Ministries of Reckless Faith, Resilient Hope, and Steadfast Love
Religious Education and Faith Formation
I want us to create learning spaces for all ages that are:
#1 Safe: Physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.
#2: Humane: If our children learn only one thing at church, I would hope it's how to be compassionate and actively kind toward themselves and the people around them! I want young people to have trusted church friends, across the generations.
#3: Conducive to exploring new ideas, adventures, and possibilities. I hope our kids (and our grown-ups!) learn how to dream and to become themselves in our church, again and again.
Rich religious education is a matter of process and content both. It is an interactive process of exploration so the individual may use their own religious resources to begin to answer theological questions and formulate practical implications for their lives. The first role of the teacher is to create a fertile space for exploration. Often this means establishing a covenant for a way to be together and to communicate about matters of personal faith exploration (and teaching the tools to fulfill the covenant).
The second role is equally important and too often forgotten. The teacher should bring deep content in the subject, in religion, this means laying out for the group the way the generations and thinkers of the past (and in the contemporary discourse) have wrestled with problems of faith and theology. We need to focus on the ethical and metaphysical dimensions of the religious life both and provide enough raw material for our religious seekers to understand the breadth of possibility and to begin to find their own answers. The teacher ultimately needs to model the way that lived experience is a kind of revelation of truth and to be a partner to others in “exegeting” their own lives and finding the meaning held within.
Recent Adult Education Taught (A Monthly Series for Transition Ministry)
November 2, 2019: Seeking the Good Life (Virtue ethics in practice)
December 7, 2019: Religious Identity Formation (What does it mean to be a UU?)
January 4, 2020: Money--Past, Present, and Future (What place does material wealth (or poverty) play in your current life and sense of purpose and well-being?)
February 1, 2019: Small Group Ministry at the Next Level (We’ll be exploring circle practices to be used in small group settings that create greater intimacy and understanding.)
March 7, 2020: Preaching the Sermon You Need to Hear Right Now (This is a workshop in the theory and practice of preaching and will culminate in beginning to work on your own message)
April 11, 2020: Traditional Religious Symbols and Language (Understanding their ever-changing context, contested meanings, malleability, and potential personal usefulness).
May 9, 2020: Humanism, Then and Now (Understanding the multiple humanisms that can inform our common religious lives).
June 13, 2020: What is a Minister? (What is a minister and how might they be part of the life of an individual in the church and the community as a whole? What makes fulfilling that role possible? In what ways are we each a minister?)
August 29, 2020: Exploring Casteism, Reading Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste” Together.
September 26, 2020: Occupying Reality (We are going to learn and talk about common “cognitive distortions” and how they get in the way of being present and at peace with ourselves and each other.)
October 17, 2020: Lessons I've Learned About Money (What have you learned)?
December 5, 2020: Lessons Learned About Marriage with Rev. Dave and Danielle Lopez
January 9, 2020: Journaling your Spiritual Experience w/ Dr. Amy Hudock and Rev. David Messner
February 13, 2020: Exploring Mental Health and Recovery: Reading Kate Landis’ “Stubborn Grace” (with the Rev. Kate Landis).
By Patricia Infante and David H. Messner; Developmental Editor: Gail Forsyth-Vail
“The Wi$dom Path comprises twelve 90-minute workshops, arranged around three themes: Money and Self; Money and Society; and Money, Spirit, and Life. Participants build awareness of their own “money story” and explore their own attitudes and experiences with money. They explore the ways in which money connects us with others, including issues of classism and economic justice as well as money issues in congregational life, then delve into ways to align faith, values, and a sense of a life calling with their financial ways of being.”
“Pilgrimage is an ancient spiritual practice; it retains transformative power today. In a time defined by alienation and dislocation, a shared journey opens hearts, while creating and deepening connections between travelers and to the wider world. Pilgrimage creates a “thickened context” that supports community-building and offers new possibilities in collaborative faith development.”
