The Mission of the Adult Religious Education Program is to nurture and stimulate the religious and personal growth of the adult church community. We offer a varied and cohesive program within the context of the living Unitarian Universalist tradition and principles.
We offer a range of classes of interest to adults on weekday evenings throughout the year. Each evening classes begin at 7 p.m. and end no later than 9 p.m. Our programs include our continuing meditation group and a variety of topical classes.
All classes begin at 7 p.m.
CHILDCARE is available for all classes
See "Class Descriptions" below for descriptions of all classes.
CURRENT CLASSES - SEPTEMBER
Monday Classes:
- Vipassana Meditation: Clifton Rule hosts a meditation class each Monday. A new cycle starting with a Beginner's class will resume on September 13, from 7 to 9 pm.
Wednesday Classes:
- Inner Journeys: This popular class is presented by church member Clyde Grauke. It will be held on the first and third Wednesdays starting September 1.
- What Went Wrong in the Middle East: This class is presented by church member Nancy Barlow and will meet on Wednesdays starting September 1.
- Yoga: Tracy Rosipal, our expert in yoga, is returning with yoga class on Wednesdays this fall. Classes start September 1.
Thursday Classes:
- Adventures in Religion: Don Fielding continues his class. It continues to meet on Thursdays. Class will take a break from September 23rd-October 14th, returning October 21.
- Finding the Voice Within: Learn the Native American Flute: Cornell Kinderknect brings back his popular interactive class. Classes meet on Thursdays starting September 9.
- Minds, Machines, and Free Will in the 20th Century: Church member Jay Dowling presents this class on Thursdays starting September 23rd.
To come: Juggling classes.
UPCOMING CLASSES - OCTOBER
Eyes on the Prize Part 2: Robert Jackson presents part two of this class starting on Wednesday October 13.
CLASS DESCRIPTIONS: (listed alphabetically)
Adventures in Religion
Community UU Church is initiating a new kind of Adult Religious Education (ARE) class. It will be called Adventures in Religion, and it will encompass multiple courses. The first set of classes will consist of Teaching Company courses: Skeptics and Believers, Comparative Religion, and Philosophy of Religion. One of the innovative portions of these ARE classes will be the fact that they will be divided into short sections, four to five weeks long, with breaks in between, which will allow participants to join and/or exit the classes depending on their interest. Of course, some may wish to participate in all of the classes.
Each class will have one video to stimulate discussion, and will explore the thoughts and feelings the videos stimulate with the hopes for better understanding the adventure that is religion in general and each participant's understanding of religion in particular. The discussions will be led by Rev. Don Fielding, a retired UU minister, a friend of Community UU Church, who also has experience teaching at the college level.
The classes will continue through the remainder of 2010, and could (if popular) continue through 2011 and 2012. The classes will be held on Thursday evenings; so make Thursday Adult RE a part of your regular week’s schedule. Not only will this be a lasting adventure in education, but a wonderful opportunity for socially connecting and engaging with the church’s members and friends as well.
Video/Discussion - THURSDAYS
Eyes on The Prize: Part 2
Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America.Eyes on the Prize, Part 2, covers the time period from 1964 to the mid-1980s. This series will start with Stokely Carmichael and Malcom X and move to the election of black mayors in large urban cities. It shows the movement changing from "Freedom Now" to "Black Power". This part of the course will have videos which address the Black Panther Party, the anti-Viet Nam War movement, the Poor People's Campaign of 1967-68, the assassination of Martin Luther King (1967-68 period), the evolution of Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali (1964-72), black activism, affirmative action, and the installation of Maynard Jackson as Atlanta's first black mayor (1974-1980 era) and Harold Washington as Chicago's first black mayor (1979-mid-80s).
The class concludes with discussions of the modern civil rights movement and its impact on other movements. See the links cited in this information. Come and join the discussions beginning Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Video/Discussion - WEDNESDAYS
Finding the Voice Within: Learn the Native American Flute
Cornell Kinderknecht will lead a four-session course on learning the Native American Flute. Classes will be Thursdays from 7:00-9:00pm September 9 - September 30, 2010 at the church. Find the music and the joy within yourself through the Native American flute. Go from the basics to creating your own music in this interactive class. The sessions will cover:
- Basic scale patterns and techniques
- Special effects and extended skills
- Creating your own music
- History and culture of the Native flute
- Previous experience is NOT required.
- Class fee is $95.
- A high-quality Native American flute will be available for purchase for $50. If you have an A-minor pentatonic Native American flute, you may use that.
- Advance registration is requested by September 3.
