The following is a table of speakers available to speak at UU churches in the SWUUC area. Please contact the speaker for more details on the sermons offered. Most churches offer honoraria for speakers and some offer mileage costs as well. When asking a speaker to come from out of town, please be prepared to offer either home hospitality or hotel reimbursement. When inviting a speaker to your church, please offer upfront the honorarium amount and any other information about accommodations/mileage, etc.
You are encouraged to ask for and check references before inviting them to speak at your church. The Southwest Unitarian Universalist Conference does not officially endorse individual speakers itself and is not responsible for the content of any of these speaker's talks or sermons.
| Name | Areas Willing to Travel To | Sample Sermon Titles | Comments/Specialties | Phone | Email |
| Laura Agrons | Will travel to Houston area congregations, will speak at other cities' churches if I am there for business/family. Likely cities include San Francisco/Bay Area, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, New York City. | "The Trouble with Angels" (analyzing the resurgent interest in them: polytheism for a cynical age), "Anatomy of the Soul" (I think the soul is a verb), "Where Were You When Jesus Rose?" (analysis of the inconsistent resurrection stories in the canonical and apocryphal gospels), "Moses and the Fortune Cookie" (experiential and language conflicts in religion), "Through the Forest" (compelling journey imagery in the stories of Jesus, Moses,mythical characters, and historical figures), "Religious Conversion Patterns" early Christian development in the Jewish/pagan context | I was a religion and classics major at Duke U. My particular interest is in how people develop religious institutions and ideas: sociological and psychological approaches, mostly. | (713) 464- 7232 home (713) 240- 0323 alt | |
| Kathi Appelt | HAVE CAR, WILL TRAVEL. If I have to drive more than 100 miles, it'd be nice to have a place to stay the night before and some money for gas. | "Harry Potter and the Flaming Chalice," "Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky," "Home Room: Poetry and Teenagers," "Loving Bubba: Confessions of a Children's Book Author." | I am a published writer and have won many awards, and my husband sings and plays guitar--he comes with me. | (979) 680-9146 (979) 680-9146 | |
| Steve Brooks | District | "Songwriting as a Spiritual Path" | Steve's services are an engaging and thought-provoking blend of sermonizing and singing. See www.stevegrooks.net/sands.htm | 512-440-7668 | steve@stevebrooks.net |
| Era Buck, Ph.D. | Houston | "If You're Happy and You Know It" | ' | 281-550-6608 281-550-6608 | cjebuck@hal-pc.org |
| Lora Brandis | Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin | "Pray Without Ceasing" "Sarah Laughed" "The New Adam and Eve" | Currently enrolled in Perkins School of Theology. | 214-629-0405 214-629-0405 | lbrandis@smu.edu |
| Joanne Clendenen | ' | "Christ for the Third Millennium" "Power of Celtic Myth" "Spiritual Authority: Where Do You Get Yours?" "Grace: A New Role for the Greatest Gift of All" | ' | 281-890-1022 281-890-1022 | ladyjoanne @wordtouch.com |
| Joanna F. Crawford | Houston, Galveston, Austin, College Station, Corpus Christi | "Go Forth and Spread the Good News" | Planning a garage sale? Schedule the "Removing Clutter" sermon a month ahead of time! | 281-858-9880 281-858-9880 | |
| Bonni Hayes | Houston. Also Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas and in between if mileage and home hospitality provided. | "Raising My Son After Adoption -- What I've Learned Raising my African American Son" (addresses white privilege) | Diversity, Breast Cancer | 281 242-1950 281 242-1950 | |
| Patti Henry | Houston, other parts of Texas | "Practice Random Kindness" "Building Character" "Nourishing the Soul" "Relationships: What Does It Mean to Love?" | I can usually work with a topic handed to me. I've spoken on all kinds of topics for all kinds of groups (Single Mothers by Choice, Mothers of Multiples, Suicide Survivors, Harris County Mental Health Association, UT Medical School of Nursing, Shell Oil, etc.) | 281-894-4131 281-894-4131 | Pgentlespirit @aol.com |
| Ross Hamilton Henry, Humanist Minister | Houston area | "Delusions Are Inexhaustible" (discusses the dangers inherent in being deluded about reality), "Can Science Save us?" "A Plea for Tolerance" (subtitle: What's Wrong With Christianity). "Is it Possible to Be Religious Without God." | Humanism, Buddhism, Humanistic Buddhism, Buddhistic Humanism, Rational/Scientific approaches to Religion. | 281-288-6064 281-288-6064 | rosshenry@mac.com |
| Clinton Hopper | Accepted into the M.Div. program at Meadville Lombard. | 713-419-6007 | clinton@ novaartsproject.com | ||
