First UU members have a very important and special opportunity to go to Dilley, TX, on Saturday, June 27, with the Texas UU Justice Ministry and the National Coalition to End Family and Child Detention. First UU is helping sponsor a bus that will leave Austin that Saturday morning and get back Saturday mid-afternoon. This will be a peace-centered rally with national and local faith leaders in Dilley Park — not going to the gates of the concentration camp.It will be the high-profile culmination of a three-day faith leader pilgrimage from Crystal City, TX, where the US imprisoned Japanese-Americans during WWII, including elders who were in those camps and activists whose ancestors were in those camps, sharing their powerful stories. TXUUJM and partners will be highlighting the US history of concentration camps, including its influence on Nazi Germany, and calling to close the camps and free families. Sulma Franco, who was in sanctuary at First UU, is one of the organizers, along with Rev. Erin and Michelle from TXUUJM.If you were inspired by the Buddhist monks’ recent pilgrimage across the country, this is your chance to be part of something similarly peaceful and inspiring for justice in Texas and beyond. Please see the sign-up link in the TXUUJM blurb to join the June 27 rally in Dilley. Registration is required, whether you want to ride the bus or drive yourself. We are proud of this work and hope to get a big group from First UU!
Unwound Sound presents Voces Olvidadas (Forgotten Voices)
Next Sunday, May 31st at 3:00 p.m., First UU will host Voces Olvidadas (Forgotten Voices), a powerful concert presented by Unwound Sound and featuring our Adult Vocal Ensemble.
The program includes the world premiere of a moving new work by Colombian composer José Martínez exploring memory, humanity, and hope amid the violence of war, alongside a new collaboration between Austin Poet Laureate Zell Miller and musician Brent Baldwin.
Admission is free, with donations benefiting the Austin Sanctuary Network.
We hope you’ll join us for this unique and meaningful afternoon of music and community.
There IS a Planet B
There IS a Planet B – An Evening with Dr. Sailesh Rao
Wednesday, June 3rd in Howson Hall
6:30 PM – Vegan snacks & fellowship
7:00 PM – Presentation by Dr. Rao
Join internationally known speaker, author, and founder of Climate Healers, Dr. Sailesh Rao, for a powerful evening exploring the connections between climate change, food systems, biodiversity, health, and compassion.
Dr. Rao is the author of There Is a Planet B and Guide to Planet B. He travels the world speaking at global conferences and on podcasts about practical solutions for restoring balance on Earth.
This inspiring presentation will invite the audience to rethink humanity’s relationship with the living world and to imagine a more compassionate future for all life on Earth.
Hosted by:
The Veganistas of First UU of Austin – a chapter of the UU Animal Ministry
San Marcos UU Fellowship Environmental Advocates
The Austin Vegan Association
Free and Open to the Public. All are welcome.
2026 March Monthly Service Offering – Casa Marianella
Casa Marianella
-ICE is here in Austin, picking up students, workers, dreamers, and parents.
-Texas is building many detention centers for people from out of state, with our tax money.
-Asylum seekers who go to local courts for a final hearing are losing their cases. Their last recourse might be a habeas review for possibly unlawful detention.
Casa Marianella has all-hands-on-deck for asylum seekers, refugees, and other immigrants. Your contributions help!
Why don’t immigrants just get in line? The truth is that “There is no line.” Instead of “a line,” there’s a convoluted system that is applied unevenly among different nationalities and ethnicities. However, we UUs believe in fairness, inherent worth, justice, and diversity. We help our neighbors avoid deportation and work, live, and raise their kids here.
Emergency and transitional housing are provided in small homes for women and children, single men, single dads, and families. Support includes food, clothing, legal and medical resources, English classes, a bicycle program, and much more. Residents may stay for 3 months; some of them move to host homes for another 3 months as they try to get on their feet.
