Sunday Reflection with Rev. Aaron Payson @ The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, MA

Rev. Aaron R. Payson
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Greetings! This podcast features reflections by The Reverend Aaron Payson, Minister of The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, MA (UUCW). UUCW is the legacy of The First Universalist Church of Worcester, established in 1841. The congregation is located across from Indian Lake in the north-west part of the city. In its present location since 1956, UUCW is a vibrant community for all ages, committed to love, hope, and justice, inspiring people to take on the challenges of a changing world. Join us online or in person at 10 am on Sunday. Information about upcoming services, as well as a full archive of past worship, and information about the many programs and opportunities for community service and social justice, is available at our website www.uucworcester.org, or by contacting us at office@uucworcester.org. For more information about this podcast, contact podcast@uucworcester.org. UUCW is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association (www.uua.org). We are located at 140 Shore Drive, Worcester, MA 01605. For directions, visit our website www.uucworcester.org.

  1. 20260222 Wishing For More, Wanting Less

    2D AGO

    20260222 Wishing For More, Wanting Less

    We gather this week on the first Sunday of Lent to explore the dueling desires for wanting more out of life and less in it at the same time. What does it mean to wish for more and want less? What might the Lenten tradition offer us in response to this seemingly eternal tension? The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    25 min
  2. 20260208 Beyond Enlightenment

    FEB 9

    20260208 Beyond Enlightenment

    Join us this Sunday as we honor the Buddhist celebration of Nirvana Day that celebrates the Buddha’s enlightenment. We gather to ask if enlightenment, however, is in fact the goal in this ancient, revered tradition. We will also explore contributions to the Buddhist tradition from Black practitioners who help frame the essence of samsara (to move beyond the karmic cycle) to involve communal liberation. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    37 min
  3. 20260201 Setting The World Aflame

    FEB 1

    20260201 Setting The World Aflame

    Join us this Sunday as we honor the traditions of Imbolic and Candlemas, asking what it means at this moment in our history for the return of the light and what part in the process we all must play. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    25 min
  4. 20260125 Frogs & Other Forms of Resistance with Rev. Alice Anachecka-Nasemann

    JAN 25

    20260125 Frogs & Other Forms of Resistance with Rev. Alice Anachecka-Nasemann

    This service was conducted and produced online. Political scientists have suggested that it takes 3.5% of a population to successfully (and nonviolently) create systemic change. This morning, we will hear inspiring examples of creative, effective, and sometimes even playful resistance. We are pleased to welcome Rev. Alice Anacheka-Nasemann as our Guest Minister this Sunday. Rev. Anacheka-Naseman is in her first year as the minister of the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church. She is also the minister emerita for the Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson, where she served for 20 years as DRE, associate minister, and then as the solo minister. She lives in Amherst, MA, with her spouse, one of their two young adult kids, two cats, a dog, and two rats. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    18 min
  5. 20260118 For Love of Justice & Humanity

    JAN 19

    20260118 For Love of Justice & Humanity

    We pause on this Sunday to reflect on the legacy and unfinished work of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., asking what it is that we might continue to commit ourselves to so that we realize more justice in our country and world, and honor the humanity of all people? The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    27 min
  6. 20260111 On Social Debts & Common Goods

    JAN 11

    20260111 On Social Debts & Common Goods

    This week, we will explore the notion of “sabbath economics” as a critique of the current economic disparities in our country and world. What would it mean to commit our resources so that we paid our social debts and placed the common good at the heart of our combined efforts? Join us for this important reflection. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    27 min
  7. 20260104 That's a Great Question!

    JAN 5

    20260104 That's a Great Question!

    This week, we return to our annual tradition of a “Ask the Minister” Sunday, when the reflection will be made up of answers to questions asked by members and friends of the congregation. Aaron will also have a few questions of his own. Join us for this fun venture, a favorite of many! The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    45 min
  8. 20251228 Can a Science Flood Story Inspire Us as Much as the One by Noah? with Dr. Stephen Ledoux

    12/29/2025

    20251228 Can a Science Flood Story Inspire Us as Much as the One by Noah? with Dr. Stephen Ledoux

    The biblical flood story by Noah has been inspirational for millennia. More recently, science has uncovered facts about a flood unprecedented in human history, from a time and place that indicate it was the source of the Great Flood experiences and stories. Can this flood story by science be at least as inspirational as Noahʼs story? More inspirational? Perhaps a closer look will provide an answer. Four years of Catholic seminary high school and two years of seminary college, in the “Times they are aʼchangin” 1960s, led Stephen to complete college and an MA degree in the natural science of behavior (today called behaviorology). After teaching college in Australia (1975–1978) and China (1979)—and because, somewhat unbelievably, Ronald Reagan and James Bond signed his MA degree—he returned to studies and completed his Ph.D. in 1982. He then taught at the State University of New York in Canton, where he met and married his spouse, Dr. Nelly Case (in Cantonʼs UU Church). To preserve each otherʼs jobs—she was a professor of music at the SUNY campus in Potsdam, NY, a few miles away—they stayed in Canton for over 30 years and raised two children there. Then in 2016, they retired to Los Alamos, New Mexico, from where they visit their children, who both currently live in New England. Recently, Stephen and his wife, Nellie Case, have moved to Massachusetts and are becoming active at UUCW. Nellie is a retired Professor of Music and will accompany her husband during this service. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.

    30 min
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About

Greetings! This podcast features reflections by The Reverend Aaron Payson, Minister of The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, MA (UUCW). UUCW is the legacy of The First Universalist Church of Worcester, established in 1841. The congregation is located across from Indian Lake in the north-west part of the city. In its present location since 1956, UUCW is a vibrant community for all ages, committed to love, hope, and justice, inspiring people to take on the challenges of a changing world. Join us online or in person at 10 am on Sunday. Information about upcoming services, as well as a full archive of past worship, and information about the many programs and opportunities for community service and social justice, is available at our website www.uucworcester.org, or by contacting us at office@uucworcester.org. For more information about this podcast, contact podcast@uucworcester.org. UUCW is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association (www.uua.org). We are located at 140 Shore Drive, Worcester, MA 01605. For directions, visit our website www.uucworcester.org.

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