Mark Your Calendars
Ingathering
Service--September 17, 10:30 am
Teacher Dedication--September 14, 10:30 am
Women's Health Focus Group--September 17, 7:00-9:00 pm
Discovering Everyday Spirituality--October 5, 9:15 am
Installation of Rev. Suzanne Meyer--October 5, 10:30 am
Installation Luncheon Celebration--October 5, ~noon
Our Wider UU World
Recently I was honored to attend the
Russell Lockwood Leadership School in Alta, Utah. Alta is beautiful, a small
ski town in a valley surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains. Each morning as I
looked out my window at Baldy Mountain, it taunted me. Climb me, Climb me.
However, Leadership School was so absorbing that I only had a chance to try
twice up the mountain. Both times I only reached about 1/3 of the way. It was
hard, but fulfilling. That is how I would describe leadership school, hard
but fulfilling. I was awed by the community and fellowship that 60 Unitarian
Universalist could develop in only 1 week. The atmosphere was filled with
avid discussions, idea exchanges, and new friends.
Leadership school is about learning our heritage as a faith. It is about
developing and implementing worship services with each of our covenant
groups, that were shared with the entire UU community. It is about learning
where you fit into your congregation as a leader and what skills you have to
offer. It is about sharing thoughts; thoughts on diversity; thoughts on our
church community and social action issues. How can the UUC make a difference?
How do we get our word out? How do we make our principles, our stands, our
voices heard in our communities and beyond?
If you ever have the chance to attend the Russell Lockwood Leadership School,
wherever it may be, jump! Jump at the exciting chance to open your mind and
your heart.
Terri Johansen
**********************************************
New ways to learn at Meadville Lombard, a Unitarian Universalist Seminary
Weekend and
week-long formats allow flexibility for Ministers and Lay Leaders. Meadville
Lombard is now offering courses in formats that make it easier for working
religious professionals and lay leaders to broaden or deepen their
theological and congregational understanding. Below is a sampling of some of
these opportunities. Visit our website for a full listing and course syllabi:
http://www.meadville.edu/ Ac_CourseOfferings.htm or contact Erika Chavez,
Director of Admissions, at 773.256.3000 x 250 for more information.
Lay
Leadership Development with Rev. Brian Covell; October 3-4 and 24-25, and
November 14-15, 2008
Designed to help ministers, lay leaders and postinternship seminarians become acquainted with the paradigms, problem-solving and relational skills necessary for effective lay leadership development. Because of the nature of this course, we offer this incentive for congregational teams: Pay for two team members from your congregations, and register a third for free.
Real Peace/Real Security: UU Perspectives on Peace and War with Dr. Sharon Welch; January 17-18, 2009
In this half-credit course, address the issues posed by the UUA CSAI study/action issue on peacemaking. Examine options for enhancing peace and security in our contemporary world and explore perspectives held by Unitarian Universalists on: strategic peacebuilding, just peace, just war, preventive defense, nonviolence and pacifism. Then discuss the concrete ways in which congregations best foster open dialogue and informed engagement on these crucial issues of peacemaking and conflict transformation at all levels: interpersonal, congregational, national and international.
Problems in Public Ethics with Rev. Dr. William Schulz and Dr. Sharon Welch; January 23-25, 2009
Learn to clarify the theological and ethical underpinnings of your approaches to public problems; consider five of the most pressing such problems on the national and world stage today: torture, military intervention, abortion, death penalty, and poverty and learn how to articulate your perspective and navigate the complexities of dealing with such issues in an institutional context.
Fling Wide the Doors: Children and Church Growth with Rev. Greg Stewart; January 12-16, 2009
How well do we welcome children into the church family and what impact does that have on church growth?
Afro-Americans and the Universalists, Unitarians, and Unitarian Universalists with Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed; January 26-30, 2009
Become familiar with both the Afro-American experience
within the liberal religious community attitudes toward Afro-Americans. Who
were these AfroAmerican women and men and when and how did they become part
of this religious movement? What were the attitudes they met among
Anglo-Americans and what was the institutional response to them? One
objective of the course is for students to create a historical record of
their home congregation with regard to race.