Convivo is a monthly celebration on the last Sunday of the month (except November and December, when it’s on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day). Residents, staff, volunteers, neighbors, and friends like us enjoy live music, excellent food, fellowship, and dancing. Join the fun at 821 Gunter St, Austin, TX 78702, from 6-8 pm.
More info at https://www.casamarianella.org/.
2026 Austin CROP Hunger Walk
On the first Sunday in March, the Austin community will gather to fight hunger both at home and around the world. Visit the First UU Austin CROP webpage to donate to this important event and learn more about the walk.
The walk will be held at Camp Mabry at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 1st, and the route is accessible for wheelchairs and strollers. If you are interested in walking, feel free to contact Emily Speight at espeight2003@gmail.com with questions. The local beneficiaries of this year’s walk are the Central Texas Food Bank, Casa Marianella, Micah 6 of Austin, iACT for Refugees, Hope Food Pantry, Urban Roots, and Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Central Texas.
Together, we will continue to fight against disease, disaster, displacement and other challenges that leave people hungry. Join with us as we raise funds to help neighbors near and far get the meals they need for today and sustainable food security for tomorrow!
Interdependence Discussion
Bis Thorton and Suzie Riddle invite you to join a thoughtful discussion about our new value: interdependence.
The value states, “We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it. We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation. We will create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality, and justice. We will work to repair harm and damaged relationships.”
The group will meet in Room 15 on Sunday, February 22nd, at 12:45 p.m. Vegan snacks will be provided. The group is limited to 12 people, so please sign up quickly!
Sign up Now!
February Vegan Potluck
Vegan Potluck
Sponsored by the Veganistas! / UU Animal Ministry Chapter & the Austin Vegan Association
Saturday, February 21st, 6:30 PM
What to Bring:
- A vegan dish serving 10+
- You may also bring things for the salad bar, appetizer table, and desserts!
- You are welcome to bring multiple items. More food is always welcome!!
- We ask that food be free of all animal products, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, whey), animal broth, gelatin, and honey.
- As a courtesy, be prepared to give information about allergens like nuts or gluten.
- Bring your recipe if you want to share it.
- Small serving utensil for your dish
- A plate for yourself and utensils for eating.
- Your own beverage.
Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just veg-curious, you’re welcome to join us. This event is free and open to all. Children are welcome.
If possible, sign up at www.meetup.com/vegaustin or just show up! For more information, message us through Church Center.
Path to Membership March 2026
Did Unitarianism really start in Transylvania?
Who is Reverend Wheelock, and who is Emily Wheelock Howson?
When was this building constructed?
If you are new here and want to learn the answers to these questions and more, this class is for you! We will be hosting our quarterly Path to Membership Class on Saturday, March 28th, 9:00 AM in Room 13.
Here we will learn about the history of this church, as well as the broader history of UUism and its origins. There will also be a time to share our spiritual journeys and make connections with each other. Then, at the end, if you decide you would like to become a member, you will have an opportunity to sign the Membership Book!
Breakfast and coffee are provided, as well as childcare if needed.
*If you require childcare, you must Register on Church Center to let us know.
Questions? Please email membership@austinuu.org
Climate Justice Meeting
Please join us for the First UU Climate Committee and Sierra Club Climate monthly meeting in Howson Hall on Tuesday, February 3rd, at 6:30 p.m., as we focus on solidarity with people in Minneapolis who are facing fear, disruption, and injustice in their communities.
We believe that social injustice is climate injustice. Immigration is a climate issue, as more and more fathers and mothers are fleeing drought-ravaged homes in search of somewhere they can feed their family. Protecting democracy is a climate issue, because our work—already challenging—becomes vastly more difficult if it is replaced by tyranny. Attacks on vulnerable communities, civil rights, and democracy undermine the trust and collective action we need to solve the climate crisis.
At this meeting, we will hear directly from people who live at ground zero in Minneapolis and from others who have been on the ground protesting and supporting affected communities. We are honored that Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt will join us, along with several Minneapolis residents, to share what they have witnessed and how we can stand in solidarity.
