Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington's Podcast

At the Heart of Protest- Rev. Esther Hurlburt

March 07, 2021 17:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MB

This week is a special service from one of our community ministers, Rev. Esther Hurlburt. Also featured are two people who are active in our larger community of Lexington : Sarah Williams and April Taylor. The first segment is a poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer "The Invitation" being read alternating between Sarah and April. Following is a dialogue replacing a more typical sermon between Rev. Esther and Sarah. Support the Show.

Masquerade! or The Time is Right

February 28, 2021 17:00 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MB

This week's podcast was recorded directly from our weekly Zoom service. For this weekend we are lifting up and acknowledging the celebration of Purim from this last week and the story as it was recorded in the book of Esther. Rev. Brian Chenowtih shows us what we can learn from this story, and the importance of celebration. Support the Show.

Hearts on Fire 2/21

February 22, 2021 18:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MB

For our third service in February Rev. Brian Chenowith brings the attention to familiar territory for UUs, Transcendentalists. Support the Show.

The Taste of Rain

February 14, 2021 17:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MB

Continuing in a February theme, Rev. Brian Chenowith brings us a sermon on haiku, and a variety of haiku authors. Poets to visit and read are Santoka Taneda, Hosai Ozaki, Jack Kerouac, Den Sute-jo, and Madoka Mayuzumi (Listed in order of appearance). Support the Show.

Behind the Scenes

February 07, 2021 17:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MB

It's the first Sunday of Black History Month, a topic that is brought up often in February, but where people erroneously only speak to some of the larger and most notable names. In this week Rev. Brian Chenowith speaks to the impact of some less well known people who also deserve recognition for their tireless efforts and struggles. Related readings from this service include Pauli Murray's Dark Testament. And I would encourage research of the topic of today's Black History Moment: Dr. Carter...

Keep on Imagining

January 31, 2021 17:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MB

For the final service in January, Rev. Brian Chenowith delivers a message on something which is often underappreciated and under utilized by adults: Imagination. When was the last time you checked in on your imagination? Support the Show.

Faith With Accountability

January 24, 2021 17:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MB

This Week's sermon was recorded live during our Zoom service. We had visitors from several congregations around Kentucky. Rev. Brian Chenowith reminds all of us that our faith is not one that is beholdent to any fixed dogma. This is both a strength and a weakness of Unitarian Universalism. It only remains a strength when we work to adapt and accept change. Support the Show.

Forward Together

January 17, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MB

For Martin Luther King day weekend, a day that would normally be punctuated at the end by many of us meeting in person to march downtown. This year we will not be making a presence there as a church, and instead are pushing to do service in other ways. This sermon also features a recording of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose advice holds up, as always. Support the Show.

Did We Expect Times Such As These?

January 10, 2021 18:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MB

It has been a strange week, like so many of those before it. For this week our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith delivers a sermon live to Zoom, rather than a more rehearsed and more streamlined video message. Support the Show.

Into the Well

January 03, 2021 17:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MB

For the first service of 2021, Rev. Brian Chenowith brings a story that might be familiar. But the message it carries bears repeating. Support the Show.

A Matter of Faith- Nathaniel Hocker

December 27, 2020 17:00 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MB

For our final church service of December, and 2020, we have a guest from our congregation to speak. Nathaniel Hocker has been a member of UUCL since 2019, and has started down his own path to ministry since that time. There is a full introduction before he delivers his sermon. Support the Show.

Now In The Winter Twilight

December 20, 2020 17:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

There was no podcast last week as that service was the Surprise Holiday Pageant reading and would not have translated well to audio. This week, part in acknowledgement of Yule, and of Christmas also approaching in the next few days, we hear a story from an unlikely voice. This is a story from the Warao people, who live in the Orinoco River Delta in Venezuela. Though our world is very different from theirs, as always there is wisdom we can take from their teachings. Support the Show.

Now In The Winter Twilight

December 20, 2020 17:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

There was no podcast last week as that service was the Surprise Holiday Pageant reading and would not have translated well to audio. This week, part in acknowledgement of Yule, and of Christmas also approaching in the next few days, we hear a story from an unlikely voice. This is a story from the Warao people, who live in the Orinoco River Delta in Venezuela. Though our world is very different from theirs, as always there is wisdom we can take from their teachings. Support the show (https:/...

