"Remembering the Future"

Sunday, May 29, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

War continues to rage in the Ukraine and elsewhere, and, on top of everything else we are facing, nuclear Armageddon increasingly feels like a realistic fear. Memorial Day was started as Decoration Day to honor Union soldiers who died in the Civil War, through drawing upon memorial traditions in both the North and South. On this Memorial Day weekend, let us meditate on past, present, and future war. What does it mean to remember the dead while continuing a global practice that guarantees more dead to remember in the future?

Rev. Millie Phillips, Guest Minister; Mari Magaloni, Worship Associate; Richard Fey, Song Leader; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

"Finding Out Who We Are"
Sunday, June 5, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This is a service of stories and songs for these times -- drawn from graduation speeches, spiritual reflections on place and community, hymns -- a reminder of who we are.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Nancy Hardies & Judith Stoddard, Membership; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director; Elliott Etzkorn, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Miunn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Dan Barnard, Facilities Manager; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, May 22, 2022.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 5, 2022. While change be difficult sometimes, it is also ever present in our lives. Out of change and even loss, we so often find enhanced faith, greater resilience, and creative renewal. Out of it, new beginnings emerge. We will engage in a ritual of faith and renewal.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, May 29, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, June 5, 2022.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 12, 2022. How might we express a Unitarian Universalist concept of a blessing? How might we be blessings for one another? What are the blessings to be found in day-to-day living? We will explore these questions and more as we discover how me might celebrate our blessing that may be greater than we often realize.

"I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together"
Sunday, June 12, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Join us for a joyous good-bye celebration for Rev. Alyson Jacks who is retiring this June. We'll share stories, salutations and some surprises too. There will be wonderful music by our church and bell choir, percussionist Allen Biggs, pianist Lucas Keeley, and our organist Reiko Lane. Let's celebrate and be glad for this incredible time we've had together.

This is a family friendly service for ages 6 and up. Childcare for children 0-5 will be available that morning, Following the service, there will be a luncheon celebration in the courtyard.

Rev. Alyson Jacks, Associate Minister; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Cal Ball, Offertory Sentence; Bell Choir led by Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Allen Biggs, Percussionist; Lucas Keely, Pianist; UUSF Choir led by Mark Sumner, Music Director

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Jackson Munn, Camera; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena & Max Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Barbara Prose, Executive Director of Ministry in The Point Humanist Hour Service. Description: This Sunday, Rev. Barbara reflects on the chaotic moment we are living in and asked the question, "Is peace even possible right now?" What would it look like for us to choose peace at a moment like this, and should we? Channeling Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, Rev. Barbara explores an active understanding of peace that empowers us toward change rather than neutralizes us in the face of danger. Instead of waging war, we can wage peace!

This message was delivered on Sunday, June 19, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa Oklahoma by Carlton D. Pearson. Description This Sunday, on both Father's Day and Juneteenth, Carlton Pearson explores what it means to reckon with our fraught histories surrounding inclusion. Some of us are victims of exclusion — maybe in our own lifetimes, or maybe through our inherited histories, such as native black Americans that are descended from slavery. Maybe we ourselves have excluded others in our pasts. This Sunday, Carlton seeks a way to let go of our stories that no longer serve us while also seeking full disclosure of our painful pasts.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on June 19, 2022. In 1989, psychologist and researcher Dr. Carol Ryff developed her six-factor model of psychological well being, which she has updated and many others have validated since. The model focuses on how we might not only cope, but thrive. Might these six factors also apply with our spirituality, as well as to our religious community thriving?

What is Fatherhood?
Sunday, June 19, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

How can you form an opinion on it if you don’t know what it is? Fatherhood is essentially an elegant idea. You can’t buy it, hold it in your hands or taste it. It is a no-thing. Please come and explore this elegant idea in community on Father’s Day.