If you are unable to attend in person, please Join on Zoom!
February 2026 Monthly Service Offering
Planned Parenthood has been serving patients across Texas for over 90 years. In 2025 we expanded our service area to cover four health centers in Houston. Planned Parenthood provides quality, compassionate healthcare from expert clinicians, medically accurate, inclusive sex education from professional educators, and a fierce commitment to a world in which everyone can access quality healthcare and information to live their lives fully, without judgment. Planned Parenthood’s four Austin health centers offer annual exams, the full range of birth control methods (including IUDs and implants), testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), screenings for breast and cervical cancer, HPV (human papillomavirus) and flu vaccines, PrEP and PEP HIV prevention medication, UTI and infection treatment, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and more.
Two-thirds of Planned Parenthood patients are underinsured or uninsured. For the 20% of Travis County residents ages 18-65 who do not have health insurance, PPGT is a vital sexual and reproductive health resource. Here in Austin, and across the country, lack of access to health insurance overwhelmingly affects our Black and Latine neighbors. Your generosity provides our patients with access to healthcare. In 2025, we served more than 14,000 patients in the Austin area. Despite operating in a hostile political environment and under an extreme abortion ban, our Austin health centers are delivering more care than ever because Texans are counting on us.
To expand access to healthcare appointments for patients juggling work, school, and childcare, at least one of Planned Parenthood’s four Austin health centers feature at least one day a week with extended evening hours, plus virtual visits 7 days a week, and 24/7 asynchronous telemedicine for birth control and uncomplicated UTI needs. Planned Parenthood is a trusted resource for young people seeking health information. Our Teen Advocacy Board (TAB) empowers high school teens to be a knowledgeable resource for their peers about sexual health. TAB members bring essential information about contraception, STI prevention, healthy relationships, and more to their peers in Austin.
Guide to Meg’s Sermons
Guide to Meg’s Sermons
2022 Sermons
| Celebrating the Life of Meg Barnhouse | Rev Chris Jimmerson and many others |
|
| You’re going to Pray for me? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Flower Ceremony and Farewell | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Pumpkins Promise | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The fire of anger | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Curiosity and Respect | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Being Present with one another | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Coming to life again | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| What is the Eighth Principle? | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Grasshoppers in Indra’s Glittering Net | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Water Ceremony 2022 | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| How to eat a car | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| A Good Goodbye | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| What if you were really loved | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Connected to All Creation | Rev Meg Barnhouse |
2021 Sermons
| 2021 Christmas Eve Service | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| 2021 Christmas Pageant | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Perils of Perfectionism | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Dealing with difficult people (and trying not to be one) | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right Concentration | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Using Our Voices | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Be Present in your Life | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| All Souls and All Saints | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Healing Power of Truth | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Great Big Celebration Sunday | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Third Principle | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| So Much Wasted Effort | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Resilience | Rev Meg Barnhouse & Rev Chris Jimmerson | |
| Down to the River to Pray | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right Livelihood | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Inherent Worth and Dignity of every Person | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| One coming out story | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| In the stream of your life | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| What did you just say? | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Just a Reminder | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Flower Communion 2021 | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Why should I believe that? | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Abandon Hope and Fear | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Blues Theology (Revisited) | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| History – It’s complicated | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| When Harold Hatcher gave up, He grew | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Third Lap in a Four Lap Race | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Power of Our Words | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Need a Little Mercy Now | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| To Corinth with Love | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Blessing the Animals 2021 | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| In praise of the dark | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Wish you were here | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| 2021 Burning Bowl | Rev Meg Barnhouse |
2020 Sermons
| Guidance | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| 2020 Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What’s so Funny ’bout Peace, Love, and Understanding | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Poetry as Meditation | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Falling in love with what is | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Science, Imagination, and Magic | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| All Souls | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| American Civil Religion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Lessons from the Garden | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Have smaller fights | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Forgiveness | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Celebration Sunday | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Be a stream and not a swamp | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Chalice Circles: Deepening Connection | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Radicals v Respectables | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Using your Anger, Holding on to your Hope | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Question Box Sermon | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The History of American Policing | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Useful Ignorance and Beginner’s Mind | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Flower Communion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Living with Brain Trauma | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| All will be well – Really? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Punk Theology | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A Trip to the Underworld | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Losing My Religion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Social Distance, not Spiritual Distance | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Two Parables of the Beloved Community | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Sugar: What is enough? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Milk and Butter: Creativity within constraints | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How not to break a horse | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Salt | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Heat & Transformation | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Burning Bowl | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2019 Sermons
