Put Feet On Our Prayers
2026-03-01 10:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | West Room and Zoom
Systemic Change
Our guest speaker will Rev. Dr. DeNeice Welch.
She holds a Ph.D. in health care ethics, a Master of Divinity, with an urban ministry focus and a bachelor of science in community ministry, Ms. Welch’s academic work focuses on reproductive justice, racialized health care and faith responses to systemic inequalities.
Since 2007, Ms. Welch is the Pastor Emeritus of Bidwell Church, and on the pastoral staff at Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She is also a national director of Ntosake, a women’s public leadership initiative of The Gamaliel National Network.
Ms. Welch has been recognized with several accolades for her work, including the NAACP Faith in Action award, YWCA Racial Justice award and the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Women of Excellence award. A minister in training program she developed has gained national recognition.

She has the operational experience to run a powerful organization, and her deepest self-interest is to raise up leaders in our communities who will force the powers to work for the people.

Are You Serious?
2026-03-08 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. John Ballance will discuss what it means to take one’s intentions and attentions seriously. It turns out that sometimes a small failure can turn out to be a gift.

Stop Sleepwalking, Start Noticing: Three Spiritual Practices to Wake You Up!
2026-03-15 10:30 - 12:30
Rev Lee Anne Washington

Ever feel like you are operating on default? You do what you always do. You think what you always think. You follow who you always follow. Your routine remains unexamined and unchallenged. Join us on this spiritual practice Sunday as Rev. Lee Anne offers opportunities to rekindle a feeling of awe, to adopt a beginner’s mind, and to intentionally return to your center.
Come prepared to bare your feet, feel the wind in your hair, smell some spices, and pray for peace. After a brief message and a scented meditation, you will be offered an opportunity to experience two additional outdoor spiritual practices of your choosing.

Iran & Israel: The Ancient Stories Beneath the Headlines
2026-03-22 10:30 - 12:30
Rev Lee Anne Washington

Much of the public conversation about Iran and Israel focuses on strategy, politics, and military power. What if current events in Iran and Israel cannot be fully understood through those alone? What if there is also an older layer of meaning–shaped by ancient historical memory, civilizational symbolism, and the self-understanding of peoples whose roots reach deep into the ancient world? Question: What do Esther, Mordecai, Haman, and Cyrus the Great have to do with the current war? Join us as Rev. Lee Anne offers an additional perspective–not to simplify the present, but to deepen our understanding of it.

Awe Shucks
2026-03-29 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Scott Rudolph

There are many openings to the feeling of awe – experiencing the natural world, connecting with another person, or noticing a simple moment unfolding.
Life is always happening; we just have to remember to pay attention. Remembering what we already know is a spiritual practice.

Life Transformed: From Tomb to Womb
2026-04-05 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

This Easter, we gather in a season of profound change – changes reflected by the ancient stories of Inanna’s descent and Jesus’s transformation. While our transitions—through downsizing, career changes, or the loss of those we love—can feel like a radical stripping away, these stories suggest a deeper truth: our transitions are a sacred preparation for a new form of existence. Join us as we find hope in the “life after letting go” and discover how our darkest tombs can become the wombs of our most resilient possibilities.

Sharing Our Light
2026-04-12 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

What do we mean when we speak of light? Not something sentimental or decorative, but compassion for what is, clarity about what is true, and openness to what is possible. This Sunday, we will reflect on generosity as a spiritual practice and on the ways our shared light becomes blessing—through visible gifts, hidden faithfulness, and the quiet labor of love that sustains a community.

Misteakz!
2026-04-19 10:30 - 12:30
UUCNH Youth Group

Our youth group will tell the story of the, EVIL Eraser, the spirit of every perfectionist, who will learn to live with their mistakes.

Embracing the Possibility : Views on the Afterlife
2026-04-26 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
What happens after we take our final breath? While we are fully aware of our own mortality, what awaits us remains a profound mystery. Throughout history, humanity has sought answers through religious texts, philosophical reasoning, and scientific inquiries like near-death experiences.
This Sunday marks the first part of our final Deep Dive Sunday series in this liturgical year, where we will explore some of the most intriguing ideas about the afterlife. Each of the three Sundays in this series stands alone, so it’s okay to miss one—you won’t be lost!