- View informational flier for more information and registration instructions.
Inner Journeys: Clyde Grauke
Clyde Grauke will lead an "Introduction to Inner Journeys" class, designed to help participants take their own inner journeys.
Clyde Grauke has been taking inner journeys involving interactive imagery since 1986. His “Introduction to Inner Journeys” class is designed to help participants successfully take their own inner journeys. The primary objective will be for them to grow and learn on the basis of their inner experiences. Participants will be provided with individualized assistance in exploring their own inner worlds, the opportunity for the sharing of their experiences with the other participants, and the opportunity to raise questions and receive assistance in areas where assistance is needed.
In addition to a link to his personal experiences that are available online in his on-going memoirs: The Middle World Chronicles, an annotated Bibliography of relevant books will also be provided for reference. (There is no required reading).
Participants are strongly suggested to bring pen and paper for the journaling of their experiences during class and to continue this process between classes. Individualized homework suggestions will be made at the end of each class.
Those who would find this course of most benefit are those with views that allow for the existence of transcendent, non-material realities, and/or who would like to contact and dialogue with their inner guides, totem animals, gods, goddesses, spiritual essence, Higher Power, or Higher Self. However conceptualized, the objective and intent is for participants to get in touch with positive, higher, more subtle, intuitive elements available to them to achieve personal and spiritual growth.
This course is offered on the first and third Wednesday of each month beginning on September 1st. Classes will meet from 7 to 9pm in classroom G (in the Annex). View the flier for more information.
Discussion - 1st and 3rd WEDNESDAYS
Juggling
Juggling classes are on hold until further notice. Watch this space for information.
Mark Rachel's Juggling Group, Sponsored by the Men's Fellowship, meets on Thursday evenings at 7 pm in the sanctuary.
Activity - THURSDAYS
Minds, Machines, and Free Will in the 20th Century: Jay Dowling
Philosophy Buffs - Here is your class! The course starts with the logical atomism of Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, considers logical positivism, and contrasts the views of the earlier and the later Wittgenstein. The second part if the course is focused on issues involving minds, brains, and machines, including the sense in which machines night have free will and a capacity for thought. A church member at Community UU Church, Professor Jay Dowling studied music and psychology at Northwestern and Harvard Universities, and has taught at UCLA, Cal State LA, and UTD. Classes will meet Thursdays from 7:00-9:00 pm at the church. There will be two sessions: September 23 and September 30. View the flier for more information. Discussion - THURSDAYS
Clifton says, "Vipassana means insight into the
nature of reality. It
is a way of self-transformation through self-observation and
introspection. Vipassana meditation is often referred to simply as
"insight meditation." This is the backbone of our studies in Meditation
on Monday nights. We invite you, as a beginner or as a practiced
meditator, to join us on our exploration. We view Buddhism not as a
religion but rather as learning the process of meditation to reduce the
suffering in our lives and in the world around us. We explore through
readings, dharma talks, questions and answers, group discussions and
meditation. Join us and explore this process as we all grow together." Meditation and Discussion - MONDAYS Nancy Barlow will lead a six-session course on the history of US foreign policy toward and involvement in the Middle East titled "What Went Wrong in the Middle East". Professor Nancy Barlow currently teaches Literature and History at Brookhaven College. Classes will be Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00pm starting September 1, 2010 at the church. View the flier for more information. Visuals and Discussion - WEDNESDAYS Tracy says, "In general, my yoga style is Hatha, which incorporates physical postures that work the body and, in turn, work the mind. A typical hour class flows as follows: breathing and warm up, sun salutations, twisting poses, a series of standing flowing poses, balancing postures, seated postures, stretches, and final relaxation. Each class offers various components of physical fitness, such as building muscular strength, increasing muscular endurance, improving cardiovascular endurance, increasing flexibility, and improving body composition. I present a range of levels in each class, offering options, such that members with varying amounts of yoga experience can feel successful. I also present modifications to accommodate participants that may have physical limitations. The benefits of yoga are numerous; these are a few: posture improves, mood and well-being increase, joint range of motion increases, energy level increases, strength improves, balance improves, blood pressure decreases, cardiovascular efficiency increases, respiratory efficiency increases, sleep quality improves, and memory and concentration improve. Yoga classes are non-competitive and accommodate all levels of physical fitness."
Attendance is strong and reviews are enthusiastic. Activity - WEDNESDAYSVipassana Meditation: Clifton Rule
What Went Wrong in the Middle East: Nancy Barlow
Yoga: Tracy Rosipal, Course Fee $5 per class