| When God was a baby | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Perfect Miracles | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What happens in families | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How to comfort someone who is suffering | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Jedidiah Morse and the Battle for Harvard | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Room on the Broom | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Protected on the Journey | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Concord Genius Cluster | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| This Apple | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Celebration Sunday | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How to Change Minds | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Many Rivers to Cross | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What does that pin on your backpack mean? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Walking Toward the Deep End | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| In My Life | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Out from Silence: Writing your Life | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Being a blessing to the children | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Beautiful ‘Flower Girls’ | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Playing ball on running water | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Fiery and Fearless | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How to grow a seed | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The power of story | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| If I needed you | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Kindness Connection | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Celtic Christianity | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Promise and the Practice | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Magic of Music | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Blues Theology | Rev. Meg Barhouse | |
| Animal Blessing | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2018 Sermons
| Lessons and Carols | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Spray it Gold and post it on Instagram | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Live from Pflugerville | Rev Meg Barnhouse | |
| Come, ye thankful people, come | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Fall down7, Get up 8 | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A Little Mercy | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Those who have gone before us | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Safe Space/Brave Space | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Love is the Spirit of this church, and Service is its law | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What I Learned from Being a Writer | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| UU101, UU201, UU301 | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Faith Out Loud | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Wade in the Water | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| You are magic | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Let’s talk about depression | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Genderbread Person | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A feeling for the holy | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| ÊUnitarians and Abolition | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Question Box Sermon | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Does it hurt to Bloom? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Things I Learned From My Mother | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Seeds | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Broken Things | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A “Foolish” Easter | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Finding our balance | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Faith for UUs | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Be the Spark | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Why do bad things happen? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Love, like a carefully loaded ship… | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Animal Blessing Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Power in the #MeToo Movement | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How to invite changes in your life | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2017 Sermons
| Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Jesus’ Grandmothers | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Grace | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| My Actions are My Only True Belongings | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Elijah | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Checking out, Falling back, Overwhelmed | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Those who have gone before | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Doing Justice | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Groundbreaking | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Transformation through service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Birthday of the World | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Gathering in Community | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Truth, Crushed to Earth, Shall Rise Again | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| You have to be carefully taught | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Adventures in Hymnody | Kiya Heartwood | |
| Get it to the size of an Oreo | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Dealing with difficult people | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right Effort | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Animal Blessing Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Trust, The Decor Committee & Citizens United | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right Livelihood | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2016 Sermons
