The sermon was delivered on Sunday, September 17, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION What is the best synonym for faith? Some would say trust, or confidence. Others consider faith to be blind, naïve or simple, if not ignorant. My great grandfather, who was a rabbi in Lithuania and then in Connecticut, said patience was the most important virtue of all. Could patience be a synonym for faith? Perhaps, if...
Sep 17, 2017•26 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, September 10, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." — Helen Keller Sight is external. Vision comes from within. Sight is physical. Vision is spiritual and involves faith. Perception, is the ultimate reality, but not necessarily the ultimate truth. Sight sees reality, but vision sees truth and connects the...
Sep 10, 2017•38 min
The message was delivered on Sunday, September 10, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister, at the Humanist Service. SERMON DESCRIPTION The Sunday after Labor Day is extra-special at All Souls! Our choirs will treat us to special performances and we have a few surprises in store for you. Vision Sunday is a wonderful day to invite your friends and family to attend. If you haven’t seen some of your All Souls friends here for a while, ple...
Sep 10, 2017•18 min
The message was delivered on Sunday, September 3, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Steven L. Williams, Pastoral Care Chaplain, at the Humanist Service. SERMON DESCRIPTION Twelve years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina changed our world and my life. Whether it's a hurricane, a divorce, or the loss of something precious, we all have to weather storms in our lives. Having something sturdy to hold onto makes all the difference in how well we survive them. What is it that kee...
Sep 03, 2017•24 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, September 3, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Faith is a first cousin of fear. They live together on the family farm. Both faith and fear are present in the human genome. Some people just have more faith in one than the other. It actually takes faith to have fear. Fear of a sprint is faith in its ability to harm you. The same is true of a storm, a style, or a system. Fa...
Sep 03, 2017•40 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, September 3, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Steven L. Williams, Pastoral Care Chaplain. SERMON DESCRIPTION Twelve years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina changed our world and my life. Whether it's a hurricane, a divorce, or the loss of something precious, we all have to weather storms in our lives. Having something sturdy to hold onto makes all the difference in how well we survive them. What is it that keeps you from going under? J...
Sep 03, 2017•23 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, August 27, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Perfect: the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. Something most of us never fully experience. I don’t know anything or any person who is perfect. This includes random fantasies about God, Heaven, and eternal life. All of which are somewhat ambiguous and in some ways, sus...
Aug 27, 2017•43 min
The message was delivered on Sunday, August 27, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar and Rev. Barbara Prose at the Humanist Service. SERMON DESCRIPTION The recent eclipse has our ministers thinking about how sometimes something small, in relative terms, keeps us from feeling the warmth and light of the one thing that makes our life possible. We especially see this with all of the divisions in our country and the way it is dividing families and commu...
Aug 27, 2017•38 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, August 20, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION Christianity, the Enlightenment, and Transcendentalism are the three major tributaries that flow together to create the liberal religious tradition we call Unitarian Universalism. Henry David Thoreau, who became famous only after this death at 45, is a great example of someone who transcended his own time. In the 19th cen...
Aug 20, 2017•41 min
The message was delivered on Sunday, August 20, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister at the Humanist Service. SERMON DESCRIPTION Reverend Lavanhar speaks frankly and personally about the impact of the Charlottesville protests on him as a person with a Jewish heritage and an African American child. He lifts up a sophisticated and morally nuanced critique of the protests and counterprotests and makes a case for a nonviolent response t...
Aug 20, 2017•29 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, August 20, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Reverend Lavanhar speaks frankly and personally about the impact of the Charlottesville protests on him as a person with a Jewish heritage and an African American child. He lifts up a sophisticated and morally nuanced critique of the protests and counterprotests and makes a case for a nonviolent response to the rising wave of neo-...
Aug 20, 2017•26 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, August 13, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION This summer is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, who said, “The fact is I am a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot.” Friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson and inspiration to the conservation movement, Thoreau was known for advocating simple living, He was also active in the abol...
Aug 13, 2017•26 min
The message was delivered on Sunday, August 6, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Louie Rojas, Guest Speaker. MESSAGE DESCRIPTION Religion in American has been a dynamic experience. For many of us it can become an unhealthy experience. In our desire to be good sons and daughters we can lose ourselves, our dreams, and our loves. I will be sharing how I was saved by the one message that matters to me the most. I will be making a bold statement about where Christianity is in...
Aug 06, 2017•43 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, August 6, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION We continue our Summer Series titled “This American Faith” with a new theme for the month of August: “The Gift of Imperfection”. When the founders gathered 230 years ago this month in Philadelphia to draft a Constitution for this new nation, they hoped for unity, but they came with their competing interests and concerns. The end re...
