All Souls Unitarian Church

All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • 4.5 (53)
  • Spirituality
  • Updated Weekly

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. 2d ago

    Beauty in a Spot of Danger | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church

    The world is dangerous and beautiful at the same time. Most of us only have the bandwidth to notice one — so we either rush past the hard parts, or shrink our whole lives down to avoid them.Writer Annie Dillard warned against exactly that: living an "itsy bitsy" life to dodge how wild and extravagant the world really is. Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk pairs that challenge with the story of Kate Bowler, told at 35 that she had two years to live, and a friend's gentle instruction — don't skip to the end. Kirk connects both ideas to her own experience choosing to live, not wait, through her husband's terminal illness.It's a message about staying present to everything at once: the danger, the beauty, and the people who help you carry both.QUESTIONS TO SIT WITH:- Are you rushing past a hard season, or shrinking yourself to survive it — or both?- Have you ever made an intentional choice about how to live in uncertainty, rather than just enduring it?- Can you hold "this is dangerous" and "this is beautiful" as true at the same time?- What's one place you've been living small to avoid something big?CHAPTERS:0:00 Opening Song1:01 A Diagnosis, and a Secret2:48 "Don't Skip to the End"3:00 My Own Threshold4:31 What Is a Threshold?8:02 Coming of Age & New Beginnings9:22 The Fall Equinox11:30 A World on Edge12:33 A Warning Against Shrinking14:55 Turning Cancer Into Art18:02 A Lifeline of Beauty19:53 Present in the Betwixt and Between21:24 You Don't Have to Wait Alone23:22 Measured by Love23:47 Closing SongThis message, "Beauty in a Spot of Danger," was delivered by Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa.SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: @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#AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #Grief #Presence

    Beauty in a Spot of Danger | Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk | All Souls Unitarian Church

  2. Sep 14

    Belonging Changes Everything | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

    There's a difference between fitting in and belonging — and most of us have spent years mastering the wrong one. Fitting in means changing yourself to be accepted. Belonging means being accepted exactly as you are.This message argues that real community isn't built by people performing that they have it all together. It's built by people willing to show up as their actual, unfiltered selves — and makes the case that doing so isn't a risk to resilience. It's the source of it.QUESTIONS TO SIT WITH: When did you last let someone see you struggling, instead of managing it alone?Is there a difference between the people around you and the people who actually know you?What would change in your life if isolation wasn't the default?Who do you turn to when you can't carry something by yourself?CHAPTERS:0:00 Opening Song1:00 A Man Walks Naked Toward Armed Guards3:24 What This Story Means For Us4:04 David and Goliath6:03 Our Modern-Day Giants8:02 Why Less Armor, Not More9:31 A Funny Recognition Moment11:37 Three Things We Actually Have12:02 What "Covenant" Means13:24 A Ritual of Honesty14:47 Belonging Changes Everything16:32 Fitting In vs. Belonging18:44 The Science of Connection20:44 Why Scars Matter22:44 A Question to Carry With You23:45 Closing SongThis message, "Belonging Changes Everything," was delivered by Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: @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#AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #Belonging #Vulnerability

    Belonging Changes Everything | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

  3. Sep 7

    'LOSING FAITH' | Rev. Randy Lewis | All Souls Unitarian Church

    The message was delivered on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Randy Lewis, Assistant Minister. Description: What remains when the beliefs that once held your life together no longer fit? Letting go can feel like losing meaning itself, especially when certainty has been mistaken for faith. But the collapse of an old answer may uncover something more honest and sustaining. Sometimes the way forward begins with what we are willing to release. Watch this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ig1HeIu-KKo Give a donation to help us spread Love Beyond Belief: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 Let's connect: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsaAll Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org

    'LOSING FAITH' | Rev. Randy Lewis | All Souls Unitarian Church

  4. Aug 31

    Living In Dolly's America | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

    "A blend of Mother Goose, Cinderella, and the local hooker." That's how Dolly Parton once described her own look — and her willingness to laugh at herself, before anyone else could, became part of why an entire country trusted her. Drawing on the life, faith, and radical kindness of Dolly Parton, this message makes the case that the way she loved people — without judgment, without conditions, across every divide this country has — isn't just a nice tribute. It's a blueprint for a kind of community, and a kind of faith, most people have never actually experienced. QUESTIONS TO SIT WITH: - What would it look like to love people without judging them first? - Do you know what you actually have in common with someone you've written off politically? - Is your faith (or lack of one) built on believing the right things, or feeling truly seen? - Who in your life makes you feel loved without conditions? CHAPTERS: 0:00 "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" 0:51 Everything's Going to Be Alright 2:20 A Divided Country 3:22 The World Loses Dolly 5:04 The Unlikely Saint 7:55 Her Quiet Struggles 10:16 Living in Dolly's America 11:20 "I Do Not Judge" 12:21 Not a Grievance Christian 13:48 Money and the Kingdom of Heaven 14:54 The House That Whitney Built 17:09 What Love Beyond Belief Means 21:40 Building Dolly's America 23:29 Closing Blessing 23:47 "I Will Always Love You" This message, "Living In Dolly's America," 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 AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: /allsoulstulsa Instagram: /allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org #AllSoulsTulsa #AllSoulsUnitarianChurch #LoveBeyondBelief #DollyParton #DollysAmerica

    Living In Dolly's America | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

  5. Aug 24

    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

  6. 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

  7. Aug 11

    Life Is A Highway | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

    What if life came with a GPS. Not for the roads you drive, but for the ones you're not sure how to take?In his message, 'Life is a Highway' Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar continues All Souls' summer series on living in America with a personal reflection on discernment, loss, and finding direction.Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar turns the mechanics of an actual GPS — receiver, transmitter, ground system — into a map for navigating life's biggest questions.Drawing on his own experience of grief after the death of his daughter Sienna, the story of a young man facing a life-altering diagnosis, and the practices that keep us grounded before crisis hits, he makes the case that finding our way isn't a solo drive — it's a system, built together, long before we need it.QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: How do you know if you're headed the right direction?What helps you recover after a devastating loss?Who tells you the truth when you can't see it yourself?What practices reignite you when you're running on empty?CHAPTERS:0:00 Opening0:48 The Road Trip1:21 Life's Big Questions2:14 The Spiritual GPS5:00 Bill's Diagnosis7:52 Losing Sienna11:15 Receiver, Transmitter, Ground13:06 Something Bigger15:05 Blocked Signal19:15 Time to Listen21:02 Who Tells You the Truth26:16 Recalibrate

    Life Is A Highway | Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar | All Souls Unitarian Church

  8. Aug 4

    'THE MYTH OF FORGIVENESS' | Rev. Randy Lewis | All Souls Unitarian Church

    What if the answer to lingering pain lies not in forced forgiveness, but in embracing acceptance and the honest acknowledgment of injustice? As we follow the unfolding questions about justice, accountability, and the lingering scars that remain, explore how far the road to genuine healing can stretch when we stop demanding forgiveness and start bearing witness. The message was delivered on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Randy Lewis, Assistant Minister. SUBSCRIBE TO WATCH OTHER VIDEOS: @allsoulsunitarian WANT TO LISTEN? SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-souls-unitarian-church/id193096943 GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: https://www.allsoulschurch.org/GIVE or text AllSoulsTulsa to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allsoulstulsa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allsoulstulsa All Souls Church Website: https://www.allsoulschurch.org

    'THE MYTH OF FORGIVENESS' | Rev. Randy Lewis | 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.

Information

  • Creator
    All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Show Website
    All Souls Unitarian Church

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