Programs for the Year 2001
Jan. 7 - Times of Inherent Excellence: The burning bushes along the UU way. - Rev. Ron Green
When was the last time you had a "burning bush" , or, "Peak " experience? When did you last feel you were standing on Holy Ground? There are many Burning Bushes along the UU way, as the narratives of Thoreau, Sarton, Fuller and others illustrate. These moments of revelation and transcendence are still open to us all.Jan. 14 - Walking the Sacred Labyrinth - Marietta Loehrlein
Some call it a meditation tool, others a means of healing; the labyrinth is many things and the experience of walking one can be a sacred experience. Labyrinths are usually in the form of a circle, a powerful metaphor for the totality of the Self. The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress says, "The labyrinth is a sacred place and can give us firsthand experience of the Divine."Jan. 21 - Bowling Alone - Rev. Ron Green
Robert Putnam, author of the controversial book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, worries about a breakdown of connectedness in our communities and a lack of civic engagement. His basic thesis is this: "For the first two-thirds of the 20th century a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago - silently, without warning - that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current. Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities over the last third of the (20th) century." This Sunday I will share parts of his thesis with you. His book was the subject of our Spiritual reading group's first discussion.Jan. 28 - Mystics, Saints, and You - Marietta Loehrlein
We have heard the term mystic, and we know there are people throughout history who claim to have had a "mystical experience". But what does it mean to have a mystical experience? What is a mystic? Can anyone have a mystical experience?Feb. 4 - Is Faster Better? A Theology Of Pace - Rev. Ron Green
Human addiction to speed is nothing new. Psalm 19 celebrates "a strong man (who) runs the course with joy. " Isaiah points to those who "shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint ." Jeremiah admonishes us in these words: "if you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" Paul in his letter to the Corinthians asks: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may attain it." And, finally, hear again the Apostle Paul: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." Are you tired yet? Come this Sunday and consider the pace of your life.Feb. 11 - Reflections on the Art of Living - Earl Godt
A guide on how to "live in the sacred". A Joseph Campbell companion book by Karen OsborneFeb. 18 - Is Sex Bad for Us? - Rev. Ron Green
It all began in the garden of Eden - this notion that human sexuality has been tainted from the beginning - that sex is bad for us. According to the Genesis story, when Adam and Eve saw themselves naked, they "were not ashamed" - at first. But when they ate the forbidden apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they instinctively knew God would be angry, and so they hid themselves. When St. Augustine of Hippo got hold of this story he transformed it into the concept of original sin - linking Adam and eve's rebellion against God with their sexuality. "For lust is a usurper," he wrote, "defying the power of the will and playing the tyrant with man's sexual organs."Feb. 25 - to be announced
Mar. 4 - Desperately Seeking Solitude - Rev. Ron Green
The poet of urban life, Carl Sandburg, talked about solitude: "Only those who learn how to live with solitude can come to know themselves and life. I go out there and walk and look at the trees and the sky. I listen. I sit on a rock or stump and say to myself, "Who are you Sandburg? Where have you been, and where are you going?'" Those are questions which we neglect at our peril. Unitarian Universalist May Sarton celebrates solitude in her 'Journal of a Solitude'. Together, let us consider our needs for aloneness.
Mar. 11 - Angmo - Leigh Horsley
Singapore: The grand experiment.Mar. 18 - Are we more than what we do? - Rev. Ron Green
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of
meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk
looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
From: Oriah Mountain DreamerMar. 25 - Special Presentation by the Women and Religion Committee of the Central MidWest District.
Apr. 1 - Our Church As Duct Tape Of the Spirit: Reflections Of a Wounded Healer - Rev. Ron Green
Apr. 8 - Memories of Israel - Melanie and Larry Rawlins
A discussion of their recent trip to the Holy LandApr. 15 - The Gospel According to Jesus - Rev. Ron Green
We have the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and now Thomas, people who never knew Jesus, each writing from his own perspective, each with a not-so-hidden agenda, but what about the gospel - the good news - according to Jesus himself? What I will present is a mix of the historically accurate, the actual words of Jesus according to the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars who seek the historical Jesus; the intriguing work of Norman Mailer in The Gospel According to the Son, which tells the story in the first person singular; and The Gospel According to Jesus, a poetic translation by Stephen Mitchell. The story begins: "I was of the peasant class, son of a carpenter, Joseph of Nazareth. Those stories of my birth are quite beautiful, except it didn't happen that way. Matthew and Luke had my birth in Bethlehem to make me a descendent of King David, but it was not so - Nazareth was my home..."Apr. 22 - Celebrating Earth Day through a discussion of Simplicity - Karen Mauldin-Curtis and John Curtis
Apr. 29 - Pledge Sunday: Chocolate Candy for the Soul - Rev. Ron Green
What is the church, but a place where we connect with those who share a vision of life with us and help us realise it? What is the church but a point of contact - with the Ultimate however we name it - and with those proximate people with whom we make the religious journey? It can be lonely out there in the world. We seek to overcome the isolation with beloved community. How important is that community to you?May 6 - Chocolate Candy for the Soul - Rev. Ron Green
What is the church, but a place where we connect with those who share a vision of life with us and help us realise it? What is the church but a point of contact - with the Ultimate however we name it - and with those proximate people with whom we make the religious journey? It can be lonely out there in the world. We seek to overcome the isolation with beloved community. How important is that community to you?May 13 - Children's Service
We will celebrate our children, Religious Education classes, and mothers with music, presentations and more. Special recognition will be given to our graduating seniors.May 20 - Antoinette Brown Blackwell and Other Early Women Pastors - Rev Ron Green
Women have had to fight for the right to speak in churches, and for their ordination in ministry. In this sermon I will discuss the "Strangers and Pilgrims", early women preachers from 1750 to 1850. Also, the first woman ordained in the U.S., Antoinette Brown Blackwell, who eventually became a Unitarian pastor. I will close with two moving accounts from women presently in the ministry, and the struggles they faced to gain respect in their profession.May 27 - Nurturing Love - John Curtis and Karen Malden-Curtis June 3 - Flower Communion - Ron Green
June 10 - No service
June 17 - Fathers' Day brunch at a member's home. Details will be announced in church.
