Adult religious education at the First Unitarian Society of Chicago comes in many forms.  One group of activities is developed and sponsored by the Adult Religious Education Program Committee, and some are coordinated through other church groups.   All strive in some way to promote our ethical, spiritual, and faith development-our search for truth and meaning.   All offer opportunities to grow in awareness, and to share in the diversity of our membership and friends.

Writing and Speaking Ourselves into Being
Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman

We will be rolling out a series of four writer’s workshops. The purpose of this series of writer’s workshops is to provide a space for women at First Unitarian Church to flex their writer’s muscles and set and achieve writing goals. Whether your goal is to journal consistently, write for publication or explore particular genres to find your forte, this workshop series can provide the companions for your journey and a facilitator to coach you.

Schedule:  All classes will be held on Fridays 7-9 pm at First Unitarian Church of Chicago.

October 14 - Growing Up – Capturing memorable childhood experiences that have influenced who you are is an important foundation to finding your writers’ voice and laying the building blocks for your writing experiences. For this first class bring a writing that describes your childhood. What was it like to be a member of your family? Where did you live? Who were you accountable to? Describe yourself and who you were? Bring a picture of yourself.

November 4 – Growing up in the World as a Woman – Exploring the world in which you move and have your being as a woman is significant to claiming your writer’s voice and exploring your gender and its role in shaping who you are in the world. How much of this is a social construct and how much have you been able to push back and construct intentionally? This session helps provide the tools to explore this puzzle.

December 9 – My Life as a Unitarian Universalist Woman - Up to now we have explored some of the identities that you represent. A key one that we all share is Unitarian Universalism. This common identity will be explored asking some of the following questions: what attracted you to UUism? What has kept you UUism?  What challenges have you experienced as a UU woman? How have you been influenced by UUism? How has UUism shaped you? What is the story that we tell ourselves about black and white UU women? What do you want to change about that story? Who gets to write and tell the story?

January 13 – Naming Our Hopes and Dreams for 2012 – It is that time and place to step boldly into the new year with a plan. What is your plan? What do you hope to leave behind and what do you want to consciously carry forward into the new year? Bring your magazines, newspapers and of course your written assignment! I will bring the paste, scissors and paper to make treasure maps that create a visual image of what we want to claim for ourselves for the new year! We will have fun sharing our adventures for the year!

The Holocaust and other Genocides; Could it Happen Here?
Instructors:  CPT George I. Kagan, USAR, Vietnam Era Veteran (medic)
Ed Loomis, M. Div., World War II history buff

The class will explore the Holocaust and other Genocides through lecture, discussion and other media. The class will examine and compare the political and economic situation in Germany in the 1930's with the present political and economic situation in the United States and how such situations may lead to Fascism, genocide and holocaust. Particular emphasis will be on how to identify, prevent and resist genocide and holocaust in the modern world.

Classes will meet at First Church on Fridays from 7-9pm beginning on October 14. The dates of the rest of the sessions will be determined at the first class session

The One and the Many:
First Unitarian's Spiritual Pluralism Project

These four ongoing groups meet independently for spiritual practice, study, discussion, and deepening of understanding within their religious orientation. Occasional dialogue between groups and inter-group sharing is also part of the project. Check with group leaders for times and current details.

The UU Buddhist Group explores ways that Buddhist teachings can inform our UU faith, and practices meditation techniques to help deepen spiritual lives.
Contact: Irene Vitullo or Dennis Koehn.

The UU Christian Group explores the ways that Christian teachings can enrich our UU faith. The group practices through prayer, Bible reading, and observation of some sacred days on the Christian calendar.
Contact: Pheiffer Browne or Finley Campbell.

The UU Earth-Based Spirituality Group explores a spirituality rooted in experiences of the connection and interdependence of all life. There is time for discussion, reflection, experience, learning, creating ritual, and sharing stories from many earth-based traditions.
Contact: Cheryl Wegner or Rev. Dr. Nina D. Grey

The UU Humanist Group explores non-theistic approaches to meaning, ethics, and spirituality;  and the implications of these ideas to our understanding of religion, our relation to our own UU faith, and as a guide to how we go about living our lives.
Contact: Allen Harden