| Vickie Johnson | Live in DFW area (Oak Cliff), willing to travel to any area in Texas. In addition to honoraria, request mileage. If outside local area, request place to stay (either member of congregation or hotel) | A Spiritual Response to Dissent (comments on how to deal with conflict in church), The Voices in Our Midst, have preached many, many sermons on a variety of topics | Have an M.Div. and an MSW, formerly a UM Minister (20 years ago) but since then have journeyed and studied Buddhism, Judaism, Pagan, and progressive Christianity. Currently a licensed psychotherapist but seeking to become ordained within UU denomination (have not yet officially started process), am a lesbian and can speak on a variety of topics related to LGBT and diversity-related issues | 214-604-7650 | VickieJohnsonLCSW@gmail.com |
| Alok Kalia, MD | Anywhere in Texas | "Belief, the Outward Journey" | Other information: I am a Hindu UU and find myself very comfortable in the UU environment. My recent talks have focused on what brings us together as UUs, how we can act and serve in fellowship in spite of our diversity, and how our principles unite us. I have spoken both at my home congregation (Bay Area UU Church) and at the Galveston UU Fellowship. | (409) 772-2538 (409) 772-2538 | akalia@utmb.edu |
| Ashley Kress | Houston area | "My Faith Journey" | home 832-358-2133 832-358-2133 | ||
| Gary S. Rosin | Greater Houston Area--Houston metro area, Galveston, College Station San Antonio Austin | "The Sacred and the Everyday" (Mysticism for UU's) "Poetry Matters" (prose and poetry reflections on the role of poetry in religion) "Abraham, Bluebonnets and God" (Isaac & the Legend of the Bluebonnet) "Uncommon Colds" (information viruses) "Seeing Is Believing" (commentary on 3 works by Escher) | ' | 713-646-1854 713-646-1854 | grosin@stcl.edu |
| Rozelia K. Spikes | Any | "Life in a Box" "Stepping Out on Faith" "If You Knew You Couldn't Fail" "Testing and Stressing Unconditional Love" "Life Changes Without Your Permission" "It's What You Do That Matters" "Enough With This Character Building" "What Spirituality Means to Me" | Speaking as a woman of Color, Motivational Speaking | 713-726-8022/32 Cell: 832-724-8022 832-724-8022 | rkspikes@msn.com |
| Hugh Stearns | 150 mile radius of College Station, which would include Houston, Austin and San Antonio | Expanded Intimacy: A Seventh Principle Theory Finding and Creating Sacred Space Sophistication Through Simplicity Raising Hell at A&M: Memoirs of a Radical Aggie Democracy: More Than a Vote Materialism: More Than a Trip to the Mall Intentional Living Through Cohousing | Professionally, I am a remodeling designer and contractor specializing in green building. As a volunteer I am the facilitator of the Progressive Coalition of Bryan - College Station, and Brazos Peace, I am on the board of the Just Peace Institute and the UU Fellowship. My focus is on community and coalition building. | (979) 696-0524 (979) 696-0524 (W) (979) 690-9089 (979) 690-9089 (H) | |
| David Throop | Extended greater Houston area, sometimes Austin area. Further if they were willing to fly me. | "A Free Faith, A Free Practice" | Mysticism, UU History, men's issues. | (281) 483-5396 (281) 483-5396 W (281) 388- 0929 H (281) 460- 8415 cell | |
| Dr. Ken Vincent | Greater Houston / Galveston Area | "Developmental Revelation" | Comparative Religion, Christianity, Origins (especially Zoroastrian and Egyptian influences), Social Science and Religion | (713) 668-8305 (713) 668-8305 and (281) 615-7093 (281) 615-7093 | professorvincent @yahoo.com |
| Ryan Webber | All of them | The Future of Unitarian Universalism, The World's Desparate Need for UUism, Our Biggest Hurdle to Explosive Growth, Acres of Diamonds | Helping UUs realize the power and relevance of our message | 806-336-7295 | ryanjwebber@gmail.com |
| Mark Weldon Whitten, Ph.D. | Houston area | "Founding Brothers on Religion and Christianity" "Does 'God' Exist? I HOPE So!" "The Facts of Church-State Separation" | I have spoken in the past at First Church, Houston; Thoreau Church; Emerson Church; Houston Unitarian Fellowship (Wirt Rd.) and the former All Souls congregation. Specialties: Religious Liberty / Church and State Philosophical Religion - Theology Ethics and social / political philosophy Christianity / Jesus / Christian Bible | (281) 376-8921 (281) 376-8921 | |
| Robert Pryor | Prefer Houston and surrounding areas, but will considers other locations in SWUUC on a case by case basis | "The Transition to Mentoring" | In addition to being a speaker, I am also an accomplished musician and performer. I can accompany all my sermons with appropriate music for the service and for the topics I will be speaking on. I feel that customized music adds an exgtra dimension to what would be essentially just a spoken presentation. | home- 281-376-1889 281-376-1889 work- 281-376-4475 281-376-4475 | robertmpryor @comcast.net |