| Christmas Day Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Star of Truth | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A clear mind and an open heart | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Acceptance and encouragement | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right speech | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Honoring the ancestors | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Right intention and the 10-10-10 rule | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The final form of love, which is forgiveness | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Mom, He started it | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Abandon Hope and Fear | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Water communion service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The deep end of the heart | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What holds us together? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What I learned on my summer vacation | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Talking to the trees | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What’s the difference: Venting vs Lamentation | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Make New Mistakes | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Prayer beads for UUs | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What’s the difference: Trinitarian and Unitarian? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Punk Theology | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Pretty Yellow Flower Day | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The man comes around | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Bee Yard Etiquette | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What’s the difference: Protestants and Catholics? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| So many songs about love | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Respecting the Fire | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Forgiveness | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What the difference between Sunni & Shiite Islam? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Burning Bowl | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2015 Sermons
| The Christians and the Pagans | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| An upside-down world: A Hymn of reversal | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Family Life as a Spiritual Path | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The ugly duckling | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| At the threshold | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Dialogue with Conservatives | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Listening to Drag | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Oh, Delilah | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Good Grief | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| All beginnings are difficult | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Choose to enjoy your life | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The first one to try | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Which God don’t you believe in? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Father Earth, Mother Sky | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Juneteenth | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The boy who drew cats | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Goldilocks and Elijah | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Choosing to Bless the World | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Impossible Task | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| How many plagues will it take? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Cellist of Sarajevo | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Palm Sunday | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Question Box Sermon | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Red Shoes | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Book of Love | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Want what you have | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Blessing and being blessed: Animal Blessing Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2014 Sermons
| Christmas History | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Dirty Water | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Gratitude | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Problem of Evil | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Keep the home fires burning | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Ancestors’ Ways | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Circle Round – Women’s Spirituality Tradition | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Trust and Welcome | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Now THIS is church | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Forgiveness and Repentance | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Give them Hope, not Hell | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Water Communion Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Playing ball on running water | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Sacred Spaces | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| My faith is in science, but I try to keep an open mind | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The death penalty, reluctant soldiers & Edward O. Wilson | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Spiritual Growth | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Honor Your Father | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Cherokee Removal | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Rilke’s Swan | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| A Juicy slice of UU history – Michael Servetus | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| May the force be with you | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Jesus’ Grandmothers | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Depression | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| God wants you to be rich! | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Balance/Equinox | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Celtic Christianity/Redemption | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Second Commandment | Rev. Meg Barhnouse | |
| Heard it through the grapevine | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Failure is impossible | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| What we are worshiping, we are becoming | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Animal Blessing Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| The Magic of Music | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Architecture and spirit | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | |
| Burning Bowl | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
2013 Sermons
| A Sudden Flame, an Extraordinary Journey | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-22-13 |
| Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-15-13 |
| A UU Faith Story: John Murray | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-08-13 |
| How did we get the bible? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-01-13 |
| A Juicy Slice of UU History: The Iowa Sisterhood | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-17-13 |
| Dismantling Racism | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-10-13 |
| Creating Community | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-03-13 |
| Mystery, Spookiness, Magic and Wonder | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-27-13 |
| Walking between the raindrops | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-20-13 |
| I’m a believer | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-13-13 |
| Bedrock Values at the heart of humanism | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-29-13 |
| Not so good at mindfullness | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-22-13 |
| What if you can’t keep your promise | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-15-13 |