June 24 - No service
July 1 - Carol Lynn in Her Own Words
A videotape about cerebral palsyJuly 8 - No service
July 15 - The Primal Mind: Vision and Reality in Indian America
A videotape comparing Western and Native American cultures, featuring Jamake Highwater.July 22 - No service
July 29 - The Drums of Winter
A videotape about the use of ceremonial dance to preserve tradition in an Eskimo village.August 5 - No service
August 12 - Healing and the Mind: The Mystery of Chi
A videotape featuring Bill Moyers that investigates the mind-body connection.August 19 - "Ingathering, Water Service" - Rev. Ron Green
Regular services will begin with Rev. Ron Green giving our "returning home" service. Bring water to share from your travels this summer.August 26 - The Historical and Spiritual Essence of Belly Dancing - Anne Lobdell
September 2 - "What is prayer? Can it be useful in our spiritual lives?" - Mari Loehrlein
September 9 - A report on the UU General Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio this past June - Rev. Ron Green
Eyewitness accounts of our larger church, alive and very well.September 16 - "I Have An Alibi!" - Dr. Elizabeth Korte
Medical/Legal/Ethical issues in the practice of medicine today.September 23 - A Service of Hope and Remembrance - Rev. Ron Green
A tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks. Originally written and presented by the Rev.Axel H. Gehrmann at the Champaign/Urbana UU Church.September 30 - Touchy Subjects - Melanie and Larry Rawlins
People's need for physical contact is called "skin hunger" by psychologist Jessie Potter in her videotape, "The Touch Film". We will explore her ideas concerning this very human trait.October 7 Keeping the World in Balance: the Shamanistic World View - Beth Higgs
To believers in shamanism, all things in nature have souls and the goal of life is to live in balance with the world. Shamans are mediators between the physical and spiritual, restoring balance when it is thrown off. We will look at the origins of shamanism, how people's homes reflect its view, and what kinds of rituals shamans perform.October 14 A Universalist Theology for the 21st Century - Rev. Ron Green
"Theology is a human construct. It begins with the miracle of our own existence. If awe and humility are the principal handmaidens of Universalism, beyond all other distinction birth and death remain the sacraments that unite us in a shared mystery." - Forrest ChurchOctober 21 Ishmael: Adventures of the Mind and Spirit - Dr. JoAnne Darlington, PhD
Ishmael, by Danel Quinn, is the story of a desperate young man in search of a teacher. The teacher he finds in a lowland gorilla, who, being a member of a species entirely different form ours, has an entirely different vision of our history and our role in the universe.October 28 Living Wabi-Sabi Lives - Rev. Ron Green
Wabi and Sabi are dual qualities upon which Japanese aesthetics and philosophy are based. Wabi, austere and humble, is a paring down to the essentials. Sabi, solitary and enduring, is an understanding of ideals. Together they create a timeless aura of unpretentious but refined simplicity.November 4 - Economic Globalization - Rev. Ron Green
The global economy brings a disconnection between those who enjoy its benefits and those who pay the costs of pollution, exploitation, destruction of natural resources, widening income disparities, and decline in small businesses and family farms. This is this year's study/action issue for UU's.November 11 - Forrest Robinson reads his own poetry - Forrest Robinson
November 18 - Looking Back: A Joy and a Concern - Copeland Whitehead
A program from a "Golden Age": Matters political and moral as we leave the twentieth centuryNovember 25 - Gluttony - Rev. Ron Green
Coyote vowed to give up eating lambs to show his saintliness. This went well until he saw fat little lambs scamper by. "That stupid vow," he whined. "Everywhere I look there are tasty-looking little lambs. I think I'll seize them and just call them...salmon. No one will care if I eat fish. Mmmm, how very good these salmon taste, for I can eat them and still keep my vow not to eat lambs."December 2 - A presentation by the WIU Bisexual Gay Lesbian Friends Association
December 9 - Avarice - Rev. Ron Green
We don't think of ourselves as greedy. But we can still find within ourselves the more subtle hungers of discontent. Our struggle with avarice lies in how we respond to those discontents. What shall we do with our loneliness, our restlessness, our nostalgia, our need for spiritual depth?December 16 - "The Thunder, Perfect Mind" - William Smith
The Nag Hammadi codices are ancient esoteric Christian texts suppressed by the early Church because of their deviant nature from the orthodoxy the Church was seeking to establish at the time.December 23 - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Rev. Ron Green
A festival of Christmas carols and hymns, and the stories of their origins. There will also be a special Christmas story for the children. Come and sing along with us.December 24 (Monday) - Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7:00 P.M.
December 30 - The Red Balloon - Jan Mathers
For a change of pace after Christmas and as we look toward the New Year, we will view a short French film, "The Red Balloon". This is a famous and award winning children's video with lessons for adults as well. It is beautiful to watch and speaks to the subject of hope.