Life-Span Religious Education

• Minister's Note
• Purpose & Principles
• For Children & Youth
• About the Program &
  Curriculum Themes (PDF)
• '08-'09 Registration Form (PDF)
• For Adults
  • Adult RE Classes
  • Covenant Groups
• Special Events
• RE Calendar

What's in Store for Adult RE:
Winter 2008 Classes

NEW UU CLASSES
Leader: Rev. Charlie Ortman
Session 1: February 6, 13, 20 & 27
Session 2: May 21, 28; June 4 and 11
Wednesdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m..

Are you new to our congregation? Or, have you been around for a while and want to know more about who we are, where we’ve come from, and what we’re about? In these four sessions we share our faith journeys, explore the history of the Unitarian and Universalist traditions (in an enjoyable format), and gain an orientation to this congregation’s life from members and leaders who are involved in making it work. On the Sunday following the final class, those who so choose will be welcomed into membership with the congregation during the service.

SPIRITUALITY IN LITERATURE
Leader: Rob Gordon, M.A. in literature and creative writing, Queens College, CUNY
Tuesdays, Jan. 15, Feb. 19, March 18, April 15 and May 20, 7:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10 per class/$25 series

Many works, both popular and literary, have a strong spiritual undertone. Rob will help us explore and examine the spirituality of selected texts, including Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings and Whitman's Leaves of Grass. During each session participants will read a part of the selected work before the discussion begins. The first discussion on Tuesday, January 15th will be on Winnie-the-Pooh. Sessions can be taken separately.

YOGA MALA: YOGA AND MEDITATION FOR PEACE
Leader: Roseann Shaiman & Deborah Dunn, certified yoga instructors
Sunday, September 23
2:00 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5

Come participate in a worldwide event, a Global Mala, to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace. We will be one of hundreds of locations around the world hosting a Yoga Mala, an afternoon of yoga as peace in action. The group will be led through 108 Sun Salutations. For both beginners and experienced participants.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FORGIVENESS
Leader: Jed Rosen, LCSW
Sundays, September 23 and 30
12:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5 per class

Forgiveness can be a powerful tool to heal strained relationships and relieve emotional pain; it is a skill one can learn. This two-session workshop will focus on forgiveness through the utilization of principles of cognitive/ behavioral therapy and narrative approach. Participants will discuss the major underpinnings of grievance formation and practice steps to create a positive refocusing through exercises of mindfulness and guided imagery.

BERTRAND RUSSEL: "WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN"
Leader: Jim O’Neill
Tuesday, October 16
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5 per class

Bertrand Russell, a revered (and sometimes reviled) 20th Century thinker and philosopher, who called himself a Unitarian for a brief time, explained in the essay, “Why I am Not a Christian,” his definition of a Christian and why he could not identify himself as such. This one session class will review Russell's reasoning and will ask participants to examine their own identification with the term Christian. Copies of the essay will be available before the session.

FILM SERIES: Science & Spirituality
Leaders: Jim O’Neill & Bruce Anderson
Sundays, Feb. 10, March 9 & April 13
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Donation: $5 per film

February 10: Contact (1997)
This film, based on the novel of the same name by Carl Sagan, is the story of a free thinking radio astronomer (Jodie Foster) who discovers an intelligent signal broadcast from deep space. She and her fellow scientists decipher the message and discover detailed instructions for building a mysterious machine. Will the machine spell the end of our world, or the end of our superstitions? Will we take our place among the races of the galaxy, or are we just an upstart species with a long way to go?

March 9: Winter Light (1960)
Winter Light (Nattvardsgästerna), the second in Ingmar Bergman's trilogy of films dealing with man's relationship with God, centers on the pastor of a tiny congregation, who is suffering from a cold and a severe crisis of faith. He attempts to console a fisherman who is tormented by anxiety, but he can only speak about his own troubled relationship with God. A school teacher offers him her love as consolation for his loss of faith. But he resists her love as desperately as she offers it to him.

April 13: Inherit the Wind (1962)
In this Stanley Kramer classic with Spencer Tracy and Frederic March, a teacher in a small town is arrested for teaching Darwin's theories. Famous lawyer Henry Drummond defends him; fundamentalist politician Matthew Brady prosecutes. The film is a very thinly disguised rendition of the transcripts of the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" which featured debates between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.

(Film synopses from www. imdb.com)

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES in ISLAM
Moderator: Bruce Anderson
Panelists: Mahmoud Sami, Mehdi El-Efifi, and Aisha Hauser
Monday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5

The panel will discuss current domestic and international issues that affect the Muslim community with an emphasis on commonalities between the cultures of the Middle East and the West.

FAITH AND RITUAL
Leaders: Rev. Judy Tomlinson and Claudia Sanders
Thursdays, April 10 & 17, 7:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5 per class

What do we, as Unitarian Universalists, have faith in? What anchors us? How do we use this faith of ours when we are in spiritual crisis and have to face life’s transitions? How do we call on it when we face everyday challenges to live up to be the person we want to be? Join us as we discuss the meaning of faith, share our techniques for living up to our values and design personal or family rituals that will ground us and bring serenity and peace to our lives.

WOMEN and HEART HEALTH
Leader: St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital Nursing Staff
Tuesday, April 29, 7:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for all women and more women than men die from it. The good news is that 80% of heart disease can be prevented if we know our risks and take steps to reduce them. A nurse from The Women’s Heart Center will give a presentation about women’s risk factors and strategies for reducing risk, the signs of a heart attack in women (very different from a man’s symptoms) and the unique ways that heart disease in women is diagnosed and treated. This presentation could save your life or the life of a woman you love.

CONVERSATIONS with THE BIBLE
Leader: Rev. Judy Tomlinson
Thursdays, May 8, 15, 22 & 29
7:30-9: p.m.
Suggested donation $20

Unitarianism and Universalism both began, in part, as movements to broaden people’s understanding of the Bible. Each affirmed that scripture should be read with both mind and heart honestly engaged, open to insight. Our roots in Jewish and Christian scriptures point to possibilities for human goodness through study of the Bible and free us to hear the Bible’s calling of humanity to ever-increasing spiritual wholeness. This course will excite and satisfy your curiosity. It is both a personal and a creative exploration. Join us.

ONLINE COURSES
From the Church of the Larger Fellowship
Go to: http://clf.uua.org/learn/
(Class fees vary)

The Courage to be Liberal – 1/4-2/8/08

Raising Ethical Children – 2/18-3/17/08

Spirit of Life – 2/18-4/21/08

An Introduction to Ralph Waldo Emerson:
What He Might Teach Us Now – 3/10-4/21/08

On-going Courses:

• A Chosen Faith: Self-Study Guide

• For New Unitarian Universalists

• Covenant Group Leaders’ Training

“BEEN AROUND AWHILE” GROUP
(Formerly “Senior Lunch Bunch”)
Leaders: Rev. Charlie Ortman & Judy Tomlinson
2nd Wednesday of the month, Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Join the self-defined senior citizens of the congregation for a brown bag lunch and lively conversation on topics of the day. The group decides on a topic each month. On occasion we have invited outside speakers. Join us for food and fellowship.