| Water Communion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-08-13 |
| Margaret Sanger | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-25-13 |
| Life of Pi | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-18-13 |
| The Oversoul | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-11-13 |
| Defense against the dark arts | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-04-13 |
| Like Slow-Growing Trees in a Ruined Place | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-30-13 |
| Amazing Grace | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-16-13 |
| The Rose | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-09-13 |
| Tales of the tribe | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-02-13 |
| The right thing to do | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 05-05-13 |
| Fiery and Fearless: Olympia Brown | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-28-13 |
| The Gaia Psalms | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-21-13 |
| Lies, gossip and fighting words | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-14-13 |
| Will you harbor me? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-07-13 |
| Only life and death | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-31-13 |
| Afri-kin | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-24-13 |
| Good question | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-17-13 |
| As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-03-13 |
| Recovery from Fundamentalism | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-17-13 |
| A Juicy Slice of UU History: Theodore Parker | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-10-13 |
| God the huntress | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-03-13 |
| Abandon Hope and Fear | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-27-13 |
| The delicate art of forgiveness | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-13-13 |
| Burning Bowl Service | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-06-13 |
2012 Sermons
| Blue Christmas | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-23-12 |
| Christmas Pageant | Rev. Meg Barnhouse and Marisol Caballero | 12-16-12 |
| Rekindled | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-09-12 |
| Sweet Honey from old failures | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-02-12 |
| Thank you, I’m going downhill | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-18-12 |
| Equilibrium with Elegance: Jazz and UU Theology | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-11-12 |
| Kicking the Statue of Shiva | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-21-12 |
| A Safe Place | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-14-12 |
| Land of Hope and Dreams | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-07-12 |
| American Civil Religion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-23-12 |
| A Relationship of Promises | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-16-12 |
| ÊSetting Sail | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-09-12 |
| Water Ceremony and Ingathering | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-02-12 |
| Bee Yard Etiquette | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-17-12 |
| The Real Ten Commandments | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-10-12 |
| Gold in the Shadow | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 06-03-12 |
| ÊWhat I learned from my mother | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 05-13-12 |
| Gaia Psalms | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-22-12 |
| Grasshoppers in the Glittering Net | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-15-12 |
| Quartet for the end of time | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-08-12 |
| How many UUs does it take to change a lightbulb? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 04-01-12 |
| What is enough? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-18-12 |
| When to take the leap | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 03-04-12 |
| She stirs up the world | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-19-12 |
| The man who ate a car | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-12-12 |
| Everybody’s got a Hungry Heart | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 02-05-12 |
| Afri-Kin | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-29-12 |
| Installation Service of Rev. Meg Barnhouse | Rev. Peter Morales | 01-15-12 |
| A Stone of Hope | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-15-12 |
| The Democratic Process | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-08-12 |
| Burning Bowl | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 01-01-12 |
2011 Sermons
| Sermon Topic | Author | Date |
| Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-24-11 |
| How to disagree passionately and peacefully | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-18-11 |
| Wisdom Tree | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-11-11 |
| A Juicy Slice of Unitarian History | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 12-04-11 |
| The devil and Martha Stewart | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-20-11 |
| Digging a good, deep well | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-13-11 |
| There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 11-06-11 |
| Honoring the Ancestors | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-30-11 |
| Be a stream, not a swamp | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-16-11 |
| We are gay and straight together | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-09-11 |
| Repentance, Forgiveness, Reconciliation | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 10-02-11 |
| All the gossip from Concord | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-18-11 |
| Where are the strong? Who are the trusted? | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-11-11 |
| Water Communion | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 09-04-11 |
| A Spiritual Stretch | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-28-11 |
| Keeping an Eye on the Demolition Twins | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 08-21-11 |
| Liberty, Healing, Good News | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 05-22-11 |
| Where I come from is like this | Rev. Meg Barnhouse | 05-15-11 |
| Rapture in America | Rev. Meg Barnhouse |
January Senior Lunch
Gigs Hodges has spent two regular and six special sessions working as a legislative staffer for Representatives Plesa and Davis. During the 89th Legislative Session, she helped get 11 bills signed into law, the third most of any Democrat, and played a meaningful role in the 2025 quorum break to defend democracy. Gigs believes the government should guarantee the basics people need to survive, and she is determined to change how Democrats use their power in the Texas House to deliver for Texans. After too many sleepless nights wishing she could do more, Gigs is now running to represent HD 49 in Austin, encouraged by Representative Davis and equipped with a clear plan and a deep sense of purpose. As she says, Texans deserve more than crumbs. We deserve the whole pie.
The Speaker’s Race: How Democrats Gave Away Their Power on Day One
On the first day of the 89th Legislative Session, Democrats elected a notoriously bad MAGA Republican as Speaker of the House, with little to show for it. This discussion will cover what happened behind the scenes leading up to the race, how the vote played out on the House floor, what Democrats gained, and whether it was worth it, and the lessons learned for how Democrats can better deliver for Texans.
2026 Burning Bowl
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.
Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt
January 4, 2026
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Annual Burning Bowl Service – As we enter a new year, we enter a liminal space. A time in which we are between the known and the unknown. All the joys and sorrows that we faced in 2025 have changed us. Sometimes those changes have been good or enriching, and sometimes they have not. During our burning bowl service, we contemplate what we would like to let go of so that we may more easily find our center as we move into the new year.
Chalice Lighting
This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.
Call to Worship
My friend talked to me today about liminal spaces. She told me they are the in-between stages, when one era of your life is over, but the next hasn’t yet begun.
It’s a place of change, of uncertainty, of questions, of waiting. I thought of God for some reason. Maybe the absence of God is actually the presence of them.
Maybe it’s the spaces between words that matter the most. Maybe it’s the way the piano sounds when it’s not being played. Maybe truth only makes itself known in the absence of answers.
After all, plants do grow in sidewalk cracks.
– from a poet that goes by NB.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
NEW YEAR’S DAY
by Kathleen McTigueThe first of January is another day dawning, the sun rising as the sun always rises, the earth moving in its rhythms. With or without our calendars, to name a certain day as the day of new beginning, separating the old from the new.
So, it is, everything is the same, bound into its history as we ourselves are bound. Yet also, we stand at a threshold. The new year is something truly new, still unformed, leaving a stunning power in our hands.
What shall we do with this great gift of time this year? Let us begin by remembering that whatever justice, whatever peace and wholeness might bloom in our world this year, we are the hearts and minds, the hands and feet, the embodiment of all the best visions of our people. The new year can be new ground for the seeds of our dreams.
Let us take the step forward together onto new ground, planting our dreams well, faithfully, and in joy.
Sermon
NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.
Today is our annual Burning Bull service. It’s a ritual of contemplation, of intention, of release. And if you are doing this from home with your piece of paper, you can use fire. If you’d like to, I’d like to encourage you to do that with safety. You can also dissolve your water in water or you can bury it. The point is to let the elements take from us what no longer serves us.
This ritual feels particularly important this year, because 2025, what a year. Am I right? Started out pretty awful.
And then, but like any old year, there were probably a mix of joys, personal joys too. It might have even been a pretty good year for you personally. That’s how I experienced it. I had some amazing experiences.
I get to be y’all’s minister. That was an amazing experience.
And I had challenging experiences. I had to learn how to live with long COVID. And I bet just like you, it came in the good and the bad.
But whatever we were experiencing it, our personal life could not be divorced from what we were experiencing out there in the world. We were doing all of that with the backdrop of some of the most awful atrocities. It’s been a lot.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day and it captured exactly how I was feeling. It says, “It is what it is. And it ain’t great.”
It ain’t great. It wasn’t great. I feel like I slid into 2026 all bruised up with a real raw heart.
And now we’re entering another year. And one that’s already started out pretty bumpy. If you’re feeling hesitation, if you are feeling trepidation, me too.
We are in a liminal space. We are right in the doorway of what was and what we do not know yet – and what we cannot predict. Liminal spaces are uncomfortable for that very reason.
We don’t know what will happen. Sometimes it’s easier to just start predicting what might happen, to project into the future by dragging along the past. But the truth is that not a word of the future has been written.
We write it. All of us, billions and billions of all of us on this planet, for better or worse, we’re co-creating the future. And that co-creation can be beautiful and it can be powerful.
I’ve seen that here. I’ve seen beautiful, powerful co-creation here in this community, especially with the last legislative session. But the thing about co-creation is that it reminds us that we actually don’t have that much control.
In fact, the control we have is pretty minuscule in the big scheme of things.
And so here we are, in a new unwritten chapter, stuck in what might feel like a lifetime group project. And who likes group projects? But here we are.
It is what it is. And our control is limited. But it’s not nothing.
We are limited to the actions we take, to how we spend our energy, to where we put our focus. It’s limited to how we want to show up in the world, in spite of the chaos and the storms around us. We get to choose how we will show up.
