Sunday Messages Podcast: Recent Episodes
Cedar Valley UU
This podcast features the Sunday messages from the Cedar Valley Unitarian Universalists in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Pastor Emma Peterson talks about Ash Wednesday and glitter blessings in this message, "We Are Stardust."
Continuing her sermon series on the proposed changes to Article II of the UUA bylaws, Pastor Emma Peterson gives this message, "Pluralism: It Means More Than One."
Continuing her sermon series on the proposed changes to Article II of the UUA bylaws, Pastor Emma Peterson gives this message, "Transformation: A UU Value and Spiritual Practice."
From January 14, 2024, a message from Pastor Emma Peterson for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
From Christmas Eve 2023, Pastor Emma's Christmas homily, "Once in Royal David's City/It Happened Yesterday."
For the last episode of 2023, we reach into our archives to celebrate our member Delburn Carpenter, who died this year. Del was a long-time enthusiastic volunteer in our congregation, and he left behind many messages, including this one, which he gave in January of 2019: "Fifty Years Growing as a UU." Thank you, Del. You are missed.
From our service on Sunday, November 26, our member Karen Impola discusses "Thanksgiving and Thanks-receiving."
From our service on Sunday, November 19, Pastor Emma talks about a source she recently read on the philosophical discourse about justice.
From our service on Sunday, November 5, Al Hays and Callie Amiday talk about Democracy and community.
In honor of Veteran's Day, CVUU member (and Navy veteran) Lynn Brant gives the message, "Why Honor Our Veterans?"
From our service on Sunday, October 22, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson gives the message, "Worshipping the Old Gods: Slavic Paganism and Oral History."
This is the first message in a series about the UU values as outlined in the recent updates to Article II of the UUA bylaws. Pastor Emma Peterson gives the message, "Caring for Each Soul: Equity as a UU Ethic."
From our service on Sunday, June 11, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson talks about the proposed changes to Article II of the UUA bylaws. Later this season, she will also discuss the substance of those changes in a series about our UU values.
From our service on Sunday, October 8, 2023, our members Mandy Boody and Jessica Lieb each contribute to the message, "Notes on Being Human."
In honor of our Jewish siblings' recent observance of Yom Kippur, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message about forgiveness.
From our kickoff service for the 2023-24 program year, "Growing in Purpose, Rooted in Values," some members from our congregation share testimonies about what our congregation and Unitarian Universalism mean to them.
Podcast host Kat Beane Hanson gives a rundown of what to expect in Season 4 of the podcast.
From our service on May 14, 2023, our members Lynn Brant and Jess Lieb discuss the question, "Do You Believe in God?"
From our service this year for Earth Day, Pastor Emma delivers the message "Earth Day: The Interconnected Web"
From our service on February 26, 2023, our member Lynn Brant gives us the naturalist's view of the 7th UU Principle.
From our service on February 19, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson gives a message for the Christian observance of Ash Wednesday, called "Return to Stardust."
From our service on February 12, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson gives her message, "What the World Needs Now: Unitarian Universalism and the Ethic of Love."
From our service on January 29, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson talks about "The Iowa Sisterhood: The Legacy of UU Midwest Women Ministers."
From our service on January 22, 2023, Pastor Emma Peterson gives a message, "Lunar New Year: The Moon, The Chinese Zodiac, You, Me, Us."
From our service on January 15, 2023, Ken Taylor gives a message, "Who ARE You? The Reflections You Present."
For this episode, we welcome guest speaker Olivia Meikle, who teaches Women's & Gender Studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and also co-hosts the podcast What'sHerName. Olivia's message is titled, "Dreams of Peace: Judith Sargent Murray and Hope in Times of Hopelessness."
From our service on Sunday, January 1, 2023, CVUU member and past president Heather Flory gives her message, "Finding Our Center at the CVUU."
From our Christmas Eve service on December 24, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson gives her homily, "A Star in the East: Signs, Certainty, and Mystical Revolutions of the Heart."
In a message from the service on Sunday, December 4, 2022, several members and friends of our congregation reflect on the 7 Unitarian Universalist Principles.
From our service on October 23, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers her message, "What's a Gadfly? The 2019 General Assembly Shake-Up and Healing What's Broken." This is the fourth and final installment in the series on the fight for racial justice within Unitarian Universalism.
From our service on October 16, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers her message, "The UUA Hiring Controversy, Efforts of Reparative Justice, and the Path Forward." This is the third installment in the series of messages on the fight for racial justice within Unitarian Universalism.
From our service on August 7, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers the message "Journeying Toward Spiritual Wholeness: The Proposed 8th Principle and the Backlash Against It." This is the second installment in the series on the fight for racial justice within Unitarian Universalism.
From our service on July 17, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers the first of four messages in a series about the fight for racial justice in Unitarian Universalism.
In celebration of the full moon on October 9, 2022, Karen Impola and Floralyn Groff bring us a message and a guided meditation on the moon.
From our Labor Day service on September 4, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message, "Shaping the World: The Modern Day Labor Movement and the Hope for a More Equitable Future."
