July 2
Worship Leader: Rev. Nina D. Grey

Kindred In All Else:
A Contemplation of Walls

A reading from our hymnal Singing the Living Tradition, "Strange and Foolish Walls," by A. Powell Davies, reminds us that we are kin and laments the power of some kinds of walls to separate us from one another. On this Sunday, as we commemorate our nation's birth and independence, we reflect on walls that exclude and walls that include.

July 9
Speaker: Alex Poinsett

A Woman Called Johnnie

This sermon is based on a 1983 biography that the Rev. Johnnie Coleman commissioned Alex to write. After paying him handsomely, she decided not to publish it. The book summarized much of Rev. Coleman's so-called "New Thought" theology, which undergirds her multi-million dollar Christ Universal Temple, dominating 52 acres on Chicago's South Side. With a 10,000 plus membership when it was dedicated in 1983, the Temple is one of the nation's first mega-churches. Rev. Coleman's "New Thought" theology rejects notions that "money is the root of all evil" and urges parishioners to talk about, pray about, and sing about prosperity because it frees them to grow spiritually.

Embracing Absurd

Second Century theologian Tertullian said of Christianity, "I embrace it because it is absurd." While embracing an idea because of its absurdity may not make a great deal of sense, embracing some ideas despite their absurdity does. Liberal religious values often sound absurd in our pragmatic society yet they remain a light in our dark times.

Dr. David Breeden has an MFA from the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa and a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He is beginning his second year of theological study at Meadville Lombard Theological School.

July 23
Speaker: Ellen Cooper-Davis

Look at All the Lonely People

A recent newspaper article declared that 25 per cent of our population has no one to confide in. People are feeling increasingly isolated from one another for a variety of reasons. What does loneliness mean for our spirits, and how can we engage with it meaningfully?

Ellen Cooper-Davis is a fourth-year Meadville Lombard Theological School student who will be away on internship in Bloomington-Normal IL beginning in September. She is also a recent graduate of the Spiritual Direction certification program at the Institute for Spiritual Leadership here in Hyde Park. Ellen and her husband Andy and their two cats live in Humboldt Park.

July 30
Speaker: Jim Moir

Abundance Theology for Liberals

Many of our economic and social problems have their roots in assumptions of scarcity. We believe that good things are in short supply and that competition is necessary and even desirable. A philospohy of abundance might lead us to quite different behaviors. This sermon will examine certain characteristics of liberal and conservative theology to see if there is an assumption of scarcity there as well. How could abundance thinking change our religious and economic values?

Jim Moir is beginning his third year at Meadville Lombard Theological School. He is working with Rev. Nina Grey and the Worship & Music Committee. Jim is a lifelong UU and hopes to be a parish minister.

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