had reached out to our women’s committee, inviting them to make the motion, seeing that it was thematically most relevant to them. And they asked me to make the motion instead because they didn’t want to be marked as troublemakers, stirring the pot, drawing attention or bringing issues that don’t relate to labor specifically into the union meetings. But I am a firm believer that all health care affects all workers and we need to address them. as a union, as an organization, and on the individual level as well.

So I prepped the documents. They went over them with me, and it was a two-page document outlining why, again, the union of electricians should be allied with the National Mobilization for Reproductive Justice. I went up and I made the motion with their support.

I was scanning the crowds to see who was trying to say something, who was trying to pop their head up, who wanted to speak against. And only one member decided to leave the room that day, and we had several other construction workers that stood up. and spoke in support of how reproductive justice affects everyone, how they saw that we should have the IBEW signing up for and supporting this organization, and how we should be more involved and more considerate of the people who can and would give birth in our union. I was very proud of the support, and the Women’s Committee was very shocked by how, firstly, no one spoke against it, and second, how many men got up and spoke for it. I was very proud to use my position.

Having been in that accident that same year, I had a lot of attention. I had a lot of support. I had a lot of conversations with the leaders of our local, and they knew that if I was taking this issue seriously, that the people who had my back were going to also be taking this issue seriously.

I wanted to say that allyship is as… Chris had said earlier, being in the front lines with these people, if they’re going to get hit with stones, it is being in the space where that can also hit you. And then me trying to leverage my position, my level of fame and my level of support to help the people that I cared about very much.

I wanted to wrap up by saying that if men really sat down and they thought about the ceaseless labor that is pregnancy. You cannot take a break. You cannot put the weight down. You cannot stop being pregnant because it would be really convenient to help you in any particular moment and then resume.

But I think if men really sat with the idea, I think we would be compelled to show support through action, not just through words. Thank you.

Peggy Morton

Hello, everyone. I’m Peggy Morton. I use she, her pronouns.

So I appreciate being invited to talk with you today about being an ally with our beloved immigrant neighbors. At a basic level, being an ally is there for other people. A simple nod and a smile can go a long way.

And to learn more about being an ally with immigrants, I invite you to attend an Austin Sanctuary Network training or educational event where we offer conversations to help you find out what may work best for you while centering immigrant voices.

It’s not everyone who will be able to do what the dear woman with citizenship did on June 29th when she was waiting to pick up a friend from a Travis County-owned community care clinic. She saw someone who she did not know walk out of her appointment and get painfully shoved and grabbed by ICE agents. Asalia had been there to get blood drawn to check her thyroid levels and blood glucose because she was sick. A doctor’s office should be a place where you feel safe and secure and not have to fear harm.

Fortunately, that bystander got out of her car, started recording the encounter, and walking toward them slowly. Getting closer, she respectfully asked Asalia if she wanted to share a phone number so that she could reach out to her family members. When Asalia started sharing her number, the ICE agents shoved her into the car, slamming the door in her face before she could even finish giving that telephone number. With that recording, the bystander had enough information to find Asalia’s loved ones, which is why we know about her story.

She was quickly taken to the for-profit Pearsall Detention Center where she was not allowed to call her attorney who should retain before this incident happened. She was deported within one week to a town in Mexico where she knew no one and it was far from where she was from. This is an example of no due process nor humanity.

While taking videos of detained people may not be for everyone, I invite you to visit with me in Howson Hall later today where I can tell you a little bit more about possibly attending and Know Your Rights for Allies training or to get involved in our detention visitation program, maybe even just learning to write letters to people who are detained. We, as UUs, like to center love, and that love is becoming a good ally and loving our neighbors.

Leo Collas

Good morning. My name is Leo Collas. I’m a white guy of a certain age wearing glasses and a blue jacket.

Excuse me, ma’am. Whoever thought that those words could evoke a feeling of joy to the point of exuberance for someone? As some of you know, I moderate the LGBTQ and allies community heart circle, and I’ve learned so many profound things from doing that over the years. One is how little it takes to make somebody’s day. How small gestures can have a profound impact.

I’ve learned it’s just so easy for each of us to make a difference. Allyship is more than passive acceptance. It’s being an active presence when it matters. And it always matters.

Taking the time to come to an LGBTQ community heart circle, which is this afternoon at 2 o’clock, by the way, or to a PFLAG meeting, as many of you have done, has a profound impact. I know because I feel it. Showing up at the Capitol when laws are contemplated that are hurtful to immigrants, to trans folks, to women, to the environment. That makes a huge difference.

I myself have wondered out loud how just being there could be helpful. One of the affected people once told me, this is at the Capitol, that seeing our goldenrod t-shirts, I’m not wearing mine today, but probably somebody here is, our goldenrod t-shirts was a comfort and a relief. Just knowing who has their backs can make a difference to those who see their rights being threatened.

Institutional allyship, and First UU, this place, does an exemplary job of that, is about making space and giving a platform like this to marginalized voices. Those of us here in this community who are decent human beings are capable and fully equipped with feelings and compassion to show up at the Capitol, at an immigration hearing, at a PFLAG meeting, or at a reproductive rights event with a healing love that will shine through.

It makes an enormous difference to us marginalized folks when support comes from outside of our marginalized groups.

You’re probably wondering if I’ll ever finish my story about, excuse me ma’am, but… This is it. During a check-in at the Community Heart Circle that I just spoke about one day, a quiet and timid trans woman, one who was not long into her transition, told us that while maneuvering her way into the meeting room, she turned a corner and nearly collided with somebody. And the person smiled and said, excuse me, ma’am. That simple acknowledgement shaped the rest of her day it just put her on cloud nine she said they call me ma’am and and she was just beaming.

Yeah, you never know who you’re going to run into here and you never know what effect you’ll have on somebody. My own personal story back at the the height of the aids epidemic when it seemed like everyone was afraid of gay people, the government wasn’t acting and religious institutions were actually vilifying those who were suffering and dying, Not this religious institution, but, you know, the big ones that suck all the life out of the room, you know.

Most of my friends from that period became sick, and most of my friends died, as did my first partner, Wayne.

And as painful as that time was, it’s punctuated with memories of people who were much more than just allies. They were heroes. The doctors and the nurses and the caregivers, they risked their own livelihoods to help those in need. It’s hard to imagine, but people lost their jobs because they were doing good work. They were targeted, but still they stepped up even when they weren’t sure what to do. They cried with us and they held our hands. The takeaway about allyship is that it’s all about just showing up and letting your heart lead you. It’s fine not to know what to do. Just show up.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t think anybody knows what’s going to happen next. But you will make whatever comes better when you just show up. Thank you.

Chris Jimmerson

Wow. I want to thank Toga, Peggy, and Leo, as well as Anna, again, for such powerful stories and reflections. and such a true call to action for all of us. I’m also struck that in this time of a government that is trying to erase this country’s history of racism, obscure the contributions and history of BIPOC folks, eliminate efforts to achieve justice such as diversity, equity, and inclusion program, suppress the vote of BIPOC folks, the blatant racism behind the criminal actions of immigration enforcement that we’re seeing, on and on and on, given this all-out assault on people of color we’re witnessing, this call to allyship has never been more vital than it is right now for those of us who identify as white.

