First Unitarian Church of Dallas

Light | Rev. T. J. FitzGerald | Sacred Geography Series
2024-03-17 09:30 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
The ways to freedom are lit in many ways. Together we look for our guiding lights to light the way on our journey.

This is the fifth sermon in the Sacred Geography sermon series, where we are locating sacred touchpoints in our inner world and the world around us.
Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music provided by Kindred Voices
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Flow | Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter | Sacred Geography Series
2024-03-10 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
We know when we are in the flow. When is it true in spiritual life?
This is the fourth sermon in the Sacred Geography sermon series, where we are locating sacred touchpoints in our inner world and the world around us.
Rev. Daniel Kanter is preaching, music provided by flutist Helen Blackburn
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Jeff Sharlet, NYT Bestselling Author of "The Undertow" presented by The Tom & Charley Crow Lecture
2024-03-07 18:30 - 20:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Thursday, March 7th, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Sanctuary, First Unitarian Church 4015 Normandy Ave, Dallas, TX, 75205
Click here to register for this free event.

A conversation about the rise of Christian nationalism in politics and religion with New York Times best-selling author Jeff Sharlet. Join us for a lecture and Q&A at 6:30 pm followed by a book signing at 7:30 pm.

First Unitarian Church of Dallas presents The Tom and Charley Crow Lecture with Jeff Sharlet, the New York Times best-selling author or editor of eight books, including The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War and The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, adapted into a Netflix documentary series. His reporting on LGBTIQ+ rights around the world has received the National Magazine Award, the Molly Ivins Prize, and Outright International’s Outspoken Award. His writing and photography have appeared in many publications, including Vanity Fair, for which he is a contributing editor; the New York Times Magazine; GQ; Esquire; Harper’s Magazine; and VQR, for which he is an editor at large. He is the Frederick Sessions Beebe ’35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College, where he lives in the woods with many animals.
In The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, veteran journalist Jeff Sharlet reckons with the tumultuous changes of the last ten years, a decade that will likely be remembered as one of the new century’s most significant. An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
The Tom and Charley Crow Lecture is presented in honor of the Crow Brothers and their quest of truth as a sacrament and of knowledge in freedom. These lectures focus on rational dialogue, boldly exploring the most important core topics facing our nation, stressing logical, philosophical and sociological bases of positions, while both avoiding and exposing fallacies of fact and argument without rancor.

Space | Rev. Beth Dana | Sacred Geography Series
2024-03-03 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
As we continue our series on “Sacred Geography” we explore where and how we recognize sacred space, and in what ways can we be creators of it.
This is the third sermon in the Sacred Geography sermon series, where we are locating sacred touchpoints in our inner world and the world around us.
Rev. Beth Dana is preaching, music provided by Sanctuary Choir
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Sanctuary | Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter | Sacred Geography Series
2024-02-25 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Let’s explore how to be witnesses to how we hold things dear.
This is the second sermon in the Sacred Geography sermon series, where we are locating sacred touchpoints in our inner world and the world around us.
Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter is preaching, music provided by Kindred Voices
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Ground | Rev. T. J. FitzGerald | Sacred Geography Series
2024-02-18 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
We start our lenten journey together and ask where we experience the holy? How do we find sacred places in our lives when we aren’t in church?

This is the first sermon in the Sacred Geography sermon series, where we are locating sacred touchpoints in our inner world and the world around us.
Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music provided by the Sanctuary Choir
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Worth and Dignity Engagements presents "Reclaiming Kumbaya" with Pamela Bailey
2024-02-17 18:00 - 20:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Saturday, February 17, 2024, 6 pm, First Unitarian Church of Dallas, Sanctuary
4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX 75205
First Unitarian Church of Dallas presents the next installment of our Worth and Dignity Engagements on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 6 pm with Pamela Bailey, nationally published author and speaker and creator of the Antebellum Diaspora Project.
The lyceum, entitled “Reclaiming Kumbaya,” will feature music and stories from the African American experience followed by a question-and-answer session. All are welcome to join us for this special evening designed to open the conversation around forced migrations and the reconnection of emancipation descendants.
Worth And Dignity Engagements (WADE) at First Unitarian Church of Dallas help us go deep, encourage understanding, and transform lives in the pursuit of worth and dignity for all.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER IN REALM