Rev. Fred Rabidoux, Guest Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Alice Sobze, Guest Speaker; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Nancy Munn, Soprano; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Dan Barnard, Facilities Manager; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, June 19, 2022.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, June 29, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis. Description: This Sunday, Randy Lewis, Sabbatical Minister reflects on the enduring meaning of LBGTQ Pride in America and in his own life, and leads us to think more dynamically about cultural progress in our current age, when the Supreme Court has just overturned Roe v. Wade and many other crucial civil liberties are either absent or threatened. The civil rights era never ended.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

"The Perfect Body and the Ladder"
Sunday, July 3, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

"The Perfect Body and the Ladder" is about the personal and the political uses of the body, timed perfectly to rebroadcast as we prepare to unveil our sweet bodies in the lighter clothes and freedom of summer. It's a lovely service and we invite you to sit with the questions it raises and the invitation to include our bodies (and others') in the deepest work of honoring and cherishing.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Meg McGuire, Ministerial Intern; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Leandra Ramm, Songleader; Brielle Marina Neilson, Songleader; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader; Asher Davison, Songleader; Luis Maurer, Pianist

Eric Shackelford, camera; Shulee Ong, camera; Jonathan Silk, AV remix ; Sam King, chat moderator; Tom Brookshire, Les James, Ralph Fenn, Zoom Coffee Hour; Athena Papadakos, Flowers

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, June 26, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, July 3, 2022.

This message was delivered on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Barbara Prose. Description: Our country stands on the edge of a precipice. It feels impossible that on the weekend that our nation celebrates its 246th birthday, some of the freedoms and rights we hold dear have been taken away and other rights and freedom are so vulnerable. In these extraordinary and urgent times, we declare that we dissent. Those who pursue authoritarian forms of power also provoke violence, spread disinformation, politicize independent institutions, corrupt elections and target vulnerable or marginalized communities. Voices of people in Oklahoma who are not being represented by local or national leaders must be heard across our nation as we insist on the importance of the separation between church and state and share our understanding of a God who always stands on the side of freedom and equality.

This message was delivered on Sunday, July 10, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis. Description: This Sunday, Randy Lewis explores what it means to try to love another person when we don't even know what it means to love ourselves. The golden rule tells us to "do unto other as we would have done unto us," but many people treat themselves with no love at all. Through growing in our self-love, we become strong to love others beyond belief.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, July 17, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Cory Lovell. Description: We are living through times that will ask more of us and challenge our faith in ways we never imagined but now can't possibly ignore. The values of Unitarian Universalism call upon us to be compassionate, innovative, and steadfast even amidst such unpredictability. By rooting ourselves in respect for our tradition's past, respect for the sobering and complicated reality of our present, and respect for a more hopeful future... we can meet the moment with love and courage.

“The Living Tradition”
Sunday, July 10, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Rev. Mr. Barb reflects on 51 years of practicing Unitarian Universalism. Oh how we have (and have not) changed. Imagine with Barb as he shares his dreams for our next 51 years.

Rev. Mr. Barb Greve, Guest Minister; Lucy Smith, Worship Associate; Larry Chinn, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Jackson Munn, Camera; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“Coffee in the Desert”

Sunday, July 17, 10:50 am, Worship Service

A sermon on welcome -- on the sacred value of welcome. This is a sermon I preached as one of my first five years ago at UUSF and the foundation holds. But there are insights too about what this virtue asks of us, brought to light in the conversations out of the racial reckoning of the last two years or more.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Richard Fey, Baritone; Wm. García Ganz, Accompanist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Tyler Heston, Sound; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, July 24, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Carlton D. Pearson. Description: What does it mean to become more inclusive toward ourselves? As we venture into radical inclusivity, sometimes we are surprised to find old parts of our stories coming back to make us feel guilt, shame, or self-loathing that we thought we had left behind. This Sunday, Carlton explores what it means to move past a kind of militaristic kind of love and step into a more compassionate and real form of *liking* ourselves.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, July 10, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, July 17, 2022.