And I think our speakers have raised up some extraordinarily useful and dynamic ways of thinking about that allyship.

First, as we’ve heard, it’s intersectional. Many of us will both have the need for solidarity at times and will also be called upon to be an ally to others.

Second, A true ally, as we’ve heard, is willing to leverage our own privilege when others might be endangered, even when that may mean putting ourselves at risk.

Third, allyship is a verb. It requires action. And I love, as Anna said, it is also a language.

And fourth, the language of allyship is love. So much of it, as Leo said, is just about showing up, accepting and upholding the experiences of other folks, even if we haven’t shared such experiences ourselves and thus don’t completely understand them.

And finally, we do the work of educating ourselves. We de-center ourselves. We risk making mistakes and make amends if we do.

There is likely so much more than these that stood out to me, I’m sure. I hope we will all continue this discussion. Please visit the film series if you can. Go by the social action table after the service today and visit with Peggy and others. And please join me one more time in thanking all of our speakers today for their powerful call to the sacred work of allyship.

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

For our benediction, I leave you with these words from Bell Hooks.

Solidarity is not the same as support. To experience solidarity, we must have a community of interests, shared beliefs and goals around which to unite. Support can be occasional. It can be given and just as easily withdrawn. Solidarity requires sustained ongoing commitment.

May the congregation say amen and blessed be.
I love you fiercely. Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

2026 Youth-Led Service

July 31, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

EB, Phoenix, Max, Eli, Isaac
July 12, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Our First UU Youth Group share their thoughts and perspectives on serious topics of concern as they bridge into adulthood.

Welcome

Prelude: “Kids Are All Rebels”

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

DEAR LIBERAL ALLIES
by Trungles

You and I learned very different things in very different ways. If you didn’t live in experience, then step aside.

We, students of color, gay students, trans students, children of immigrants, and refugees, knew this stuff before our professors told us what to call it. We learned it from the bottom up.

You learned it another way. You received a set of key words and a list of definitions. Your learning was, in all likelihood: Here’s this word, this is what it means.

For you, it was xenophobia, a strong dislike or fear of people from other countries.

For us, it was xenophobia, the time that boy in my kindergarten class spat on me because I couldn’t speak English yet, or when I saw that clerk yell at my mom in the grocery store because her English wasn’t clear enough.

For you, it was racism, an unfair treatment of people who belonged to another race, violent behavior towards them.

For us, it was racism. That one time I saw that manager tell the sales girl to follow my dad around at Kohl’s, or that one time my neighbor’s kid got shot by the police and they tried to cover it up by convincing everyone he was in a gang because he was a mog, but we know he wasn’t. Or the time my dad told me I shouldn’t rollerblade to the library because I’m not white and it’s not safe for me.

For you, it was homophobia, a strong dislike or fear of homosexual people.

For us, it was homophobia, that time in sixth grade when Ryan shoved me against a glass door and banged my face into it while yelling slurs at me until the teacher stopped him. Or when my Catholic high school president told me that though he loved me as a child of God, he still believed I was sinful.

For you, it was classism, prejudice or discrimination based on social class.

For us, it was classism, the time when my best friend came over to hang out and her parents didn’t want her to come over again because she didn’t like our neighborhood. Or that one time when my friends had no idea what food stamps looked like and I was too embarrassed to explain what they were.

So while you were learning these academically… Framed phenomena were real problems. We were getting figurative name tags for the awful things we already knew.

Your weekly vocabulary list was, to us, just a hollow shadow of our lived experiences. When you step out of class, you get to say, oh, awesome, I’m learning how to be a good allie and a better human being. This will help me.

For us, it was more like, ah, so that’s what they’re calling it nowadays. When exactly did they say change was going to come for us?

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Reading

LIFE IS POLITICAL
from On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
by Timothy Snyder

Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but because the world reacts to what you do. The minor choices we make are themselves a kind of vote, making it more or less likely that free and fair elections will be held in the future. In the politics of the everyday, our words and gestures or their absence counts very much. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana, arr. by Andrea Turini) – Valeria Diaz, piano

Sermon

YOUTH GROUP SERVICE
Phoenix, Isaac, and EB

NOTE: This is a AI generated (edited) transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Phoenix

Hello, my name is Phoenix, and today I want to talk to you about something important to me, AI.

Now, I know AI can mean a lot of things, but today when I say AI, I mean large language models like ChatGPT or Gemini. Over the past few years, we’ve all seen the rise of artificial intelligence. AI was supposed to make all our lives easier, but as time goes on and the technology develops, it feels more and more like a way for the rich to replace us. People are getting fired left and right because AI could do what they did a little cheaper.

I’m sure plenty of you use AI, whether in your personal life or professionally, and my intention with this is not to just yell at you for using it. I understand that it seems really useful. I’ve used it before, but I want everyone here to understand what it’s doing to us and to the world.

I think it’s important to start with the impact on the people that use AI. You may have heard of AI psychosis, and while it is not an official medical term, it is a serious problem. Conversational AI is like a toxic partner, feeding into your delusions and separating you from everyone and everything you love.

The way chatbots work is they are programmed to not disagree with you. If you tell them that the sky is green, then to it, in your conversations, the sky is green. As people, we need more connection. We need connection.

As the rise of the internet, we have been more and more separated. And now with AI, they are trying to replace all human contact. And it has worked with some people. Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist believes that AI is sentient and there have been many mass shootings and suicides linked to AI.

If you use chatbots, then I urge you to be careful and to try and find more connections with real people. AI may feel real, but it is just a math equation coded to keep you coming back. You all probably remember when everyone was telling people like me who were getting close to college to go into tech. Learn to code because that’s where all the money is. But recently, we have seen more and more layoffs at tech companies as they try to replace their human employees with AI.

When I started high school, AI wasn’t very good. It was just something fun you messed around with and then continued with your life. But as I got closer to graduation, I had to rethink what I wanted to do in life because so many jobs aren’t hiring people. Going into anything that has to do with computers will either be impossible or they will make you use AI.

And the last thing I wanted to talk to you all about is the environmental impact. You may have heard people talking about the amount of water and power it needs. One large data center can use up to 5 million gallons of water a day. And I know you may say, but what about the water cycle? It will all come back. And while this is true, it will not come back to the people who live near data centers.

Towns near data centers are in droughts because of all the water AI is using. data centers produce a lot of waste. They’re made with large amounts of mercury and lead, and these toxic metals are getting into people’s limited water supply. AI is currently using 5% of America’s power, which may not sound like much right now, but with all the data centers they keep trying to build and the fact that a lot of centers aren’t at max capacity, that number could skyrocket, making everyone else’s electricity bill higher.

If your job requires AI, I’m not asking you to stop and get fired. If you use AI personally, I’m not asking you to stop. I just want to make sure that everyone is aware of what AI takes so that you can make an informed decision when using it.

And please understand that it goes against all of our Unitarian Universalist values. We cannot have equity when our most vulnerable are getting poisoned so that the rich can make a few more dollars, and we cannot have justice if there are people on this planet that are above others.

Isaac

Morning. I am Isaac. I am an average height white man with long brown hair, and I’m feeling extra jittery because I accidentally got caffeine coffee.

