http://www.austinuu.org/wp At First UU Church of Austin, we gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:05:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 As an inclusive religious and spiritual community, we support each individual's search for meaning and purpose, and join together to help create a world filled with compassion and love. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin webmaster@austinuu.org webmaster@austinuu.org (First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin) 2000-2009 At First UU Church of Austin, we gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice. http://www.austinuu.org/wp/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.austinuu.org/wp/category/sermons/guest-speakers/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/what-do-fundamentalists-know/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/what-do-fundamentalists-know/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:06:21 +0000 peter http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3276 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/what-do-fundamentalists-know/feed/ 0 Gary Bennett Member, First Unitarian Church of Austin Sermon, delivered Sunday, July 25, 2010 The title of this sermon is a bit deceptive.  Today I wouldn’t use the term “fundamentalist” to mean evangelical, conservative or traditional, Gary Bennett Member, First Unitarian Church of Austin Sermon, delivered Sunday, July 25, 2010 The title of this sermon is a bit deceptive.  Today I wouldn’t use the term “fundamentalist” to mean evangelical, conservative or traditional, and these are the religious groups I really want to talk about.  Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Saudi Arabian government are fundamentalist, as are Pat Robertson, various recent presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention and a host of others who have done such outrageous things as praise terrorist attacks on Americans, plot political takeovers in church services, foment the murder of abortion providers, spit on mourners at funerals for fallen soldiers and advocate revolutionary violence against the United States.  They are a recent phenomenon, a cancer on most major world religions, an attack on all modern thought and values; they are Fascists who masquerade using traditional religious language.  In contrast, the denomination I was raised in, Southern Baptists before 1979, was by basic principle apolitical; members tended to be politically conservative, but people like Jimmy Carter, Bill Moyers and my parents had no trouble fitting in. Why should we be interested?  These are, after all, the traditions that many of us feel we outgrew; if anything, we think we have a bit to teach them.  Perhaps we do, but demographics have not been kind to us in recent decades.  We are grouped with liberal or “main line” Protestant groups, which also include the Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches.  We all share one problem today:  we can’t convince our own children that what we do is worth preserving.  UUs have mostly made up for these losses with adult conversion, which has so far kept us out of the other denominations’ apparent race to extinction; but we are still in trouble.  Politicians have taken notice, of course; and where in 1960 it was main line Protestant voices that they used for moral cover, today it is usually conservative Catholics, evangelical Protestants or Mormons, even outright Fundamentalists, that dominate the public forum.  It is not that  these groups are especially successful at proselytizing our children, who mostly become unchurched and thus invisible as far as the political culture goes; but the conservatives at least are keeping most of their own children.  For some groups, like the high birth rate Mormons, that alone would be enough for rapid growth.  If these changes in American culture and politics bother us, and I think they should, we have lots of serious ‘splainin’ to do.  We think that we have a better approach to religious experience, but it is they who do the better job of convincing the children that what they have is important. From the beginning, human beings have been bonded into groups by all believing in the same “six impossible things before breakfast.”  Once these groups started stepping on one another’s toes by living together in cities or traveling to far places, religion began to be something distinct from the overall  culture; religion was where you met with your support group.  You would still prefer to shut up those fools who disagreed if you had the power to do so, but the religious group helped you to endure if you could not.  Christianity by the 4th century had its own share of crazy ideas and also the power of the Roman state to shut up everybody who disagreed.  Despite the fall of the Western Empire, this state of things persisted in Europe until a century of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants ended in the 17th century in a peace of exhaustion; neither group had been quite able to exterminate the other.  