First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville

06/11/2026

At the Sunday, June 14 Worship Service (10AM), special guest Ruby Amanfu will premiere a choral arrangement of her song "You Belong", backed by the FUUN Choir. Ruby is a native of Ghana, West Africa, and a proud graduate of Nashville's Hume-Fogg Academic High School. She has extensively written, recorded and produced music, which includes 12 acclaimed solo studio albums. Leveraging her musical success, Ruby is a strong advocate and ally for social justice causes. In 2023, one month following the Covenant School shooting, Ruby joined fellow Nashville singer-songwriters Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Will Hoge, Margo Price, and Allison Russell to meet face-to-face with Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee legislators, pleading for them to take action. On the three-year anniversary of the Covenant School shooting, Ruby released a duet with Amy Grant that they co-wrote titled, "How Do We Get There From Here" that appears on Grant’s new album. Other organizations to which Ruby lends her voice include MusiCares, Thistle Farms, The Equity Alliance, and VoiceUpLoud. In addition to her solo work, Ruby's vocal, songwriting, and/or performance collaborations have included Sara Bareilles, Beyoncé, Brandi Carlile, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, H.E.R, Brittany Howard, Hozier, Jason Isbell, Wanda Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Taj Mahal, Buddy Miller, Keb' Mo', Leigh Nash, Leslie Odom, Jr., Charlie Peacock, John Prine, Allison Russell, KT Tunstall, and Jack White. Ruby has been nominated twice for Song of the Year GRAMMYs, in 2022 for co-writing "A Beautiful Noise" with Brandi Carlile and Alicia Keys, and in 2020 for co-writing "Hard Place" with R&B artist H.E.R. Her voice also graces numerous TV shows and movies. Ruby is married to accomplished Nashville singer-songwriter Sam Ashworth, with whom she has three stepchildren. She is a hobbyist chef who has had restaurant collaborations with chefs such as Andy Little from Josephine restaurant here in Nashville, and Andrew Zimmern of Food Network fame. "You Belong" was arranged for choir by David W. Haas.

06/10/2026

In the spring of 1975, I sat in a rocking chair in a studio apartment in Manhattan and contemplated the wreckage of the marriage that had been my attempt at being straight. For the first time, I said to myself, “I am a le***an.”

On that cold but brilliantly sunny day it didn’t occur to me that I could be closeted. I was an activist; the only way I knew to live my life was to fight for what I believed justice demanded.

Tolerance, let alone acceptance, was a far-fetched dream. Unitarian Universalists were still five years away from ordaining gay clergy. Until 1986, it was legal in New York City to discriminate against q***r people in employment, housing, and public accommodations. I was fired from three jobs. I was evicted twice. I was asked to leave restaurants because “we don’t want your kind in here.” My best friend—the mother of my godchild—ended our relationship because she believed I was immoral.

As an out le***an, I couldn’t even try to work as a teacher or social worker. Instead, I was an office temp for eleven years. These were the harsh realities of the time.

A black-and-white photo of a couple, limbs intertwined, on a couch. They're gazing into each other's eyes.
Choosing to be an out le***an was, and is, an act of choosing to be free. Yes, there were consequences, but one consequence that I never anticipated was the discovery of great joy.

That joy came from finding a strong, vibrant community of women who had created their own freedom. We faced being ostracized, we faced discrimination, we faced danger—but we had each decided that in spite of all that, we would be who we were, openly and proudly. Our claim to liberation and freedom was not something handed down to us—we were “the ones who would change the world.” For those of us who were lucky enough to live in that time and brave enough to risk our futures creating new ways of living for ourselves and with each other, it was intoxicating simply to be alive.

Those who came out later came out into a very different world. But always, the LGBTQIA+ “alphabet soup” requires the choice of how one will be who they are. Facing this choice and choosing freedom is the root of Pride.

By Pat Uribe-Lichty

06/09/2026

Thanks to all who came out to support NOAH (Nashville Organized for Action and Hope) at this year's banquet! It was a great night of celebration, and we are grateful to each of you!

06/08/2026

“Protesting is an act of love. It is born of a deeply held conviction that the world can be a better, kinder place. Saying ‘no’ to injustice is the ultimate declaration of hope.”
—Amy Goodman, investigative journalist, columnist, and author

06/07/2026

June 7th, 2026
“Poems that Stir the Spirit”

Reading and Interpretation 1:
Sandye Wallick

Reading and Interpretation 2:
Gail Sphar
“Ashes to Ashes” by Gail Sphar

Prayer:
Rev. Charlotte Arsenault

Reading and Interpretation 3:
Ben Legg
O Guardador de Rebanhos VIII, Alberto Caeiro (Fernando Pessoa)

Reading and Interpretation 4:
Rev. Charlotte Arsenault

06/01/2026

Kyshona and the FUUN Choir sing "Covered". Thank you Beth Gwinn for the great photo!

COVEREDwords and music by Kyshona and ZG SmithSATB arrangement by David W. HaasPerformed May 24, 2026 with the Choir of the First Unitarian Universalist Chur...

06/01/2026

...This Pride, I’m holding space for contradiction. For fatigue and celebration. For grief and resistance. For the love that lives in chosen family, in congregational care, and in each courageous act of showing up for one another.

Wherever you are this month—angry, joyful, numb, overwhelmed—you are beautiful, you belong, and you are welcome here.

Pride arrives at a time of deep reckoning and urgent resistance. Across the country, we are witnessing a coordinated escalation of political attacks on LGBTQIA+ people—particularly targeting trans and nonbinary youth, families, and communities. These attacks are not isolated; they are deeply connected to intersecting systems of oppression—white supremacy, Christian nationalism, anti-Blackness, misogyny, and ableism—that threaten all of us.

This moment demands more than celebration—it calls us into bold solidarity. Pride was born from protest, from defiance, from the sacred truth that LGBTQIA+ lives are worthy, joyful, and powerful. Today, we carry that legacy forward—not just in words, but in our actions, relationships, and commitments.
-Words from Michael J. Crumpler
+

05/31/2026

May 31st, 2026
“Nothing but The Meaning of Life”
Rev. Charlotte Arsenault