“First Hour” Religious Education for Adults Starting in January

Starting in January, we are pleased to offer four different adult religious education opportunities, each occurring during our Sunday “first hour,” beginning at 10:00 am!

Starting January 1, 10 am in the Common Room
Humanist Unitarian Universalist Group of Gainesville (HUUGG)

Are human beings able to be ethical without the creeds, religious texts and sermons from religious or spiritual sources? Morals, values and ethics are important to every community, as is the search for meaning and purpose. How does a spiritual community support that? Some Unitarian Universalists are nontheists or freethinkers. Does this describe you or people you know? Join us on the first and third Sunday at 10:00 to explore what it means to be Humanist.

For more information about HUUGG, contact Kay Anderson at kayanderson59@gmail.com.

Starting January 8, 10 am n the Common Room
Parenting Beyond Belief Discussion Group

Using reflections from freethinkers in Dale McGowan’s Parenting Beyond Belief as a springboard for discussion, we’ll share, explore and celebrate the wonders and the challenges that come with raising caring, independent, and open-minded children without religious indoctrination. This group will meet on second and fourth Sundays at 10 am in the Common Room. Diana Hagan facilitates.

A note from Diana about the book: There are two editions with overlapping content. I have the 2nd (2016) edition on order for myself and I think we’ll want to use that, but the first edition (2007) should be fine if that’s what you have. Second Edition: Amazon AbeBooks

For more information, contact Diana Hagan 352-317-4499 or diana.hagan@gmail.com

Starting January 8, 10 am in Classroom 3
Dreamwork

Dreams have a long history of being regarded as divine messages in almost every religious tradition. Dreams are a thin place for encountering the Divine in all aspects of our lives. Working with our dreams opens a communication channel between the conscious and unconscious worlds, allowing us to translate the metaphor and symbol in dream language into a language that is helpful for problem solving in our waking life.

Sharing the stories our nightly dreams tell is an age-old practice, one that has provided inspiration, entertainment and revelations throughout history. Dream work offers a method for healing old wounds, living more fully and joyfully each day, increasing self-awareness, improving understanding of our life purpose, and integrating new understandings. Each of these leads, in turn, to greater empathy and compassion.

Carl Jung developed language and methods for better understanding dream meanings – concepts like projection, archetypes, collective unconscious, anima, animus, and shadow. Because it is often difficult for the dreamer to analyze and understand messages from their own dreams, projective dream work is helpful for grasping dream meanings.

In this group we will learn the basic method of projective dreamwork, how to remember our dreams, build a safe container for sharing, and then work with dreams that dreamers bring to the group. Come find out what your dreams are telling you!

Dreamwork will have open classes on January 8, 15 and 22 before settling into a monthly routine with a set group of participants. For more information, please contact the course facilitator, Diane Harper, at harper_dianne@hotmail.com.

Starting January 15, 10 am in Classroom 4
Social Justice “Share the Plate” Conversations

This coming year, our Social Justice Committee will invite representatives of each of the charities that we support via our Share the Plate program to come talk about their organizations. In January, we will Share the Plate with Grace Marketplace. Leigh Scott, the Volunteer Coordinator, will come to UUFG to speak with us about GRACE and answer questions.  Please put January 15 at 10am on your calendar for this talk.  On that day we Share The Plate with GRACE during our Sunday service.