Wonder & Resilience

December 06, 2020 17:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MB

This weeks beginning of December service brings us to a strange and under celebrated creature in our local climate, the humble American opossum. Rev. Brian Chenowith shares a story of an encounter with one of these marsupials and what lessons we can take from them. Support the Show.

And So Begins the Season

November 29, 2020 17:00 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MB

For the final week of November, Rev. Brian Chenowith brings us a message of gratitude. In line with a widely recognized American holiday tradition, we turn to the wisdom of indigenous peoples, this time listening to Australian voices. Support the Show.

Keeping Company With Eight Wise Teachers

November 22, 2020 17:00 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MB

This week's sermon addresses a misconception about Unitarian Universalism as a whole. Rev. Brian Chenowith speaks to what the principles mean to us, and how they are fundamentally different from dogmatic or creed based traditions. Support the Show.

Difficult Yoke, Heavy Burden

November 15, 2020 17:00 - 17 minutes - 11.9 MB

For this week's sermon, Rev. Brian Chenowith celebrates his fifth year of ordination by sharing with us more information about how the process is traditionally handled, and how the Unitarian Universalist take on this faith tradition diverges from our larger Christian heritage. Support the Show.

Hold Fast That Which is Good

November 08, 2020 17:00 - 16 minutes - 11.7 MB

For our service this week, our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith speaks on allowing ourselves to celebrate. The news of the president elect is a good thing, but over-indulging in that celebration is itself a folly. There is still much work to be done. Support the Show.

Only a Horizon

November 01, 2020 17:00 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MB

This week is the first week that our Rev. Brian Chenowith has returned from his small but much needed break. For this service he discusses what it was that he did with his time off, and also speaks to the work we will have to do looking at the election and beyond. Please, vote if you have not already. Support the Show.

Good Grief- Lisa Jensen

October 25, 2020 16:00 - 14 minutes - 9.87 MB

For the month of October, our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith has been on a mini-sabbatical. This week we are joined by Lisa Jensen, who is a writer from Nicholasville KY. She shares with us her experiences of her long road with Corona Virus (COVID-19). Support the Show.

Thank You, Mister Rogers. - Rev. Dr. Leah Schade

October 18, 2020 21:00 - 23 minutes - 16.2 MB

For the month of October, our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith is on a short break. Joining us this week is a guest minister, the Rev. Dr. Leah Schade. She has visited with us once before during this time of quarantine, and for this service she offered a subject matter near and dear to many people's hearts- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Other readings by Rachel Wade-Harper. Support the Show.

Honeycomb from Our Failures- Rev. Diana Hultgren

October 11, 2020 16:00 - 22 minutes - 15.7 MB

For the month of October, our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith is taking a mini-sabbatical. This week we are joined by Rev. Diana Hultgren, one of our community ministers. She brings us stories from her tribulations of keeping bees, and shows us what we can learn from these colonies. Also featured are Erika Emrick, Mya Wade-Harper, and Nathaniel Hocker who provide us with readings. Support the Show.

Blessing of the Animals

October 04, 2020 17:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MB

Starting off our October we have another special and favorite service for many UUs: the blessing of the animals. Our beloved Rev. Brian Chenowith is taking a mini-sabbatical for the month of October, and we will have a rotating cast of lovely guest speakers to fill in that space. This week we have a number of featured voices from our worship community, [in order of appearance] Stacey Stone (Director of Religious Exploration), Steve Conger(worship associate), Erin Stratton, Linda Combes, Rev....

Blessing of the Animals

October 04, 2020 17:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MB

Starting off our October we have another special and favorite service for many UUs: the blessing of the animals. Our beloved Rev. Brian Chenowith is taking a mini-sabbatical for the month of October, and we will have a rotating cast of lovely guest speakers to fill in that space. This week we have a number of featured voices from our worship community, [in order of appearance] Stacey Stone (Director of Religious Exploration), Steve Conger(worship associate), Erin Stratton, Linda Combes, Rev....

Always Redemption. Always Renewal

September 27, 2020 17:00 - 20 minutes - 13.8 MB

We begin this week's podcast with an acknowledgement of Yom Kippur. Featured is a performance by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City. The text is "Kol Nidre", an Aramaic recitation which precedes the evening service of Yom Kippur. Our podcast reflects this attitude of atonement, a difficult notion to achieve in these strange times. Support the Show.

