This is a 30-minute activity. You will need copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, one for every two participants; paper and pens/pencils; and newsprint, markers, and tape. Engage participants to consider how contemporary Unitarian Universalism reflects de…

Excerpted and adapted from the article, “Margaret Fuller’s 1842 Journal: At Concord with the Emersons” edited with an Introduction by Joel Myerson, Harvard Library Bulletin 21 (October 1979)….

This is a 30-minute activity. Materials Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 1, Excerpt from A Treatise on Atonement Optional: Microphone Preparation Post newsprint. Optional: Copy Leader Resource 1 for all participants. Optional: Read background information about Hosea Ballou….

This is a 30-minute activity. Invite participants to explore ways Chauncy’s theology might illuminate the place of spirituality in your congregation. Use these questions as a guide: How does our congregation pay attention to spirituality development?…

This is a 30-minute activity. You will need newspaper, markers, and tape. Write the reflection questions on newsprint, and post them. Invite participants to form groups of three or four and reflect for 25 minutes on de Benneville’s life and theology using the posted questions as a guide. Then…

From “Healing Community: Small group ministry as a spiritual practice,” UU World, January/February 2005. Recall a time when you were filled with joy. Where were you? At home? At a concert? A party? Maybe you were in a religious service or on vacation….

Three major elements in the Pragmatic Theory of Religious Beliefs James Luther Adams highlights three major elements of in his Pragmatic Theory of Religious Beliefs: (1) behavior, (2) a feeling that prompts, accompanies, or stands in tension to the behavior, (3) a belief, the meaning of which is…

Selections from Memoir of William Ellery Channing with Extracts from His Correspondence and Manuscripts, In Three Volumes, William Henry Channing, ed. (Boston, 1851). Here are three excerpts from Volume I of Channing’s Memoir. I. My whole life has been a struggle with my feelings. Last winter I…

This lecture was delivered by the Rev. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International, on June 21, 2006, at Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 2006 Berry Street Essay. Used with permission….

This was Sophia Lyon Fahs’ 1960 Rufus Jones lecture, published by the Committee on Religious Education, Friends General Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 1960. Used by permission. …

This is a 30-minute activity. Description How does our congregation pay attention to our individual experiences of emotional struggle? Is the congregation a place where people can bring their whole selves, even when they are feeling less-than-perfect? Reflect on your own experiences of emotional…

Excerpted from A Covenant Group Source Book, second edition, revised (The Center for Community Values, 2003). Covenant Groups A covenant group is a small relational group made up of six to twelve people who meet regularly to establish and nurture themselves in their own beloved community….

This is a 30-minute activity. You may wish to write reflection questions on newsprint, and post. Invite participants to reflect on the place of Chauncy’s theology in contemporary Unitarian Universalism….

This is a 30-minute activity. Materials Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation Prepare and post newsprint with these questions: What does it mean to be happy? Do you believe that you personally have the right to happiness? What is the difference between pursuing personal happiness and being…

This is a 30-minute activity. Materials A copy of Leader Resource 2, At Concord with the Emersons Preparation Locate the journal entries from September 1 and September 17 in the leader resource and prepare to read them aloud. Description Participants reflect on Fuller’s lifelong struggle to…

Begin by sharing this reading: … the holy—those things that most matter to us—does not show all of its colors in solitude and silence. Sometimes it requires the clarity of another’s voice, sometimes the cacophony of community, and often the touch of other pilgrim’s eyes and arms and hands…

No matter how much of a humanist one may be, it would seem impossible (at least to me) for a thoughtful and sincere person who is trying to be a citizen of the world, who knows sympathetically something of man’s religious history, to feel it necessary to discard completely all the ideas or concep…

James Luther Adams, published in On Being Human Religiously (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 1976). Used with permission. Note: Bold text did not appear in the original. It is added here to highlight passages mentioned in “Preparing to lead this workshop” in the workshop’s Introduction.

This is a 25-minute activity. Description Consider these questions as you reflect on the place of Channing’s theology in contemporary Unitarian Universalism: How do we help congregants acknowledge that each of us struggles with inner turmoil and unwanted emotions?…

This is a 30-minute activity. Participants discuss the roles of feelings and of intellect in the life of their congregation(s). Use these questions as a guide: How are feelings and intellect reflected in communal worship in the congregation your serve? Do you perceive worship as a “feeling”…

Materials Leader Resource 2, What Torture’s Taught Me Pens/pencils Preparation Copy the Leader Resource for all participants. Description Invite participants to silently read Dr. William F. Schulz’s Berry Street lecture, even if they have heard or read it before….

This is a 30-minute activity….

Originally published in the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy (January 2009). Friedrich Schleiermacher gave liberal theology a foundation no one could find. He accomplished this amazing feat by making a neurological fact of consciousness the foundational referent for his new theological…

In the largely secularized culture and language of our time, the subject of this chapter is by no means one that elicits universal interest. To many serious-minded people phrases such as “the love of God,” “God’s love for us,” or “the human response to God’s love” are almost meaningless. Yet the…

This is a 30-minute activity. Materials Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation Prepare and post a sheet of newsprint with these questions: Does our congregation encourage individuals to have a change of heart and a change of behavior that might be called a kind of conversion experience? What…

This is a 30-minute activity. Materials Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation Prepare and post a sheet of newsprint with these questions: In what ways do you agree with Fahs? In what ways do you differ? Is “God-talk” an issue in your congregation? How do you as a professional work with a…

This is a 30-minute activity. Description Share with the group: As a result of his conversion experience, James Luther Adams plunged himself into voluntary associations that were working to bring more justice into the community and the world. He stated that this was unusual for a Protestant…