Serving with Grace Book Discussion

Led by Deb Combs

From Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice: If spirituality is anything, it is everything. Those who think about their spiritual lives as somehow separate and distinct from the rest of their lives don’t yet understand that spirituality is about wholeness. (The word “whole” shares linguistic and philosophical roots with the word “holy.”) There is no separate spiritual sphere. To the woman or man who is living in the spirit, there is nothing but spirit..

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm in the Library

Wednesday, October 4.

UU History and Video Discussion

Moderated by Mike Johnson

Join Mike on a 2000 year journey through the histories of Unitarianism, Universalism and the Modern World.  We will discuss topics from Nicaea to Walden.  Each session will involve 30 minutes of video from the History of Unitarian Universalism series, followed by 30 minutes of discussion.

12:30 – 1:30 in the Chapel

Sundays: Sept 3, Sept 10, Sept 17, Oct 1, Oct 15, Oct 22, Oct 29

Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and the Sanctuary Movement 

St. John’s UU congregation is a member of the Sanctuary Coalition of Cincinnati, following Board action last April.  Sanctuary activity naturally opens the door to civil disobedience, non-cooperation or passive resistance.  This is because persons in the sanctuary movement believe that upholding human rights or justice requires us to oppose the Trump Administration’s enforcement of current immigration legislation.

Civil disobedience is a familiar topic to UUs who count Henry David Thoreau as a source of inspiration, or UUs who have been active in similar activities in recent decades.  Thoreau was a demanding critic of American society in his own time; and he provides one, though not the only model for critical reflection in our time.  We will focus on Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” with reference to other prose and poetry, when that aids our understanding.  We will also become familiar with the UUA “Sanctuary Toolkit.”  Persons unfamiliar with Thoreau may find this a good opportunity to begin reading his prose and poetry; and long-time readers of Thoreau are invited to contribute their insights.
7 to 8:30 PM in the Library

Thursday evenings, October 26, November 02 & 09, 2017

Centering:  Navigating Race, Authenticity and Power in Ministry

Lead by Rev Mitra Jafarzadeh and Carol Fencl

Chosen by the UUA Bookstore as one of this year’s Common Reads, this class will discuss Centering, the first book to center the stories, analysis, and insight of UUs of color offering their religious leadership.

7-8:30 pm

Tuesday nights, Nov. 7 and 14

How to be an LGBT Ally

Are you interested in being a better ally to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or belong to some other minority (such as intersex and asexual)? Then come to the LGBT Ally Training workshop at St. John’s. Bring your own brown-bag lunch. This workshop will be facilitated by a group from Heritage UU church who have developed and presented this curriculum several times. For more information, talk with Carol Fencl.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, November 18, 2017