Wellspring

Operational system for running UU Wellspring spiritual deepening groups at Foothills Unitarian Church. Staff Lead: Rev. Sean Neil-Barron.

Overview

Overview

Wellspring OS - Overview

Wellspring OS - Overview

This is the operational system for running UU Wellspring spiritual deepening groups at Foothills Unitarian Church.

Staff Lead: Rev. Sean Neil-Barron National Organization: UU Wellspring

Mission

The Wellspring Leadership Group is committed to engaging the Foothills congregation in a process and practice of spiritual deepening in accordance with our church mission. Wellspring responds to the Mission statement of growing our faith and awakening our spirits.

How This Book Is Organized

Document Repository

Wellspring Leadership Team Shared Drive

Quick Navigation

Roles

Processes

Email Templates

Resources

Administration

Overview

Shared Ministry Covenant

Wellspring Shared Ministry Covenant

Google Doc: Original Worksheet

Overview

The Shared Ministry Covenant is submitted annually in May as part of Foothills' review process. It documents the ministry's purpose, leadership, strategy, resources, and integration with congregational life.

Mission Statement

This Wellspring Leadership Group is committed to engaging the Foothills congregation in a process and practice of spiritual deepening in accordance with our church mission.

Connection to Foothills Mission

Wellspring responds to the Mission statement of growing our faith and awakening our spirits.

Impact

Wellspring's impact is evident when Sources facilitators share testimonials of groups forming, norming, gelling, and then diving deeper into their own experiences and values as they complete Wellspring materials for each session. When WS participants volunteer to facilitate a course of WS Sources or sign up for a Wellspring second-level course, that indicates they have been positively impacted by the WS experience.

Group Details

Timeline for Covenant Work

Financial Resources

Facilities Use

Lessons Learned (2023-24)

50-Word Description

Wellspring is a robust and deeply spiritual program developed through the UUA providing numerous curriculums to offer UU congregants an opportunity to further the knowledge and practice of their UU faith, to explore their deeply held values, and to use this knowledge to deepen spiritually and enhance their UU faith experience.

Annual Timeline

Annual Timeline

Full Annual Timeline

Wellspring Annual Timeline

This is the month-by-month operational timeline for running UU Wellspring at Foothills. Links throughout point to supplemental documents with full content for templates, role descriptions, resources, and forms.

January

WSLT Self-Assessment and Reorganization

  1. WSLT reflects on its own makeup and discerns whether to invite new members or rotate off.
  2. WSLT reorganizes and/or invites new members.
    • Ask staff to add new members as Wellspring PCO Group Type Managers in PCO Groups
    • Ensure new members are editors in PCO, have access to PCO Forms, and can send emails
    • Add new WSLT members to Shared Drive

Website Review

  1. WSLT reviews Foothills Wellspring website and conveys any updates to staff (send to Communications Manager).

Facilitator Support

  1. WSLT hosts check-in with current Sources/LATC facilitators to offer support and begin discerning which participants might serve as facilitators.
    • Goal: Identify potential facilitators; apprentices practice facilitation in their own groups.

Curriculum Review

  1. WSLT reviews UU Wellspring website and updates Foothills' facilitator resources: Quick-Start Guide, Spiritual Directors List, and book list.

Second-Year Discernment

  1. With input from current Sources facilitators and past participants, WSLT discerns whether there is interest in a second-year offering and which curriculum might be offered.

Short-Term Groups

  1. Short-term groups (Sacred Earth, Wellspring Reads, etc.) begin meeting.

February

Facilitator Identification

  1. With input from current Sources facilitators, WSLT identifies candidates for Sources facilitators for the following year.

Facilitator Outreach

  1. Email is sent over the name of the ministerial staff lead to current and past WS Sources participants inviting them to consider Sources facilitation.

  2. WSLT and/or current Sources facilitators extend personal invitations to likely facilitator candidates.

    • During a WS Sources session, invite participants to write down 1-2 names of people from their group who they think might be a good facilitator.

Serve Form

  1. Facilitation volunteers are asked to fill out the Serve Form. Wellspring facilitators are listed under "Adult Spiritual Deepening."

March

Admin Updates

  1. WSLT asks Admin Staff to update PCO People Wellspring Completion Dates in Profiles.

Facilitator Finalization

  1. Beginning of March: Sources facilitators for the next year are finalized.

  2. Facilitators are asked to identify their preferred time slots (day of week, meeting time, meeting format) and starting date (retreat date).

    • If more than one Sources group is forming, all facilitators need to commit to the same retreat date.
    • Submit Event Reservation and Promotion Form for Wellspring groups (1 form, include all details for each group).

Application Update

  1. Sources application is updated to reflect times facilitators agree to meet as well as the retreat date.

Second-Year Interest Survey

  1. Once facilitators are finalized, WSLT surveys WS grads and current Sources participants to measure interest in second-year offerings and creates or updates second-year enrollment form.

Promotion

  1. WSLT drafts newsletter article promoting WS Sources enrollment.

  2. WSLT orders participant reflection journals from UU Wellspring website for new facilitators as a welcome gift.

  3. WSLT submits Event Reservation and Promotion Form at least 2 weeks in advance for: Wellspring Annual Gathering, WS Sources enrollment promotion, and "Ask Me About Wellspring" coffee hour conversation.

Wellspring Annual Gathering

  1. WSLT hosts Wellspring Annual Gathering to bring past participants and current Sources participants together.

Purpose: Recruit facilitators, encourage participant recruitment, gauge interest in second-year program, address "What's Next" (So What After Wellspring?).