Viewers (and Listeners) Like You

September 20, 2020 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MB

This week marks the beginning of our Stewardship season, where our church asks members to contribute in ways that they feel comfortable. Rev. Brian Chenowith discusses what that sentiment means in these uncertain times, and explores how this shift in our church format has affected this and all other aspects of our church community. Support the Show.

Marvelous Error!

September 13, 2020 16:00 - 12 minutes - 8.94 MB

This week is a special service that Unitarian Universalists celebrate all over the country, the Water Communion. Rev. Brian Chenowith brings us an anecdote about a spider, and relates that experience to how we are all feeling about the strangeness of the world right now. The reading this week was "Last Night As I Was Sleeping" by Antonio Machado, which is referenced in the sermon as well as inspiring this evocative title. Support the Show.

Question Sunday, 9-6-20

September 06, 2020 17:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MB

Question Sunday is a popular semi-annual appearance in many UU churches, where the Minister freely accepts questions from the congregation and answers them. This week Rev. Brian Chenowith provides answers for several such questions, selected randomly with the help of everyone's favorite Icosahedron (a twenty sided dice). Support the Show.

8/30 Listen. Open. Serve. Connect.

August 30, 2020 16:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MB

In this week's episode of the sermon podcast, Rev. Brian Chenowith brings us a call to action, to expand the scope of our virtual service body and the work that we do for each other. Support the Show.

From Harm to Healing 8/16

August 26, 2020 11:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MB

In this podcast, from the Sunday service on August 16th, we have a special service, with three voices from our community, Mya Wade-Harper, Eric Huffer, and Andrea Kendall. In keeping with themes of the 8th principle of Unitarian Universalism that our congregation has voted to adopt, we take a look at what it truly means to accountably dismantle systems of racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions. Support the Show.

Mostly Fine. And Then the World. 8/24

August 26, 2020 11:00 - 18 minutes - 12.9 MB

In this sermon podcast, from our Sunday service on August 24th, Rev. Brian Chenowith asks how we are coping with all of the complications of life at this point in the year. In times like these, the value of developing and improving coping mechanisms cannot be overlooked. Support the Show.

How Shall We Gather?

August 09, 2020 16:00 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MB

For this week's podcast, as we near a time of year traditionally associated with the beginning of earnest semesters of normal church service, Rev. Brian Chenowith takes an introspective look at how the forced distance of this new format of online services has created change for those who work or volunteer their time for the church. One of the many questions we must ask ourselves as we face down the further complications of the world since encountering this pandemic. Support the Show.

To Build the Common Good

August 02, 2020 16:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MB

For this week's service we are joined by Nancy Combs-Morgan, a Congregational Life Consultant for the MidAmerica UUA region, and Mya Wade-Harper. Reflecting on themes represented in the cherished UU hymn #128 (From Singing the Living Tradition) "For All That is Our Life", they ask us to take an introspective look at what good we want to do, visualizing the changes that we wish to make. Support the Show.

A Responsibility to Awe

July 26, 2020 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MB

For our final Sunday service of the month of July, Rev. Brian Chenowith calls for us to find awe in small moments, especially in the hard times we find ourselves in this year. Support the Show.

Secular Salvation- Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson

July 19, 2020 16:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MB

For this week's podcast we have a very special guest with us, Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson, who was directly involved with the voting rights campaign in Selma, only a few weeks after he was ordained. He is a member of the board and Historian for the Living Legacy Project and author of Southern Witness, both endeavors which chronicle Unitarian Universalist efforts in the ongoing struggle to secure Civil Rights for all persons. In the reading and the sermon this week, Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson urges ...

Down Into the Marrow

July 12, 2020 16:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MB

This week, Rev. Brian Chenowith shares with us a story from his time on study leave, a particular depth of Zen practice that may be helpful for these strange times which persist. Support the Show.

Talkin' About a Revolution

July 05, 2020 16:00 - 16 minutes - 11 MB

This week's sermon is a reflection over the Independence Day holiday, as Rev. Brian Chenowith dismantles the typical or traditional attitude towards this weekend. As Americans we forget how many people do not yet have the freedom that we proclaim in our famous writings and inscribe in our monuments. Support the Show.

What is a Prophet's Reward?

