Wholly Spirited

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and OWL Facilitators
Kinsey Shackelford, Amanda Ray, Isaac Braman-Ray, and Elizabeth Gray
February 18, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Our Whole Lives (OWL) is the nationally renowned sexuality education program rooted in our faith values. Developed jointly by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church Board of Homeland Ministries, OWL includes age-appropriate curricula for people from kindergarten through older adulthood. Come and find out about how OWL is an essential element of our faith development ministries here at First UU Austin and the differences it is making in the lives of people in our religious community and beyond.

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

By Elizabeth Canfield
From OWL Facilitator Training

I’ve often wondered what it would be like if we taught young people swimming in the same way we teach sexuality. If we told them that swimming was an important adult activity, one they will all have to be skilled at when they grow up, but we never talked with them about it. We never showed them the pool. We just allowed them to stand outside closed doors and listen to all the splashing. Occasionally, they might catch a glimpse of partially clothed people going in and out of the door to the pool and maybe they’d find a hidden book on the art of swimming, but when they asked a question about how swimming felt or what it was about, they would be greeted with blank or embarrassed looks.

Suddenly, when they turned 18, we would fling open the doors to the pool and they would jump in. Miraculously, some might learn to tread water, but many would drown.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Anthem

“BREATHS” Lyrics
Ysaye Barnwell

Chorus:
Listen more often to things than to beings
Listen more often to things than to beings
‘Tis the ancestor’s breath when the fire’s voice is heard
‘Tis the ancestor’s breath in the voice of the water.

Those who have died have never, never left
The dead are not under the earth
They are in the rustling trees
They are in the groaning woods
They are in the crying grass,
They are in the moaning rocks
The dead are not under the earth.

CHORUS

Those who have died have never never left.
The dead have a pact with the living.
They are in the woman’s breast,
They are in the wailing child
They are with us in our homes.
They are with us in the crowd
The dead have a pact with the living.

CHORUS

Reading

The UUA and The United Church Board of Homeland Ministries

From The Advocacy Manual for Sexuality Education, Health and Justice; resources for communities of faith

It is our religious heritages that compel and guide us to create a safe environment within which people can come to understand and respond to the challenges facing them as sexual beings. We are grounded as faith communities in a common and continuing promotion of justice for all people. We affirm the dignity of the individual, the importance of personal responsibility, and the essential interdependence of all people.

We believe that humans seek meaning in life and organize into religious communities to pursue meaning as a common endeavor. We believe that sexuality can enrich life and is thus an essential concern of religious communities. We recognize that people can encounter the spiritual through sexual expression.

Therefore, we believe the religious community must take an active role in the promotion of education and justice in human sexuality. To accomplish this, religious communities must engage in a wide range of activities and address the whole person through worshipping, nurturing, educating, supporting, challenging, advocating, confronting, forgiving, and healing.

Sermon

WHOLLY SPIRITED

Kinsey Shackleford

Kinsey: Hi there, I’m Kinsey. I use she /her pronouns. I am a white woman with dark blonde hair, rainbow earrings, and a striped shirt. I am First UU Austin’s OWL Coordinator. I was first introduced to OWL when I began working here at the church, and soon was trained to be a facilitator for grades K-12. Last spring, I taught a class of Kindergarteners and 1st graders, whom you’ll hear from in a moment. I’m currently one of the four fabulous facilitators for the 5th and 6th OWL class. I love teaching OWL because it fights shame and stigma. Shame of our bodies, shame of our families, shame of who we love and how we identify. Liz Jones, former Director of Religious Education at First UU San Diego, says it best:

“By honestly and openly addressing sexuality in appropriate ways we are honoring them as whole people. We acknowledge their worth and dignity. Through offering our sexuality program, we not only honor each individual, but through knowledge we help each other along the path to respecting and honoring those who are different from ourselves.”

I believe this work changes lives. I believe the kind of education and open conversations about sexuality and right relationships with one another, the kind that happens in OWL leads to better quality of life. But don’t just listen to me, listen to those kids who have gone through the OWL program. Thank you for your time today.

Student 1: Please watch!

Kinsey: So, teach us OWL real quick.

Student 2: (writing on a chalkboard) these are kids. They want to go to OWL, but they don’t know anything about OWL. We would have to show them, tell them, and give them an idea of what it’s like.

Kinsey: What do you remember about OWL class?

Student 2: I remember we talked about our bodies.

Kinsey: What about our bodies?

Student 1: How babies are made!

Student 2: And our private parts.

Student 1: It’s meant for questions.

Kinsey: What would you say to someone who said “I don’t wanna take OWL”

Student 1: I’d say, you should take OWL, you can learn more about your body. And if they said no…

Student 2: I’d be like, too bad!

Student 1: I’d say, it has some really interesting stuff in it. You get to do crafts…and yeah, fun stuff!

Kinsey: What do you think is the most important thing that you learned from OWL?