This message was delivered on Sunday, July 31, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Tamara Lebak Description: Maybe there is a part of you that wants to come to church and a part of you that wants to stay home. Maybe there is a part of you that wants to flee the country and a part of you that wants to firmly plant yourself in the resistance. Maybe there is a part of you who is skeptical of everything and a part of you that has experienced something truly mystical in nature. I certainly have all of these parts. What does it mean that we have these parts? How do we balance the tension between our polarized parts? How do we navigate respecting all the parts of ourselves to take our next right step? Join me as I explore the respect through the construct of multiplicity of self, an indigenous concept that has been pathologized by academia and demonized by the culture of the Christian church.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, July 24, 2022.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, August 7, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Barbara Prose Description: "One expression I will take with me when I leave All Souls is 'I appreciate you.' It’s one of the ways I’ve learned to say thank you here. Those words express that what someone just did or said—or simply who they are—makes a difference in my life and in the life of the church. Now, if I were to try to thank each and every one of you individually, our Sunday service would last all weekend and still be incomplete. Much as author AJ Jacobs discovered when he tried to thank every person involved with his morning cup of coffee, I’ve discovered that each and every act of generosity, kindness, and service, is linked to at least 1000 other acts of service, kindness and generosity. So I need your help. And am inviting you to attend church this Sunday, so you can thank people too – and be thanked yourself!"

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, August 14, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: How are you feeling right now? Happy, anxious, depressed, or maybe even numb? Or perhaps there is a fear or uncertainty of what will happen when we really let our feelings reach the surface. Sometimes we aren't even aware of what we're feeling, but it still follows us. This Sunday, Rev. Marlin explores what it means to become aware of our own awareness. Reflecting on his time on sabbatical, Marlin encourages us to pay more attention to what we pay attention to, and in that space we will find a rich quality of life that is worth it. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/allsoulsunitarian WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943   GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: http://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, July 31, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, August 7, 2022.

This message was delivered on Sunday, August 21, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: Salman Rushdie, who has spoken twice at All Souls in Tulsa, was violently attacked, on stage, last week. One of our congregation’s middle school girls had to be escorted out of a Public School Board meeting this summer by police because adults, wearing red, white and blue, were aggressive and hostile toward her for expressing her view that our schools should support LGBTQ students. Our state has passed laws making it illegal to have an abortion or to teach history that might make someone uncomfortable. College professors, comedians and commentators are being “cancelled” for expressing their perspectives. All Souls stands in a centuries-long religious tradition that has seen God (and the good) in history to be present in the unfolding of freedom. Examples include: the freedom of the Jews, and anyone, from slavery, freedom of Christians to worship, freedom of scientists, freedom of speech, freedom to marry and more. What’s happening to freedom and what have our forebears done before and what should we do now about it? SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, August 14, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, August 21, 2022.

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

“Transforming Perfection”

Sunday, August 21, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This Sunday, join Guest Preacher Charlotte Cramer exploring the concept of perfection and how it influences our lives and society. Perfection is everywhere in our country, and it has impacted how we treat one another and ourselves. What is the mindset and healing that is needed to work against the strong drive towards being perfect? How could overcoming perfection foster a more wholesome and healthy life, and society?

Charlotte Maitreya Cramer, Guest Preacher; Sam King, Worship Associate; Asher Davison, Bass Vocals; Larry Chinn, Piano

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

This message was delivered on Sunday, August 28, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis in The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: What does it mean to have emotional intelligence, and how might we increase it? Why would we even want to? This Sunday, Randy Lewis explores what it means to practice kindness as a serious business that has consequences in our own lives and those around us. But in order to this, it's important to be transparent with ourselves about how we really feel about the people around us. By internally addressing what we really think, we can slowly change our thought patterns into something truly helpful. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF:  or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

“The Arc of the Universe”
Sunday, August 28, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

August 28th is the 59th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Racial Equality. Its keynote address by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. has become the most famous speech in modern history. Echoed in his remarks that day were the paraphrased words of an early Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker; that the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice.