Our UU tradition calls us to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We are taught that justice, equity, and compassion in human relations are not optional ideals. They are responsibilities to be held sacred.

Today, I will reflect on over a century of the history between Israel and Palestine. It is a history filled with tragedy, displacement, and suffering, and is often reduced to disingenuous narratives and geopolitical motivations.

In order to understand the present, we have to begin before modern-day states and borders.

For centuries, the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River was part of the Ottoman Empire. Jewish people, Muslim people, Christian people, and countless other groups of people lived throughout that region, most of whom lived in harmony for centuries.

In the late 19th century, two powerful movements emerged. One was modern Zionism, a movement seeking a Jewish homeland amid rising anti-Semitism in Europe. The other was the growth of Arab nationalism and local Palestinian identity among the Arab inhabitants of the region.

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and in 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, supporting the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, while also saying that the rights of non-Jewish communities should not be harmed.

This Palestinian land being sought after in the Balfour Declaration refers to the modern-day state of Israel. Despite the outcome, this was the theory. And despite the intentions, this was the first step in a whole host of crimes.

After the war, Britain governed Palestine under a League of Nations mandate. Jewish immigration increased, particularly as they fled persecution in Europe. During the same time, many Palestinian Arabs feared their own displacement and loss of political control. This caused riots and a gradual rise in distrust throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

Then came one of humanity’s greatest tragedies, the Holocaust. Six million Jewish people were killed by Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. Six million. Survivors eventually made their way out of death camps with no families to go home to and nowhere safe to live, leading to the demand for a Jewish state to gain powerful international support.

In 1947, the United Nations proposed partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Jewish leaders accepted the plan despite having reservations, but Arab leaders rejected it, claiming that it unfairly divided the land and disregarded the wishes of the Arab majority.

In 1948, Israel declared its sovereignty and statehood. Neighboring Arab states reacted through invasion. Israel survived and expanded its borders beyond what was envisioned by the UN partition plan. Nearly three quarters of all Palestinians were forced to flee from their homes by Zionist militias in the new Israeli army between 1947 and 1949.

There were several dozen massacres during this time, slaughtering women, children, and elderly people. One of the largest massacres in the Palestinian town of Deir Yassin Over 100 people were killed by Israeli militia, led by future Israeli prime ministers. Between 1948 and 1950, there were over 400 Palestinian towns destroyed by Zionist militias and the new Israeli army. Over 4 million acres of Palestinian land was stolen by Israel during the establishment of the state in 1948. Palestinians remember this as the Nakba, or translated to catastrophe.

As of 2021, there are nearly 8.5 million Palestinian refugees, mostly located in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring Arab countries. At the same time, many Jewish communities across the Middle East face persecution and displacement, leading to hundreds of thousands of Jewish people to leave or be expelled from Arab countries over the following years. Two groups of people came out of this with deep trauma. The following decades contained many wars.

In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. That war transformed the conflict of these two groups, with millions of Palestinians captured under Israeli occupation. For Palestinians, the occupation became a defining reality, and for Israelis, the war is remembered as a dramatic victory that secured survival against hostile neighbors.

In the following years, Israeli settlements were established in the territories captured in 1967. This land grab undermined Palestinian self-determination and violated international law.

The United States would later become Israel’s closest international ally, with many Americans confusing modern-day Israel with the Kingdom of Israel. They are not the same.

American lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, have long provided diplomatic support, offensive and defensive weapons, and economic aid to Israel. American policy has intentionally committed war crimes and home theft against Palestinian people and supported the apartheid regime of Israel that has left Palestinians without rights or representation and contributed to an unequal status quo.

A new phase in the conflict began in 1987 with the first intifada, which translates to uprising or shaking off. Palestinians engaged in widespread protests, strikes, and plenty of other acts against Israeli rule, which drew global attention to Palestinian grievances.

There was hope for some in the 1990s. The Oslo Accords brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders together in an effort to achieve peace. The agreements created the Palestinian Authority and established a framework for future negotiations. Many people believed that a lasting settlement was finally within reach.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had signed the Oslo Accords, was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to the peace process. Trust between Israelis and Palestinians eroded from there with attacks from Hamas, continued settlement expansion, and stalled negotiations.

In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlements and military presence from Gaza, and in 2006, Hamas won legislative elections. And after some violent conflicts between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas took power in 2007. Israel and Egypt imposed restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza, citing security concerns. Palestinians and several international organizations pointed out these restrictions created severe humanitarian hardships, including the UN. Then the point where people around the world started to look and care.

October 7th, 2023. Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing civilians and taking hostages. Israel responded with a large-scale military campaign against the people of Gaza, with civilians accounting for 83% of all deaths, including over 20,000 children. There have been over 75,000 Palestinians confirmed dead since 2023 from direct attacks. Those are people that have been found and identified. That number doesn’t include deaths from starvation caused Israel’s blockade. That number doesn’t account for deaths due to a lack of medical care because of Israel’s blockade. That number doesn’t count all of the people buried under rubble in destroyed cities.

So, what does our faith ask of us in the face of such history? It asks us to reject indifference and embrace those that struggle and have been oppressed. It asks us to remember that history is not just a list of dates, treaties, and statistics. Rather, it is the lived experiences of human beings. It asks us to recognize that every statistic represents a real person. It asks us to engage.

Young people have always played a role in movements for justice. and peace they helped transform the struggle for civil rights in the united states challenged apartheid in south africa and advocated against wars like the Vietnam war all before it was popular.

To do so here’s a small piece of advice: listen to the kids when it comes to these things, they are nearly always the first ones to be on the right side of history.

Our responsibility is not to tell young people what conclusions they must reach our responsibility is to encourage them to learn deeply think critically, and act according to conscience. Study history, listen to multiple perspectives, support humanitarian efforts, engage in dialogue, participate in the democratic process, stand against all forms of dehumanization, learn how to dissent, and learn how to develop independent thoughts and actions.

The more panic grows, the more uplifting the image of a man who refuses to bow to the terror.
– Philosopher, writer, and entomologist Ernst Junge.

I’ve been constantly surrounded by a community of people who are unwavering in their bravery and willingness to be that who doesn’t bow. But unfortunately, hatred, intolerance, Polarization and tribalism have all spread faster than hope and love and community.

I began to engage in political activism at a young age. Drawing protest signs became a core memory of my youth. And in these last years with rising reasons to resist the ever-restraining boots of corruption, I found it necessary to pick one of these reasons and rally behind it.

As a high schooler, I canvassed and planned. Even though I couldn’t vote, I tried my hardest to find my voice. The culmination of my work, thus far, was the January ice marches. In Minneapolis, our president’s Gestapo, to put it lightly, was besieging the city and taking people off the streets. I couldn’t stand for that. We rallied thousands of students across Austin, spearheaded by an 18-year-old candidate I know personally, myself, and another young member of this congregation.

I led the march at McCallum, just up the road. Hundreds of students marched loud and proud for the people of Minneapolis. I was so proud. As a member of the youth political movement, And it gave me hope that the next generation is willing to show up against the forces of a corrupt system.

This is hope. Seeing the younger generation do justice, the youth are the man who refuses to bow to the terror.

