The SUUF Podcast

March 5, 2023

Jay Bowen

Our speaker this Sunday is Jay Bowen. He is a poet, steel sculptor, glass blower, fine-gold jeweler, and fine-art oil painter. Jay was born and raised in the Skagit Valley in a traditional Upper Skagit family. He attended Western Washington University, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and Rhode Island School of design. For those of you who have strolled along the Riverwalk, you have seen the steel sculpture he created of a totem pole that graces the river. Jay refers to himself as an artist in the expressionist tradition.

February 26, 2023

Jonathan Prescott

Our world’s contemplative traditions arose to help people make sense of life’s challenges. Jonathan Prescott founded Wise Caregiving to help caregivers, patients, and seekers use this contemplative wisdom to become more effective, joyful, and sustainable.

Contemplative care leads with the heart and responds with expertise. It is rooted in an intention to serve, a commitment to explore the human condition, a willingness to be with suffering, and a desire to understand the nature of life and death. It is expressed in the most ordinary ways: kind speech, gentle care, patient listening, and with the skills unique to each caregiver’s history and life. There is no checklist of contemplative skills. Each act arises to meet the need at hand, even if that takes the caregiver outside their comfort zone.

Wise Caregiving offers workshops, retreats, and presentations to help professional and private caregivers thrive in today’s challenging environment.

February 19, 2023

Speaker: Joseph Bednarik

Artist Joe Brainard (1942-1994) created an incredible memory machine with his slender masterpiece “I Remember.” As novelist Paul Auster writes of the book, “In simple, forthright, declarative sentences, Brainard charts the map of the human soul and permanently alters the way we look at the world.” Using “I Remember” as a touchstone, this Sunday we explore the seduction of our memories and the bravery required to remember a little bit deeper.

February 12, 2023

Speaker: Rev. Barbara Gilday

I have a dream of a world where people talk to each other with respect and compassion and are there for each other when they need it. Where armed conflicts, angry outbursts and separation are things of the past. Wishful thinking, you say? No – not wishing, but hoping – and hope is different. Hope comes with legs and arms, hearts and minds.

It is difficult not to experience despair in these turbulent times. How do we keep hope alive, while being realistic and contributing what we can to solutions? Come and hear about the magic bullet- something we know, something that is within our capacity, something that we can each do in our own special ways.

February 5, 2023

Speaker: Jonathan Prescott

So many challenging things are happening in our world. It’s natural for us to feel afraid. But while our instincts tell us to lash out against those we fear, contemplative wisdom tells us instead to take refuge in mercy. We’ll explore how offering mercy can change our hearts and change our world.

January 22, 2023

Speaker: Rev. Mel Hoover, Rev. Rose Edington

Melvin Hoover will be presenting alongside his wife Rev. Rose Edington, who wrote a dissertation on that period in the 60's when the UUA lost a tradition of heavy membership and participation from People of Color. It covers the recent decades of effort to "widen the circle of concern", an effort in which Mel was at the center and in the lead.
Mel is a recipient of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual Distinguished Service Award in recog­nition of his work in anti-racism, anti-oppression, community-building, gender equality and environmental jus­tice.

For many years Mel served as the director of the UUA’s Faith in Action Department and as a member of the UUA Executive Council. Mel also served as co­-minister of the UU Congregation of Charleston, WV, with his wife, the Rev. Rose Edington.

Rose's ministry has primarily been to UU congregations. Her Doctor of Ministry thesis in Feminist Liberation Theology centered on the role of the UU minister in congregational antiracism work. As an expression of their ongoing involvement in social justice concerns, in retirement, Mel and Rose co-founded MelRose Ministries for Positive Transformational Change. Now living in Bellingham WA, they co-lead, with minister Paul Beckel and RE Director Genia Allen-Schmid BUF's "Widening the Circle" study.

January 15, 2023

Rev. Vincent Lachina

Each of us engages in reflecting or remembering the past at some time every day of our lives. It could be the tune or words of a song or a sudden memory of someone we knew way back when. Sometimes memories are sweet and easy, and sometimes they cause heartache or pain. We want to cling to the good but have a hard time letting go of the past. Let's explore ways to remember that past and get excited about what lies ahead.

January 8, 2023

Rev. Joanna Gabriel

We’re beginning a new year and there is a lot going on, both anticipated and dreaded for 2023. How can we let the signs of the times and the moment, empower us rather than cause fear, doubt and limited experience? Rev. Joanna Gabriel will explore possibilities for having a meaningful 2023!

January 1, 2023

Rev. Bruce Bode

This service will, Janus-like, look both ways. Following a sermon message engaging Denise Levertov’s poem “Once Only” as its text, it will include a “Composting Communion,” then, in community, both in-person and on-line, greet the New Year!

December 18, 2022

Rev. Barbara Gilday

It’s the busy season of gifting: shopping in person, online; waiting for packages to arrive; wrapping, shipping, and cooking. Oh my! No wonder people feel stressed in the season which supposedly represents faith, hope, joy and love. Perhaps the most significant metaphor of the birth of Jesus, was that he was the greatest gift - the gift from a “father” - the gift that he passed on by living his life in the way that he did. And we? Are we not the greatest gift to those we love? How can you be a gift to others, this Christmas? This year?