All Souls Unitarian Church

By All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, OklahomaReligion & Spirituality Spirituality

All Souls Unitarian Church episodes

July 07 Know Your Source | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | Tulsa, Oklahoma
What if the faith tradition you belong to — or are curious about — has been quietly weaving together the Bible, the natural world, and human reason for over 400 years? The story begins with a shipwrecked man who swore he'd never preach again, a farmer who built a chapel and waited a decade for someone to fill it, and a wind that changed at exactly the right moment. It continues through the transcendentalists who dared to read the sacred texts of Asia alongside scripture, the humanists who placed human dignity at the center of religious life, and a bishop who had an argument with God — and lost. Three streams, one river: where do you find the sacred?

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https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y
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29 min
July 07 Fire Next Time | Rev. Randy Lewis | May 24, 2026
As the winds of Pentecost move through the room, the question is not whether chaos will come, but whether it will claim our humanity. When fear scatters us and division grows loud, can the ember of hope still burn long enough to draw us back into a larger, braver, more compassionate community?
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943
https://youtu.be/6To3ns3wi8c
https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa
All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
Watch this message on YouTube:Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief:Let's connect:
28 min
July 07 Loved Into Being | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | May 10, 2026
What does love actually look like — not in theory, but on a Wednesday night at 10pm when the phone won't stop ringing? A Dragon software program, a frazzled minister, and a teenager who can't find their CD accidentally capture something profound: that the most sacred acts of love are often the ones no one notices. Bell hooks insisted love isn't a feeling — it's action, practice, the repeated choice to show up. And Fred Rogers once asked a question that is meant to stop us in our tracks: Who loved you into being?

Subscribe:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943
https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y
https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa
All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
Watch this message on YouTube:Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief:Let's connect:
18 min
May 04Know Mercy, No Regrets | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar
Why does mercy so often feel unfair? And why might it be the very thing that makes wholeness possible?

In “Know Mercy, No Regrets,” Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar explores mercy as the kind of love that isn’t something you earn. It isn’t a reward for good behavior, and it isn’t a transaction. Mercy is what shows up when someone could punish you… but chooses compassion instead.

Through the story of Joseph, a personal story about second chances, and the UU tradition’s emphasis on love and inclusion, Rev. Lavanhar asks what happens when we stop keeping score and start aiming for something bigger: healing, reconciliation, and a life shaped by unconditional love.

The sermon also offers a clear test: if a religion makes you less loving, more judgmental, or more interested in who’s “in” and who’s “out,” it may be doing harm. But if it grows your capacity for mercy—especially when it’s hard—it might be pointing you toward wholeness.

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26 min
April 27 "YOUTH SUNDAY"
These messages were delivered on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by our graduating seniors. Violet Voelker, Anjelita Letterman, Nate Gillispie, Cassius Clark,Gary Mize, Emerson Shankle-Knowlton, and Carter Viles all spoke. Together, these voices ask: What do we owe each other? What does it cost to be ourselves? And what does it look like when a community actually holds you? What does it mean to live a truly successful life? To face the thing you fear most — and survive it? To leave behind everyone you love, and discover you're still okay? In these seven senior sermons, young people on the edge of adulthood grapple with questions that don't have easy answers. One discovered that the only way past fear is through it — fencing, debate, and all. Another grew up outside every box society offered and found that difference isn't something to fix. A young person living with ADHD reflects on what support actually looks like — and what it means to finally feel like you belong. One asks a question that has haunted generations: how should a life be spent, if not in service to others? Another had their worst fear come true at 16 — and learned something unexpected about what comes after. And one delivers their sermon from across an ocean, describing what it felt like to hold hands in public without fear for the very first time. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
26 min
April 20 'WHO IS REDEEMABLE?" Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar
The message was delivered on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. Description: A village builds a bell to call out harm — and rings it well. But when a child asks, "After the bell rings, what happens next?" the elders have no answer. What does it mean to hold someone accountable and still believe they can change? What happens when the mark on the door never comes down — not because the person didn't change, but because no one ever built a path back? In a cultural moment when more voices than ever can finally name injustice, we're still missing something essential: a shared practice for what comes after. Accountability without restoration isn't transformation. It's despair. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
19 min
April 13 "I BELIEVE" COMING OF AGE SUNDAY
"I BELIEVE" 10 AM Coming of Age Service | April 12, 2026 Speakers: Owen Showalter, David Rodman, Muriel Arthrell-Knezek, Tucker Meek, Hunter Reece Smith, Imogen Mize, Finn Burk, Cedar Jacob, Oliver Voelker Introduction by Corey Smith, Youth Coordinator and Commisioning by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar. Description: What does it mean to truly believe something — not because you were told to, but because you've wrestled with it, questioned it, and claimed it as your own? These young people stood before their community and answered that question with radical honesty: one found God in the beat of a drum and the sway of trees at Walden Pond; another discovered that doubt isn't the enemy of faith, but its guardian; one found salvation not in scripture, but in the quiet miracle of someone simply showing up. Some reached toward the cosmos, others toward Buddha, Christ, emotion, nature, or love itself. What they share is not only a creed — it's courage. And when a sword is placed in their hands and they're told, you are no longer children, something ancient and true stirs in the room. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
45 min
April 07 'THE PRACTICE OF RETURN' — Rev. Randy Lewis
The message was delivered on Sunday, April 5, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Randy Lewis, Assistant Minister. Description: What happens when a moment slips away, leaving you to wonder if it's truly over? Explore the delicate dance of returning to love and authenticity in our lives. Delve into the stories that have echoed through time, revealing the profound truth that loss is not the end, but rather a chance for renewal. Discover how these stories resonate in our lives, reminding us that even in the face of hardship, redemption is always possible. What does it mean to truly come back to ourselves and each other? The answers may lie in the smallest, most ordinary moments. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3QwV-BEDP8Y Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
26 min
March 23 HERITAGE SUNDAY-Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar
March 22, 2026 | Celebrating 105 years of All Souls | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar Description: What does it mean to leave something behind that truly matters? From the engineers who reshaped Oklahoma's waterways to the judges who challenged mass incarceration, one community in Tulsa has quietly shaped the arc of a city for over a century — and most people have never heard the full story. Legacy isn't found in the paper clips and nail clippers left in an apartment drawer; it lives in the ripples we send through the lives of others. There's a reason people have called this the largest gift they've ever given to anything — and it has nothing to do with money. Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come into the world. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BwFSNd-5PMw Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
18 min
March 16 'ON WHOSE AUTHORITY?' — Rev. Randy Lewis
The message was delivered on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Randy Lewis, Assistant Minister. Description: What happens when the voices that claim to speak for the divine actually silence our own? As we navigate a world where power and influence intersect, consider the cost of compliance versus the courage of authenticity. What if reclaiming your voice and story is the key to true freedom? Explore the journey of understanding who truly holds the pen in your life narrative and the profound impact of stepping into your own authority. Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BwFSNd-5PMw Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org
30 min