Earlier this summer, the remarkable achievement of the Webb telescope began challenging humanity to look deeply into the past in order to make sense of today and what is to come. Indeed, in so many ways, we won't ever create the future of our dreams without understanding the past.

Join us as we explore Dr. King's inspiration in the words of a radical Boston minster, how those words convinced a cultural icon to continue to go "where no man had gone before" and finally, how we're learning, through science, that there is indeed an arc in the universe and that it bends towards truth.

Richard Davis-Lowell, Guest Preacher; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Katrina Walter, Flautist; Charmian Stewart, Violinist; Nancy Munn, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader

Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, September 4, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Carlton D. Pearson in The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: Our imaginations are our gateway into our worlds. Our past, present, and future all has to go through an interpretive lens that we get to choose. We always have the opportunity to reimagine our relationships to ourselves and each other, and to imagine a different world that maybe just doesn't exist yet. Sometimes when we feel stuck in our own lives or in the stories others have about us, it's time to imagine a new story about ourselves... a story with an unwritten ending. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

“Birthing a New World”
Sunday, September 4, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

For our annual Labor Day service, Rev. Millie Phillips celebrates a struggle that ebbs and flows, but has never died; the struggle for economic survival and dignity on the job. Playing off the multiple meanings of the word "labor," do we have the courage to do what it takes to give birth to " a new world from the ashes of the old?" Whatever the obstacles, increasingly, working people, especially young and marginalized workers, are rediscovering the power of union organizing and are putting the movement back into the labor movement.

Rev. Millie Phillips, Guest Minister; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; The Labor Heritage/Rockin' Solidarity Chorus; Pat Wynne, Labor Chorus Director; Mark Sumner, Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

This message was delivered on Sunday, September 11, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: As the world continues to open back up following the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all left to reckon with everything we have been putting off.  That might mean something literal like getting married, or switching jobs, or maybe it's something simultaneously more abstract and closer to home for us, like feeling our feelings.  We often live our lives attempting to buffer difficult feelings — to insulate ourselves from the uncertainties and pain that life brings.  But we not only fail to stop pain, we also numb our joy when we do this.  What would it look like if we decided not to buffer these experiences, but to embrace them? SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:  

“The River of Life: An Ingathering”

Sunday, September 11, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This week is a joyous regathering: virtually and in person we will come back together for our official start to a church year. Children will join us in worship and we will sing and speak in words and ritual of our journeys apart and what we bring back with us.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist; Nancy Munn, soprano soloist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis in the 10 am service. Description: Our lives are made up of stories. Every day we are telling stories to ourselves about ourselves and others. Stories about what will happen to us in the future, and who we were in the past. Some of these stories define us, for better or worse, but how do we know they are true? What if we want to break out of an old story? What if we want to write a new one? It is so crucial when we are writing stories about ourselves and our world that we are compassionate. We never know what other people have been through or what is in their hearts now, and we often negate or forget parts ourselves — the difficult parts we might want to gloss over as well as the beautiful parts of us that we sometimes struggle to embrace. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST:  GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

“The Tasks of Life”
Sunday, September 18, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

What is the purpose of a life, of life. It's always been the question religion was tasked to answer. Part of the work of answering that question involves the tasks of life, of each life and even its stages of tasks. As we step into a new church year perhaps we can ask where we think we are in this work so each of us can step intentionally, and more deeply, into that work.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Carmen Barsody, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Claudine Jones, Mezzo; Jon Silk, Drummer; Wm García Ganz, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, August 28, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, September 4, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, September 11, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, September 18, 2022.

