Adult Programs
Meditation and the "Power of NOW"
When: Mondays, October 6 – December 8, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Where: Founders House Conference Room
Registration Required? yes; contact Sherry or Joe Gillotte
Leader: Joe Gillotti
Join us for a 10 week course study reading "The Power of Now" written by Eckhart Tolle The
experience will be transformative and enlightening. Eckhart Tolle's book will help us understand
how to change negative thinking, fear, anxiety, resentment, attachment and negative relationship
issues. We also get greater insight into ego consciousness and what it means to experience true
JOY in life as opposed to the opposite polarities of sadness and happiness. This course will give
us the opportunity to expand our spiritual practice to the next dimension of thinking including a
daily practice. The class will be limited to the first 12 people who sign up, also, it will be necessary
to have your own copy of the book mentioned above ($14.00 in bookstores, $9.75 @ Amazon) and
a weekly donation to defray costs of materials and electricity will be requested.
"The Bible for Religious Liberals"
When: Four Tuesdays: October 14 & 28, November 11 & 25
Where: Founders House Conference Room
Registration Required? yes; contact Sherry
Leader: Rev. Sue Spencer
The Rev. David Eaton, late minister of All Soul's Church (UU) in Washington, D.C., liked to say,
"Religious liberals need to know the Bible even better than conservatives do!" This four-session
introduction to the HebrewScriptures (Old Testament), facilitated by Sue Spencer, is offered in that
spirit. If necessary, class participants may agree on a rescheduled final class date, to avoid the
Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Please bring a Bible (preferably in a modern, non-paraphrase translation) if you have
one! Participants will also find it helpful to read the first few chapters of John Buehrens' book,
Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals (Boston:
Beacon Press, 2003), which is readily available, new or used, in paperback.
Chalice Circles
When: Various Times, October – June:
First Wednesdays/Second Wednesdays/First Thursdays/First Saturdays/Third Saturdays
Where: Founders House
Registration Required? yes; contact Sherry
Meeting once a month from October through June, our Chalice Circles program is a
response to the recognition that people come to a congregation in large part to find community and
friendship. And so we offer Chalice Circles—groups of no more than ten people, including a trained
facilitator—with the hope that here we’ll have a chance to talk about things important in our daily
lives and to learn about the lives of others.
“General Assembly Comes to the Ridge”
When: 1st & 3rd Frdays in October, other sessions TBA.
Where: Founders House Conference Room
Registration Required? no; drop-ins welcome
Leader: Mike Searing
Do you wish that you could go to General Assembly, the annual meeting of our Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations, but are too busy or can’t fit the time or the money
into your family’s plans? Well, now you have a chance to view GA right here at the UUCD, on
the Ridge, in a series of Friday evenings. We will start at 7:00 PM with pizza and conversation,
and then view, via DVD, one or more events from GA. Our plan is to watch parts of one or more
highlights of the General Assemblies of the past two years, with time for discussion afterward.
Most segments should run 90 minutes or so.
Friday, October 3: Opening session of GA.
UUA outgoing President, Bill Sinkford, and UUA Moderator Gini Courter will preside as
Unitarian Universalists from the US and Canada jump start GA, including the Parade of
Banners. If time permits, we can view one of the Morning Worship Services, which our
delegates, Mike and Barbara Searing and Charley Stark found very inspirational and
relevant to our faith.
Friday, October 17:Morning worship, followed by keynote speaker, Van Jones.
Join three thousand UUs as we worship and are given our marching orders by this dynamic
social leader, activist and writer. Consider his proposal to jump-start the American economy
using a combination of Greening the Economy, partly by using young city youth as our work
force.
Coming in future months:
• The dynamic closing service of the prior year’s GA,
• Two energetic and spot-on Youth Services and bridging Ceremonies,
• Music from the Portland, OR choir,
• More morning worship,
• Closing ceremonies
“Movies with a Message”
When: 2nd Fridays, 7:00 PM
Where: Founders House Conference Room
Registration Required? no; drop-ins welcome
Leader: Keith Dupree
Our Spiritual Circle Cinema presentations will be held on the second Friday of the month this
year. Our objective is to provide an opportunity to view a movie of substance in a living room
setting, and an opportunity to discuss it with friends. All are welcome. Pizza (Vegi) is provided
for those who wish to chip in. Bring your own beverage. Popcorn optional!
October: Our feature presentation for October is Guarding Eddy. This touching film is based on
the true story of 18-year-old Eddy Patterson, an autistic sports fanatic, who dreams of playing pro
basketball. We will begin our evening with a selected short, Feathers to the Sky. In Uruguay, a
young girl yearns for an education but is forced to sell “feathers” (dyed marsh weeds) to support
herself and her disabled grandfather. One kindly person reaches out to her and changes her life
with an idea. Beautiful and gentle, this film has its own message of hope.
“UUCD Conversations” (formerly the Nonfiction Book Club)
When: 2nd Thursdays, 7:30 – 9:30 PM
Where: Founders House Conference Room
Registration Required? no; drop-ins welcome
Leader: Bruce Buzby
The “UUCD Conversations” group is organized to explore, through conversation, issues of interest to
the group members. Books recently published are chosen to stimulate and support discussions but
reading is not mandatory to enjoy the gathering. Some recently discussed issues relate to Ethics,
Brain Function Research, Evolution, God, Iraq, Islamic Culture, Civil Strife, History, Science and
Religion, DNA Research, Women’s Liberation, Military Industrial Threat, China,Nation Building,
Economics, Science, Art, etc.
October 9, 2008 - Topic: Battle of Faiths.
Facilitator: Rev. Sue Spencer.
Source: I Don’t Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges, 2008
Hedges shatters the new atheists' assault against religion in Amerca, and in
doing so, makes way for new, moderate voices to join the debate. This is a book that
must be read to understand the state of the battle about faith.
November 13, 2008 - Topic: History of Language.
Facilitator: Bruce Buzby.
Source: “The Horse, the Wheel, and Language” by David W. Anthony, 2007
A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony's book is a
fascinating look into the origins of modern man.
December 11, 2008 - Topic: History of Liberalism.
Facilitator: to be determined.
Source: “The Conscience of a Liberal” by Paul Krugman, 2007
Paul Krugman, today's most widely read economist, studies the past eighty years
of American history, from the reforms that tamed the harsh inequality of the Gilded Age
to the unraveling of that achievement and the reemergence of immense economic and
political inequality since the 1970’s.