Fall 2025 Faith Development Offerings

August 6, 2025

2025 Fall Flyer available here

New this Fall ~ for youth and adults

Dates & times for each offering are listed in the flyer linked above.

Transgender Inclusion in Congregations: This 6-session course is geared toward people from generally LGBTQIA+-welcoming congregations who want to deepen their understanding of gender and transgender identities and are invested in creating truly trans-affirming faith communities. Each session includes an online lecture by instructors from the organization Transforming Hearts, followed by discussion. At the end of this course, we will have a number of practices, frameworks, and tools to help create an action plan for being radically welcoming to trans/non-binary people in our congregation.
Living Well: Living Well is the new name for the Blue Zones discussion group, which meets monthly in Atherton Hall. We will continue to explore the concept of a blue zone through discussion of broader questions concerning our physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual lives. What does it mean to live well? How do we live well? Explore these and other questions of health and wellbeing. Living Well will meet on Sept. 17 to begin discussing the book The Art and Science of Connection by Kasley Killam. The author explores the role of human connection in health.
Spiritual Sampler: Find What Feeds You. Discover what nourishes your soul. Building a spiritual habit doesn’t have to be perfect—just practiced. Learn about different spiritual practices and try out ways to center, reflect, move, or be still. No pressure. Just practice. Find your own rhythm with spiritual practice—no special equipment or enlightenment required. This class is a light-hearted, welcoming exploration of spiritual practices from a variety of traditions—some still, some active, some creative. Come taste and see. You might just find your own soul-satisfying ritual. Registration deadline for this class is 9/10.
Telling Our Stories: Come and join this group of mature adults as we utilize a variety of materials as food for discussion about our lives today, aging, encounters with loss, grief, and end of life issues in a supportive and caring environment. We will share our stories and explore legacy writing. We will begin our group using Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, which can be found at your local library, Amazon, or various other booksellers. We will also utilize the book Who Will Take Care of Me When I Am Old? as well as several speakers who will talk about aging, grief, and dying.
Just Eating: This curriculum from Faith in Place explores the relationship between our food and our spiritual life. As UUs, we share the value of Interdependence and the Seventh Principle. These speak to the moral imperative to live justly among those with whom we share the Earth, and to protect the Earth for future generations. This class explores the question: How are we to live out these imperatives when we sit at the table? We will explore this question in four hour-long sessions: Healthy Body, Healthy Community, Healthy Planet, and Healthy Spirit.
UU Elevator Speech: Need a way to quickly and succinctly describe where you go on Sunday morning for your spiritual participation or when someone says, “Never heard of Unitarian Universalists, what is it?” Join this 1-hour class that meets 3 consecutive Tuesdays at 7 pm. Excellent especially for newer UUs and also good for members who would like to buff up their explanations. Interactive participation will encourage confidence in responding to curiosities and questions.
UU Theology: This is an introduction to theological concepts through a Unitarian Universalist lens. Each session addresses the question: What does our Unitarian Universalist tradition teach about this theological concept, and how does that help me clarify and act on my own beliefs? We will discuss questions such as: What are God and Spirit? What is our purpose? Who are we? What are our sources? and What saves us? This series is more than an intellectual discussion of theology. While the goal is for participants to understand the concepts, the larger purpose is to help participants connect the concept with their lived reality or to put theology into action.
Biblical Literacy for UUs: The Bible has been used to inspire movements for liberation and to legitimize horrific injustices. How do we, as liberal seekers, skeptics, and UUs, understand it? This course will explore the Bible in historical context and reflect on some of its stories from a UU perspective. Participants who took the course in 2023 said: “Eye opening!” “Intellectual rigor.” “It made the Bible less scary.” “The best thing was the group discussions about interpreting Bible passages.” More classes to follow in the spring.
Tai Chi is an ancient practice which enhances health, concentration, and wellbeing. It can be practiced by people of all ages, sizes, shapes, and abilities. This class will focus on short movement sequences which will increase flexibility, strength, and balance. This class is open to beginners and to those with prior experience. This class will be based on the modified Yang style of tai chi as taught by Master Moy Lin Shin. Melanie Terbovic will be your instructor and will meet Mondays, October 27 through December 15 from 6-7 pm.
Finding Joy in Everyday Moments: As we move into the quiet stillness of December, join us for a soul-nourishing 90-minute workshop focused on mindfulness, gratitude, and the simple joys of everyday life. Using a reflective workbook created by Mari Van Meter, we’ll explore simple practices to help us reconnect with what truly matters. Come as you are—leave feeling lighter, more present, and uplifted.
Building the World We Dream About: A 90-minute Journey toward Racial Justice: Early 2026 brings a brand-new anti-racism workshop especially for our UU community led by Mari Van Meter. Blending UU spirituality with hands-on exercises the workshop peels back the layers of systemic racism, implicit bias, and privilege that shape our daily lives. Expect energizing activities, brave conversation, and take-home tools that deepen our shared covenant and help to widen the circle of belonging. This workshop is open to everyone 14+ (youth should attend with a parent/guardian).

Register by August 15 for Soul Matters/Creativity Matters to begin in September

Soul Matters & Creativity Matters is an opportunity to get to know a small group of fellow Countrysiders well, using exercises and readings focused on a monthly theme. Groups meet monthly virtually or in person starting in September and running through June. Again this year, in addition to the typical Soul Matters curriculum, we are also offering Creativity Matters, which engages participants in the theme through artistic expression – no technical expertise or honed artistic skill required!

Regularly Occurring Groups

In addition to the above opportunities, all are welcome to participate in the following groups; registration is not needed. See the Focus and E-news for details.

Atheist, Humanist, Agnostic (AHA) Discussion, 2nd Tuesdays at 7 pm
Book Circle (Sunday eves, approx. every 6 wks)
Buddhist Study Group (2nd Sunday, 11:30 am)
Earth Rhythms Drum Circle (quarterly on the 2nd Friday at 7 pm – next meeting in Oct 2024)
Feminine Divine (last Saturday, 9:30 am)
Fiction Lovers Book Group (1st Weds at 1 pm)
Green Sanctuary (2nd Sun, 11:30 am)
Haiku Workshop (3rd Thurs, 10 am)
Journaling Circle (1st Thurs, 10 am)
Last Mondays Book Group (Last Mon, 7 pm)
Open Forum Discussion (Sundays, 9 am)
Reading Roundtable (2nd Weds, 10 am)
Soul Connections/Creativity Matters groups (varies, monthly)
Transitions (10 am on the 4th Thurs, in Nov & Dec: 3rd Thurs)