Student 2: Probably that…

Student 1: How babies are made!

Student 2: Probably that there are so many secrets to unfurl… and we don’t even know a lot, like do the sperms and eggs have names like ‘hi, I’m Johnson!’ or ‘hi, I’m Linguine!'”

Kinsey: What did you learn about gender identity and pronouns when you were in OWL?

Student 2: If you have a vagina, they call you a girl from birth. If you have a penis, they call you a boy from birth.

Kinsey: Is that always the case?

Student 1: No.

Student 2: No, it’s not.

Kinsey: Sometimes it is and that’s okay! Sometimes it isn’t…

Family Member: And that’s okay too.

Kinsey: If you were talking to a kindergartener who was thinking about going to OWL, what would you say to them?

Student 2: I’d say OWL is a very good place to learn about your body. Penis or no penis, vagina or no vagina, you will learn more about it if you go to OWL.

Student 2: (drawing on the board, one tall person and one short person): Here’s us.

Family Member: You’re so much bigger than the kindergartener.

Student 1: Yeah!

Captioned on screen: Drawing different types of families…in OWL, we learn that love makes a family.

Kinsey: Should more people take OWL?

Both kids: Yes!

Student 2: It’s fun and you get to learn more about your body and how bodies work.

Student 1: Yeah…and how babies are made.

Caption on screen: You heard it from the students, now come and learn for yourself! Visit austinuu.org for more information.

Amanda Ray and Isaac Braman-Ray

Elizabeth Gray:

Back in 2009, along with my husband Eugene, I participated in an Adult OWL class taught by Michael West and Barb Tuttle, both members of this church.

Oprah Magazine sent out a journalist to report on us, since Adult Sex Ed was apparently a thing, and they wanted to write about it. When the article was published online, I read the comments. I remember one disparaging remark “Why do adults have to meet in a church basement to learn how to have sex?” Well, I thought-first, we are in Texas and our church doesn’t have a basement! But indeed, why do adults-grown ups!–need to learn about sex–what do they not already know?

Why are there three comprehensive OWL curricula for adults:

Young Adults (ages 18-35)

Adults (ages 36-50)

Older Adults (over 50)

Young adults need accurate information, they are increasing their self-knowledge, and need help with safety and strengthening interpersonal skills.

The Adult curriculum

uses values, communication skills, and spirituality as starting points,

builds an understanding of healthy sexual relationships,

affirms diversity, and

helps participants accept and honor their own sexuality throughout their lives.

The Older Adult classes address sexuality with candor, sensitivity, and respect for older adults’ wisdom and life experience. Or put another way, the Adult OWL classes meet participants where they are:

How can I enjoy sex if I’m struggling with infertility and it feels like work,

not pleasure?

How do I manage being a parent and a sexual person?

How do I enjoy my sexuality if I’ve lost a breast to cancer?

Can I feel sexually satisfied if I am alone-if I don’t have a partner?”

What happens to my sexuality if I or my partner no longer want the intimate

activities we enjoyed in the past?

Your sexuality doesn’t end because you are alone, divorced or widowed, unwell, disabled, over 60, or just too tired tonight. Sexuality is part of who we all are at our core. It must be integrated into our spirituality because for UUs, spirituality is about wholeness.

And yes, back to that group in the church basement, when you take an Adult OWL class you are very likely to learn something you didn’t know.

As an OWL instructor, I never want to let an opportunity pass for us to learn about our sexuality. Here’s an example:

Image

The picture is a fist-sized pink object that looks sort of like a sensual sculpture of an orchid flower.

Shout it out if you recognize what this is.

That’s right, it’s an anatomically correct model of a clitoris, probably more detailed than what was in your high school biology textbook.

Sexuality. It really is Our. Whole. Lives.

Rev Chris Jimmerson:

I wanted you to know their great work and how vital the OWL program is to our faith and this church – the difference it makes for folks’ human and spiritual development.

I believe OWL is one of our faith’s and our church’s greatest contributions to nourishing souls, transforming lives, and doing justice.

And as your newly installed settled minister, I wanted emphasize, as so many know, that this and our other great religious education offerings are not something that just happens back there in that other part of the church.

They are vital to us living our our values and mission.

I want to bring RE into the sanctuary and into the entire life of the church and visa versa. So, I wanted you to hear about OWL today because it matters. It is integral to our faith.

You know, sometimes we say that our children and youth are the future of our UU faith and our church. To that I would add – they are also our UU faith and our church right now.

I am so grateful for work this church does in religious education and bursting at the seems proud of our OWL program. They bring our faith alive and move it toward the future about which we dream.

And amen to that. May you know, peace, love, and joy.

Benediction

As we go back out into our world today, may you be held by the love of this religious community throughout the moments of your daily lives.

Until next we gather again in this place that is sacred to us, may we experience the holy amidst all we encounter.

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

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