Bridging Ceremony

It is now time for our graduating youth to bridge into the young adult community here at First UU. I would like to invite anyone who identifies as a young or young-ish adult to come join me on stage right to welcome your new young adults. Today, there we go, there’s our young adults. See, we got young adults here. Today, we honor the youth among us. You who are stepping away and beyond and towards.

Today, we share in your journey. and encourage your discovery. We welcome your energy and we offer you a safe place to grow. Today, we celebrate your hopes and dreams. We applaud you for all you have been, for all you are now, and for all you will be. Today, you cross this bridge. We see you, we support you, and we love you. You are amazing.

I invite the congregation to please repeat after me.
We bless your newest adventure.
We love you always.
May your life unfold with joy.

Amen and blessed be.

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

OUR CALLING IN THE WORLD
– Rev. Dr. Rebekah Savage

We have come to the end of our service, but not our calling in the world. We close our time together with the humble reminder that justice and equity are our spiritual practices to embrace each day, every day. We are blessed to be the embodiment of what is possible when justice and equity ground us in all that we do. May we go forth with the light and warmth of our chalice in our hearts until we are together again.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

Perspective, Power, Purpose – How Solidarity May Save Us

July 6, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
July 7, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us for the first in a sermon series exploring the spiritual significance of the ways (called “ends”) through which we as a church have committed to living our mission. This Sunday, we will contemplate the first of our four ends: We are a collaborative, pluralistic church living our values and mission in the greater world, achieving together what we can’t do alone.

Welcome

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

“When people think the same idea and move in the same direction, that’s a cult. When people think many different ideas and move in one direction, that’s a movement.”

– Loretta Ross

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Lean On Me” (Bill Withers) – Noah Reinhuber, voice; Valeria Diaz, piano; Angel Roman, bass; Brent Baldwin, drums

Reading

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, almost everything lost its footing. Houses were detached from their foundations, trees and shrubbery were uprooted, sign posts and vehicles floated down the rivers that became of the streets. But amidst the whipping winds and surging water, the oak tree held its ground. How? Instead of digging its roots deep and solitary into the earth, the oak tree grows its roots wide and interlocks with other oak trees in the surrounding area. And you can’t bring down a hundred oak trees bound beneath the soil! How do we survive the unnatural disasters of climate change, environmental injustice, over-policing, mass-imprisonment, militarization, economic inequality, corporate globalization, and displacement? We must connect in the underground, my people! In this way, we shall survive.

– Naima Penniman

Centering

Sermon

PERSPECTIVE, POWER, PURPOSE – HOW SOLIDARITY MAY SAVE US
Rev. Chris Jimmerson

In 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis Tennessee to bring the movement he led for civil and voting rights into solidarity with the labor movement and their Memphis Sanitation Worker’s Strike.

Two sanitation workers had been crushed to death in the back of a garbage truck, igniting awareness of the dangerous conditions, injustices, and low wages suffered by such workers in Memphis.

King had come to believe that civil rights and labor rights were intertwined – that racial justice and economic justice required one other – that faith communities, unions, students, local organizations and more could achieve greater justice working together.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated while in Memphis supporting the strike. Only a few days later, the sanitation workers won most of their demands.

The night before, King had delivered his well known “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech. Here is some of what he said.

I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he has allowed me to go up to the mountain and look over and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

He was 39 years old.

Of course, many have since speculated that he had a premonition of the eminent threat to his very life, and yet went to Memphis to build solidarity anyway, because he saw solidarity across disparate groups as the only route to the promised land.

In fact, toward the later years of his life, King had come to view various movements and groups as interrelated and necessary to each other. These included various faith groups, labor, peace movements, student groups, economic justice and poor people’s groups, human rights movements worldwide, various ethnic and racial justice movements and more.

He held the firm conviction that coming together across our differences to work for justice can provide us all with both moral-spiritual clarity and strategic power.

This morning, I am beginning a sermon series on the ends statements the religious community here at the church recently articulated for living out that mission that we say together every Sunday.

You can think of ends as the ways in which we will prioritize going about living that mission and how we will know we are making progress toward it.

The first of those four ends that will be exploring today is stated as follows and on our screens:

“We are a collaborative pluralistic church living our values and mission in the greater world, achieving together what we can’t do alone.”

I was thrilled that the congregation expressed this end.

I begin with the story of Dr. King, his trip to Memphis for the sanitation strike, and his ever broadening view of disparate people and movements coming together in coalitions of solidarity as our best hope for reaching the promised land as a people – I begin with that story because it feels to me like this ends statement that you all created contains certain echoes of what Dr. King was teaching us.

The idea that strength and spiritual clarity are to be found through embracing our differences is the essence of being pluralistic.

Building coalitions of solidarity requires being collaborative and the recognition of our interdependence – the apprehension that none of us can reach the promised land alone.

Now, for this sermon series, I do want to focus on these larger ideas about why our ends matter – their ethical, faith, historical, and spiritual significance.

I won’t be going into as much detail on the exact programs and activities. we may engage in towards the ends. We will begin working on that together over the next several months.

I do want to note, however, that this end involves the ways in which we can build relationships and work with other faith and secular organizations who are also dedicated to to creating love and justice and building the Beloved Community.

And we are already doing so much of this from showing up in solidarity with other groups at rallies, marches, and other social and environmental justice events, to providing financial and other support, to hosting other groups in our church building, to working within larger coalitions, such as the Texas UU Justice Ministry, Austin Sanctuary Network, Texas Freedom Network and several others.

We are already working with over 40 other groups. Our priority for this end in the coming months then will be to deepen, broaden, and expand such relationships of solidarity and mutuality.

So, now, though, why do we even want to do this? Why does it matter? How does it move us toward fulfilling our mission as a religious community?

Well, I’d like to propose that this end, this coalition building, this working together with others in solidarity, this moves us toward fulfilling our mission and living our faith in three vital ways.

Perspective.
Power.
And Purpose.
The three “Ps”

PERSPECTIVE – Working together with folks with different perspectives, different priorities, different life experiences than our own, and, in fact, embracing and valuing those differences can provide all of us who dare to forge such relationships a much broader and deeper understanding of reality.

Yesterday was Independence Day, the Fourth of July, and I am reminded of a powerful quote by Frederick Douglas from his “What to the American slave is your 4th of July?” speech in 1892 that illustrates this. He said:

“I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine.”

All these years later, all these years later, we must still listen to and be in relationship with the many folks for whom the rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence are still, STILL regularly denied.

If we are not in such relationships we cannot have an accurate perspective on the reality of these United States today!

Now, I also want to share some examples of how this collaborating across differing life experiences and justice issues can expand our perspective in very practical, strategic ways too.

In 1987, nearly 20 years after MLK went to Memphis in Solidarity with the labor movement, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power or ACTUP, was formed to combat the unfathomably, immoral lack of response to the AIDS epidemic in the US. Among their ranks were veterans of the black civil rights movement, and ACTUP drew upon and adapted the lessons they had learned in devising its direct actions, tactics and strategies, coalition building, leadership by those most affected, and decentralized, collective leadership.