By the late 18th century in places like the English colonies in America, toleration came to be seen as a virtue in itself; the idea was that different religious groups could scream all that they liked, but had to leave the swords, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 26:33 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/mission-possible/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/mission-possible/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:04:19 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3247 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/mission-possible/feed/ 0 Nell Newton, Eric Stimmel, Chris Jimmerson July 18, 2010 - Leaders of First UU Austin present our new mission statement and introduce our new interim minister, Ed Brock. - "At First UU Church of Austin we gather in community to nourish souls, Nell Newton, Eric Stimmel, Chris Jimmerson July 18, 2010 Leaders of First UU Austin present our new mission statement and introduce our new interim minister, Ed Brock. "At First UU Church of Austin we gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives and do justice." Text of this service is not available. Click the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 30:29 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/tiger-woods-and-the-beer-cart-girl/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/tiger-woods-and-the-beer-cart-girl/#comments Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:15:39 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3241 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/tiger-woods-and-the-beer-cart-girl/feed/ 0 Timothy B. Tutt Pastor, United Christian Church July 11, 2010 First UU Church of Austin 4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756 www.austinuu.org - Sermon - Some of you have looked at my sermon title in the bulletin and you think you know where I'm headed wi... Timothy B. Tutt Pastor, United Christian Church July 11, 2010 First UU Church of Austin 4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756 www.austinuu.org Sermon Some of you have looked at my sermon title in the bulletin and you think you know where I'm headed with this sermon, "Tiger Woods and the Beer Cart Girl." Given the Sports news the past few months about Tiger and his off-the-course behavior, you assume you know what I might say this morning. After all, the bulletin also says I'm the pastor of a Christian Church and you know how those Christians are about sex. All I have to say is, "You dirty-minded Unitarians." I'm not going to talk about sex at all. But I do want to tell you a story about Tiger Woods and the beer cart girl. First, I may need to explain to you non-golfers - and I'm not much of golfer myself - about beer cart girls. Many golf courses hire young, attractive women to drive around the course selling beer from a golf cart. I know that's sexist. And I know that's exploiting women. I didn't invent the practice; I'm just reporting it. I can also say I've never heard of a beer cart boy, but as I tell this story, if you would like to change the gender of my character you are welcome to do that. As I said, beer cart girls are mostly hired for their looks, their charm, and they're ability to sell cold beverages to hot golfers. So, let's take an imaginary trip to the links. Tiger Woods is the world's greatest golfer. He's won 95 professional tournaments, 4 Masters, 4 PGA Championships, 23 U.S. Opens. He's the first golfer ever to hold all four professional major championship titles at the same time. But recently, Tiger has slumped a bit. That happens, I suppose, when your spouse finds out you're cheating and beats you with a golf club. And the tawdry affairs of your sex life are national news. So, Tiger goes out to a course to brush up a bit. He needs to get his groove back. So, he goes to a course to practice. Something is just not right. His drives are short, his chips aren't so chipper, his puts peter out. There he stands, the champion, defeated and frustrated, when up drives the beer cart girl. Now, as I said, beer cart girls aren't hired for their golfing skills. They're hired to sell beer with a smile and a laugh. But let's say this beer cart girls drives up, hops off the cart and says, "Hey, Tiger, if you turn your front foot in just a bit, choke up a quarter-inch on your grip, and drop your back shoulder just a hair, your drive will be straighter. I've been thinking," says the beer cart girl, "and maybe you should switch from a nine-iron to a seven-iron on the fairway." Imagine Tiger Woods, the youngest golfer ever to complete the Grand Slam ... Tiger Woods, who was golfing on the Tonight Show when he was three ... imagine Tiger Woods, the youngest Masters' champion ever ... getting golf advice from the beer cart girl. Tiger Woods has won 111 Million dollars playing golf. Imagine him getting golfing advice from the beer cart girl, who works for tips. Imagine him saying to the ESPN reporters, "My game is picking up because I got some really great advice from the beer cart girl." Some off you may remember back to the 1980 Presidential Debate when Jimmy Carter was asked a question about nuclear weapons, and he began his answer by saying, "I was talkin' to mah daughta Amy the otha day..." Commentators just howled. Imagine the President of the United States getting advice on nuclear weapons from his ten year-old daughter. That's not how the world works, right? Golf pros don't get advice from beer cart girls. Presidents don't get advice from fourth graders. We have a sense of who is right and who is powerful and who is in charge and who is important. We listen to those people, right? Let me tell you another story. This story is from the Hebrew scriptures. It's from the Book of Kings, the portion that Christians call Second Kings. (Parenthetically, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 