Resources for Sparks Modules and Other Trainings
The Glossary for Sparks Modules (Word) explains various acronyms and organizations within Unitarian Universalism.
Note: All Sparks Module Evaluation forms are accessible online.
Read more about online Sparks modules.
Sparks Modules
Administration as Leadership
Online
- Admin as Leadership Resource Collection on UU Leadership Institute
- Facilitator Guide (Word, 106 pages)
- Facilitator Guide (PDF, 106 pages)
- Slides:
Adult Faith Formation Online
This module has recently been updated for the online environment.
- Facilitator Guide (PDF, 97 pages) (Word, 97 pages)
- Session 1 (Word, 13 pages) (PDF, 13 pages)
- Session 2 (Word, 9 pages) (PDF, 9 pages)
- Session 3 (Word, 9 pages) (PDF, 9 pages)
- Session 4 (Word, 6 pages) (PDF, 6 pages)
- Session 5 (Word, 13 pages) (PDF, 13 pages)
- Session 6 No handouts
- Google Slides for Co-Creation (5 slides)
- The sources for this module:
- Paper: Process Not Program (PDF, 34 pages) by Diana Butler Bass
- Website: Lifelong Faith (look around; note what resonates with you)
- Online Book: Widening the Circle of Concern by the UUA’s Commission for Institutional Change, particularly Educating for Liberation on pages 89-100.
- Optional Book: Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation by Carol Howard Merritt. You can read the first pages by using the "Read Sample" link. You may find the information about the changing religious landscape and generational needs helpful.
Curriculum Planning
In-Person
- Facilitator's Guide (Word, 68 pages) (PDF, 68 pages)
- Handouts (PDF, 55 pages) (Word, 55 pages)
- The Reader is Fashion Me a People by Maria Harris (Westminster John Knox Press, 1989)
Online
- Facilitator's Guide (Word, 69 pages) (PDF, 69 pages)
- Handouts (Word, 49 pages) (PDF, 49 pages)
- PowerPoint Slides (18 slides)
Leading UU Culture Change
- Leading UU Culture Change Resource Collection on UU Leadership Institute
- Facilitator Guide (PDF, 84 pages) (Word, 84 pages)
- Slides (PPTX, 44 Slides)
Ministry with Youth
This module is currently being revised. Contact the Renaissance Office (renaissance@uua.org) if you have questions.
Please see Youth Ministry Advising: A Complete Guide, 2nd Edition by the Lifespan Faith Engagement Office of the UUA, Jennica Davis-Hockett, ed, 2019.
Multicultural Religious Education
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 69 pages)
- Handouts (PDF, 24 pages)
- Thumbnail images of all slides (PDF, 7 pages)
- Reader (PDF, 10 pages). The Reader for this module includes (a) instructions and links for multi-media preparation for the module and (b) the text of an essay by Natalie M. Fenimore and Aisha Hauser and a response to the essay, by Sofia Betancourt, from Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry.
Philosophy of Religious Education
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 74 pages) (Word, 74 pages)
- Handouts (PDF, 84 pages) (Word, 84 pages)
- PowerPoint Slides (PDF, 42 slides)
- The Readers are Essex Conversations , a Skinner House publication, a number of essays from The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide (essays provided in the course), a number of videos (provided in the course), and OWL Taking a Special Education Approach (PDF).
- The Guide to the Reader (PDF, 2 pages) prioritizes those essays which are most essential to the module and also indicates how the essays correlate with the module sessions.
Teacher Development
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 65 pages) for in-person
- Leader's Guide (Word, 58 pages) for hybrid
- Leader's Online Outline (Word, 16 pages)
- Handouts (PDF, 119 pages)
- PowerPoint Slides (38 slides)
- The Reader is The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer, published by Jossey-Bass, 10th Anniversary edition, 2007 and this Guide to the Reader (PDF) which correlates the chapters of the Palmer book with the module sessions in which they are used.
Unitarian Universalist History
Note: Unitarian Universalist History is offered as an online module only.
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 36 pages)
- Participant's Guide (PDF, 52 pages)
- Readers: You will read selections from three required books and selections from Tapestry of Faith programs and other online resources:
- Stirring the Nation’s Heart by Polly Peterson (UUA, 2010)
- Missionaries, Builders and Pathfinders by Polly Peterson and Gail Forsyth-Vail (UUA, 2014)
- Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism by Mark Morrison-Read (Skinner House, 2011)
Unitarian Universalist Identity
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 86 pages) for in-person
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 55 pages) for online
- Handouts (PDF, 46 pages) for in-person
- Handouts (PDF, 59 pages) for online
- UU Identity module slides for online version
- PowerPoint Slides (74 slides)
- Reader (PDF, 44 pages) for in-person
- Reader (PDF, 56 pages) for online
Unitarian Universalist Theology
Note: Unitarian Universalist Theology is offered as an online module only.
Worship
- Leader's Guide (PDF, 95 pages)
- Handouts (PDF, 57 pages)
- Powerpoint Slides (PPT, 42 slides)
- The reader is Worship That Works: Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists, Second Edition by Wayne Arnason and Kathleen Rolenz, available from the UUA Bookstore.
