Browse Lecture Series (35 total)

This collection contains a two-part interview between Miriam Rogers and Sue Bailey Thurman. In this interview, Thurman explores the lives of Phyllis Wheatley and Amos Fortune, two black people brought to Boston on slave ships, presenting their lives of thought and action as exemplary of democracy and freedom in America. Thurman also talks briefly about the life of Harriet Tubman, and other current events, including: the growing influence of Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, and readings from…

Various sermons, meditations, and readings related to holidays and national holidays.

In this sermon series, Thurman covers the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and the particular religious insight that they bring to the tradition. Thurman exchanges with the prophets on the topic of responsibility, the inclusiveness of our faith, the sovereignty of God who acts in and above history, and more. Thurman gives voice to each of the individual prophets whilst still extracting the unifying messages and challenges from their writings.

”Quests for the Human Spirit” is an eleven-part lecture series focused on the creative process of self-actualization. Thurman shows how this process centers and affirms a person’s purpose in life. Discussing pursuits like freedom, stability, values, identity, and integrity, he illuminates the importance of questing in identity formation.

KNBC was the call sign for NBC's radio broadcast station in San Franscisco from 1947 to 1962."Dr. Thurman, the pastor of San Francisco's intercultural and interracial Fellowship Church, recently inaugurated a weekly program of spiritual "Meditations" on KNBC (Sundays, 10:00 -10:15 a.m., PST)"[Description from NBC Chimes (January 1953) archived in American Radio History]

The Mysticism and Social Action collection is a series of recordings from the Lawrence Lecture at Berkeley Unitarian Church in California in 1978. In this collection, Thurman illustrates different understandings of mysticism and his own childhood mystical experiences. For Thurman, mystical experience is not an endpoint in religious experience, but rather opens up towards involvement in the social world. Thurman's lecture is also followed by a Q&A discussion in which Thurman touches on related…

In this series, Thurman discusses the solitary nature of the moment of truth. These moments that illuminate our lives and change the course of our realities are moments that must be experienced in solitude through our own eyes. Experiencing firsthand the light that shines into our darkness has the power to do what external pressure and punishment cannot. Ever-present in our moments of truth is revelation, conviction, and decision that guides our responses.

He also discusses the moment of…

In this series, Thurman uses the lives of the Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ, and Abraham Lincoln as examples of moments of crisis. He concludes the series with a message on the response of religious communities to the marginalized in society.

[Note: Part 1 of the series is not available]

In this series, Thurman explores the dynamics of mysticism through the lives of notable figures throughout history. The mystic's insight is that God is the creator of all of life, and indeed dwells in the human spirit as the deepest thing within a human being, which is always reaching out to touch the deepest in others. Throughout this sermon series, Thurman illustrates the ethical implications of this insight, as well as the discipline necessary to live out mystical religion. Ultimately, "Men…