Sample Agenda (from 2024 Info Session, 9:30-10:30):

April

Mentor Assignment

  1. WSLT identifies mentors for new facilitators.

  2. WSLT mentor(s) reach out to new Sources facilitators to welcome them, establish the mentoring relationship, share the Quick-Start Guide, and present participant reflection journals.

Participant Recruitment Begins

  1. Sources participant recruitment begins:
    • Newsletter article promoting WS Sources enrollment is published.
    • WSLT encourages current year's facilitators to speak with their groups about sharing the WS experience and considering second-year offerings.
    • Email is sent to all Wellspring grads asking whom they would nominate as Sources participants for the next year (using Wellspring Nomination Form and Interested In Wellspring Group).
    • WS Sources testimonial chalice lighting is offered by a current participant or facilitator.
    • WSLT and/or next year's facilitators host "Ask Me About Wellspring" information session at coffee hour in mid-to-late April.

Second-Year Communication

  1. If a second-year offering is planned, WSLT emails WS Sources grads what curriculum will be offered and provides second-year enrollment link.

Shared Ministry Covenant

  1. WSLT begins work on the Shared Ministry Covenant for the annual review process.

May

Feedback

  1. WSLT sends All Wellspring Groups Feedback Form.

Roster Finalization

  1. WSLT reviews Sources applications and the Sources participant roster is finalized.

Financial Support

  1. WSLT sends ministerial lead a list of people requesting financial support. Ministerial lead will assess funds and send out information to them about that process.

Enrollment Notification

  1. WSLT notifies Sources participants by email of their enrollment.

Second-Year Finalization

  1. If a second-year curriculum is offered, WSLT finalizes participant roster and notifies participants.

Shared Ministry Covenant

  1. WSLT submits Shared Ministry Covenant documentation for annual review.

June

Enrollment Notification

  1. WSLT notifies Sources participants of their enrollment.
    • Remove anyone who joins a group from the Interested Group in PCO.

Second-Year Group Assignment

  1. If a second-year curriculum is offered, WSLT notifies participants of their group assignment if necessary.

PCO Group Setup

  1. Church staff builds PCO groups for Sources and for any self-facilitating second-year offering.
    • Include adding events to event calendars.

Curriculum Access

  1. Ministerial staff handles UU Wellspring billing to obtain curriculum passwords for upcoming year and communicates to WSLT.

Book Discounts

  1. WSLT contacts local bookstores for possible group discounts on required readings.

June/July

Archive and Transition

  1. Archive old Wellspring Groups in PCO Groups.

New Facilitator Orientation

  1. WSLT designees/mentors meet with new Sources facilitators to orient them to resources on UU Wellspring website and use of PCO if needed.

  2. Sources facilitators register on the UU Wellspring website and plan to attend UUWellspring facilitator training.

Welcome Emails

  1. Sources facilitators send welcome email to their groups providing instructions on books to obtain, guidance on lining up a spiritual director/companion/friend, and a reminder of the retreat date.

Second-Year Groups

  1. If a second-year offering is planned, WSLT emails self-facilitating groups with their curriculum-specific password and encouragement to begin their work of forming.

August

Sources Retreat

  1. Sources retreat is held.

    • If only one Sources group is forming: That group's facilitators conduct the retreat with the WSLT available to assist if needed.
    • If more than one Sources group is forming: The WSLT will be more involved to open and close the retreat, supplementing the facilitators' work with their own groups while creating a shared experience across the groups. Ministerial staff lead may meet briefly with retreat attendees to encourage/inspire.

Second-Year Encouragement

  1. If a second-year offering is planned, WSLT offers encouragement as needed for self-facilitating groups to schedule their first session.

September

Groups Begin

  1. Year-long groups begin meeting.

Short-Term Planning

  1. WSLT confirms facilitators are in place for any short-term WS groups to be offered in January (e.g. Sacred Earth).

October

Note: The 11-session "Love at the Center" curriculum affects programming in this month. Check UU Wellspring for current release status.

Facilitator Check-In

  1. WSLT designees/mentors host check-in meeting for Sources facilitators to share experiences, offer support, and problem-solve if needed.
    • Facilitators share feedback with mentor from Group Health Check.
    • WSLT consults with ministerial staff lead if additional guidance is needed.

Second-Year Support

  1. WSLT offers support/encouragement to second-year group(s) if needed.

Short-Term Group Promotion

  1. WSLT works with staff to publicize any short-term offering to begin in January (e.g. Sacred Earth).

Curriculum Access for Short-Term

  1. Ministerial staff handles UU Wellspring billing to obtain curriculum password for any short-term offering.

November/December

Short-Term Group Setup

  1. Staff builds PCO group for short-term offering.

Facilitator Support

  1. WSLT designee/mentor supports short-term offering facilitators in accessing UU Wellspring curriculum and PCO as needed to communicate with their group(s).

See Also

Roles

Roles

Wellspring Leadership Team (WSLT)

Role: Wellspring Leadership Team (WSLT)

Purpose

The WSLT drives the annual Wellspring cycle at Foothills. It recruits and supports facilitators, manages participant enrollment, coordinates with staff, and ensures continuity of the program year over year.

Membership

The team is composed of Wellspring graduates who volunteer to serve. The team reflects on its own makeup each January and discerns whether to invite new members or rotate off. The WSLT is functional for a focused period each spring/summer, typically meeting 4-6 times between spring and August.

Current and past members are tracked in PCO: Wellspring Leadership Team Members

Onboarding New Members

When new members join the WSLT:

Key Responsibilities

Communication

The WSLT communicates primarily via email and texts. Wellspring groups themselves communicate via PCO.

See Also

Roles

Sources Facilitator

Role: Sources Facilitator

Purpose

Sources facilitators guide small groups through the year-long Wellspring Sources (or Love at the Center) curriculum. They create and hold space for spiritual deepening using the Circle of Trust model.