Then, in 2013, this sharing of perspectives among movements for justice so akin to one another, circled around again, when Black Lives Matters was formed in response to the brutality against and horrific murder of Black people by law-enforcement.

Queer black veterans of the ACTUP movement brought with them what they had learned, and Black Lives Matters adopted and updated some of what ACTUP had done using flyers and faxes to the age of social media.

So, working in solidarity can help us all both broaden our larger perspective, as well as learn effective movement strategies and techniques from one another.

I love how activist and author adrienne marie brown encapsulates this when she writes,

“Meaningful collaboration both relies on and deepens relationship-the stronger the bond between the people or groups in collaboration, the more possibility you can hold… notice who you feel drawn to… And notice who challenges you, who makes the edges of your ideas grow or fortify. I find that my best work has happened during my most challenging collaborations, because there are actual differences that are converging and creating more space, ways forward that serve more than one worldview.”

Perhaps our perspective needs to shift from Independence Day to Interdependence day.

And this brings us to our second P – POWER. Simply put all of us together have far more power than any of us do alone.

Working with others, not only are our sheer numbers greater, but together, we also have more and more varied resources, more skills, more talents, more access to and ways of dismantling the halls of power.

And solidarity is power with not power over, and power with is the greatest power there is because it is the power of fierce love in action!

Relationships of solidarity are grounded in love and sharing our vulnerabilities with one another, because we know – we know that none of us can do this alone. None of us will make it alone.

It is the power that allows any one of us to lay down the mantle for a moment when our spirit is drained, knowing that others will carry it for a while without me.

It is the power that also brings us back though, so that I can pick the mantle up for you when you need the same.

As our song said earlier, “lean on me”. We must all learn the power of allowing ourselves to lean on one another.

Well, finally, a collaborative pluralistic Church becomes part of a much greater PURPOSE – our third P.

As a religious community, our specific purpose at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin is our mission.

And the other faith and secular groups with whom we partner also have their own purpose that moves in the same direction as ours, but is not exactly the same as ours.

And the glorious thing is, that, though we sometimes face challenges keeping these differing purposes going in that same direction, when we successfully combine them, we all become part of a much greater purpose that none of us alone could ever hope to accomplish or even really envision.

The theists among us might call this God’s great purpose, which none of us can know alone, but that by combining our purposes together we come so much closer to realizing.

The non-theists, more naturalistic or humanist among us may instead see this as our great collective, unrealized, evolutionary potential.

Either way, most of us have not yet been to the mountain top, and so we need one another to get there.

Alone, our great purpose is limited.

Together, it is almost limitless.

“We are a collaborative pluralistic church living our values and mission in the greater world, achieving together what we can’t do alone.”

Another way to think of our ends is that they express our aspirations for what we are becoming as a religious community.

I can’t think of anything more faithful, more spiritual, more part and parcel of God than becoming a collaborative pluralistic church living our values and mission in the greater world, achieving together what we can’t do alone.

Perspective. Power. Purpose.

Only through solidarity with our fellow travelers, can these fuel our journey up the mountain and to that promised land.

Praise be. Amen.

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

I offer more words from adrienne marie brown from their book, Emergent Strategy; Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

“At the human scale, in order to create a world that works for more people, for more life, we have to collaborate on the process of dreaming and visioning and implementing that world. We have to recognize that a multitude of realities have, do, and will exist… Move at the speed of trust. Focus on critical connections more than critical mass – Build the resilience by building the relationships.”

May the congregation say, “Amen”, and “Blessed be”

I love you fiercely.

Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

The Care Bear Stare

June 30, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
June 28, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

What do Care Bears, Pride, spirituality, and UU theology have in common? According to Rev. Carrie, a lot. Join her to see how she makes that argument.

Welcome

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

ONE LOVE
By the Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson

We are one
A diverse group
Of proudly kindred spirits
Here not by coincidence–
But because we choose to journey-together

We are active and proactive
We care deeply
We live our love, as best we can

We ARE one
Working, Eating, Laughing
Playing, Singing, Storytelling,
Sharing and Rejoicing
Getting to know each other,
Taking risks
Opening up
Questioning, Seeking. Searching…
Trying to understand
Struggling…
Making Mistakes
Paying Attention…
Asking Questions
Listening
Living our Answers
Learning to love our neighbors
Learning to love ourselves

Apologizing and forgiving with humility
Being forgiven through Grace

Creating the Beloved Community — Together
We are ONE

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“Breaking Boundaries” (Pauline Oliveros) – Brent Baldwin, guitar

Reading

WE WHO ARE ALIVE
by Rev. Dr. Anna Blaedel, a queer, non-binary chaplain, writer and public theologian. They are also the co-founder of Enfleshed, a resource for spiritual nourishment for collective liberation.

Life is a gorgeous experiment.
Or, at least, life is an experiment.
Wild and precious and over too soon, Mary Oliver reminds us. Experiments are messy, indeterminate, unpredictable by their very nature. Wrought with failure, too.
And so is life.
Aren’t we lucky, then, that some of us – queers, I mean – are practiced in transforming failure into an art form.
We – we, who are alive –
we who are messy and exhausted
we who are overwhelmed, wrung out, terrified – as everything and everyone we love comes under assault –
we are part of this gorgeous experiment of life.
And here I want to insist on the gorgeousness
because we are gorgeous.
We are heartbroken, and heartbreak healing.
We are hardened, and hardness cracking open, softening.
We are invitations into life lived otherwise.
We are magic, being kindled.
We are dreams, unwilling to be contained.
We are entire prayers, whispered, sung, wailed, received, answered.
We are holy, whole, and wholly deserving of love.
We are hallelujah, amen.
We are divinity, enfleshed.
We are possibilities, emerging.
We are making life livable – everywhere we are making love, making art, making poetry, making song, making shelter, making home – with and for each other.
We are making each other possible.
With and for each other, we become possible.
With and for each other, life becomes possible.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “Prelude for Meditation” (John Cage) – Brent Baldwin, prepared piano

Sermon

THE CARE BEAR STARE
Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

Before finding Unitarian Universalism I was socially engaged. I was often at the capitol or blocking walking for a candidate or doing justice work in my community. And that was really great, I felt in alignment with my values.

But when I found this religion that work took on greater significance because I started to view it through the lens of spirituality and theology.

My spirituality and theology were things I thought I lost when I walked away from the church I grew up in.

But finding Unitarian Universalism gave them back to me in a healthy way.

Because I could explore my spirituality without the fear that was instilled in me by the high control christian sect of my youth.

Because it was a religion that said “we don’t know what happens after this life but we see the pain and violence that so many are facing and our justice compels us to act. Compels us, as Rev. Joanna Fountain Crawford says to “Love the Hell out of the World.”

Because we are all connected.

Connecting to people and a faith who held that as a foundation allowed me to grow in beautiful ways. And it allowed me to have a deep knowing in my bones that I wasn’t alone.

In short, finding Unitarian Universalism made me feel alive in a way that I haven’t ever felt alive.

And that is because the foundation of the faith is life.

Let me give you an example,

It’s late March 2023, the Texas Legislature is in full force passing mostly awful bills out of committee. On this day the equality coalition – thats Equality Texas, Texas Freedom Network, Trans Education Network of Texas, Texas Impact, and my favorite the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry-

All of those wonderful groups came together and called on the community to respond to the House public health committee hearing House Bill 1686 a bill that would ban life affirming life-saving gender affirming care for youth.

