Spring 2014 Discussion Group
Discussion series for new UUs
In spring 2014 Wiesbaden UU held a discussion group series for people who have come to us with a lot of questions about our faith tradition, what's it's about, what we believe, how we educate our children and ourselves, how we take action to make a better world. The series was based on a curriculum called THE NEW UU, a Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults by Rev. Jonalu Johnstone. The curriculum was originally designed as a series of 6 workshops, each 2 1/2 hours, and can be seen here. We adapted it to a format of 1-hour discussion groups.
In spring 2014 Wiesbaden UU held a discussion group series for people who have come to us with a lot of questions about our faith tradition, what's it's about, what we believe, how we educate our children and ourselves, how we take action to make a better world. The series was based on a curriculum called THE NEW UU, a Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults by Rev. Jonalu Johnstone. The curriculum was originally designed as a series of 6 workshops, each 2 1/2 hours, and can be seen here. We adapted it to a format of 1-hour discussion groups.
|
June 1, 2014 - #6
The Varieties of Spiritual Practice Attendance: 8 Alan Godsave facilitated this discussion based on a workshop developed by Erik Walker Wikstrom of UUA's Tapestry of Faith program. |
May 4, 2014 - #5
The Philosophy of Membership Attendance: 6 The reading came from John Buerens. We used Sentence Starters to contemplate our reactions to this group as potential members. We read and discussed a story about a fictional checking-in of a new covenant group. Then we opened up a larger discussion about membership means in terms of covenant and commitment. |
|
April 6, 2014 - #4
Social Justice: Philosophy and Practice Attendance: 8 The readings came from Mark Morrison-Reade and Reinhold Niebuhr. We discussed ways in which we had made a personal difference in the lives of others, talked about Theodore Parker and the dilemma of Millard Fillmore (also a Unitarian), and UUA's current campaign of "Standing on the Side of Love." We also discussed a few ideas of the way ahead, and a few of us have assignments to explore. |
March 2, 2014 - #3
Philosophy of Religious Exploration and Education for Children & Adults Attendance: 14 The readings came from Sophia Lyon Fahs and William Ellery Channing, both prominent in the history of UU Religious Education. We shared lessons we learned early that have served us well, discussed the story "The Wind in Both Ears", shared a letter from Julianne McCall, the RE Director for European Unitarian Unversalists, and looked over the list of RE resources from UUA's Tapestries of Faith Program. |
|
February 16, 2014 - #2
The Roots of UU Attendance: 15 In this workshop we shared our personal histories and spiritual paths that brought us together this day, looked at famous UUs in North American History, discussed four themes that are threaded though out the history of Unitarianism and Universalism (freedom of thought, ongoing search for truth, the power of nature, and building the beloved community), and listened to the story of the Wiesbaden UU fellowship, which began in the early 1960s. |
January 5, 2014 - #1
Introduction to UU Attendance: 12 We started with a Sentence Completion activity that helped us to articulate some of our personal beliefs about important themes, discussed the Rev Frank Church's story The Cathedral of the World, looked at some of the Big Questions in life, and took a brief overview of the typical Order of Service. |