How Facilitators Are Identified

Facilitator candidates emerge from current Wellspring participants. The process begins in January when the WSLT hosts check-ins with current facilitators, and candidates are identified in February.

During Sources sessions, participants may be invited to write down 1-2 names of people from their group who they think might be a good facilitator. Personal invitations from WSLT and current facilitators follow.

Expectations

Support

Each new facilitator is paired with a mentor from the WSLT who serves as a resource, sounding board, and cheerleader throughout the year.

Facilitators also receive:

Volunteer Form

Facilitation volunteers fill out the Serve Form under "Adult Spiritual Deepening."

Growing New Leaders

Facilitators are encouraged to help develop the next generation by identifying participants who demonstrate an aptitude for supporting group process and engagement.

See Also

Roles

Facilitator Mentor

Role: Facilitator Mentor

Purpose

Mentors are experienced Foothills Wellspring facilitators who are paired with new Sources facilitators to provide guidance, encouragement, and practical support throughout the facilitation year.

Assignment

WSLT identifies mentors in April and pairs them with new facilitators.

Responsibilities

See Also

Roles

Ministerial Staff Lead

Role: Ministerial Staff Lead

Current

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Responsibilities

Processes

Processes

Facilitator Recruitment

Process: Facilitator Recruitment

Overview

Facilitator recruitment runs from January through early March, moving from identification through personal invitation to finalization.

Timeline

January: WSLT hosts check-in with current facilitators. Begin discerning which participants might serve as facilitators. Apprentices practice facilitation in their own groups.

February:

  1. WSLT and current facilitators identify candidates.
  2. Ministerial staff lead sends email to current and past Sources participants inviting them to consider facilitation.
  3. WSLT and/or current facilitators extend personal invitations.
  4. During a Sources session, invite participants to write down 1-2 names of people from their group who they think might be a good facilitator.
  5. Volunteers fill out the Serve Form under "Adult Spiritual Deepening."

Early March: Facilitators are finalized. They identify preferred time slots and retreat date.

March: The Wellspring Annual Gathering also serves as a facilitator recruitment opportunity.

April: WSLT identifies mentors for new facilitators and begins onboarding.

Key Principle

Over 1/5 of people at Foothills have been through Wellspring. The best recruitment comes from 1:1 personal invitations from current facilitators and WSLT members who have seen potential in participants.

Requirement

Participants being considered should have been active at Foothills in attendance, small group, or volunteer capacity. This requirement needs to be faithfully adhered to. (Lesson from 2023-24: two newcomers to UU faith in one group was viewed as an impediment to full participation.)

See Also

Processes

Participant Recruitment

Process: Participant Recruitment

Overview

Participant recruitment runs from April through May, relying heavily on personal invitations from Wellspring graduates.

Timeline

April:

  1. Newsletter article promoting WS Sources enrollment is published.
  2. Current year's facilitators speak with their groups about sharing WS experience and encouraging next-year participation.
  3. Email is sent to all Wellspring grads asking whom they would nominate for Sources next year, using the Wellspring Nomination Form and Interested In Wellspring Group.
  4. WS Sources testimonial chalice lighting is offered by a current participant or facilitator during Sunday service.
  5. WSLT and/or next year's facilitators host "Ask Me About Wellspring" information session at coffee hour (mid-to-late April).

May:

  1. WSLT sends All Wellspring Groups Feedback Form.
  2. WSLT reviews Sources applications. Roster is finalized.
  3. WSLT sends ministerial lead a list of people requesting financial support.
  4. WSLT notifies Sources participants by email of their enrollment.

The Ask (from Grad Recruitment Email)

Wellspring grads are asked to:

  1. Make a list of three people who need Wellspring (remembering they should have been around Foothills for a bit and participated in adult programs or small groups).
  2. Write each of them a note sharing one reason they loved the experience and a specific reason why they think that person would too. Invite them to chat about it in the next two weeks.
  3. Share the link to the Wellspring page.

Key Principle

1:1 personal invitations from Wellspring grads are the most effective way to get the right people into the program.

Application

See Also

Processes

Second-Year Offerings

Process: Second-Year Offerings

Overview

Second-year Wellspring offerings (Sacred Arts, Faithful Action, etc.) are self-facilitating groups for Sources graduates. The WSLT discerns interest, coordinates enrollment, and provides initial support, but the groups themselves share facilitation responsibilities.

Curriculum Options

Check UU Wellspring for current second-year program descriptions. Past offerings at Foothills have included Sacred Arts and Faithful Action.

Timeline

January: WSLT discerns whether there is interest in a second-year offering and which curriculum might be offered, with input from current Sources facilitators and past participants.

March: Once Sources facilitators are finalized, WSLT surveys WS grads and current Sources participants to measure interest. Creates or updates second-year enrollment form.

April: If offering is planned, WSLT emails WS Sources grads with curriculum details and enrollment link.

May: WSLT finalizes participant roster and notifies participants.

June: WSLT notifies participants of group assignments if necessary. Church staff builds PCO groups.

June/July: WSLT emails self-facilitating groups with their curriculum-specific password and encouragement to begin forming.

August: WSLT offers encouragement as needed for groups to schedule first session.

October: WSLT offers ongoing support/encouragement if needed.

Self-Facilitating Group Expectations

Each participant shares in facilitation responsibilities. Groups are encouraged to:

See Also

Processes

Opening Retreat

Process: Opening Retreat

Overview

The opening retreat launches each new Sources cohort, typically held in August before year-long groups begin meeting in September. The retreat format varies depending on how many groups are forming.