My fellow seminarians set up an all day prayer vigil and in the middle of the day the coalition was going to rally. We were stationed in the outdoor rotunda. This is a beautiful spot in the extension of the capital. The bottom is two levels underground and the top is the capital lawn.

People started to come in for the rally but of course the legislature never keeps to it schedule so everything was delayed. My friend Bis was responsible for organizing the space at that time – She said, I need you to go hold silent prayer or find someone to do it now!

I said yes, and I walked out to the middle of the rotunda and sat on that hot hot floor. I closed my eyes, “what the heck did I just agree too?”…okay, what do I want to do. I got quiet and then I knew, I wanted to pray that those in the committee would have compassion and wisdom and that their hearts and their ears would be open. Once set I looked up and saw my friends/seminarians/faith leaders smiling at me with expectant smiles. I told them what I was going to pray for and asked them to join me in silent prayers.

What happened in those moments were transcendent. It’s been over 3 years and I still don’t understand what happened in that time but I felt deeply held. Deeply loved.

It was beautiful

And then I opened my eyes to find myself in a very different situation. Two guys from info wars – Alex Jones’s violent, conspiracy spreading now-defunct “media outlet” broken into this sacred space with a camera hoping to antagonize us, hoping to get footage they could bend to their twisted narrative. About trans people and their allies.

They broke in trying to get us going so they could capture it all.

Talk about whiplash

As I’m trying to understand what’s going on and Rev. Joanna Fountain Crawford, and Rev. Jami Yandle come up to me and somehow we decide to sing this little light of mine. And all of the sudden there is a wall of us – ministers, seminarians, community members singing this little light of mine y’all it will never ever sound the same.

And then Rev. Erin Walter comes from somewhere and she is leading us in This Joy. At this point there are three rows of people and it felt like they were all singing.

I have no idea when the info wars guys left but at some point they realized they weren’t cute and they weren’t going to get what they want.

It was a powerful experience And afterwards I realized that it was something I had wanted to do my whole life…

Y’all I had just participated in a Care Bear Stare.

For those of you who know what I’m talking about….I’m right, right?

For those of you who weren’t children glued to a TV in 1980s America… the care bears were cartoon bears, all different colors – like pink, purple, yellow… and they had their personalities on their bellies! Like grumpy or Funshine or tender hearted. They were all different but they were a community and when something bad was happening they came together in a big line – like we did – and they shine their unique personalities at the problem

and it fixes it!

We did a Care Bear Stare at the Texas State Capital.

I felt alive!

Feeling the warmth of that transcendent experience,
Being in community working together
Using love as a tool to fight against hate

I felt alive

And I think more than anything that is what we are being invited into. Rev. Stephen Lingwood a Unitarian minister in England wrote a book in which he is answering the question – What does our religion have to offer people or the world?

Since we don’t offer salvation. Heck we don’t even offer a solid idea on our final destination, only to say that we believe we all will end up there.

We don’t claim to have the capital T truth.. And we have a lot more questions than answers

So what could Unitarian Universalism possibly have that would attract others? Why would people need this?

His answer is that our theology/ our values has created a place where people can experience… “a real encounter between humans where people come alive and encounter the divine”

That our churches, That this church can be a place of real encounters with one another.

I’ve seen many tender moments between people. Not trying to mask. Not trying to be all grossly and inappropriately optimistic but just being with one another, often through the really hard times.

And yes sometimes our attempts to have real encounters with one another leads to conflict but honestly that can be so good for us.

Conflict – healthly healthy conflict – where everyone is taking accountability means we are engaging with each other in real ways. And when we put in the work often both parties leave those encounters having grown.

If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to sign up for our Healthy Relations Committee’s Health Conflict Skills class this Fall. In fact, even if you do believe me, you should sign up.

Here we are encouraged to be with one another, authentically – be with one another in the silent prayer but also when scary things are happening.

Our theology is the backbone of this. When we see the divine spark in everyone, when we recognize our interconnectedness, and when we believe in the power of many paths through pluralism we can have those real encounters with one another.

And certainly, that’s what I was having that day. A real encounter with my friends and absolute strangers…. Joining together in our fear, hope, frustration, faith and working together to hold our sacred space.

A care bear stare after all is just pluralism at its best.

Our theology. Our values also invites us to enjoy wonder and freedom

Every Sunday we say that we are dedicated to free and responsible search for truth, meaning, and beauty.

When I sat down to do that silent prayer, I sat down with my whole self. Someone who was hot, not sure what was happening, and feeling the intense weight of the moment.

But I also sat down believing, as the kids here say, “What we know about god is a piece of the truth.”

Because I believe in that free and responsible search and know that in the vastness that is all things, I don’t know much. And with that uncertainty, with that freedom, I was able to close my eyes and let my heart speak.

And then something happened.
I don’t know what it was…. and honestly I don’t care
Was it a capital G god? Maybe.
Was it source?
Was it spirit?
Was it Love?
Was it something that was created by all those that prayed that day –
Was it the Unitarians, Universalists, the christians of all flavors, the
Nahauti traditional dancers who came and left their prayers hanging in that air” Did they make the possible?…

I don’t know.

but I do know what I felt was beautiful and made me feel love powerfully

In our tradition we don’t have to know. We don’t have to have the answers.

Questions are good. The mystery is beautiful and we are invited to bask in it

We can touch the divine in a million different ways without having to name or label them.

Finally, our faith is about life. Our faith is about honoring and working to protect life. It is about coming alive.

What could be more antithetical to the death cult that is being so disparity forced on us than a faith that is about life?

Our long tradition of seeing the divine spark in one another is deeply connected to our long tradition of seeing the pain and harm being caused and feeling the call to do our part to address that pain and harm.

Like the religious ancestors that have worked for a better world That fought for people who are being marginalized That created paths for us So they we could answer a deep pull of solidarity

Our social justice work comes from our faith and theology Because our faith and theology is the pursuit of life!

Of coming alive by leaning into one another and our interconnectedness.

By resting in the mystery.

Are we perfect at that? – no!
But we try
And we have strong foundation in our faith

And that is needed right now. We live in a culture of death and destruction

We can see it in environmental protections being rolled back even as the climate crisis harms more and more people.

We see it in the litany of legislation, executive orders and rulings that target anyone that doesn’t confine to a particular set of characteristics. Especially the cruel dehumanization of trans people and immigrants.

We see it in the way that over and over again guns are prioritized over the sacredness of human life

And we see it as we learned that the children of Gaza are being deliberately targeted and shot by Israeli soldiers

We can see in in the way that the UN has finally started calling what is happening in Palestine a genocide….. and still there is so much silence. Too much silence

We live in culture of death

And because of that we need to harness our life giving theology to breath live into ourself

Into our community

And into the lives of all of those that are being targeted

Ours is a religion of rainbow pluralism And Authentic connections

Ours is a religion where we can come alive.

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 leave this sacred time of being together, breathe life where you can. Be blessed. Be a blessing. And please know you are always loved.

Go in peace.

