Wavelengths: A WUU Podcast

WUU Service - "Side with Love Sunday" (03/28/2021)

Come listen to a WUU service!

What if to "side with love" meant making bold, faith-full choices? What if it were even a little bit scary? This worship service brings together worship leaders and musicians from across the country to offer hopeful, moving, challenging reminders about what we, as Unitarian Universalists, are called to do, and BE, in the world.

Side with Love is an interfaith public advocacy campaign promoting respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Side with Love confronts issues of exclusion, oppression, and violence based on identity. With the goal of creating beloved community, the campaign pursues social change through advocacy, public witness, and speaking out in solidarity with those whose lives are publicly demeaned. Our core issues of focus include, but are not limited to: LGBTQ equity, immigrant justice, racial justice and intersectional movement building.

• Everette R. H. Thompson, Side With Love Campaign Manager
• David B. Smith, Rick Fortner, & Matt Edwards Prelude
• Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, Dr. Takiyah Nur Amin, Dr. Tuli Patel, Rev. Michael Crumpler, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Laura Conkle, & Rev. Erika Hewitt, Worship Leaders
• Dr. Tuli Patel, Time for All Ages
• Choir of First Unitarian Society, Brooklyn

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "The Greatest Love on Earth" (03/21/2021)

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Today we celebrate the story of Rev. Olympia Brown, the first woman to be ordained a Universalist minister, and her most famous congregant: the one and only P. T. Barnum, creator of the Greatest Show on Earth--and staunch supporter of his Universalist congregation. And though we might not have tightrope walkers or flame-swallowers here at WUU, we'll still cheer for everything that makes congregations worthy of our support, love, and commitment.

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• Bob Edwards,, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano
• WUU Choir, directed by Dr. Jamie Bartlett, Director of Music

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

UU the Vote, with Jodi Fisler

Executive Producer Jonathan Newby as interviews Jodi Fisler of WUU about her efforts with UU the Vote, a Unitarian Universalist initiative to promote voting and expand voter rights. Learn more about WUU at wuu.org.

WUU Service - "For Better or for Worse" (03/14/2021)

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Unitarian Universalists have long valued our spiritual freedom. But freedom has a shadow side: it's easy to walk away rather than stay and do the hard work of working it out in community. Today we'll explore what the ancient monastic virtue of stability might have to teach us today.

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• Susan Marcinkus, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "Covenant and Comfort" (03/07/2021)

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Do I have a right to be comfortable in church? What about when my comfort means someone else's exclusion? Today we celebrate the power of covenant to help us move through discomfort toward deeper community and justice for all.

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• David Hopkinson, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano
• Jess Hench, From the Heart

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "Creating the Beloved Community" (02/28/2021)

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Australian Indigenous activist, Lilla Watson, says, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Join our guest preachers, the Rev. Laura Randall and Heather Vickery of UUSC, as we explore how to create together the beloved community.

• Rev. Laura Randall, UUSC, Guest Worship Leader
• Heather Vickery, UUSC, Guest Worship Leader
• Dr. Ysaÿe Barnwell & the UUA General Assembly 2020 Virtual Choir

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "For Such a Time as This" (02/21/2021)

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Esther, a Jewish woman who saved her community from annihilation. Maybe, as Esther's uncle tells her, we too are here "for such a time as this."

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• Nan Hart, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• WUU Choir, directed by Dr. Jamie Bartlett, Director of Music
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - Love Your Enemy? Really? (02/14/2021)

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Part 2 of a series on the meaning of beloved community. UUs often ask, do I really have to love everybody? Of course, we can only do our best. But our tradition teaches that everyone is loved by a Love bigger than we are--even the people we think deserve love the least.

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• Nicki Peet,, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "Charter Sunday: Our Beloved Community" (02/07/2021)

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Our favorite songs, whoever the artist or whatever the style, were created in a strange alchemy of study and inspiration, of strict practice and of letting go. Spiritual Practice is a similar combination of dedication, muscle memory, and perhaps a little divine inspiration. Join us for a musical exploration of learning to risk, building the muscle memory of courage, and the spiritual practice of relationship when things around us are changing fast.

• Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
• Susan Marcinkus, Worship Associate
• Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education
• Dave Robbins, Assistant Director of Music, Piano
• Hans von Baeyer, Fred & Linda Bergmann, Melanie Williams & Steven Sharp, Jonathan Newby, Reflections
• Nicole Collins, Vocals, & Lark Lewis, Piano, Closing Hymn

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

WUU Service - "It Takes Practice" (1/31/2021)

Come listen to a WUU service!

Our favorite songs, whoever the artist or whatever the style, were created in a strange alchemy of study and inspiration, of strict practice and of letting go. Spiritual Practice is a similar combination of dedication, muscle memory, and perhaps a little divine inspiration. Join us for a musical exploration of learning to risk, building the muscle memory of courage, and the spiritual practice of relationship when things around us are changing fast.

• Matt Meyer, Guest Worship Leader
• Ben Thacker-Gwaltney, Worship Associate

The YouTube version is here.

Thank you for listening. For more information about the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, or to join us on Sunday mornings, visit www.wuu.org.

You can follow Matt, get news on his book, and resources inspiration for Music and Worship here.

Matt is also offering a Rhythm for Choir workshop. If you’re interested in this series of rhythm workshops, check out the info here.

To build a more musical UU Movement, check out the Songleaders Convergence/

And Matt’s home congregation, Sanctuary Boston, offers contemporary worship on Wednesday evenings.