Format

Single group forming: That group's facilitators conduct the retreat with the WSLT available to assist if needed.

Multiple groups forming: The WSLT will be more involved, opening and closing the retreat and supplementing the facilitators' work with their own groups while creating a shared experience across the groups. The ministerial staff lead may meet briefly with retreat attendees to encourage and inspire.

Logistics

Participant Preparation

Before the retreat, participants should:

See Also

Email Templates

Email Templates

Recruiting Sources Participants

Template: Recruiting Sources Participants

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in February over the name of the ministerial staff lead to current and past WS Sources participants, inviting them to consider facilitation and to recruit participants for the next cohort.

Template Text

Hi _______________

Can you believe we've finished another year of Wellspring at Foothills? Over 1/5 people at Foothills have now been through this remarkable program.

I am filled with curiosity as to what listening to your inner teacher has generated in your life, where you feel this work of inner formation is learning you (and I bet you are too!).

We are beginning to recruit for next year's Wellspring Cohort and we need your help on two fronts:

  1. Wellspring Facilitators -- We are on the lookout for 4-6 facilitators for Wellspring Sources next year. If you are feeling the call to go deeper into your wellspring experience and give back this is for you. Get in touch with [WSLT contact name] ([email]) if you want to learn more and if you are in, make sure to fill out the Serve Form (Wellspring Facilitator will reveal itself once you select Adult Spiritual Deepening).

  2. Next Cohort Recruitment -- We know that the best way to recruit the next cohort is for you to do it for us! This may seem like we are passing the buck, but 1:1 personal invitations from Wellspring Grads are the most effective ways to get the right type of people in the program.

So here's what we need you to do:

  1. Make a list of three people who need Wellspring (remembering they should have been around Foothills for a bit and participated in some of our adult programs or small groups before)

  2. Write each of them a note -- share one reason you loved the experience and a specific reason why you think they would too. Invite them to chat about it sometime in the next two weeks to answer any questions.

  3. Don't forget to share the link to the Wellspring page. Applications will be open soon near the beginning of May!

Thanks in advance for your help in this; truly, it makes a difference.

Many many thanks and gratitude to you all,

in faith,

Rev. Sean

on behalf of the Wellspring Core Team ([current WSLT member names])

Customization Notes

See Also

Email Templates

Recruiting Second-Year Participants

Template: Recruiting Second-Year Participants

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in April to WS Sources grads when a second-year offering is planned. Needs to be tailored to the specific program being offered. See UU Wellspring for program descriptors.

Template Text

Dear Wellspring Sources Alumni,

Did you find your first year of Wellspring meaningful?

Are you looking for a space to do more inner work to deepen your own sense of creation and creativity?

You are invited into Wellspring [PROGRAM NAME], a year of [PROGRAM DESCRIPTION] to start the tiny revolutions of connection and resistance in our personal lives, our Unitarian Universalist communities, and the world.

You can find more details about the program here: [LINK TO PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ON UU WELLSPRING SITE]

The group is forming now, with the intention of beginning in September and meeting bimonthly on a day and time to be determined by the group. This group also will be self-facilitating, meaning each participant will share in facilitation responsibilities.

If you would like to be a part, please contact any member of the Wellspring Leadership Team as soon as possible.

Warmly,

The Wellspring Leadership Team

[WSLT member names and email addresses]

Customization Notes

Email Templates

Welcome Letter 1 - The Basics

Template: Welcome Letter 1 - The Basics

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent by facilitators to their group as soon as the group has been set up in PCO. This is the first of two welcome letters. Follow with Welcome Letter 2 five to seven days later so as not to overwhelm.

Template Text

Dear friends,

With great anticipation, we welcome you to UU Wellspring - Sources!

UU Wellspring - Sources is a nine-month Unitarian Universalist program of spiritual deepening and connection. Our hope is that over the course of the next ten months we will deepen our individual spiritual lives and our connections to one another through an intentional program of daily spiritual practice, spiritual companionship, study and reflection, and online small group meetings.

Meetings We will meet [room location] on [day and time]

Here are all of our meeting dates: [facilitator, please list all dates here]

Please put all of the dates in your calendars now so that you can protect the time.

Retreat Our opening retreat will take place from 8:30am-12pm on [DATE] at Foothills Unitarian Church at 1815 Yorktown Ave.

Materials For the Retreat:

Some "to do's" before the retreat:

Additional materials for reflection: We will be writing again in a week or so with additional materials for reflection as you prepare for our retreat.

Finally and importantly, please watch this short video on respect since we will be introducing ourselves using our pronouns:

It will be so good to be together as we learn to listen deeply to our stories and reflect on what is most important in our lives.

With great anticipation of our journey together,

[Facilitator(s) name(s) and contact information]

Customization Notes

See Also

Email Templates

Welcome Letter 2 - More Information

Template: Welcome Letter 2 - More Information for Exploration

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent 5-7 days after Welcome Letter 1 so as not to overwhelm. Contains deeper preparation materials including Circles of Trust orientation, spiritual direction information, and the full book list.

Template Text

Dear friends,

As we prepare for our UU Wellspring - Sources retreat on [DATE], and for our group to begin soon thereafter, we are reaching out with some materials to explore to help get oriented and grounded in Wellspring.

Though this email looks long, the videos are quite short and manageable. Please set aside a few periods of time between now and our retreat to engage with these materials and reflect using the journal prompt. Your retreat experience will be richer for it.

Circles of Trust

Parker Palmer shares a foundational rule for Circles of Trust and UU Wellspring groups: "No fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight." The rule is simple, but abiding by it is hard work for people accustomed to straightening each other out as a way of life.

