Nonviolent Communication

Simply put, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a way of relating to ourselves and others, moment to moment, free of past reactions. By learning to identify your needs and express them powerfully, as well as to bring understanding to the needs of others, you can stay connected to what is alive in you and create a life that is more fulfilling.

Nonviolent Communication study and practice group will be held Sundays March-May, 2010. We'll meet 7-8:30 p.m. in the Founder's Room. Books are strongly recommended, including Nonviolent Communication: A Language Of Life by Marshall Rosenberg and the Nonviolent Communication Companion Workbook by Lucy Leu and can be purchased through www.cnvc.org/en/bookstore/cnvc-store-printed-items or your favorite used-book seller.

The group is welcome to all, whether this is new to you or you have been practicing NVC for some time. I am looking forward to improving my own skills as well as sharing this very helpful tool with others. If you would like to participate, contact the fellowship office.

Anyone is welcome to attend at any time. Please contact Margaret Michal via for more information.

For more information, send an email to mvuuf-Women@yahoogroups.com or contact Joan Albrecht.

The Adult Religious Education Committee is thrilled to offer you a broad range of class opportunities for fall of 2009 for personal and spiritual growth and development. Please consider the following and let the facilitator know that you are interested. Registration and/or commitment is not required, but it will help to know so that we can be prepared. Meeting rooms will be determined when we have an idea of how many attendees we will have and, in some cases, we need to know how many books to order. If you have questions, please see one of us or the facilitator listed.

Genevieve Harvey, LRE Rep and Margaret Michal, A.R.E. Chair

Articulating Your UU Faith

Don't be stingy with your faith" Many people are looking for what you've found in Unitarian Universalism. Not letting them in on the secret is a form of stinginess.

Unitarian Universalism saves lives, and I mean that literally. There are people right now who are alone and hungering for a place where they will be accepted for who they are. Not letting them in on the secret is a form of stinginess.

It is so easy to take a few minutes to figure out what you are going to say the next time someone asks you what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist. You might paraphrase Erica Alston, whose words appear in Articulating Your UU Faith, and say, �It�s a free-thinking liberal religion that is guided by shared values rather than a particular dogma or creed. This lets individuals claim their personal beliefs based on conscience and experience. At its core, Unitarian Universalism places an emphasis on the worth and value of every person and the interconnectedness of all things. UUs are encouraged to give life to their values, demonstrating compassion, respect, and justice, working together to make the world a better place to pass along to our children.� By John Gibb Millspaugh UU World Summer 2007

Articulating Your UU Faith is a curriculum designed to help Unitarian Universalists (UUs) explain their faith to non-UUs, written by Revs. Barbara Wells and Jaco ten Hove. The booklet Articulating Your UU Faith: A Five-Session Course is available through the UUA website and has many valuable readings. *NOTE: If you have a book from this class you are willing to share, please let Amy know.

Amy Russell will lead this group on Tuesdays, Oct. 19 - Nov. 24th.

The Prophetic Imperative

Beginning on Tuesday evening, September 15, MVUUF will offer an adult RE social justice course based on the book The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice, Second Edition by Rev. Richard S Gilbert. Led by Bob Lewis, the five-session course will provide a fresh and much-needed look at the role of social justice work in our churches, exploring the connections between spirituality and social action and offering a historical review of our justice-making efforts. In the preface to his book, Gilbert says:

This is not a how-to-save-the-world book, but a challenge to mind and conscience in the context of a church community. We have perhaps learned that true fulfillment has to do with both personal meaning and social responsibility. The two do not compete; they reinforce one another. We are in the process of learning that church social action is not a small band of marginal activists in the church decrying church inaction or seeking to represent the whole church. Rather, it is a congregational process of coming to terms with the mission of the religious community in a society that sometimes confuses the separation of church and state with the divorce of religion and public policy. This is a good place to be�within the continuing tension of piety and prophecy, spirituality and society, individual and community. It is through this tension that we will work out our common destiny. As we face a very "unbrave new world," it is imperative that Unitarian Universalists take seriously the prophetic tradition that has been so central to our history and faith.

A born Universalist, Rev. Gilbert brings over forty years of experience in parish ministry to the task of relating the church to the world. The price of the book is $18 and is required reading for the course. Bob is willing to order the books for you if you let him know you need it by August 30.

This study will be offered by Bob Lewis on Tuesdays, September 15 - October 13.

Emerson

One of the most famous public speakers of his day, Ralph Waldo Emerson drew all sorts of listeners. A scrubwoman who went to his lyceum lectures is reported to have said that she didn't really understand him, "but I like to go and see him stand up there and look as though he thought everyone else is as good as he is." A version of this story appears in most Emerson biographies. Sometimes it is a workman or farmer who braves a snowstorm to hear Emerson talk and explains his devotion by saying, "We don't know what he said, but we're sure he's giving us the best there is." As Wesley Mott, the founder and president of the Emerson Society, puts it: "People went away tremendously uplifted � and had no idea what they just heard."

Two hundred years after his birth on May 25, 1803, Emerson is recognized as the architect of American intellectual culture. School syllabi swell with his works and most Americans assume some familiarity with his thought. Aphorisms such as "hitch your wagon to a star," "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," or "trust thyself" pervade the American mind, although some people may not know that Emerson coined them.

Emerson is also "the most recognized and revered figure in the Unitarian movement," proclaims the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. His advice to greenhorn ministers in 1838 still inspires those who climb the pulpit stairs today: "The true preacher can be known by this, that he deals out to the people his life � life passed through the fire of thought." From Emerson's Mirror, By Richard Higgins, UU World March/April 2003

Recommended Book: The Portable Emerson published by Viking

Jim Guthrie is a long time, much loved and respected, yet seldom seen member of MVUUF. He is a Professor at WSU who likes to teach about transcendentalists and does his best to make it fun. We are thrilled that he is putting this program together for us! Keep your eyes open for details this fall for this November class.

Have another idea?

Lifespan Religious Education Representative: Genevieve Harvey 436-3473

See MVUUF Policies for more information about Interest and Adult Religious Education Classes, sections 8.17 and 8.18.

The secret rutabaga!