Learning and exploration are about the transformation of the individual, our community, and the larger society. Participation helps us grow in wisdom, compassion, and ethical living. See below for our May activities, programs, and workshops for adults.
To contact the facilitator in regard to any offering, you may email AdultRE@UUSM.org with the title of the group in the subject line. Your email will be forwarded. Please note that currently, all offerings are facilitated through Zoom. Contact Teri Lucas for more information and the link to the Zoom meeting.
Do you have a passion or an expertise? Are you a chef or a gardener, a historian or an actor? Would you like to offer some help, support, or some frivolity to our UU community via Zoom? We’re seeking programming that is fun, informative, and engaging. Please let us know if there’s something you’d like to offer and the Adult RE Committee will help you to do it. Email the Adult RE Committee (AdultRE@UUSM.org) or Teri Lucas (uusmREassist@uusm.org) and we can work with you on presenting your ideas.
Special Offering for May:
Leadership Training with Kikanza Nuri-Robins Tuesday May 4, Wednesday May 12
Great leadership is like playing jazz—you adapt your response to the theme (your vision) to the people who are playing with you, and to your audience. In this workshop series, you will learn to respond to the people you are leading by using your skills, gifts and talents in new ways. Each 90-minute session will focus on a different set of leadership tools. We will cover our thinking styles, our temperaments and our listening attitudes. As a result, participants may feel more ready and qualified to take on leadership in a variety of settings including UUCCSM. The group will meet between 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Contact: Kikanza Nuri-Robins.
Community Building Through Personal Development:
Nature Journaling – Sunday, May 16
Come and join us in observing, learning about, and enjoying nature. Whether you are spending some time outdoors or not stepping out your front door at all, you can still enjoy and appreciate nature. You are welcome to join even if you have no knowledge of nature, botany, drawing, or writing. Spring has arrived and flowers are everywhere. The Sunflower Family is big and (relatively) new evolved and differs from other flowers in many ways. Last month we examined the structure of more typical flowers. This month we will look at the more complicated structure of members of the sunflower family that includes dandelions, thistles, daisies and many, many more species. You don’t need any botanical skill or knowledge to participate. Just come with a flower from this massive family, pencil and paper (colored pencils are helpful) and a magnifying glass and we will explore the complex workings together. We will meet from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. Contact: Dorothy Steinicke.
Exploration of Ideas:
Science Non-Fiction Book Discussion Tuesday, May 18
We will discuss “Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past,” by David Reich. Now that geneticists are getting so much better at extracting DNA from ancient bones, it is much more possible to trace human migrations through the ages. This, along with anthropology, has allowed us to better understand our connections. All are welcome. We meet from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Contact: Rebecca Crawford, sci-nonfiction@uusm.org.
UU Men’s Group Thursdays, May 6, 20
The Men’s Group offers a special opportunity to the men of the congregation and other like-minded men to join our welcoming group in provocative and stimulating discussion and to get to know others with UU perspectives in a more meaningful way. The topic for Thursday, May 6 is: “Are you approaching a crossroads or a fork in the road in your life’s journey? If not, then keeping with the ‘road’ analogy, are you approaching a change in the pavement or the speed limit?” The topic for Thursday, May 20 is: “Great joke tellers are prized but seem to be few and far between. Have you known one or two especially talented ones? Do you have one or two good jokes that you can tell and do you remember where you heard them?” We meet the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7:30 pm via Zoom. For more information, contact Jim Rheinwald.
Meditations:
Open Meditation Mondays, May 10, 24, 31
We gather twice a month to sit together quietly for 20 minutes, to walk with gentle awareness for seven minutes, and to explore the integration of meditation with ordinary life through reading and sharing. Anyone who senses they would benefit from 20 minutes of silent, non-guided sitting is welcome to join us. We have found that this time of quiet meditation and shared exploration can be deeply nourishing – a time of simply “being” amidst all the “doing” of our lives. We meet from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Contacts: Bev Shoenberger or Carol Ring.
Open Meditation: Wellsprings All Wednesdays and Fridays
These are exceptional times. Taking this time for quiet meditation and sharing in the intimacy of having sat in silence together can help sustain and ground us during these difficult days. We trust each of you will use this group in the way that fits your needs. We listen to brief readings, sit together quietly for twenty minutes, journal, and share with each other what’s on our hearts. We simply sit together in our shared humanity. We call off the struggle to become other than we are. These are drop-in groups. You are welcome to join us when it feels right to you. If you come in late or need to leave early, just do so quietly. We meet every Wednesday and Friday afternoon from 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm online. Contact: Bev Shoenberger.