"So what do we do in a circle of trust? We speak our own truth; we listen receptively to the truth of others; we ask each other honest, open questions instead of giving counsel; and we offer each other the healing and empowering gifts of silence and laughter."

-- Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer, p. 116

Circle of Trust Videos:

Journal Prompt: What are the hallmarks of a circle of trust? According to Parker Palmer, what is the soul, and what can we do that might inhibit or welcome the soul? What are the obstacles to living an undivided life?

Spiritual Direction

UU Wellspring encourages all participants to have a spiritual companion while in UU Wellspring. There are several ways to accomplish this, which are laid out in the following video. We will discuss this more during the retreat.

Video:

Journal Prompt: What interests you about meeting with a spiritual director? What do you wonder about that might be an interesting topic to discuss with a spiritual director?

Required and Optional Books for Sources

Read as Much as You Can Before the Retreat:

Optional (referred to throughout the program):

Read Before Session 14:

Read Before Session 18:

NOTE: We have many of these books in our Foothills library in room 221. The books in the curriculum are also generally available through the UUA Inspirit bookstore or through your favorite online or local bookseller. If you are unable to purchase books and cannot find them at the library, let us know.

Finally, we are including this reminder to watch this short video on respect since we will be introducing ourselves using our pronouns:

With great anticipation of our journey together, [Facilitator(s) name(s)]

Customization Notes

See Also

Email Templates

Second-Year Group Assignments

Template: Second-Year Group Assignments

Google Doc: Original

When to Use

Sent in May/June to second-year enrollees communicating their group assignments. Needs tailoring to the specific program offered.

Template Text

Dear Wellspring [PROGRAM THEME, e.g. "Creators"],

After careful consideration of all the preferences of the [NUMBER] individuals who asked to participate in UU Wellspring "[PROGRAM NAME]," we are pleased to inform you of your group assignment.

You and the other recipients of this email are in the [Group Meeting Day, Time and format -- virtual or in person].

In the next couple weeks, the church office will build your group in the church Planning Center Online (PCO), which will enable you all -- as a self-facilitating, leader-full group -- to communicate with one another, schedule your meetings, and record attendance so our collective community can have an accurate measure of our faith-deepening engagement. The full "[PROGRAM NAME]" assignments and session plans will be unlocked for you later this summer.

As next steps to take now, you are encouraged to:

If there's anything more we can do to support you on this next phase of your Wellspring journey, please let us know.

In faith,

The Foothills Wellspring Leadership Team

([WSLT member names and Rev. Sean])

Customization Notes

Resources and Guides

Resources and Guides

Quick-Start Guide for New Facilitators

Quick-Start Guide for New Facilitators

Google Doc: Original

Wellspring Love at the Center Quick-Start Guide

A Resource for New Facilitators at Foothills Unitarian Church

Congratulations on taking this next step on your spiritual journey! Your group will be meeting eleven times over the course of the year. Wellspring has requested that we begin these groups in October since the curriculum is new and in development. Please note that the curriculum does not begin with a group retreat.

Your group is scheduled to meet on _________________ from _____ to ________. If you are choosing to meet at church please make room reservations for your group using this form: Event reservation and promotion

This year, you'll be helping others grow in their Unitarian Universalist faith by making the UU Wellspring curriculum available to your small group. Don't worry, though. You won't be doing it alone.

The UUWellspring organization makes detailed training resources and session-by-session curriculum guides available at their website. And the Foothills' Wellspring Leadership Team, in partnership with Foothills' professional ministerial staff, is here to help make sure your facilitation experience is meaningful for you and your group participants.

First Steps

On-Going Meetings and Support

Growing New Leaders

Attend to Your Spiritual Life

Continue to tend to your spiritual life. As a facilitator, having a daily spiritual practice and working monthly with a spiritual director, spiritual companion, or spiritual friend continue to be expectations. We hope this year offers rich opportunities to grow and go deeper in your spiritual life as you help others in our community do the same.

See Also

Resources and Guides

Circles of Trust

Circles of Trust

Overview

The Circle of Trust model, developed by Parker Palmer, is foundational to UU Wellspring group practice. The core rule: "No fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight."

The Practice

From Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer (p. 116):

"So what do we do in a circle of trust? We speak our own truth; we listen receptively to the truth of others; we ask each other honest, open questions instead of giving counsel; and we offer each other the healing and empowering gifts of silence and laughter. This way of being together is so countercultural that it requires clear explanation, steady practice, and gentle but firm enforcement by a facilitator who can keep us from reverting to business as usual. But once we have experienced it, we want to take this way of being into other relationships, from friendship and the family to the workplace and civic life."

Videos

These are shared with participants in Welcome Letter 2:

Journal Prompt

What are the hallmarks of a circle of trust? According to Parker Palmer, what is the soul, and what can we do that might inhibit or welcome the soul? What are the obstacles to living an undivided life?

Further Reading

Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer (Chapters 4 and 5 especially). Not required but helpful. Often available in libraries.

See Also

Resources and Guides

Required and Optional Books

Required and Optional Books

Sources Curriculum Books

All books are available from the UUA Inspirit Bookstore, online retailers, and as ebooks. Many are available in the Foothills library (room 221). If others have taken UU Wellspring at Foothills, they may have copies to lend.

Read Before the Retreat

Optional (Referred to Throughout the Program)

Read Before Session 14

Read Before Session 18

Facilitator Resource

Participant Journal

Second-Year Books

Book requirements vary by curriculum. Check UU Wellspring for the current list. Past second-year offerings have required:

Book Discounts

Each June, WSLT contacts local bookstores for possible group discounts on required readings.