About Pamela Bailey
Pamela Bailey is a nationally published author, educator, speaker, and podcaster. She is the founder of Blue Rose Media Group, LLC., a multimedia company that promotes racial healing, equity, and social justice through truthful and powerful storytelling across media.
She is a public scholar with an interest in preserving the folkways and humanities of American-born enslaved and emancipated people and their descendants through the arts. The importance of her own family’s history was inculcated into her upbringing by her parents, who shared ancestral stories and music that had been passed down for generations in their respective families.
Pamela has a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina, and an undergraduate degree in Business Marketing from South Carolina State University, an HBCU in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She worked for several years as an adjunct professor at a 4-year private university in Dallas, Texas. While teaching world literature to her students, Pamela was inspired to create a lyceum to share the music and history of the African American experience that her students felt had been largely absent from their formal educational experiences. She is currently a member of Southern Methodist University’s Oral History Cluster.
As a public scholar and the creator of the Antebellum Diaspora Project and a podcast with the same name, Pamela is afforded many opportunities to collaborate with scholars in the US and internationally on the subject of forced migration of American-born enslaved people and the lasting effects of forced family separations on their descendants today.

Ash Wednesday
2024-02-14 18:30 - 19:30 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
We invite you to begin the season of Lent with us at our contemplative Ash Wednesday service, in which we reflect on our mortality from a Unitarian Universalist perspective. All are welcome to join us in the Sanctuary at 6:30 pm.

Youth Sunday
2024-02-11 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Join us for a much loved and meaningful tradition – Youth Sunday! Our YRUU teens lead the service – sharing testimonials, providing music, and serving as greeters and ushers.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"Surprised by Joy" | Rev. T. J. FitzGerald
2024-02-04 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Joy is one of the greatest spiritual gifts. How do we experience it? How do we share it?
Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music provided by the Sanctuary Choir
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"Saying No Is Something To Practice" | Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter
2024-01-28 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
The spiritual practice of saying no is at the root of what a sabbath is. This spiritual discipline can be important as we dive deeper into what sustains us and keeps us going.
Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter is preaching, music provided by Kindred Voices
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"Five Ways to Save Your Spiritual Life" | Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter
2024-01-21 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Diving into the five disciplines we talk about as spiritual guides we will reflect on what works and why.
Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter is preaching, music provided by the Sanctuary Choir
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"Whose Dream?" | Rev. Beth Dana
2024-01-14 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
This Sunday we honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recommit ourselves to the vision and the work of Beloved Community.
Rev. Beth Dana is preaching. Music provided by vocalist Marquis McBride and George Cornelius.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"Refining Fire" | Burning Service
2024-01-07 09:30 - 12:30 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
We welcome all to our annual ritual of letting go of those things which do not serve us anymore. Please join us.
Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music TBD.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

"First Watch" | New Year's Eve | Online Only
2023-12-31 08:00 - 17:00 | TX
On this last day of the year we consider what we’ve seen together this year and prepare our hearts and minds for what’s to come.

Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music provided by the First Church Jazz Combo.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST ONLINE ONLY – No in-person worship

Christmas Morning | Online Only | 10 am
2023-12-25 10:00 - 11:00 | TX
Tune in for a re-broadcast of the 9 pm Christmas Eve service.
Livestream only: https://dallasuu.org/live/
View the complete holiday schedule here.

Lessons & Carols | Christmas Eve | 9 pm
2023-12-24 21:00 - 22:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Bring your family and friends and celebrate Christmas Eve!
In-person worship only, no livestream.
View the complete holiday schedule here.

Candlelight & Communion | Christmas Eve | 7 pm
2023-12-24 19:00 - 20:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States

All Generations | Christmas Eve | 5 pm
2023-12-24 17:00 - 18:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Bring your family and friends and celebrate Christmas Eve with us. All are welcome for this multi-generational service!
In-person worship only, no livestream.
View the complete holiday schedule here.

Blues Christmas | Christmas Eve | 11 am
2023-12-24 11:00 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Join us for worship as we celebrate Christmas with some great blues music and mini-homilies from the ministers on the “Christmas Blues.”
Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter, Rev. T. J. Fitzgerald, and Rev. Beth Dana are preaching.
Worship at 11am CST in-person or online

Parish Meeting
2023-12-17 12:15 - 13:15 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Voting members are invited to enjoy pizza, hear updates from church leaders, vote on the 2024 budget, and celebrate the 2024 elected leaders.
Childcare is available for this event. Please register in advance by clicking here.
Livestream available at https://dallasuu.org/live/

