All Souls Unitarian Church

All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma

A weekly sermon podcast from All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Unitarian Universalist community rooted in Love Beyond Belief. These messages explore progressive spirituality, social justice, compassion, and personal growth—offering thoughtful perspectives on life, meaning, and what it means to be human. All Souls is an affirming, inclusive community where people of all beliefs—and no belief—come together to learn, grow, and make a difference.

  1. 1d ago

    Oasis On The Arkansas | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar

    What if you didn't have to choose between believing everything your religion tells you, and believing nothing at all? Most of us have been told those are the only two options. All Souls Unitarian Church exists for that wider space in between. It's a community where people build their own relationship to faith, meaning, and mystery, instead of inheriting someone else's certainty. Almost everyone who finds their way here says the same thing: they wish they'd found it years sooner. And most people don't stumble onto a place like this on their own. They find it because someone else told them it existed. QUESTIONS TO SIT WITH: - Have you ever felt forced to pick between "true believer" and "nothing at all"? - What would it mean to build your beliefs from your own experience, instead of what you were taught? - Have you ever felt pressured to defend your beliefs to someone determined to convert you? - Who in your life might need to know a place like All Souls exists? CHAPTERS: 0:00 Music 0:54 Opening 1:22 A Church For Skeptics 1:33 What Is an Oasis? 3:47 A Letter From Grove 4:45 Spiritual, Not Religious 9:12 Losing Sienna 9:54 An Angry Kind of Grief 11:21 Room to Breathe 13:44 A Zen Parable 14:35 Two Kinds of Travelers 17:14 Spread the Word 19:12 The Real Moral Issues 21:02 An Oasis For All 21:30 Closing This message, "Oasis on the Arkansas," was delivered by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: /allsoulstulsa Instagram: /allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org #AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #UnitarianUniversalist #ProgressiveClergy

    Oasis On The Arkansas | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar
  2. Aug 18

    Kirk and the Magic Beans | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church

    Every child asks the big questions eventually — where do we go when we die, why do bad things happen, what's actually magic and what isn't. Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk's son had his own answer one August morning: the acorns in the yard were magic beans, obviously.She turns that memory into a reflection on wonder, growth, and nearly 200 years of Unitarian Universalists championing both public and religious education. Drawing on Horace Mann, William Ellery Channing, and mentor Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, she makes the case that the goal was never to hand our children — or ourselves — the answers. It's to help us stay curious enough to keep asking.KEY QUESTIONS TO SIT WITH: What big questions did you have as a kid that never got answered?Can you slow down and sit with hard questions instead of rushing past them?What if curiosity mattered more than having the right answers?Who taught you to find magic in everyday things?Could you explain your faith in a way a child would understand?CHAPTERS:0:00 Opening Music0:30 The Magic Beans2:53 Why Education Matters3:55 Unitarians Who Founded Colleges5:24 Horace Mann's Fight for Schools6:14 Teach Kids to Question7:57 You Carry a Divine Spark8:26 Two Unitarians, One Legacy9:30 How Kids Invent Religion11:05 The Risk of Bland Faith13:41 Your Own Spiritual GPS14:12 What All Souls Nurtures16:46 Let's Climb Together17:06 Closing MusicGIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256LET'S CONNECT:Facebook: /allsoulstulsaInstagram: /allsoulstulsaAll Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org #AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #Unitarian #Universalist #UU #AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #ReligiousEducation #BackToSchool

    Kirk and the Magic Beans | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church
  3. Jul 27

    On The Mother Road | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church

    What does it mean to carry both grief and joy on the same road home? Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk reflects on a solo drive down Route 66 this summer — and what 19 months of grief have taught her about memory as something we tend, together.Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk traces a single road trip into a reflection on grief, home, and belonging. Drawing on John Steinbeck's "Mother Road," a poem by Joy Harjo, the history of Tulsa's Council Oak, and stories from members of this congregation, she makes the case that memory isn't something we carry alone — it's something a community holds with us.KEY THEMES: What do we choose to remember — and what do we let go?Can grief and joy travel the same road?What does it mean to "guard" a memory on purpose?How does a community help each other remember?Where is home, if it's a direction and not a place?CHAPTERS:0:00 Introduction and road trip context1:05 Measuring distance between Oklahoma cities2:30 Route 66's 100th anniversary and Tulsa's role3:26 Steinbeck's "Mother Road" from The Grapes of Wrath5:28 Grief, 19 months after her husband's death6:50 Joy Harjo's poem "Remember"9:19 The Council Oak and Muscogee history12:10 A conversation about guarding memories13:35 A memory her son gave back to her15:00 Bluegrass music and collective memory17:07 Closing reflection and blessingSUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE: @allsoulsunitarianGIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256LET'S CONNECT:Facebook: /allsoulstulsaInstagram: /allsoulstulsaAll Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org

    On The Mother Road | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church
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About

A weekly sermon podcast from All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Unitarian Universalist community rooted in Love Beyond Belief. These messages explore progressive spirituality, social justice, compassion, and personal growth—offering thoughtful perspectives on life, meaning, and what it means to be human. All Souls is an affirming, inclusive community where people of all beliefs—and no belief—come together to learn, grow, and make a difference.