Resources and Guides

Spiritual Directors List

Google Doc: Original (.docx on Shared Drive) -- Last updated 2022

Status

The Spiritual Directors List is maintained as a Word document on the Shared Drive. It should be reviewed and refreshed annually as part of the January curriculum review.

Purpose

UU Wellspring encourages all participants to have a spiritual companion. Options include one-on-one spiritual direction, group spiritual companioning, or a spiritual friend. This list provides local options for participants seeking a spiritual director.

When to Share

Administration

Administration

Forms and Links

Forms and Links

PCO Forms

Church Operations Forms

PCO Groups

External Resources

Foothills Pages

Tracking

Document Repository

Basecamp (Legacy)

See Also

Administration

PCO and Admin Tasks

PCO and Admin Tasks

Annual PCO Tasks by Month

March: Ask Admin Staff to update PCO People Wellspring Completion Dates in Profiles.

June: Church staff builds PCO groups for Sources and for any self-facilitating second-year offering, including adding events to event calendars.

June/July: Archive old Wellspring Groups in PCO Groups.

November/December: Staff builds PCO group for short-term offering.

Onboarding New WSLT Members in PCO

When new members join the WSLT:

Group Management

PCO Training Resources

New facilitators may need orientation to PCO. The Group Leader Introduction is sent by admin staff once a group is set up.

See Also

Sources Sessions

All 19 UU Wellspring Sources session plans, normalized with consistent heading structure and queryable metadata.

Sources Sessions

Session 1: Welcoming the Soul

Session 1: Welcoming the Soul

Session Metadata
Session1
TitleWelcoming the Soul
UU SourceIntroduction
UnitFoundation
Head / Hands / HeartN/A
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksCovenant Creation

Preparation

Email to Participants

Dear UU Wellspring Participants,

As we continue our UU Wellspring journey together, we will explore how we want to be together with one another and how we will create a bold space for each of us to listen to our own still small voice within. Together, we will work on a covenant that guides us in our group practices to create a bold space that allows us to have meaningful experiences together.

Parker Palmer, a Quaker who shares life lessons in books such as *Hidden Wholeness,*helps us understand that we create circles of trust to entice the shy soul to come forward. He writes, “Philosophers haggle about what to call this core of our humanity, but I am no stickler for precision. Thomas Merton called it ‘true self’ Buddhists call it ‘original nature’ or ‘big self.’ Quakers call it ‘the inner teacher’ or ‘the inner light.’ Hasidic Jews call it ‘a spark of the divine.’ Humanists call it ‘identity and integrity.’ In popular parlance, people often call it ‘soul.’” Palmer continues, “‘This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know,’ says Mary Oliver, ‘that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness.’ But we live in a culture that discourages us from paying attention to the soul or true self-and when we fail to pay attention, we end up living soulless lives.” (excerpted from Hidden Wholeness, p. 33-35)

Additionally, Palmer writes: “Instead, I have met too many people who suffer from an empty self. They have a bottomless pit where their identity should be–an inner void they try to fill with competitive success, consumerism, sexism, racism, or anything that might give them the illusion of being better than others. We embrace attitudes and practices such as these not because we regard ourselves as superior but because we have no sense of self at all. Putting others down becomes a path to identity, a path we would not need to walk if we knew who we were.” He continues, “A strong community helps people develop a sense of true self, for only in community can the self exercise and fulfill its nature: giving and taking, listening and speaking, being and doing.

“A circle of trust, I said, has no agenda except to help people listen to their own souls and discern their own truth. Its purpose is not to help people recommit to a particular role or even become better at it, though one or both may happen. In a circle of trust, we practice the paradox of “being alone together,” of being present to one another as a “community of solitudes.” Those phrases sound like contradictions because we think of solitude and community as either-or. But solitude and community, rightly understood, go together as both-and. To understand true self–which knows who we are in our inwardness and whose we are in the larger world–we need both the interior intimacy that comes with solitude and the otherness that comes with community.” (excerpted from Hidden Wholeness, p. 38-39, 47, 53-54)

To prepare for our session focused on how we want to be together this year, please view these videos and journal your reflections.

As time permits over the next few sessions:

Reflection Questions

You might want to review or expand on your responses to these questions that were part of the Covenanting in UU Wellspring Video.

Spiritual Practice:

Also, a reminder to start/keep doing your spiritual practice. It’s easy to forget if you’re not in the habit, so we’ll be reminding each other throughout the year. If you haven’t made an appointment with a spiritual director, or spiritual companion, this would be a good time to do so.

Links for Spiritual Directors/Companions****Here is a link to the spiritual direction video you watched prior to the retreat in case you want to review it now. Below are some links for Spiritual Direction Resources. Please be aware that every spiritual director has different first-session protocols. Some offer a pro bono session and others a brief telephone conversation. Use bios from UUSDN.org or SDICompanions.org to get some of your questions answered in advance. Although you can contact a couple of spiritual directors, once you find one that you could be comfortable opening up to, there is no reason to continue contacting folks. A good fit may be the first person you contact! It is in the ongoing sessions that you will experience spiritual opening. If you want to explore the groups UU Wellspring has put together this year:

And if you are planning to work with a spiritual friend, please share this link with them to guide them in holding space for you.

Finally, as a reminder, please bookmark this link to our Zoom meeting: [link]

We recognize that the retreat and first session have a lot of intensive prework. Thank you for attending to these foundational pieces that will bring depth to your work together as a group.

I look forward to seeing you!

Session Plan

Note to Facilitator

Note to Facilitator: Please prepare for the next session by watching the important video from Julica Hermann de la Fuente on how we can use covenants to include rather than exclude full participation. Participants have a shortened video as prework, and the transcript is below. (You may also turn on closed captions.)