This message was delivered on Sunday, September 25, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in the 11:30 am The Point Humanist Hour service. Description: Irish poet John O'Donohue once said of the soul that "there is a part you that has never been wounded." What does that part of us know — what is it capable of? What would it look for us to feed that part of ourselves? Our bodies and minds are so hungry for our time and attention, that often our souls eat last in our lives. We hurry through our lives, and consume meaningful moments without really absorbing them, and we are left wondering my we struggle to find richer meaning in our daily lives. But with just a slight shift in how we see ourselves and our worlds, a new mode of life comes into view — one that is rich with depth of experience, and, most surprisingly of all, is easy to find. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

“What am I going to do?”
Sunday, July 24, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This is the question we ask ourselves at major pivotal points in our lives: graduation, career choice, retirement. “What am I going to do?” is also the question we ask ourselves when there are decisions to be made about: relationships, medical options, questions of moving and choosing where we will live. I find it useful to distinguish between what I can do, and how I can be in the world. I will try to explain what that distinction means to me, and how I have found it helpful in making my choices in life.

Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita; Sam King, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Giacomo Fiore, Guitarist; Richard Fey, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“Good Trouble”
Sunday, July 31, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

In March of 2020, the late John Lewis called on everyone to "get into good trouble, necessary trouble and redeem the soul of America" as he spoke from the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma Alabama commemorating the tragedy of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. Join us on Sunday July 31st for a special service led by worship associate Mari Magaloni Ramos: “Good Trouble”

Our collective values of democracy, privacy and bodily autonomy are under active attack and we have suffered setbacks. And as is always the case, it is our BIPOC and LGBTQ folx that will be most negatively impacted in the coming years if we do not act. One of the most powerful things that we can do to stem this tide is to support and motivate our fellow Americans to vote. We can do that by meeting hate and grievance with love and beloved community.

Mari Magaloni Ramos, Guest Preacher; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate Cal Ball, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Tommy Kesecker, Percussionist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Max Benbow, Camera; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“Are We Normal?”
Sunday, September 25, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

What is it about the human condition that is normal? And what is normal anyway? By taking lessons from our time in the pandemic, from my time as a hospital chaplain, and from our collective experiences as humans, we can explore how normal is not a concept to compare ourselves to others, but rather a way to build a shared understanding of what it means to be human. This shared understanding can then be the cornerstone to create a lifespan religious education program.

Rev. Laura Shennum, Minister of Congregational Life; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Mark Sumner, Pianist; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Songleader; Eric Hamilton, Guitarist

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“Retraining the Dragon”
Sunday, August 7, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

When threatened some of us fight - even "breathing fire" if provoked, others freeze or retreat. We all know life is better when we are not stressed all the time, but some seem more resilient and able to shake off strife and difficulty than others. Recent brain science points to the limbic system as the place filtering our experience and deciding whether to act on a threat or choose to go with the flow of life. Rev. Sonya Sukalski has found that resetting the switch that sends the mind, body and spirit into rest and digest chemistry rather than fight or flight to be a satisfying spiritual practice. Her practice includes elements of prayer, meditation, movement, and employs theology UUs might find useful and life-affirming.

Rev. Sonya Sukalski, Guest Minister; Kat Liu, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Maria Roodnitsky, Mezzo Soprano; Mark Sumner, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Max Benbow, Camera; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“Ordinary Days”
Sunday, August 14, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Life is made up of ordinary days. And they are often some of the best days we have. A sermon musing on the ordinariness of a sweet life.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; Laurel Sprigg, Soprano; Mark Sumner, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader

Shulee Ong, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Donald Shearer, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Max Benbow, Camera; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

This message was delivered on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in the 10 am service. Description: Perhaps more harm has been done in the world by foolish people who think they are doing right than by people who deliberately act wrongly.  So when we ask the question "why do good people do bad things," we might instead ask, "how do we know if what we do is right or not?"  Many of history's worst atrocities were committed by groups who believed it was for a greater good.  In this line of thinking, Rev. Marlin brings us back to some of the shadowy corners of our own hearts, where a proper amount of skepticism can turn good intentions into positive results. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

“A Hope Worth Fighting For”
Sunday, October 2, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Exploring hope and despair in the context of the work the Dallas UU community has done for reproductive dignity and what you might ponder as you consider your callings to make a difference.

Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter, Guest Minister; Rev. John Buehrens; Susan Anthony, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Jon Silk, Drummer; Wm. Garcia Ganz, Pianist; Adam Luftman, Shofar

Jackson Munn, Camera; Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Sam King, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, September 25, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 2, 2022.

“Whose Land Is This?”
Sunday, October 9, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Woody Guthrie sang, “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the Gulf Stream waters.” Yet Indigenous Peoples’ Day, observed on the second Monday of October (but not as a holiday), suggests that we acknowledge the unceded rights of this continent’s first peoples. Doing so might even shed light on some of our society’s deepest problems. John Buehrens is both our past Senior Minister and a former President of the UUA. He will also reflect on his recent visit to Alaska, where descendants of the Inuit, Aleut, Athabascan, Tlingit, and other peoples constitute 22% of the population.

Rev. John Buehrens, Preacher; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist; Rosalie Alfonso, Percussionist; Ka’ala Carmack, Ukulele

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Thomas Brown, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

The word conscience (or "con-science") roughly means "with knowledge." What, then, does it mean for us to have a conscience about good and evil? How do we learn about what is evil, and how do we know it's true? In this message, Carlton Pearson reflects on his own journey of understanding of what we might call God (or the "Good") and what we might call Evil. How does someone transition from believing a Unitarian Church is evil to actively being a preacher at one?   This message was delivered on Sunday, October 16, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Carlton D. Pearson in The Point: Humanist Hour.   SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH SERMONS FROM OUR MINISTERS: https://www.youtube.com/user/allsoulsunitarian   WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943   GIVE TO SUPPORT LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: http://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text LOVEBB to 73256   LET'S CONNECT:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa/   All Souls Church Website: http://www.allsoulschurch.org/connect

“Being Alive”
Sunday, October 16, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

For months we struggled with the confinement required to avoid Covid, then the numbers went down and we began to move around again. Some said it felt 'Alive' again. What does being alive mean now that many of us now have more freedom?

Rev. David Sammons, Minister Emeritus; Wonder Dave, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 9, 2022.

The importance of accessibility to a broad range of literature has been held up over the course of our democracy by American luminaries as broad across the cultural spectrum as Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Ronald Reagan and Laura Bush. These individuals each spoke of the intellectual freedom and ethical instruction they received from literature in their times. From volumes as diverse as the philosophy of Sappho to the adventures of Superman. Because no book, no literature should be placed beyond the reach of any human mind. Instead, we must encourage a collective responsibility, shared in collaboration and concert, to contextualize the transcendent power of literature toward the betterment of all humankind. The brunt of the current attack on literary culture is being felt by our nation’s librarians. A once revered and admirable profession now under immense pressure and public scrutiny. One such public servant recently described the painstaking care with which they try to curate and provide for our community; “We develop our library collections very intentionally, based on the ages, experiences, and needs of the students we serve. We deeply respect the right of parents to monitor what their own children read, while also fighting to the end that no parent can decide what other children can read.” This message was delivered on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Cory Lovell and Marlin Lavanhar in The Point Humanist Hour. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH SERMONS FROM OUR MINISTERS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE TO SUPPORT LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook:  Instagram: All Souls Church Website:  

“What Fuels These Fools?”
Sunday, October 23, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

What makes Fools “faithful”? More than anything it is a willingness to hang in there, even when it seems like not much is changing. Futility, rather than fuel, seems to be what’s on people’s minds these days, but the Fools are committed to the faithfulness of fidelity and steadiness, keeping on even when it seems rather ridiculous to do so. Carmen Barsody and Sam Dennison, two long-time Faithful Fools, bring us their reflections on what it takes to keep on keepin’ on. As Faithful Fools ready to celebrate 25 years of reflection and engagement, and Carmen and Sam will share their 25th year questions and insights with us.

