Nourishing the Spirit
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the AUUF podcast, Gary Lerude shares some ideas for nourishing your spirit during a busy and troubling time of the year. This was recorded at our service on September 7, 2025. Melanie Rains, who served as the service associate, read the chalice lighting. AUUF is a multi-religious faith community with shared values, including equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the service of love. We believe each of us has the right to seek spiritual truth and develop our own theology rather than accept a single religious creed. AUUF is one of...
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The Story of the Ingathering Water Service
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
One of the Sundays around Labor Day starts the program year for most UU congregations. Reflecting historical roots, the slower pace of summer affords ministers and church volunteers time to relax and recharge, time to vacation while children are out of school and the weather is nice. Many UU congregations celebrate the start of the new program year with a water service — sometimes called the Water Communion. Parishioners bring water to pour in a communal bowl at the front of the sanctuary, samples of water experienced during the summer. Symbolically, the Water Communion honors our individual...
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Recommended Read: White Too Long
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) podcast, we recommend a topical book to add to your reading list: White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones. Jim Newton, a lay minister at AUUF, read this book as part of his training to become a lay minister and shares this summary. As you’ll hear, White Too Long provides an insightful discussion of the complicity of white Christians in sustaining white privilege since the end of the Civil War. The Trump administration has now made sustaining white privilege U.S. government...
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Great Good Places
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship podcast, we explore the post-pandemic version of “third places,” safe and welcoming spaces to build and maintain community. These places are especially important as more people are isolated working from home and fewer attend church. Perhaps these new safe places can help heal the polarization and loneliness in America. This service, recorded on Sunday, August 10, 2025, was presented by our minister, Rev. Marti Keller. Ralph Banks served as the Service Associate. AUUF is a multi-religious faith community with shared values,...
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I and Thou: Bridging the Divide
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship podcast, we explore whether constructive conversations can help bridge the political polarization in this country. Can the insights of Martin Buber and Richard Rorty help? Gary Lerude explored this topic in a service on July 20, 2025. He is one of four aspirants for the lay ministry being trained by UU minister Rev. Marti Keller. AUUF is a multi-religious faith community with shared values, including equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the service of love. We believe each of us has...
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Pluralism: The Promise and the Perils
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship podcast, we explore pluralism, one of the values adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association at the 2024 General Assembly. Most of us have a sense of pluralism, but we may not understand the nuances: How is pluralism different than diversity? How does it relate to other values like respect, tolerance, acceptance, and equity? Elizabeth Martin says pluralism is not passive, it’s an achievement — one that can be challenging to achieve, particularly in our polarized world. She has seen the challenges firsthand in her role as...
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Reclaiming Hope in Troubled Times
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
The service on July 6, 2025, fell two days after Independence Day, 249 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. On this anniversary, many of us are concerned about the state of our democracy, concerned that our federal government is not living up to the vision stated in the Declaration of Independence. Recall those prophetic words, that all of us are created equal with unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reflecting on those concerns, Sylvia Rogers urges us not to lose hope, and her homily offers ways to maintain our spirits despite the...
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Endless Summer
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode, recorded at the service on July 13, 2025, Rev. Marti Keller speaks of our mixed feelings about a seemingly endless summer, certainly an apt topic for these hot and humid days in Alabama. As children, how we looked forward to summer, wanting it to last forever. Yet how soon we became bored! The ideal of an endless summer parallels the human yearning for an endless life. That idea is increasingly the focus for research and technology startups, hoping to capitalize on the birth of a new industry. Rev. Marti asks, if we lived forever, would we lose the sanctity of living? Richard...
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Celebrating Children as Our Hope
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) podcast, Melanie Rains presents the homily “Children as Our Hope.” She reminds us of our shared responsibility to the youngest members of our congregation and society and affirms how their presence enriches our lives and our collective spiritual journey. The podcast was recorded at AUUF’s service on May 18, 2025. Sylvia Rogers served as the service associate. AUUF is a multi-religious faith community of shared values, including equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the...
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Battles of the Republic 2025: A Mother’s Day Homily
The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Podcast
In this episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) podcast, you’ll hear this year’s Mother’s Day sermon from our minister, the Rev. Marti Keller. She shares the history of what’s become an annual shopping event to honor our mothers and suggests the holiday is deeper than cards and flowers. It should be a time to reflect on how society can better support the mother’s role — like access to healthcare during and after pregnancy, parental leave, affordable child care, food assistance for those in need, and a commitment to quality schools. The podcast was recorded at...
info_outlineIn this episode of the AUUF podcast, Gary Lerude shares some ideas for nourishing your spirit during a busy and troubling time of the year. This was recorded at our service on September 7, 2025. Melanie Rains, who served as the service associate, read the chalice lighting.
AUUF is a multi-religious faith community with shared values, including equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the service of love. We believe each of us has the right to seek spiritual truth and develop our own theology rather than accept a single religious creed.
AUUF is one of more than 1,000 Unitarian Universalist congregations around the U.S. and Canada. If you’re in the Auburn-Opelika (Alabama) area, we hope you’ll join us Sunday mornings at 10:00. Visit our website at auuf.org.
Our theme music is “A Call to the Soul” by Folk Acoustic Music. It’s available on Pixabay.