30:41 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/a-government-by-the-people/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/a-government-by-the-people/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:15:43 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3226 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/07/a-government-by-the-people/feed/ 0 Rev. Mark SKrabacz July 4, 2010 - Text of this sermon is not available. Click on the play button to listen. Rev. Mark SKrabacz July 4, 2010 Text of this sermon is not available. Click on the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 32:23 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/between-the-head-and-the-hands/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/between-the-head-and-the-hands/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:41:52 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3217 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/between-the-head-and-the-hands/feed/ 0 First UU Young Adult Group Valerie Stern, Tierney Ahrold, Sarah Dan Jones, Geoff Lorenz, Wendy Robinson, Ian Reed, Adam Bates, Brendan Sterne June 27, 2010 - Text of this sermon is not available. Click the play button to listen. First UU Young Adult Group Valerie Stern, Tierney Ahrold, Sarah Dan Jones, Geoff Lorenz, Wendy Robinson, Ian Reed, Adam Bates, Brendan Sterne June 27, 2010 Text of this sermon is not available. Click the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 25:17 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/courage-commitment-and-claiming-adulthood/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/courage-commitment-and-claiming-adulthood/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:10:58 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3199 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/06/courage-commitment-and-claiming-adulthood/feed/ 0 Rev. Janet Newman June 13, 2010 - Seniors Bridging Ceremony - Natalie Houchen, Shannon Mahoney, Aaron Osmer, Lauren Tothero, and Sierra Tothero - Text of this service is not available. Click on the play button to listen. Rev. Janet Newman June 13, 2010 Seniors Bridging Ceremony Natalie Houchen, Shannon Mahoney, Aaron Osmer, Lauren Tothero, and Sierra Tothero Text of this service is not available. Click on the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 25:42 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/a-sacred-connection/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/a-sacred-connection/#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 21:17:47 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3180 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/a-sacred-connection/feed/ 0 Christian Schmidt May 23, 2019 - Text of this sermon is not available. Click the play button to listen Christian Schmidt May 23, 2019 Text of this sermon is not available. Click the play button to listen First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 20:18 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-measurement-of-worth/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-measurement-of-worth/#comments Sun, 16 May 2010 23:19:29 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3176 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-measurement-of-worth/feed/ 0 The FUUCA Youth Service Shannon Mahoney, Patrick Balaguer, Coleen Mahoney, Sierra Tothero, Lauren Tothero, Aaron Osmer, Natalie Houchins May 16, 2010 - Text of this service is not available. Click the play button to listen. The FUUCA Youth Service Shannon Mahoney, Patrick Balaguer, Coleen Mahoney, Sierra Tothero, Lauren Tothero, Aaron Osmer, Natalie Houchins May 16, 2010 Text of this service is not available. Click the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 20:22 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-purpose-of-freedom/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-purpose-of-freedom/#comments Sun, 02 May 2010 18:56:01 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3166 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/05/the-purpose-of-freedom/feed/ 0 Kristin Grassel May 2, 2010 - Text of this sermon is not available. Click on the play button to listen. Kristin Grassel May 2, 2010 Text of this sermon is not available. Click on the play button to listen. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 27:07 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/04/environmentalism-and-a-culture-of-caring-an-earth-day-message/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/04/environmentalism-and-a-culture-of-caring-an-earth-day-message/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:30:41 +0000 brian http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=3143 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2010/04/environmentalism-and-a-culture-of-caring-an-earth-day-message/feed/ 0 Mark Skrabacz Pastor - UU Church of the Hill Country April 18, 2010 - One morning, long, long ago—in fact, 120 million years ago, something incredible happened here on Earth: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opened up to receive the rays... Mark Skrabacz Pastor - UU Church of the Hill Country April 18, 2010 One morning, long, long ago—in fact, 120 million years ago, something incredible happened here on Earth: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opened up to receive the r... First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 30:19