This Sunday: Embracing the Possibility: Views on the Afterlife
May 3rd: Embracing the Possibility: Comforting Words & Deeds
May 10th: Embracing the Possibility: Companioning the Dying and the Bereaved

We will dive deeply through small group discussion and exercises to help us companion the dying and the bereaved. (Please expect May 10 to be a 90-minute service).

Embracing the Possibility : Comforting Words and Deeds
2026-05-03 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

When a friend receives a terminal diagnosis or a neighbor loses a loved one, even the most articulate among us can find ourselves speechless. In this service, we explore the ministry of presence and kind deeds that truly sustain us in times of catastrophe. Drawing on the wisdom of several different traditions, we will learn how to offer the kind of comfort that doesn’t try to fix the unsolvable, but ensures that no one has to go it alone.

This Sunday marks the second part of our final Deep Dive Sunday series in this liturgical year, where we will explore some of the most intriguing ideas about the afterlife. Each of the three Sundays in this series stands alone, so it’s okay to miss one—you won’t be lost!

Last Sunday: Embracing the Possibility: Views on the Afterlife
This Sunday: Embracing the Possibility: Comforting Words & Deeds
Next Sunday: Embracing the Possibility: Companioning the Dying and the Bereaved

We will dive deeply through small group discussion and exercises to help us companion the dying and the bereaved. (Please expect May 10 to be a 90-minute service).

Embracing the Possibility: Companioning the Bereaved and the Dying
2026-05-10 10:30 - 12:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington
What does it mean to truly walk someone home? In our final deep dive of this liturgical year, we move beyond the search for the right words and enter the practice of presence. Witnessing the end of a life or the weight of a Great Loss requires more than just sympathy. It requires the courage to face the unfixable and remain present and emotionally available.
We will look at practical ways to ensure that neither the dying nor the bereaved face pain and sorrow in isolation. Through small group discussion and shared reflection, we will explore how to nourish the spirit by simply showing up.
Please note: This is a 90-minute service to allow for deeper engagement and congregational exercises.

Voices for Change: The Role of Advocacy in Our Faith
2026-05-17 10:30 - 12:30
Sunday Services Team & Michael Mehrazar, Executive Director of UUJusticePA
Consider the essential role advocacy plays in living out our Unitarian Universalist principles. By examining how our faith calls us to action, we will explore the transformative power of collective voices, the significance of storytelling in connecting with others, and practical ways to engage in advocacy that promotes justice, compassion, and equity in our communities.

What's So Funny About Humor?
2026-05-24 10:30 - 12:30
Tony Palermo

Of all the survival techniques Natural Selection has honed in us, the ability to laugh seems the most, well, superfluous. What good is it, how do we make it happen, and what are some – hopefully – fulfilling examples? Let’s look at Bugs Bunny, the Far Side, Opus the penguin, Abbott and Costello and others. Bring your funny bone

Roots Hold Me Close, Wings Set Me Free
2026-05-31 10:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

The transition from youth to young adulthood is both joyful and bittersweet: a time of letting go without becoming untethered, gaining independence without losing connection. As young adults move toward wider horizons, the people, places, values, and lessons that have shaped them can continue to guide them. This Sunday, as we celebrate our Bridging Ceremony, we will reflect on how roots and wings work together, helping young adults become free without becoming alone.

When Two Rivers Meet and Merge
2026-06-07 10:30
Rev. Lee Anne Washington

Here in Pittsburgh, we often speak of three rivers: the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio. But older Indigenous naming traditions offer another way of seeing the same waters: whether the long river was called Ohio or Allegheny, the Monongahela was understood as a tributary flowing into something larger. Same water. Different map. Larger truth.
On this Annual Meeting Sunday, we will reflect on Rev. Christopher Buice’s parable of two arguing rivers and consider how two or more things can be true at the same time. As we prepare to gather around lunch, reports, budgets, elections, memories, hopes, and shared decisions, we will ask what it means for a congregation to flourish not through sameness, but through faithful confluence — many currents joining in one larger life.