SERMON INDEX

PODCASTS

From Father’s Day to Liberation

June 23, 2026 by tom Posted in Audio available, Carrie Holley-Hurt, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
June 21, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

You can’t throw a rock without learning about the harm that patriarchy plays in the lives of women and children, but what we don’t often think about is how patriarchy impacts men and boys and the many obstacles it places between them and their full humanity. Join Rev. Carrie as she uses Father’s Day to explore the impact of patriarchy on men and how we might use our understanding to help us do the work of liberation.

Welcome

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 we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

A BLESSING FOR YOUR UNARMORED MASCULINITY
Rev. Jami Yandle

May the weight you carry not become your cage.
May your silence never cost you your soul.
May the calluses on your hands still remember how to hold something gently.
May the fire in your chest warm more than it destroys.
May your grief not rot underground..
May the armor you wear never fuse itself to your skin.
May you stop mistaking numbness for peace.
May you stop confusing dominance for power.
And when the world demands that you become harder to survive,
may you have the courage to remain soft instead.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Anthem

“FATHER & SON” (Yusuf / Cat Stevens) – Brent Baldwin, vocal & guitar; Valeria Diaz, piano; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Rachel Fuhrer, drums
It’s not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
You’re still young, that’s your fault
There’s so much you have to know
Find a one, settle down
If you want you can marry
Look at me, I am old but I’m happy

I was once like you are now and I know that it’s not easy
To be calm when you’ve found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Think of everything you’ve got
For you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not

Oh, how can I try to explain?
‘Cause when I do he turns away again
It’s always been the same, same old story
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away
I know I have to go

It’s not time to make a change
Just sit down, take it slowly
You’re still young, that’s your fault
There’s so much you have to go through
Find a one, settle down
If you want you can marry
Look at me, I am old but I am happy

All the times that I’ve cried
Keepin’ all the things I knew inside
It’s hard but it’s harder to ignore it
If they were right I’d agree
But it’s them they know, not me
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away
I know I have to go

Reading

INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE VISITING EARTH
James McCrae

In the event that you wake up
and find your soul separated from source
and manifest into material form, don’t panic.
Your condition is only temporary.

You have been selected
for the opportunity of human incarnation.

This 3D simulation is designed
to break up the monotony of eternity
by giving you a fully immersive experience
as a distinct ego identity.

Your body will serve
as your physical avatar
as you navigate a dense and dramatic reality.
There will be many distractions
causing you to forget your true nature and origin.
You will experience a range of emotions
from joy to loneliness to despair.

But remember – no matter
what trials and traumas you encounter,
your soul remains perfectly safe.

At times you may feel lost or afraid.
This is totally normal.
If you ever need guidance,
simply slow down your busy mind
and bring your awareness
to the quiet place
inside yourself.

On this planet, nothing is permanent
People and things will come and go.
You will fall in love and form sentimental attachments
only to lose everything you hold dear.

So cling to nothing too tightly, even yourself,
and when it’s time to let go, let go with grace,
for nothing is owned, only borrowed.

As you walk among the people on the planet,
try to be a good guest.
Tread lightly, Remember
that you are only visiting.
Don’t make a mess.
Listen more than you speak.
Give more than you take.

Don’t keep your soft heart
locked inside a glass cage,
protected from wear and tear.

You’ll never make it out alive
and time passes quickly.
So come back with some battle scars
and good stories to tell.

Centering

Music for Meditation: “INDEPENDENCE DAY” (Bruce Springsteen) – Brent Baldwin, vocal & guitar; Valeria Diaz, piano; Efrain Davila, bass guitar; Rachel Fuhrer, drums

Well Papa go to bed now it’s getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I’ll be leaving in the morning from Saint Mary’s Gate
We wouldn’t change this thing even if we could somehow
‘Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There’s a darkness in this town that’s got us too
But they can’t touch me now
And you can’t touch me now
They ain’t gonna do to me
What I watched them do to you

So say goodbye it’s Independence Day
It’s Independence Day
All down the line
Just say goodbye it’s Independence Day
It’s Independence Day this time

Now I don’t know what it always was with us
We chose the words, and yeah, we drew the lines
There was just no way this house could hold the two of us
I guess that we were just too much of the same kind

Well say goodbye it’s Independence Day
It’s Independence Day all boys must run away
So say goodbye it’s Independence Day
All men must make their way come Independence Day

Well Papa go to bed now it’s getting late
Nothing we can say can change anything now
Because there’s just different people coming down here now
And they see things in different ways
And soon everything we’ve known will just be swept away

So say goodbye it’s Independence Day
Papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say
But won’t you just say goodbye it’s Independence Day
I swear I never meant to take those things away

Sermon

FROM FATHER’S DAY TO LIBERATION
Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt

Around mother’s day, I was feeling a little cranky about the way we heap so much on moms and then refuse to provide any societal support but then get the equivalent to a pat on the head with one Sunday a year to be “celebrated.”

So I post a little rant about it on social media…. as one does. Lots of hearts and agreement and then Lisa Carrel responded

“I never hear people go on about Father’s Day the way they do about Mother’s Day. Why do you think that is! I feel like it might have something to do with patriarchy.”

Thank you for that, Lisa. And thank you for your permission to use your words. I didn’t know it at the time but it was such a gift of a response.

However, at the time my response was Yea, its Patrarchy! Fathers aren’t expected to do any of this or carry the burdens mothers do….

I was so cranky.

Look I know this doesn’t happen to anyone else, but I’m not always in my highest self when I’m on social media. I’m sure that’s just me though.

Once I get over my crankiness. I engaged in my most important spiritual discipline, which is asking the next question.

Okay, so why isn’t fathers day a big deal?

Maybe it’s because everyone is told they can do/be anything but for women that comes with the unspoken caveat…as long as doing everything means that you have children.

And men just don’t have that pressure, at least not in the same way women have historically felt it And if that’s the case fathers day isn’t quite the complicated thing that mothers day is….

And while I think that’s at least a part, it doesn’t really get us all the way there.

So I started digging in even deeper and after some really heart-expanding weeks I’ve come to the understanding that it’s not just that men aren’t necessarily expected to be fathers – which is totally fine – no one should be expected to be a parent – but the problem is that when people are fathers, society doesn’t take that role seriously because men aren’t seen as primary parents.

We see this in how our policies impacting families are written to be silent when it comes to fathers.

Back in 2016, when then presidential candidate, Donald Trump proposed a change to family leave act, fathers weren’t mentioned anywhere because in patriarchy the role of the father isn’t to parent, it’s to be outside the house bringing in that money. This not only completely neglects to account for gay fathers, fathers that work inside the home, but undermines the roles of all fathers in their children’s lives. Not to mention perpetuates the whole let’s just dump everything on women situation that makes me so cranky.

Our policies, formal and informal, are so entrenched in patriarchy that they defy the lived reality of so many people,

For example, It doesn’t matter how many times we put down that my children’s father is the one to call in case of emergency, the school ignores it, finds my number and just waits for me to respond. As if their father isn’t responsible enough to parent in a crisis. As if men are too busy to care for their children. The way that men are treated as other or lesser parents hurts everyone in the family and frankly seems to suggest that men aren’t capable.

