Read three stories from Thandeka: "Thandeka's Change of Heart," "A Lonely Soul in Community," and "Doctrinal Freedom" (including the author's reflections). What stories of your own come to mind in response to these stories? You may want to record your reflections in your theology journal.

Activity Minutes Opening 5 Activity 1: Experiences of a Change of Heart 10 Activity 2: Introducing Thandeka 5 Activity 3: Stories and Reflections 30 Activity 4: Testing Thandeka's Theology of Personal Experience 20 Activity 5: Personal Experience — Large Group Reflection 15 Closing 5...

Information and short excerpts from the writings of William F. Schulz—presented in five sections, or topics, for ease of study and discussion—convey his theological point of view. All quotations are used with permission of William F. Schulz. I: Assessment of Human Nature William F. Schulz...

This professional biography was provided by Dr. Schulz in 2009. On November 3, 2010, The Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) announced that Dr. William F. Schulz had been named the new UUSC president and chief executive officer. "William Schulz......

Excerpted from the 2006 Berry Street Lecture. When I was seven or eight years old, I lived across the street from a little dog named Amy. Every afternoon after my school let out, Amy and I would play together for an hour. One of Amy's favorite games was a dancing game in which I held her two...

William F. Schulz, Finding Time and Other Delicacies (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1994). William F. Schulz, ed., The Future of Human Rights: U.S. Policy for a New Era (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2008). William F....

Activity Minutes Opening 5 Activity 1: Personal Faith and Your Congregational Life 10 Activity 2: Introducing William F. Schulz 5 Activity 3: Confronting the Scariest Things — Story and Response 30 Activity 4: Testing Schulz's Theological Reflections 25 Activity 5: Personal Experience — Large...

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...

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.

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...

Religion Adams claims that religion is a universal experience. To be human, Adams argues, is to be religious because the purpose of religion is to identify what gives fundamental meaning and fulfillment to human life....

Drawn from Adams' essays and his autobiography, Not Without Dust and Heat. By the time of his death in 1994 at age 92, James Luther Adams was recognized as one of the preeminent Christian social ethicists and theologians of the 20th century. In his work, he emphasized personal and institutional...

James Luther Adams, from "The Evolution of My Social Concern." Used with permission, Herbert F. Vetter, Harvard Square Library....

Activity Minutes Opening 5 Activity 1: Linking Behavior, Beliefs, and Emotions 10 Activity 2: Introducing James Luther Adams 20 Activity 3: Redefining God, Faith, and Religion 10 Activity 4: Testing Adams 40 Closing 5...

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...

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 story is included in the second and third grade Tapestry of Faith curriculum, Faithful Journeys. "Mama, Mama, why do we just keep going and going and not going anywhere?" asked little Sophie. Her family was crossing the wide Pacific Ocean on a big ship bound for America. Sophie Lyon was an...

One of the creators of modern American theological liberalism, Sophia Lyon Fahs was also the progenitor of American Unitarian religious education as a modern theological science of human emotions. Born in 1876 to Presbyterian missionary parents in China, she embraced progressive educational...

Excerpted from Worshipping Together with Questioning Minds, by Sophia Lyon Fahs. Copyright (C) 1965 by Sophia Lyon Fahs. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston. Two first-person anecdotes from Fahs' experiences as a religious educator, each followed by her analysis....

Activity Minutes Opening 5 Activity 1: Recalling Emotional and Religious Experiences 15 Activity 2: Introducing Sophia Lyon Fahs 25 Activity 3: Testing Fahs 25 Activity 4: Religious Experience and Unitarian Universalist Experience 15 Closing 5...