Dreams of Hope: OH MY GOD!
2026-06-14 10:30
Through the power of the arts, Dreams of Hope provides the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual, and allied (LGBTQA+) youth a welcoming environment to grow in confidence, express themselves, and develop as leaders.
We will have some of our youth participants perform excepts from our 2026 theatriQ production:
OH MY GOD! a theatriQ original production
The Fable Realm is thrown out of balance when the God of Wisdom dies. While in mourning, the rest of the gods must contend with how to prevent a world without Wisdom.
OH MY GOD! explores the legacy that emerges from their collective grief.
Over the course of seven months, Dreams of Hope’s queer and Trans performing arts youth ensemble created OH MY GOD! The members of theatriQ collaborated to write, produce, and present a remarkable show honoring their individual and collective truths.

Beyond the Shadows: Illuminating True Interdependence
2026-06-21 10:30
Rev. Lee Anne Wasthingon
There’s a delicate balance between individual agency and our Seventh UU Principle: the interdependent web of existence. In celebrating Summer Solstice, we step out of the shadows of two persistent errors—a toxic empathy that minimizes human capability by viewing people as perpetual victims, and a rigid self-sufficiency that refuses the support of others.
Drawing on several wisdom traditions, we will examine how the best community caretaking promotes a healthy interdependence, through personal resourcefulness, rather than permanent dependency.

What We Tend Becomes Precious
2026-06-28 10:30
Rev. Lee Anne Wasthingon
A garden teaches us that beauty cannot be rushed, love cannot be forced, and growth asks for patience, attention, and trust. This Flower Communion Sunday, with wisdom from The Little Prince and from those who know the holy work of tending living things, we will reflect on how what we care for changes us — and how beloved community becomes precious through the time and tenderness we give to one another.

Everyone is invited to bring a flower for our shared bouquet and food to share at coffee hour. There will be extras of both if you forget.

The 2026 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly
2026-07-05 10:30
This will be different from our usual Sunday service, but nonetheless engaging and inspiring! We will be playing the service from the UUA’s General Assembly, recorded on June 21, 2026. Enjoy the compelling spirit of the year’s largest UU gathering, where Unitarian Universalists come together in unity for an engrossing Sunday worship celebration! It promises a vibrant, communal worship experience to uplift your soul and ignite your passion. Join us this Sunday as we watch the Sunday Worship Service from the UUA General Assembly 2026, starting at our regular worship service time of 10:30 a.m.

Art, Mind, Wonder
2026-07-12 10:30
David Miles
Not a ‘Deep Dive’, but more like wading into a stream . . . of consciousness. This service is designed as a follow-on to Peggy Fallon’s service about the brain’s participation in placebo power. Delving into the book “Your Brain on Art”, by Magsamen and Ross, discloses many ways the arts affect the functioning of the brain. We will touch on some of these through experiences to encourage congregants to dive deeper into the power of the unconscious. No sermon here – only experiences to activate Your Brain on Art.

This service will not be available to view on our normal youtube live stream. If you cannot join in person, please use the below zoom link to join the service online.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82669082728?pwd=[REDACTED]

Take Me Home
2026-07-19 10:30
Eli Baumwell
Coming back to the church he grew up in, Eli will draw parallels to revisiting foundational principles of America as we honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Punk Spirituality
2026-07-26 10:30
Reverend James Clarke is an ordained interfaith community chaplain and UU layperson who has served as a chaplain at the annual Camp Punksylvania music festival for the last four years. He offers his perspective on the truths and meanings that punk spirituality can teach us.

Kindness Inspirations from Theo ﻿(of Golden)
2026-08-02 10:30
Jody Clark
Kindness is fundamental to life within our church family and in the wider world. Join us for a time of reflection on the many ways one person can demonstrate kindness and make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
Our discussion and reflection will be inspired by the novel Theo of Golden by Allen Levi.
