Foothills Unitarian Church

In honor of UN Sunday, we explore how we might each contribute to global peace.

Rev. Sean returns to tease out the promise of beginnings and the importance of trust as we step beyond our thresholds. 

We welcome back Rev. Sean to the podcast and hear about how releasing his original sabbatical plan led to a fuller and deeper plan - as Rev. Gretchen calls in her sermon (also in this episode), a more whole plan. 

We all make up stories about the future. It's human nature to wonder and worry about what is to come - to try and fill the unknown. Rev. Elaine Aron-Tenbrink guides us in how we can be partners in receiving the "stranger" of whatever future is emerging.

Rev. Gretchen offers tools to slow down and pause during transitions instead of just rushing through the discomfort of change.

In life there are always going to be thresholds, both those we can see and those we can't see, yet, but are headed our way. In this week's episode, we're learning to relax and make friends with change instead of fighting to get through it. Change isn't just a place of loss, it's also a place of joy and abundance. We're especially looking at the doorway effect, which is the phenomenon that people tend to forget as they go through doorways.

The river is a place of community, connection, and a source of life for us all. Just as you cannot step into the same river twice, you also cannot step into the same congregation twice. This week's episode invites us to renew our most sacred promises to ourselves, to one another, and to life itself.   0:00 Church construction update 11:37 Rev. Gretchen's Sermon "Shall we gather by the river"  24:44 Discussion

This week's episode is an invitation to connect with your true self and to deeply engage in the soul work that lives at the core of the spiritual life. Special guest Rev. Kelly Dignan guides us in a meditation designed to help us invite the divine spark within us to shine and guide us through our days.

Take five minutes to pause, breathe and awaken mindfulness with Rev. Elaine.

What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist? Rev. Gretchen explores in this week's episode. New to Unitarian Universalism? This podcast episode is for you! Join us as we explore what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist. 

In this episode, Rev. Elaine speaks with Foothills members Mary Klecan and Teri Ashley about an experience that challenged their understanding of themselves as open-minded Unitarian Universalists. What do we do when we encounter the limits of our wide theological embrace? What does our discomfort have to teach us? Chalice lighting words by Mary Klecan: 2:31   Chalice lighting words by Teri Ashley 5:26   Conversation with Mary and Teri: 7:42   Closing words 21:26   Listen to the On Being episode, titled Befriending Radical Disagreement, that was referenced in our episode: https://onbeing.org/programs/derek-black-and-matthew-stevenson-befriending-radical-disagreement/

What does it mean to be a religious community that welcomes diversity? And what are the limits of that welcome? Sometimes people say that Unitarian Universalists can believe anything they want or that anything goes. But that is a myth. Boundaries in our faith help create safety and a deeper sense of belonging and meaning-making for us all.  In this week's episode, Rev. Gretchen Haley explores the gifts and the limits of being an intentionally diverse religious community. 

In this week's episode of The Foothills Deeper Pod, Rev. Kristen Psaki shares about The Spirit of Psychedelics. The psychedelic renaissance is here. Fifty years into the "War on Drugs" plant medicines and psychedelics are slowly shedding old stories and resurfacing as powerful allies. What lurks in the shadows of this renaissance and what role might psychedelics play in our personal and collective healing?

For a lot of people these days, the idea of being "religious" feels off-putting. It brings up images of a shaming or judgmental old-fashioned community. More and more people are identifying as spiritual but not religious and will talk about finding God in nature or journeying on their own spiritual path. It's just that sometimes, those same people find themselves loving being at church - for example, the Foothills Unitarian Church. This can cause a little bit of an identity crisis...like, am I a person who is religious? Is this a religion? And...how will I tell my friends?  This July and August as we get at some of these foundational questions and help name and articulate a different way of being religious that is grounded in liberation and hope for our world today.  Kick off this exploration with a story from Cheryl Hazlitt, a long-time Foothills Unitarian member, about her family's history with religion and what it means to her to be religious. (4:38) Then, we'll dive into Rev. Gretchen's sermon Losing (

Take 10 minutes out of your day to connect, ground, and cultivate love and peace with Rev. Elaine's guided meditation.

Last Sunday, Rev. Gretchen Haley delivered a sermon to thousands of Unitarian Universalists worldwide at General Assembly 2022 in Portland. She called on us to remember the power of people, of local churches and of our promises to each other. She invited us to remember that it is because of us - the people that make up the church, that form the ministries and the small groups and show up on Sundays - that Unitarian Universalism exists. And most of all, to remember that we are big enough to not only survive but to impact the world. Listen to Rev. Gretchen's sermon (and a bonus conversation with Rev. Elaine!) in this week's episode.

This week is all about reproductive freedom, liberal religion, and sexuality education. Rev. Gretchen Haley, Rev. Elaine Aron-Tenbrink, and Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality educator Kelsey DiAstra talk about how reproductive rights intersect with Unitarian Universalism. What does it mean for a congregation to take a stance on abortion? Why do we teach sexuality at church?

Three Foothills members, Joyce Trujillo, Doug Powell, and Nikki Roe Cropp, shared their stories of finding meaning and purpose. We are humbled by these members' vulnerability, spiritual grounding, and strength, and are so grateful you can hear their stories.

Every person contains contradictions and complexities beyond what you might ever imagine. Even you. There are parts of ourselves that lay dormant or emerge at different stages of our lives and can come as a big surprise when they do. One of the gifts of a diverse, multi-generational community is that through relationship we can better see and know the fullness of our own stories and the fullness in others. Rev. Gretchen explores our ability to grow and shift in a short homily about learning to play pickleball and Rev. Elaine speaks with leaders of the Foothills' Slightly Senior Sisterhood, a long-sustaining and integral group of 50+ women at the church.

Special guest Rev. Kelly Dignan offers practical tools for finding our resilience when we get thrown off-kilter.