The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia

In February 2020, right before COVID lockdowns began, Chase Farmer celebrated Carnival in Rio de Janeiro where he met Nicole Guimarães. Fast forward a year, and Nicole and Chase are finally in the same place and navigating the ins-and-outs of their cross-cultural relationship in person. In between tuning in to UUCC’s virtual services every Sunday morning, Nicole and Chase are trying out Baltimore restaurants and learning each other’s languages. They chat with Sara about differences and similarities they’ve observed between American and Brazilian culture and what they’ve learned from each other during their time together. 

Bonus: Tune in to hear Nicole’s recommendations for authentic Brazilian food in the area!

Michael Adcock, UUCC’s Director of Music, is gearing up for a long-awaited sabbatical, and we made sure to catch him before he leaves in March. Last month, Michael designed and presented a service on the psychological and musical resonance of the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven; today, Valerie and Michael discuss the life and work of Michael Adcock! Michael chats with Valerie about how Beethoven speaks to him personally and considers how his own life, like Beethoven’s, might be broken into three periods with distinctive characteristics and themes. Michael also begrudgingly shares his Beethoven favorites — you’ll want to listen to these!

Rev. Louise Green is a long-time friend of UUCC, and Sara catches up with her on where her ministry has taken her in recent months, from congregational ministry at All Souls in DC to movement chaplaincy with change makers around the country. Sara and Rev. Louise then discuss a different type of movement—dance. Rev. Louise shares about her past experiences as a professional dancer and reflects on how movement and art are fully integrated into her spiritual life, work, and world.

Referenced in this episode

Faith Matters Network

UUCC service in which Rev. Louise shared about her past life as a dancer

Choreographer Agnes de Mille

You may know Jenny Afkinich as an auction team member, Karuna team member, and mama to Margot and Violet. She juggled all these roles (and many more!) while pursuing her social work Ph.D., which she completed this summer. Celebrate Jenny’s accomplishment and listen as she tells Sara about her call to social work, what it was like defending her dissertation* mid-pandemic, and how the principles of Unitarian Universalism resonate with the values and vision of social work. 

* = Jenny's dissertation received the 2021 Society for Social Work and Research Outstanding Social Work Doctoral Dissertation Award this month. Go Jenny!

Referenced in this episode

Institute for Innovation and Implementation

Bidding is live for UUCC’s first-ever online auction until Saturday, February 6!

UUCC member, former UUCC staff member, and current seminarian Jen Raffensperger tells Sara about her first encounters with Unitarian Universalism after navigating away from the Catholicism of her youth. “I had been so dismissive of religions … none of them being the ‘correct’ one, that I didn’t think there would be a correct one for me,” Jen says. In this conversation, Jen reflects on awaking to her call to ministry during her first visit to UUCC, shares her process for writing sermons, and discusses the hardest parts of the road to ministry and of being human.

Referenced in this episode

Our Whole Lives sexuality curriculum

Meadville Lombard Theological School where Jen is currently studying

“In this wonderful endeavor, nobody is perfect, and everybody is grateful,” says UUCC member Laurie Coltri of singing in the Chalice Choir. Laurie tells Sara of the joys and insights she receives from being part of something bigger than herself as a choir member, the process of producing a Stay-at-Home Choir video, why she chose to join UUCC’s Trust and Reconciliation Committee, and what the listening sessions hosted by the committee are all about. 

Sign up for a listening session here

Referenced in this episode

Laurie’s favorite choir memory is when they performed Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui by Palestrina. Listen to a recording of this piece (not from the UUCC choir)

Laurie’s recent blogpost about the process of creating these choir videos

Conflict Diagnosis and Alternative Dispute Resolution by Laurie S. Coltri

Learn more about UUCC’s Trust & Reconciliation Committee and sign up for a listening session

Catch a “glimpse” of Sean Griffin’s life (and hair) in his college days, when he saturated the soundwaves with anything but the top 40 during the heady hours of midnight-3AM daily. Sean is not only UUCC’s Executive Director, he’s also a devoted aficionado of indie, punk, and opera music. In this conversation, he shares memories from his college radio days with Sara and reflects on how music and the arts have connected and nourished him. 

What Sean listened to back then

Left Front Tire (leftfronttire.com)

GWAR (gwar.net)

Poi Dog Pondering (platetectonicmusic.com/poidogpondering)

R.E.M. (remhq.com)

Hootie & the Blowfish (hootie.com)

Motörhead (imotorhead.com) 

 

What Sean’s listened to recently

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (nickcave.com)

David Byrne (davidbyrne.com)

Ray LaMontagne (raylamontagne.com)

Madame Butterfly (metopera.org/discover/synopses/madama-butterfly)

Turandot (metopera.org/discover/synopses/turandot)

 

Referenced in this episode

Yes, David Byrne is really from Baltimore County! (baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-10-11-1997284003-story.html) 

Sean’s college radio station still exists, and you can still call the studio today (wusc.sc.edu)

“Don’t Give Up” (youtu.be/8LMB6K4rTGU) and “Let the Day Begin” (youtu.be/to2KasivROc) are great songs for cheering up late night callers who are having a tough time, according to Sean (trust him… he knows from experience 😉)

Nell Quinn-Gibney and Ali Mark take a break from packing (and procrastinating) for their BIG MOVE to NYC to chat with Hannah and Sara about their favorite memories from working in theater and how their childhood faith experiences shaped their current career interests. Most of you know Nell and Ali from their participation in the UU the Vote service on October 4, 2020. Hear how they got involved with UU the Vote and the inspiration behind Ali’s unforgettable Seuss-esque poem, “O the Votes You Will Vote!” 

Bonus story: Have you ever wondered how Hannah ended up at UUCC? Get the scoop when you tune into this conversation!

Referenced in this episode:

"O the Votes You Will Vote!" by Ali Mark: uucolumbia.net/o-the-votes-you-will-vote 

Agnes of God play: johnpielmeier.com/theater/plays/agnes-of-god/

Urinetown https://www.mtishows.com/urinetown

The one-and-only Inge Hyder regales us with tales from her skydiving experiences through the years, including her 90th birthday skydive celebration in October this year. Inge closes this conversation by singing a song celebrating the life and character of her mother that Inge wrote on an Elderhostel trip. A longtime Gilbert & Sullivan fan and performer, it is only fitting that Inge’s tribute song be set to a Gilbert & Sullivan tune. 

Referenced in this episode:

Baltimore Sun article about Inge’s birthday skydive: https://bit.ly/38r5PQr

Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel): https://bit.ly/3axWWHp

Princess Ida from the Gilbert & Sullivan archive: https://bit.ly/3mJT2xk