Here's a sampling of Religious Education offerings:
This is an outline of the introductory membership class called "Welcome to Unitarian Universalism" that I coordinated and helped facilitate at UUCGL.
This is from an event on "The New Jim Crow" and is an adaptation of UUA material for use at UUCGL.
This is a short-term adult religious education course called "Wild Nature and American Politics" that I developed using two of Henry David Thoreau's essays.
And a related link. A lecture, "An Eye for the Body" presented at the Annual Gathering of the Henry David Thoreau Society in 2011.
Several years ago I put this class together on the "Historical Jesus" for a group that wanted to explore this topic in more depth.
I'm also currently receiving training in Congregational-based Spiritual Development, and looking to share those skills in my new ministry setting.
Rites of Passage
Follow these links to a Memorial Service:
Memorial #1
And a wedding ceremony:
And a Service of Child Dedication:
Memorial #1
And a wedding ceremony:
And a Service of Child Dedication:
Worship Orders of Service
Here are several recent Orders of Service from UUCGL that I put together. Each of these services was far more dynamic than the words on the page.
The service on February 3 was a collaboration with musician Reggie Harris and featured Reggie leading the choir and congregation in singing.
March 24 included a video clip from a TED Talk by Evelyn Glennie, a profoundly deaf woman who is regarded as the world's foremost percussionist, interactive questions about music for congregation members to talk with one another about, and an excerpt from a Bruce Springsteen song.
Finally, May 19 is the Coming of Age Celebration. I worked with this group in 2012-13 and put the OOS together with Teresa Putnam the Minister of Lifespan Faith Development.
I love experiential worship. Some of my favorite worship experiences have included a series of sermons and services using the movie Chocolat. Each Sunday we used a different film clip from the movie and touched on a relevant theme. We also made liberal use of different kinds of chocolate (fair trade, of course): bittersweet, Mexican hot chocolate, and others. We ended with a chocolate fountain as part of the concluding celebration.
Another worship experience that was incredibly moving and profound came after the BP oil tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. We passed out slips of paper with the names of various species impacted by the crisis and asked people to give voice to the lifeform named on their card. Worshippers were asked to lament, sharing how they had been impacted, and then asked to offer any messages they had for human beings from the perspective of their creature. Needless to say, it provided a level of engagement and relationship where people could truly sense their kinship with other beings.
The service on February 3 was a collaboration with musician Reggie Harris and featured Reggie leading the choir and congregation in singing.
March 24 included a video clip from a TED Talk by Evelyn Glennie, a profoundly deaf woman who is regarded as the world's foremost percussionist, interactive questions about music for congregation members to talk with one another about, and an excerpt from a Bruce Springsteen song.
Finally, May 19 is the Coming of Age Celebration. I worked with this group in 2012-13 and put the OOS together with Teresa Putnam the Minister of Lifespan Faith Development.
I love experiential worship. Some of my favorite worship experiences have included a series of sermons and services using the movie Chocolat. Each Sunday we used a different film clip from the movie and touched on a relevant theme. We also made liberal use of different kinds of chocolate (fair trade, of course): bittersweet, Mexican hot chocolate, and others. We ended with a chocolate fountain as part of the concluding celebration.
Another worship experience that was incredibly moving and profound came after the BP oil tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. We passed out slips of paper with the names of various species impacted by the crisis and asked people to give voice to the lifeform named on their card. Worshippers were asked to lament, sharing how they had been impacted, and then asked to offer any messages they had for human beings from the perspective of their creature. Needless to say, it provided a level of engagement and relationship where people could truly sense their kinship with other beings.
Sermons
"Hope is Not Timid" was delivered on December 7, 2014, after the Ferguson grand jury decision.
"Freeing the Hostages" addresses the theme of gun violence on June 22, 2014. An adapted version of this sermon that I delivered to the Ministerial Fellowship Committee is available here.
Here are the text versions of a number of sermons:
"Mercy" is based on a Dave Matthews Band song by the same title.
"Tree of Life" is an Earth Day sermon preached in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
"The Incredible Lightness of B-ing" is a personal odyssey reflecting on bisexuality.
"The Friends of Evil" introduces Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow, the UU Common Reading experience for 2013.
"Cosmogenesis" explores the theme of an emergent evolutionary universe and the interdependent web of life.
"Freeing the Hostages" addresses the theme of gun violence on June 22, 2014. An adapted version of this sermon that I delivered to the Ministerial Fellowship Committee is available here.
Here are the text versions of a number of sermons:
"Mercy" is based on a Dave Matthews Band song by the same title.
"Tree of Life" is an Earth Day sermon preached in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
"The Incredible Lightness of B-ing" is a personal odyssey reflecting on bisexuality.
"The Friends of Evil" introduces Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow, the UU Common Reading experience for 2013.
"Cosmogenesis" explores the theme of an emergent evolutionary universe and the interdependent web of life.
Newsletter articles
Here are several newsletter articles from UUCC:
August 2014
November 2014
December 2014
Here is a newsletter article from UUCGL. The articles generally tie in with the monthly theme, so this one is on blessing.
And here are several more samples (see page 2 or 3 in each issue) that are found in the newsletter archives:
March 2013
January 2013
November 2012
September 2012
August 2014
November 2014
December 2014
Here is a newsletter article from UUCGL. The articles generally tie in with the monthly theme, so this one is on blessing.
And here are several more samples (see page 2 or 3 in each issue) that are found in the newsletter archives:
March 2013
January 2013
November 2012
September 2012
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