And we can choose to show up grounded. We can choose to slow down to the speed of our wisdom. That’s the control we have.
And so many things can get in the way and make us feel like we don’t have control to even do that. Making it so that instead of coming from a centered place, we move at the pace of our stress and our fear. Feeling pulled around from stressful situation to stressful situation, or from one awful headline to the next.
So as we enter this Burning Bowl Ritual, I want to take some time to think about what gets in our way. What makes it hard for you to choose to move through the world the way you like” What are those things that you have control over?
The habits or the thoughts that prevent you from showing up as you want to show up? What do you want to make a break from?What no longer serves you? What would be good to ritually release?
Maybe it’s old resentments or old hurts. Maybe it’s a pattern of self-sabotage, old stories that get in our way. Maybe it’s people who have hurt us over and over again without any hope of forgiveness or accountability.
Maybe it’s chronic and constant worry, outdated beliefs, lack of self-care. Maybe it’s something else entirely. Whatever it is, let’s take some deep breaths together and contemplate that.
You may wish to hold your flash paper to your heart, or you may whisper into it if you feel comfortable doing so.
In a moment, I will light the burning bowl, and I’ll invite you to please come down one line. This is my first year in Parish ministry, please don’t make me have a memorable burning bowl. And then if you will, please exit to your left.
And now, with deep breaths, with the ground underneath us, with the air above us. Let’s move with intention, as we whisper with what we no longer want into our paper, so that we can release it to the fire.
That was so beautiful. So liminal space. The time between what was and what we don’t know yet.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable because we don’t know what we’re headed for. But that’s every day, not just when the calendar tells us that 365 days have gone by.
Every day we face the unknown.
The only thing that we have is how we show up. I hope that what you released has made you feel lighter. I hope that it’s made you feel more grounded and more prepared for whatever it is that will come.
As we wind down our service today, I want us to pull to our mind that image or word or memory from our time in meditation, the one that made us feel strong or connected or grounded. Let’s take just two deep breaths together to fix that in our mind.
But what strengthens you may light a flame in the center of you, a flame to hold you, a flame to motivate you, and a flame to bring you to your deeper and higher self, even in the storm.
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, as what is no longer yours has been transformed by the fire, as what strength in you is held in your heart, may you feel lighter and more grounded, and most importantly, may you feel held by this community and by love.
Go in peace.
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.
Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776
Congregational Meeting
This is your Official Notice for our December Congregational Meeting on Sunday, December 21st at 1:00 p.m., to be held in the Sanctuary and on Zoom (Passcode 512452). Click on the link below for materials for the meeting.
Congregational Meeting Materials
The church bylaws specify the following regarding voting eligibility: “Individuals who have been members of the church for 30 days or more and who have (as an individual or part of a family unit) made a recorded financial contribution during the last 12 months and at least 30 days prior to the meeting, have the right to vote at all official church meetings.”
The list of eligible voters may be found by clicking here
Any questions about voter eligibility, including if you feel that you were mistakenly not listed on the list of eligible voters, please contact Shannon Posern, info@austinuu.org.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!
Women & Fair Trade Festival
Shop Annual Women and Fair Trade FestivalSaturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.We’re thrilled to invite you to the Women and Fair Trade Festival hosted by Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera, where you may shop with conscience at First UU, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Therapy Sisters will start the music on Saturday at 10 a.m. For over two decades, ATCF’s Fair Trade Festival has brought together women’s cooperatives from around the world to Austin, creating a marketplace rooted in economic justice, cultural exchange, and community gathering, hosting women-led artisan cooperatives from Mexico, Palestine, Guatemala, Ecuador, India, and the U.S., including Jolom Mayaetik, Palestine Online Store, Fuerza Unida, Colores del Pueblo, Marigold Gateway to India, UPAVIM, Warmipa Huasy, and Las Racheritas/Rug Hook Project. For more info, visit atcf.org. |
