Oludamini Ogunnaike

On Sunday, September 15, 2024, GC|RH welcomed Oludamini Ogunnaike, a UVa professor in religious studies. His presentation featured Sufi poetry.

Marissa Williamson

On Sunday, May 21, 2023, GC|RH welcomed the artist Marissa Williamson a project-based artist who works in video, image-making, installation and performance around themes of history, race, feminism, and technology. She is an Assistant Professor of Visual Art at the University of Virginia with a research focus on Blackness.

Ethan Brown

On Sunday, May 14, 2023, GC|RH welcomed the artist Ethan Brown. Ethan is a citizen of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and lives on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, located along the border of King William, Virginia. Ethan is a Pamunkey artist who creates contemporary art in many different forms and mediums, including gourd art, wood sculpting, oil painting, pottery, and filmmaking.

Kat Maier

On Sunday, April 16, 2023, GC|RH welcomed Kat Maier RH, (AHG), founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, a center for herbal studies in Charlottesville, Virginia. One of her greatest accomplishments has been to train many clinical herbalists who have gone onto to begin other schools, apothecaries or open practices. In clinical practice for over 30 years, Kat teaches internationally at universities, conferences, and herbal schools.

Ézé Amos

On Sunday, April 3, 2022, GC|RH welcomed photographer Ézé Amos. Ézé showed photographs from his street photography project, Cville People Everyday, and from his documentation of local resistance actions over the past few years. Rather than posing his subjects, Ézé tries to capture them in more spontaneous attitudes. He also selects subjects and perspectives that are overlooked to contribute to a more complex picture of the city of Charlottesville. As a part of his creative process, Ézé works to cultivate a sense of being fully present in the moment when he photographs someone. 

Carlehr Swanson

On Sunday, March 27, 2022, GC|RH welcomed musician Carlehr Swanson. Interspersed with song, Carlehr shared a history of African American gospel music from its origins in the spiritual songs of enslaved peoples to the early gospel music with its roots in the blues to the development of the contemporary mass choir, urban contemporary gospel, and praise and worship music. Throughout her presentation, Carlehr emphasized the integration of the sacred with the secular, demonstrating the relevance of African American gospel music for people throughout history and today. 

Jake Pugh

On March 20, 2022, GC|RH welcomed herpetologist Jake Pugh of My Three Chambered Heart. Jake introduced us to the concept of brumation, a period of dormancy during which reptiles conserve energy, often during periods of cold weather or when resources are scarce. As warm weather and longer days arrive, reptiles and mammals alike begin to awaken to the possibilities of new life and growth around them.

Gregory Orr

On March 13, 2022, GC|RH welcomed poet Gregory Orr. Among the many poems Gregory shared with us was “Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved,” which includes these lines: “To be alive: not just the carcass/But the spark./That’s crudely put, but…/If we’re not supposed to dance,/Why all this music?” In this poem and elsewhere, Gregory describes the beloved as anything and everything that connects us to a sense of our vitality and humanity. The beloved is also an imagined compendium of all the stories, songs, plays, and poems from human history that, taken together, express something about what it means to be human. Here's an OnBeing interview with him.

Kelsey Johnson

On March 6, 2022, GC|RH welcomed UVa Astronomy Professor Kelsey Johnson. Kelsey invited us to contemplate that "we are the universe made sentient,” and she encouraged us “to learn, to understand, and to dwell in both the precious and precarious realities” of our existence. To enact this understanding, Kelsey suggested developing a creative practice to acknowledge and honor our participation in the beauty and mystery of the universe. Here's a TED Talk by Kelsey. And here's an article she wrote for the New York Times.

Matthew Burtner

On March 1, 2020, GC|RH welcomed Matthew Burtner. Professor Burtner, UVa music department, is an Alaskan-born composer, sound artist and eco-acoustician whose music and research explores embodiment, ecology, polytemporality and noise. Here is Matthew's description of Sunday's composition:

Light Catchers (2007): a sonic meditation on light by Matthew Burtner

Each participant will receive a small bell. During the performance, they place these bells into vessels to make the music.

Note to participants: Once you have a bell, meditate on the light in your life, considering: 

* light manifest in nature, for example as it reflects on a river, or in the night sky

* light as hope, something wonderful in the world that you look forward to

* light as love for another being – a person, animal, etc.

Matthew will pour light from a container into vessels and that is your invitation to bring your bell forward (now a symbol of the light you imagined) and place it into one of the vessels. The piece will evolve as you add bells to the vessels.

Listen for your bell among the sound of all the bells and continue to meditate upon how light is manifest in your life. 

Asher Biemann

On February 23, 2020 GC|RH welcomed Asher Biemann. Asher spoke about photography and the sabbath. He is professor of religious studies at UVa whose work deals with history, art, and Jewish thought. He has published books on Martin Buber, the idea of renaissance in modern Judaism, and Jewish responses to the art of Michelangelo.

Federico Cuatlacuatl

On February 16, 2020 GC|RH welcomed artist and UVa Professor Federico Cuatlacuatl. In celebration of the fifth day of the biblical story of creation — the creation of birds that fly across the sky and the abundance of living creatures, we heard about Professor Cuatlacuatl’s social art practice. Professor Cuatlacuatl centers his art on topics of Latinx immigration and cultural sustainability, including an ongoing project focused on making and flying kites in protest of unjust immigration policy and in solidarity with people affected by the current migration crisis. Professor Cuatlacuatl lead us in a workshop devoted to writing letters and assembling kite kits to send to the 52 people who were living in sanctuary in the United States and facing deportation.

Paul Jones &

Beth Roach

We began The Art of Creation worship series on February 9, 2020 with a creation myth panel in which Beth Roach, Nottoway Indian Tribal Council, and Paul Jones, UVa religious studies professor, discussed indigenous and Genesis creation stories.

Jonathan McRay

On March 14, 2021, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, GC|RH welcomed Jonathan McRay who preached on the theme of earth and soil. Jonathan is a farmer, facilitator, and writer in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He grew up in Central Appalachia and worked overseas before feeling called to take responsibility for his life and history at home.

Larycia Hawkins

On March 7, 2021, the Third Sunday in Lent, GC|RH welcomed Larycia Hawkins who preached on the theme of air. Larycia Hawkins is a scholar, political science professor, and activist. Larycia is general faculty in the departments of politics and religious studies at the University of Virginia; serves as faculty in the Religion, Race, and Democracy Lab.

Beth Roach

On February 28, 2021, the second Sunday in Lent, GCRH welcomed Beth Roach, co-founder of the Alliance of Native Seedkeepers, who preached on the theme of water. Beth was born and raised in Surry along the shores of the James River during the Kepone era of the 1980s. Living on ground zero of her native peoples and their clash with English colonization, she developed a fascination for how our bloodlines tell our stories. Beth carried this curiosity with her to James Madison University where she earned her degree in Public History. As an advocate for the restoration of tribal rights and water and climate justice, Beth strives for better relations between tribal governments and local/state/federal agencies. For over a decade, she has served on the Tribal Council of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of VA.