June 28, 2020 16:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MB

This week as our minister Rev. Brian Chenowith remains on study leave, we are very happy to have been joined by Rev. Dr. Leah Schade. Dr. Schade among many other things is a member of Kentucky Interfaith Power And Light, alongside Rev. Brian Chenowith. From this background she brings us a story of fellow people of faith, and the hardships they endured earlier this month in DC. From the steps of St. John's Episcopal Church, where faithful served to assist Black Lives Matter and Pride proteste...

Digging in the Dirt

June 21, 2020 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MB

This week, as Rev. Brian Chenowith is on study leave, one of our community ministers Rev. Diana Hultgren gives us our homily. She speaks of digging, and the ongoing work that we need to do to change the world for the better. Even when it gets hard, or uncomfortable. Support the Show.

As the Stars That Shine

June 14, 2020 16:00 - 12 minutes - 8.91 MB

This week would normally be an oft-celebrated departure from normal UU services as we celebrate the Flower Communion holiday. Considering our unusual circumstances this calendar year, Rev. Brian Chenowith lifts up the importance of that celebration, but also in accepting that things are different in current times. Support the Show.

Say Their Names

June 07, 2020 16:00 - 12 minutes - 8.81 MB

For this weeks podcast, as a UU church that affirms the need for an eighth principle which speaks to the intentional dismantling of systemic racism, Rev. Brian Chenowith speaks about Black Lives Matter, and on the importance of saying the names of those we have lost. But not to let the meaning of those names become forgotten. Support the Show.

Remembering Sunlight

May 31, 2020 17:00 - 13 minutes - 9.49 MB

This has been a tumultuous week, and this week's sermon reflects that. In a rumination that starts with a memorable Ray Bradbury short story, Rev. Brian Chenowith reminds us the importance of allowing ourselves to grieve. Support the Show.

Co-Creation: Equity in Desgin

May 24, 2020 16:00 - 24 minutes - 17.2 MB

Today, in a very special episode, we are featuring two members of our congregation to speak on equity and intersectionality. They decided that the best way to embody that concept in this format was to treat this sermon as a dialogue. Many thanks to Nancy Combs Morgan and Mya Wade-Harper for sharing with us. Support the Show.

One Day at a Time

May 17, 2020 16:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MB

This week's episode of the podcast gives us a glance into the personal struggles of Rev. Brian Chenowith and addresses many people's general concerns for the world we live in these days. Support the Show.

The Great Restart

May 10, 2020 15:00 - 13 minutes - 9.38 MB

Rev. Brian Chenowith brings us a message of hope in uncertain times, in acknowledging the next part of the path that stands before us all. This "Great Restart" he refers to offers up a chance for things to be different, at the cost of them not being 'normal' again. Support the Show.

The Great Pause- Liz Caras

May 03, 2020 21:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MB

This week's podcast is a special episode of our Zoom service meetings, this week Rev. Brian Chenowith took a well deserved week off. The reason he was able to do this was because one of our members, Liz Caras, won a service auction item from last year where she got to design and deliver the homily for a service. In her segment, she discusses how her life has been impacted by the pandemic, and how she is getting through it. Support the Show.

O Life That Maketh All Things New

April 26, 2020 16:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MB

This week is a historic episode of our podcast, and of our Zoom services, where the subject matter was taken from the oldest possible order of service in our archives. Rev. Brian Chenowith capitalizes on this opportunity to discuss the fashion elements of our tradition at different times, and provokes thought on the historical meaning of our church, and how that has evolved over time. Support the Show.

Hope in Waiting

April 12, 2020 16:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MB

For this Easter Sunday, Rev. Brian Chenowith brings to us a different story of Easter, focusing on our Unitarian historical roots. Support the Show.

Sabbath in the Diaspora 4/3

April 05, 2020 17:00 - 11 minutes - 7.67 MB

For this week's Zoom meeting, because our Jewish brothers and sisters will be recognizing Passover this Wednesday, Rev. Brian Chenowith offers a reflection on the Passover season and the similar themes that are bringing pestilence to our own doors and threatening those that we love. But on the other side of this suffering, liberation and freedom await. Support the Show.

Is There a Right Choice? 3/29

March 30, 2020 13:00 - 9 minutes - 6.47 MB

For our Zoom service this week, Rev. Brian Chenowith focused on a particularly difficult topic. One of the lots at our (usually) annual service auction which would have been held last weekend is that you get to request a sermon topic for Brian to present. The topic our winner from last year chose was concerning how to align politics with UU values. Support the Show.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington's Podcast

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