“Hello Friends,

My name is Julica Hermann De La Fuente. This short video is about covenanting. Thank you so much for agreeing to facilitate the UU Wellspring program. I hope that it is as powerful for you as it has been for me and I want to give us an opportunity to think a little bit more about what role does the covenant play in creating the container that’s going to give you the richest and deepest conversations possible in your groups.

Usually when Unitarian Universalist sit together to covenant, there’s a couple of things that are fairly common:

One,  someone shows up with a list of agreements everyone looks it over they read it out loud. Maybe they take turns reading each bullet point. Everyone says fine, good let’s go.

Two, we assume that the people in the room are all the same and usually what that means is we assume that all the people in the room are white.

So ,when we say I’m going to take risks, that is a covenant that helps white people push themselves, But I have heard colleagues of color say I take risks every day !I need to pull back and take a rest. That’s the covenant that I’m making with myself. Similarly, when we say we assume good intentions, it means that we don’t want to take responsibility for how our comments or our behaviors land in the group because if I don’t mean anything by it then it shouldn’t have any impact. And that’s not true, of course, there is a gap between intention and impact sometimes. And so, an effective covenant will challenge us to attend to the impact of our communication rather than just the intention.

I think also it’s important to separate safety from comfort. Yes, it is important to create a fundamental container of safety and by that we mean a container where you can trust that other people will honor and respect your experience, will treat you with kindness, will hold your experience confidential. All of those things are important. But when we when we say, “therefore I always need to be comfortable, I always need to feel cozy,” then we are not creating enough space for us to challenge ourselves and to do the deep spiritual work that these programs are really preparing us to do.

So, as we look more deeply into what does that mean to feel safe versus comfortable, and when we focus on safety and separate it from comfort, we are able to be more authentic take more risks and go deeper together. And that is a powerful experience, because ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do: is to create a space where folx can say how it truly is with their heart, and with their souls. And that’s where the growth happens right. So, I encourage you to help your participants play with discomfort and curiosity. I encourage you to build bold spaces rather than focusing just on a comfort or safety and I hope that you find that sweet spot of learning that is somewhere in between total conflict avoidance and everything is safe. I’m not really going to say what I mean and pushing people so far that no one can participate because it just doesn’t feel risk, it just doesn’t feel safe enough to be that risky. So may you find that sweet space of learning and may your covenant support you in that process blessings on your groups and your facilitation and thank you again.”

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Let’s light the chalice with our opening words from the retreat, then lean into ten minutes of music and silence to mark this moment, the start of our first circle, and to fully show up in this space.

“We begin by remembering the sound and the feeling of the one Being, the Wellspring of love. We affirm that the next thing we experience shimmers with the light of the Whole Universe.”

“We begin by remembering” is one translation of the Arabic word Bismallah, which is used at the beginning of prayer and from a translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz in The Sufi Book of Life.

Music Suggestion: “Calm Wind” (3 min 11 sec) by Peter B. Helland followed by silence.

Online Tip: Set up any videos in advance to remove YouTube ads or use a paid streaming account if you have access to one. You can also set up Zoom to play the music without the video by sharing your Zoom screen, choosing “Advanced” and “Share Computer Audio.” You’ll see a red and green bar at the top of your computer saying “sharing your computer sound.” Anything you play on the computer will then be heard by your group, even if you have your Zoom muted.

Check-In

For our check-in each week, you may speak as you feel ready; in other words, we won’t call on people. We will honor each speaker not with comments but with silence. In order to have some silence between each person speaking, we’ll take a few deep breaths after someone speaks before the next person starts.

The questions we will answer every week are:

Reflection

Usually our reflection time will be at least half of our session. This session will share the reflection time with time devoted to creating our covenant as a foundation for our future discussions. Creating the covenant after a couple of times together is fruitful in knowing a little more about each other.

Please note that today and in every session, if I’m not asking the right questions, answer the questions you need to answer.Parker Palmer suggests we take notes on what arises internally, rather than on what other people say – we’re trying to find our own truth. Feel free to use your UU Wellspring journal to keep notes on your continued reflections, both before and during each session.

Reflection Questions (The following questions should not all be asked – they are samples from which you can select a few.)

Break

Covenant Creation

**Note to Facilitators:**Please be sure to watch the “Covenenting in UU Wellspring” video and respond to the journal prompts yourself. Facilitate the covenant creation process by talking with the group about the importance of taking time to create a covenant for your group since you will be meeting over the course of most of a year and so we want to create sacred space that allows for our shy souls to emerge.

Option 1: If You Already Worked on the Covenant at the Four Hour Retreat Begin Here: (35 min)

Say: At this first session after the retreat, it is a good idea to spend some time revisiting the covenant conversation. The practice of listening without responding is often a struggle for many participants. People want to connect, and that is usually done through words of affirmation. But in UU Wellspring, silence is how we honor each other’s truth. This can be challenging for many people.

Note: Along with the covenant as written so far, it will be helpful to revisit the conversations you had around the covenant during the retreat. Because we are approaching covenant a little differently, there may be some questions or concerns.

“We began writing our covenant at our opening retreat. Let’s look at where we started and continue this work, keeping in mind that we are invested in creating a covenant that works for everyone and includes opportunities for reconciliation.”

Note that our UU Wellspring covenant includes Parker Palmer’s suggestion of “no fixing, no advising, no saving, no setting each other straight.” We will also include, “We will pause and explore when we observe behavior that causes harm..”

Encourage people to notice how their soul is showing up or what is scaring it away. Make space for the hard conversations, and remind participants that this doesn’t have to be finalized today; this conversation can and will be ongoing.

Continue the Deep Work of Covenanting

Continue working on the draft and if needed, invite a volunteer or two to work on a final draft rather than wordsmithing as a group. When you review the covenant in Session 2, you can review the covenant and make amendments then.