It’s so infantilizing to view men as incompetent parents.

I would be so offended by that. In fact, I’m offended on your behalf.

Thinking about fathers day and all of this it really just struck me how significantly patriarchy harms men and boys.

Now I’m not a man. When I was born, a doctor or a nurse said “its a girl” and my heart and soul have agreed with that ever since.

Because of that I don’t have direct experience with how patriarchy harms men and boys but I do have a lifetime of observation as well as access to wise and intelligent teachers like bell hooks, Ross Gay, and Liz Plank. And I had a dad

My father was a real “man’s man.” Very tough and brave. After telling a would-be-customer that he (my father) didn’t work on his kinds of cars, the would-be costumer started threatening him. My dad said, if you don’t remove your car from my property I will remove it for you. As the customer continued to threaten him, my dad got his forklift and removed the man’s car from his property.

My father is also kind of a legend…… at least with EMTs. Turns out EMT workers across Texas tell the story of the man who after cutting his stomach open while working refused to be put on a gurney and instead walked to the ambulance while holding in his inners. That’s my dad!

My husband, Russell, first met him late one night after my dad had to return home after he got trapped under his heavy loaded trailer when trying to change a tire in the middle of nowhere Texas. When Russell offered to drive him to the hospital for his broken ribs his response was “this ain’t my first rodeo.”

He was wild and the only reason I don’t completely dismiss the notion of guardian angels. Its truly a miracle that he lived as long as he did… ….though often with bruises, broken ribs, and, by the end, a few less bits than what he started out with.

Maybe my dad would have been that tough and that brave had he not been subjected to the intense and violent formation of a man in patriarchy but I do believe with all my heart he would have been a lot freer if he could have been raised without the confines of it.

To be a man in our patriarchal world is about rejecting one’s authentic self. Bell Hooks wrote in her book A Will to Change, that

“Again and again a man would tell me about early childhood feelings of emotional exuberance, of unrepressed joy, of feeling connected to life and to other people, and then a rupture happened, a disconnect, and that feeling of being loved, of being embraced, was gone. Somehow the test of manhood… was the willingness to accept this loss, to not speak it even in private grief. Sadly, … these men… were remembering a primal moment of heartbreak and heartache: the moment that they were compelled to give up their right to feel….in order to take their place as patriarchal men.”

To be a man in a patriarchal society is to feel the pressure to violate your own humanity. To stuff down emotions and your nature in order to constantly prove your status. This is a term called “precarious manhood” which means that to be a patriarchal man, a person must constantly be proving himself because in patriarchy a man’s worth…his value…. is in how he presents and what he does. In patriarchy, a man’s worth is in what he does from moment to moment. I can’t think of anything that is more antithetical to our Unitarian Universalist belief in the inherent dignity and worthiness than all than that.

There is persistent messaging that to be a man means to be a provider and anything less is to fail. This causes so much harm. Across the world we have data showing that as men lose the ability to earn money or as much money as their partners they take their discomfort out on those close to them, often through physical violence.

Or take it out on themselves often through drugs, alcohol and/or suicide.

The day my oldest sibling was born my father became overcome with fear at not being able to be the provider he felt pressured to be.

Maybe his first thought was to marvel at the miracle that was a new human… but soon after fear took hold of him and propelled him to put all his energy into his work. And so he did… all the time… taking very little time to enjoy being a parent and even less time to enjoy his life. Ultimately in many ways he lived up to the patriarchal expectations of our society and because of that he had some power and authority….but at such a great cost.

Men under patriarchy face the pressure to repress all emotions but anger. A few months ago I gave a sermon on anger where I shared this and so many men came up and confirmed it for me.

That is heartbreaking.

And its where we can see some of the clearest examples of intersectionality, especially how race ones race impacts how they experience the patriarchy. Because while all men are pressured to repress everything but anger, men of the global majority, especially black men face intense consequences when they show anger in public. Whereas white men seem to be making a whole industry of anger in both the government and the manosphere.

Anger is the only emotion that patriarchy deems as “manly”

And any deviation from that is heavily policed in a million different ways, through a million different messages and not all of those come from other men.

Both Bell Hooks and Liz Plank found in their research that women, even those that identified as feminist, were often uncomfortable with men expressing emotions beyond anger. Brene Brown tells the story of a man who asked her why she never included men in her research about shame.

He told her that his wife and daughters would “rather me die on top of my white horse than watch me fall down. When we reach out and are vulnerable, we get the s#%t beat out of us. And don’t tell me it’s from the guys and the coaches and the dads. Because the women in my life are harder on me than anyone else.”

Patriarchy is perpetuated by all of us, often through small and every day actions. Because in systems of supremacy we all play a role in keeping these dehumanizing messages going. We are the ones keeping fear of failure and the fear of vulnerability stoked.

And its so heartbreaking because that means that we are actively participating in creating our own and other people’s cages when we could be working towards liberation. When we could be freeing ourselves.

What would it look like for fathers? For men… For all masculine people if they got to live outside the suffocating boxes of the patriarchy?

If they could maintain that emotional exuberance… unrepressed joy..those feelings of connected to life and to other people…. not just as children but throughout their whole lives.

Where they could be loved and valued without having to pretzel into the narrow confines of a patriarchal society?

Liberation, the beloved community, is about the beautiful tapestry that is all of us getting to be ourselves on this planet in a way that is held and nurtured.

Because who we are is holy and sacred.

Rev. Jami Yandle, the non-binary UU minister who wrote our beautiful call to worship, sees their masculinity as holy and sacred.

My friend (and probably yours) Bis Thorton sees his androgeny as holy and sacred.

I see my femininity as holy and sacred.

It is not our gender that is the problem, it is the way that patriarchy takes what is holy and sacred and twists it to confine and control us.

It’s not masculinity that is the problem, it is the lies that patriarchy insists on.

Liz Plank wrote

“The biggest lie is that the fight to address male suffering is separate or at odds with the battle to liberate women. We all experience gender. We are all limited by oppressive gender stereotypes.”

But as UUs we know that because we know and hold as a value interdependence. We know that we are all interconnected. that our freedoms are interlocked.

And we know what Fannie Lou Hammer taught us, “That no one is free until everyone is free”

Our work for liberation can feel daunting at times

But I feel motivated to do that work. Don’t you?

The work that would allow people to live freely
To live authentically
To live in a community in a spirit of reciprocal care.

Where all people of all genders are valued without having to perform.

I leave you with these wise words from Bell Hooks.

“To create loving men, we must love males. Loving maleness is different from praising and rewarding males for living up to sexist-defined notions of male identity. Caring about men because of what they do for us is not the same as loving males for simply being. When we love maleness, we extend our love whether males are performing or not. Performance is different from simply being. In patriarchal culture males are not allowed simply to be who they are and to glory in their unique identity. Their value is always determined by what they do.

In an anti-patriarchal culture males do not have to prove their value and worth. They know from birth that simply being gives them value, the right to be cherished and loved.”

Amen
Amen
And Amen
may it be so

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

On this, the longest day of the year
May you remember that you a piece of the earth experiencing its self
May you remember that there will be many things that distract you from that
May you remember that we are made to be with and for one another
And may you always remember that you are held by love

Go in peace

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