Adult Spiritual Development

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USG offers an eclectic selection of courses each semester to provide participants the opportunity to explore our spirituality and develop community. Some courses explore our UU heritage and values; others involve a much broader and sometimes untraditional approach. Courses may be experiential or more didactic. Generally they may include anything that is intended to deepen the participants' knowledge and understanding of our UU foundations, or connection to our deeper selves, the greater world, or the essential mystery of life.

Winter 2012 Courses

Genesis
Dates:  SIX Wednesdays, 1/25, 2/8, 2/22, 3/7, 3/21, 4/4 
Time:   7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Charge:  $10 USG members;  $15 visitors
Picture this: creation, temptation, murder, exile and family strife are the themes to jump out of the pages of Genesis, the most lusty book in the canon. Join beloved leader, Charles Gabriel, in this facilitated discussion of Genesis through a Unitarian Universalist perspective.   Together we will explore the Pentateuch, Christian Bible and the Quran as source materials and delve into the literary mystery of "In the beginning..."

Leader:  Charles Gabriel, a (former) member of the USG Board of Trustees, was raised in the Catholic Church, wandered aimlessly through a 35 year period of atheism and finally developed a spiritual center to his life through the gift of his step-son's drug addiction. Charles has preached before the congregation on several occasions and this is his first offering of an adult RE program.

Mindfulness Training with David Zeitler, M.A.
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2pm to 5pm 
This three-hour workshop represents the first set of mindfulness-based practices in the creation of a  "mindfulness map." This map helps participants to understand why the changes that they have been trying to make in their lives are so difficult to achieve. Research consistently shows that this is because there are two types of goals: technical and adaptive. The difference between "technical" goals that are readily achieved and "adaptive" goals that are almost impossible to achieve lies at the heart of mindfulness-based transformation, and it can be powerful for people to realize the goals that "have them" as distinct from the goals that they "have for themselves."

Participants will be thoroughly engaged throughout the workshop: led through qigong breathing exercises, visualization meditations, and self-reflection processes. What participants will get at the end is a map of their transformation possibilites. Built from the ground-up, this map identifies and makes sense of commitments grounded in the past, the future, and most importantly, the present moment.

The following is an outline of the workshop:
1) Qigong Breathing Opener 
2) Mindfulness Visualization I Our Ideal Self
3) Self-Reflection Exercise I Our Real Self
4) Mindfulness Visualization II Self Revelation
5) Mindfulness Visualization III Value Assumptions
6) Self Reflection Exercise II Change Amplifier
7) Qigong Breathing Closer
Fee: $10 for Members, $15 for Non-Members

Adventure in Belief:  Constructing a Compelling Faith 
Dates: Wednesdays, February 22 through March 28 , 7 to 9pm 
Have you heard that Unitarian Universalism is a faith of deeds not creeds?  It's true that as a faith tradition we have no problem getting into the "doing" but what about the believing? As a Unitarian Universalist, is it okay to believe whatever we want? Do UU's all believe the same thing? What about heaven and hell? Good vs. evil?  

Adventure in Belief is an opportunity to come together to craft your own personal statements of faith. Your answers to the tough questions about religion and Unitarian Universalism may surprise you.  
Leader: Erick DuPree, Consulting Director of Faith Development
Fee: $10 for Members, $15 for Non-Members

Hungry for Change: Food Policy & Personal Empowerment
Wednesdays: 2/1, 2/22, 3/7, 3/28, 4/4, 4/25, 5/2
7:15 - 9:00 pm   
Next (and new) from the Northwest Earth Institute Discussion series, Hungry for Change is a following up to Menu for the Future. MFF was run a second time this fall by popular demand.

The 1st meeting was on Wednesday January 25, we will meet 1st and 4th Wednesdays from February 1 until May 2 just in time for farmers markets to open. Cost: $25 for your course guide. Contact: Anaiis Salles, 267-325-6869 greensanctuary@usguu.org