Aug 06, 2017•23 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 30, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Gerald L. Davis, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION One of the beautiful points of departure, Ware Lecturer Brian Stevenson gave us at UUA General Assembly was to change the narrative. Changing the narrative is not as easy as changing the water in a fish bowl. But that metaphor is appropriate from the standpoint of the fish. We swim in water called white supremacy. Let's not be afraid...
Jul 30, 2017•40 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 30, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION It is said that after the Battles of Lexington and Concord John Adams became the voice for independence at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. As we finish a month of messages on the gifts of independence and American faith, I will look at what we might learn from the first Vice President and second President of the Unite...
Jul 30, 2017•26 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 23, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Part of the so called "gift" and sometimes guilt of independence is a certain unavoidable trait of co-dependency, that should not go unnoticed or without mention. Among the core characteristics of codependency, a common trait is an incessant, if not excessive, reliance on other people for approval and a sense of self-worth and i...
Jul 23, 2017•40 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 23, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION It's been said that the United States of America is a nation that was founded on a secular creed. Rooted in the Declaration of Independence and echoed throughout our history are certain commonly held truths. As we continue our July theme of Independence and our series on This American Faith, I will share a message regarding the Amer...
Jul 23, 2017•27 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 16, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Independence, basically means un-dependent, not dependent or not a pendant. A pendant is a piece of jewelry that hangs from a chain worn around the neck, in fact the word pendant comes from Old French, meaning literally to hang or hanging. In a sense, if you’re not hanging, you’re falling or in some ways just failing . And the o...
Jul 16, 2017•47 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 9, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Gerald L. Davis, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Rev. Gerald Davis speaks on topical issues from a free and respectful pulpit. SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: WATCH THIS SERMON ON YOUTUBE: SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Twitter: All Souls Church Website:
Jul 09, 2017•38 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 2, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION The gift of independence, is in many ways an illusive fantasy that takes imagination, effort, and creative work. A gift, something willingly given without being earned, can be taken back. Talent, something we're born with is natural aptitude and is neither given nor taken away, even though it can atrophy from lack of use. Talent ...
Jul 02, 2017•44 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 2, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION Our words are powerful - beyond belief. We have felt the power of a friend's kind words to lift our spirits. And many of us have experienced how the words from a loved one can be crushing. How do we assure we are speaking the truth in love, coming from a place of love? How do we keep from engaging in verbally abusive languag...
Jul 02, 2017•29 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 25, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Romans 3:3) The America faith is traditionally as much in its majority Judeo/Christian God as it is in its constitution, bylaws, American culture, and democracy. However, in today’s America there is nearly equal doubt in all of the above. ...
Jun 25, 2017•30 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 18, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Newton's third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Faith is a reaction or response to doubt. Faith is also one of the nine spiritual gifts recorded in the scriptures of the New Testament. Faith is impossible - and unnecessary - without doubt. Doubt supports, sponsors, and summons faith and therefor...
Jun 18, 2017•41 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 18, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION Last week, in honor of Rev. Dr. John Wolf, we talked about how doubt is essential to deepening our liberal religious faith. My father’s faith was planted firmly in the American democratic process. One could say he practiced an American Civil Religion, rooted in a trinity of three persons named Washington, Jefferson, and Lin...
Jun 18, 2017•21 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 11, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry. SERMON DESCRIPTION Doubt was a central theme in the ministry of the Rev. Dr. John B. Wolf, our minister emeritus. He wrote extensively about this theme in his book, The Gift of Doubt. Doubtless, many of us are struggling today - with doubts about the future - whether our worries are personal, political, or planetary. In our world today, the t...
Jun 11, 2017•26 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Gerald L. Davis, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION As I reflect on the nexus of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, the not guilty verdict of Officer Betty Shelby and Memorial Day, I question how anger fuels a painful heart. I intend to explore the consequences of unexamined pain. Our participation in this long journey toward justice depends on our willingness to examine our painful part...
Jun 04, 2017•27 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Monuments and historical celebrations create a sense of public memory, and what we remember matters. The celebrations we offer and statues we erect help shape a shared narrative of our history and our public identity. These communal acts express and advocate public values, however, the meanings we make of events are not neutral. Ther...
Jun 04, 2017•26 min
This Meadville Lombard Theological School 2017 Commencement Address was delivered seven weeks after the unprecedented resignation of the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), Peter Morales. His resignation was a direct result of a public conversation and controversy regarding ongoing influences and impacts of racism on the hiring practices and culture of the UUA. Other senior UUA staff also resigned in the wake of the controversy. SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: SUBSCRIBE TO OUR...
Jun 02, 2017•22 min
The sermon was delivered on Sunday, May 28, 2017, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister. SERMON DESCRIPTION Mercy is not just allowing escape from hell. Authentic mercy would be completely extricating the concept of eternal damnation from our belief system and articles of faith. The English word hell doesn't appear anywhere in the original biblical narrative and Jesus never used the term. He used the Hebrew word Gehenna (Valley of Hinn...
May 28, 2017•56 min