Christmas Pageant
2023-12-17 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Join us for the annual Christmas Pageant, acted out by the children of the church. Child dedications will take place in both services.
Rev. Beth Dana is preaching “The Christmas Story”, music provided by the Sanctuary Choir.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Holiday Organ Recital with Bradley Hunter Welch
2023-12-10 12:15 - 12:45 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Join us after the 11am service for a recital of seasonal organ music from Bradley Hunter Welch. This event will also be livestreamed at https://dallasuu.org/live
About Dr. Welch
Hailed as “A world-class virtuoso” and “an expert at defining darks, lights, shadows and colors,” Bradley Hunter Welch is increasingly in demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and collaborative artist. A native of Knoxville, TN, Bradley holds the Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Musical Arts, Master of Music degrees, and the Artist Diploma from Yale University where he studied with Thomas Murray and Martin Jean. He also holds the Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude from Baylor University where he studied with Joyce Jones.
Dr. Welch is the 2003 First Place winner of the Dallas International Organ Competition and was also awarded the Audience Prize for the second time, having previously won it in 2000. He was Director of Music & Arts at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX from 2009 to 2014 and currently devotes his full-time attention to a thriving solo concert career. Between his concert and recording engagements, Dr. Welch serves as Artist-in-Residence as Christ Church (Anglican) in Plano, TX–one of the largest Anglican churches in the United States. In addition to these duties, he performs approximately 20 concerts annually under the exclusive artistic management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, Hartford, CT.
His premier recording is the first solo organ recording of the Cliburn Organ at Broadway Baptist Church. Bradley is married to Kara Kirkendoll Welch, a flutist in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Flute at Southern Methodist University. They have a son–Ethan Hunter Welch–and a daughter–Avery Kristine Welch.

Peace Breaks Out
2023-12-10 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Amid the conflicts in our lives and our world we consider how peace enters the world and how we can nurture it.

Rev. T. J. FitzGerald is preaching, music provided by organist Bradley Hunter Welch
Worship will be followed by a Holiday Organ Recital with Bradley Hunter Welch. Click here for details.
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

What Are We Waiting For?
2023-12-03 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Advent themes are often apocalyptic but are they predictions or demands on our spiritual lives?
Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter is preaching, music provided by Kindred Voices
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Hanging of the Greens
2023-12-02 18:00 - 19:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Get ready to deck the halls and jingle all the way to our annual “Hanging of the Greens” extravaganza! The Hanging of the Greens isn’t just about sprucing up our space for the season; it’s about bringing our vibrant community together to take part in a joyful tradition. Bring your holiday spirit and let’s make merry memories together!

On the Road from Greed to Giving
2023-11-26 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
As we travel the road together from Thanksgiving to Advent and Christmas, we reflect on the spirit of generosity in us and in this season.
Rev. Beth Dana is preaching, music provided by banjoist Ben King
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

2023 Thanksgiving Dinner
2023-11-23 12:00 - 15:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
You are invited to the First Unitarian Church of Dallas 2023 Thanksgiving Dinner at 4015 Normandy Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75205. Doors open at 11:30 AM, Dinner at 12:00 noon on Thursday November 23, 2023.
We have room for about 100 participants. Turkey & ham will be provided by the church.
In addition to food items, we need volunteers to help set up, to act as greeters and to clean up after the dinner. If you can help, please sign up for one or more of these categories (in addition to bringing a food item). We will also have a communal wine table. If you wish to contribute, please bring wine to share.
If you encounter any problems signing up or want to modify your signup, contact either Krishna (krishnakavi@yahoo.com) or Theresa (tlumkavi@gmail.com), 972-863-8896.
For general questions about the event, you can contact Margaret Gillett (gmgillett@sbcglobal.net), 214-808-6397.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BRING FOOD AND VOLUNTEER

Winter’s Faith: Grief, Gratitude, and Generosity, and Justice with guest minister Rev. Mary Katherine Morn
2023-11-19 09:30 - 12:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
We welcome our longtime friend and President of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, as we celebrate the Thanksgiving season together.

About Rev. Mary Katherine Morn
After 30 years in faith-based leadership, the Rev. Mary Katherine Morn joined UUSC as President and Lead Executive Officer in 2018. She has helped to grow a number of progressive congregations serving their members and the larger community.
Mary Katherine contributed to efforts for economic, racial, and social justice in Macon, Georgia at the Economic Opportunity Council/Headstart with the NAACP. She also worked deeply in the reproductive justice movement. In Nashville, Tennessee, she collaborated with the Interfaith Alliance and Industrial Areas Foundation. In Fairfax, Virginia, she worked with interfaith ministries addressing hunger and homelessness, collaborated with LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations, and served on the county’s homelessness task force.
Mary Katherine also served in volunteer leadership with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Association and for four years as Director of Stewardship and Development for the Unitarian Universalist Association.

MUSIC: Sanctuary Choir
Worship at 9:30am and 11am CST in-person or online • 7:00pm ONLINE ONLY

Crafty Bake Sale
2023-11-19 08:45 - 13:00 | First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Ave., Dallas, TX, 75205, United States
Come shop for baked goods, crafts, and gifts benefitting charities supported by the Women’s Alliances.
Accepting cash, check, and credit card.