From our kickoff Sunday, September 11, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message for the start of the new program year, called "New Growth from Deep Roots."
From May 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message, "Good and Faithful Allies: Examining the Most Recent Assault on LGBTQ and Women's Rights, and What Unitarian Universalists Can Do About It."
From our Coordinator of Children's Religious Education, Kate Dembinski Flynn, comes a message from May 2022, "Myth-Making/Myth-Breaking."
Our member Dennis Harbaugh talks about science -- what it is, what it isn't, and why that matters for Unitarian Universalists.
From our service on Easter Sunday 2022, Pastor Emma talks about lotus blossoms, COVID-19, and resurrection.
From our service on March 27, 2022, our member Karen Potter, talks about how to be present and experience your life without overthinking it.
From our annual Stewardship Sunday, Pastor Emma Peterson talks about our circles of connections and how we can draw the circles wider.
Pastor Emma Peterson sits down with CVUU member and retired Hospice nurse Nancie Groszkruger in this conversational message that they have called "Living Your Best at End of Life: On Mortality, Hospice, and the Transforming Power of Compassionate End-of-Life Care."
From our service on February 20, 2022, Dr. John Burnight of the University of Northern Iowa talks to us about the early life of the Buddha.
From Valentine's Day weekend 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message, "Love, Sweet Love: How the Romantic Relationship Became the Ultimate Goal and How That Harms Us."
From our service on February 6, 2022, a message for Groundhog Day and the coming spring.
From January 30, 2022, Pastor Emma Peterson talks about the loneliness epidemic and what we can do about it.
From our service on January 23, Heather Flory brings a message and meditation about gratitude.
Guest speaker Clark Porter talks about the lessons we can learn from water, in "Lessons from the Streambank."
CVUU member Michaela Rich talks about the importance of curiosity and science education.
From our service on Christmas Eve 2021, Pastor Emma Peterson delivers her homily, "The Birth of Something New."
From our service on November 14, 2021, Pastor Emma Peterson and our member Moria Brown deliver a co-sermon that explores the relationship between the humanist and God.
From our service on November 7, Pastor Emma delivers a message called "Loving the Hell Out of This World: Exploring the Concept of Sin for Unitarian Universalists."
Pastor Emma Peterson leads us in a ritual for Samhain. If you would like to enact this ritual with us, it would be helpful to have in mind an ancestor you'd like to connect with, a small gift like bread or a drink of water, and an item that reminds you of your ancestor. White candles and crystals are optional.
From our church year kickoff, Pastor Emma Peterson introduces our 2021-2022 church year theme, "Everything's Going to Be Okay (As Long As We're Together)."
Kat sits down for a chat with Pastor Emma Peterson, about our current moment in time and what we can expect in season 2 of the podcast.
Pastor Emma and members of the CVUU community welcome our high school seniors into adult community with a bridging ceremony.
Pastor Emma and John Miller have a conversation about how misunderstandings happen among the generations, and how we can go about making connections instead.
Commissioned lay minister David Strickler visited our congregation to deliver this message about birds, and hope.
Our member John Miller talks about how farming today differs from farming when he was young -- the good and the bad.
Friend of the CVUU Debbie Kyler talks about her relationship (and humanity's relationship) with trees.
Pastor Emma Peterson delivers her message, "Our Interdependent Web: What Interdependence Means, Especially Now That We Know About Boundaries."
Our office administrator and friend of the CVUU, Kat Beane Hanson, talks about talent, the growth mindset, and making bad art.
Pastor Emma, newly returned from her month of study leave, shares a reflection of her time away.
Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message about Valentines Day, Black History Month, and Beloved Community.
Our guest minister, Rev. Michelle Ma, spoke to us from her home in Ohio to tell us about how the lessons she has learned as a VA chaplain can apply to how we do church.
Our member Pam Hays delivers a message about Martin Luther King, Jr. This was originally given for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Our members John Miller and Dennis Harbaugh discuss their experiences, from growing up in a small homogenous rural Iowa town to working toward gaining an understanding of and working toward justice on behalf of people who they had thought to be "different" from themselves.
From our congregation's president, Heather Flory. We know and acknowledge that this pandemic has been a very dark time for many, and the purpose of today's message is not to diminish that suffering in any way. Rather, its intent is to shine a light and help us find ways to get through what is, hopefully, the last few months of the pandemic.
Pastor Emma tells us about spiritual practice and gives us some ideas about how to integrate regular spiritual practice into our lives.
Pastor Emma Peterson delivers a message for Thanksgiving. In a statement not included in this recording, Pastor Emma acknowledged alongside her closing words that Thanksgiving is a Day of Mourning for Indigenous peoples. Just as it's important to count our own blessings, it's just as important to acknowledge the devastation visited upon Indigenous populations, in both the past and the present.
Pastor Emma Peterson talks to us about the spooky season, and then tells us how we can build our own ancestral altar.
Our member Judith Harrington talks about the possibilities when we stand up to be counted.
Our first episode features a conversation with Pastor Emma Peterson about "doing church" in 2020, and about why we're launching this podcast in the first place.