Carmen Barsody; Sam Dennison; Dennis Adams, Worship Associate; Mark Sumner, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader; Rosalie Alfonso, Percussionist; Jon Silk, Drummer; Bill Klingelhoffer, Percussionist; Michael Yamashita, Hula; Ka'ala Carmack, Pianist, Vocals and Ukulele

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Carrie Steere-Salazar, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

“Living with the Trouble”
Sunday, October 30, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

The saga of our relationship with the nightly raccoons, as a metaphor for learning to live with the troubles in life.

Rev. Margot Campbell Gross, Minister Emerita; Daniel Jackoway, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Ben Rudiak-Gould, Soloist; Laurel Sprigg, Soloist

Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Dan Barnard, Facilities Manager; Judy Payne, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

This Sunday, minister Randy Lewis explores the uniquely American problem with violence — particularly gun violence — and what it means to protect ourselves, not just from physical threats, but from corrosive positions in our own hearts.  Is there a political stance that can elevate us out of our current struggles with violence, or is this something that must begin within and spread outward? This message was delivered on Sunday, October 30, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis in the 10 am service. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH SERMONS FROM OUR MINISTERS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE TO SUPPORT LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Our country is built on a promise we make to each other as citizens. It is far from a perfect system, but at its best it is guided by core values articulated in the Declaration of Independence regarding liberty and justice for all. As we head into an extraordinary election week, in America, people on both sides of the aisle seem to fear a win by the other side could be the end of our country as we know it. What do you do with your feelings that democracy may be failing? It is a time when having a community that cares about these things really matters. This message was delivered on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar in the 10 am service. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH SERMONS FROM OUR MINISTERS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE TO SUPPORT LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

“Across the Veil”
Sunday, November 6, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

This is the time of year of the Pagan celebration of Samhain, and the Christian (no doubt borrowed and adapted!) witness to All Souls and All Saints, and to the celebrations of Día De Los Muertos in Mexico and across Latin America. All of these community and religious ceremonies and sacred times begin with the Samhain idea that at this time of year the veil between the living and the dying is thinned. It is a season, therefore, for reaching across that veil and pulling those we have loved and lost, their spirit and their legacy, more intentionally into our world for a while.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Mari Magaloni Ramos, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Mark Sumner, Music Director; Laurel Sprigg, Soprano; Brielle Marina Nielsen, Mezzo Soprano; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist

Shulee Ong, Camera; Jackson Munn, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Dan Barnard, Facilities Manager; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

This Sunday after the United States midterm elections, Randy Lewis reflects on what it takes to stay in relationship with those we love, and those we might love, across all of our differences and as we change. We may disagree about so many things on the surface, but beyond that there might be a greater love that holds us together. This message was delivered on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Randy Lewis in The Point Humanist Hour service. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH SERMONS FROM OUR MINISTERS: WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: GIVE TO SUPPORT LOVE BEYOND BELIEF:  or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Instagram: All Souls Church Website:

Watch the Service: To enable YouTube provided closed-captioning while viewing the service, click the “CC” icon on the bottom bar of your YouTube video player.    

"The Double-edged Sword of Faith"
Sunday, November 13, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream

Someone asked me on the way out of service this fall what I meant, as a Unitarian Universalist, when I said the word "faith." Let's look at what faith is (and is not) and the role it plays in our lives -- the blessing and the danger of it.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Richard Davis-Lowell, Worship Associate; Reiko Oda Lane, Organist; UUSF Choir; Kate Offer, Soprano Kai Leith, Pianist & Conducting; Wm. García Ganz, Pianist & Conducting

Eric Shackelford, Camera; Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; DeAndre Smith, Sexton; Athena Papadakos, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 16, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 23, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, October 30, 2022.

Recorded live at Arlington Street Church, Sunday, November 6, 2022.