UU Community Church of Washington County's Podcast

Fall and harvest are a time of transition, and sometimes, counterintuitively, growth.  Let’s talk about what the ebb of autumn can teach us about change, beauty, and courage. 

Across cultures, people develop rituals to honor their beloved dead—vibrant celebrations like Día de los Muertos in Mexico, ancient Celtic Samhain, church bells tolling, Victorian mourning clothes, and today’s roadside memorials. We'll explore how to learn from these traditions without cultural appropriation, while also reclaiming and deepening death practices from white cultures. How can we honor loss, carry our ancestors with us, and allow remembrance to call us back into life?

As we reflect on healing, both in community and as individuals, we will create a bandage ritual together. What does it mean to have compassion for your neighbor and be supportive of their healing? Who is our neighbor anyway? Let’s be curious together. 

As we reflect on healing, both in community and as individuals, we will create a bandage ritual together. What does it mean to have compassion for your neighbor and be supportive of their healing? Who is our neighbor anyway? Let’s be curious together. 

Can an ancient sacred story about the infilling of the Holy Spirit be useful to Unitarian Universalists?  What if a retelling through a new lens makes all the difference?  What if the message of Pentecost really has been applicable all along?

UUA’s General Assembly (GA) is the annual Business Meeting for our denomination; but it is SO much more than just doing business.  GA's 2025 theme called us to Meet the Moment: to engage with the evolving challenges of our world, explore fresh ways to deepen our faith, and respond boldly to our mission.  This week GA 2025 delegates will share their experiences, what it meant to participate, and tell you why you might want to have a GA experience of your own!

What does it mean to be welcomed for who we are, and not for what we appear to be? This Sunday we’ll reflect on mistaken honor and ask how compassion, dignity, and true hospitality invite us to see one another clearly. Together, we’ll consider how to create spaces where every person is received as more than their appearances, their title, or their circumstance. 

Inspired by the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime, we’ll reflect on the story of Tisquantum, often nicknamed “Squanto” and what it means to remember with honesty. Gratitude, justice, and belonging all meet when we ask: how did we get here, and where do we go from here?

"Adam & Eve didn't fall", says my friend, Rabbi David Horowitz,  "they were pushed."  The "Fall of Man" supposedly was the First "Sin" and the event that made human beings "mortal", getting us kicked out of Paradise.  But I believe this Fall calls many beliefs/assumptions into question if we truly and courageously look into this myth/allegory.

We stand at the end of one season, looking back at the warm, carefree days of Summer, not quite ready to say goodbye but knowing that just around the corner is a new season with all its challenges. The beginning of the school year, the beginning of the church year, bring us back to a different reality. Ready or not, it’s a time of transitions and a mix of emotions. We will hear from several congregants about their experiences and feelings at this special time of year.