Option 2: If this is the First Time You Will be Talking about Covenant Begin Here (35 min)

If you are online, and this is your first time covenanting, follow this process

Open a document that you will share during the covenanting session that includes:

Say: We will begin our covenanting process by sharing the feeling words that you wrote in your journals. How do you want to feel?

Ask participants to write the words or phrases in the chat.

Once finished, ask one person to read all of the words and phrases in the chat aloud.

“Next we will share what we need in order to trust in this group in the chat.”

Invite each person to write what they need in order to trust this group in the chat. When they are finished, ask someone to read the words and phrases aloud.”

“As you heard in the video, our UU Wellspring covenant will include Parker Palmer’s suggestion of “no fixing, no advising, no saving, no setting each other straight.” We will also include, “We will pause and explore when we observe behavior that causes harm.”

Reveal the covenant by sharing your screen with a shared document that has the following already on it:

Next ask someone to suggest an idea for the covenant based on the feeling and trust words and phrases. Encourage comments and add it as a draft statement to the covenant. Add the phrases as people share them. If you want everyone to be able to write directly on the document, you will need to use a Google doc, or a shared document of some sort, share the link in the chat and have each person open the document on their own device. Make sure you have given editing rights to anyone who has thelink. They will not be able to write on the shared document through zoom (Advanced users can use the whiteboard feature.)

Encourage people to notice how their soul is showing up or what is scaring it away. Make space for the hard conversations, and remind participants that this doesn’t have to be built and completed today; this conversation can and will be ongoing.

Once you have discussed and have a list for a draft covenant, encourage the group to think about it until the next session. Perhaps you can share the link for a google document in your next email.

Continue the Deep Work of Covenanting

In the next few sessions when you revisit the covenant, continue to revise and eventually ask one or two volunteers to meet and finalize the draft, which they can bring to the next session for consensus or discussion. This could be now or several sessions in the future.

If you are in person, and this is your first time covenanting, follow this process

“We will begin our covenanting process by sharing the feeling words that you wrote in your journals. How do you want to feel?

Ask participants to write the words or phrases they wrote in their journals on sticky notes for people to add to chart paper, a smooth surface such as a wall, or a white board. Once finished, ask one person to read all of the words and phrases aloud.”

“Next we will share what we need in order to trust in this group.”

Use the stickies again for each person to write and post on the chart near the feeling words that they most need from this group to trust. Tell them this is not an exact process and they can move the feeling and trust stickies around. Once all of the feeling words and needs for trust words and phrases have been posted and initial movement has occurred, read aloud the groupings.

“As you heard in the video, our UU Wellspring covenant will include Parker Palmer’s suggestion of “no fixing, no advising, no saving, no setting each other straight.” We will also include, “We will pause and explore when we observe behavior that causes harm.”

Post flip chart paper or use a white board to capture ideas for the covenanting session that includes:

Next ask someone to suggest an idea for the covenant based on the feeling and trust words and phrases. Encourage comments and add it as a draft statement to the covenant.

Encourage people to notice how their soul is showing up or what is scaring it away. Make space for the hard conversations, and remind participants that this doesn’t have to be built and completed today; this conversation can and will be ongoing.

Once you have discussed and have a list for a draft covenant, encourage the group to think about it until the next session. Perhaps you can share the link for a google document in your next email.

Continue the Deep Work of Covenanting

In the next few sessions when you revisit the covenant, continue to revise and eventually ask one or two volunteers to meet and finalize the draft, which they can bring to the group for consensus or discussion. This could be at the next session or several sessions in the future.

So What?

We will end every session by thinking about what we are called to do in the world as a result of the readings and reflection. What does this reflection call you to do? In our circle? In your ministry? In your life?

Gratitude and Closing

Invite everyone, as they are moved, to say one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”

Sources Sessions

Session 2: Everyday Theology

Session 2: Everyday Theology

Session Metadata
Session2
TitleEveryday Theology
UU SourceDirect Experience
Unit1st Source: Direct Experience
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

I so appreciated our first session together! Thank you for sharing and for listening. For our next meeting on [date], we’ll be talking about the first source of Unitarian Universalism:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

Before our session, please read the following:

Also use your UU Wellspring journal to reflect on the following questions:

You might want to check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook********Pagefor Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our openings words are “What Song” by Rev. Victoria Safford.

“What if there were a universe in which a world was born out of a smallish star, and into that world (at some point) flew red-winged blackbirds, and into it swam whales, and into it came crocuses, and wind to lift the tiniest hairs on naked arms in spring when you run out to the mailbox, and into it at some point came onions, out of soil, and came Mount Everest, and also the coyote we’ve been seeing in the woods about a mile from here, just after sunrise in these mornings when the moon is full?… And into that world came animals and elements and plants, and imagination…”

If such a universe existed and you noticed it, what would you do? What song would come out of your mouth, what prayer, what praises, what sacred offering, what whirling dance, what religion, and what reverential gesture would you make to greet that world, every single day that you were in it?

You might choose to play music during part of the meditation. One suggestion is “Everything Is Holy Now” by Peter Meyer or Carrie Newcomer’s “I Believe.” Please set it up in advance to move past ads. You can play “Audio Only” by going to the share screen, choose “Share Computer Sound” in the bottom left, “Advanced” at the top of the screen and “Music or Computer Sound Only.”  Then begin the video or audio on your computer.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

For facilitators: Again, this is a good time to reassure your group that, with time, silence during UU Wellspring meetings will start to feel less and less awkward and more and more sacred. Encourage participants to be their natural selves, looking into the center or at the participants, but not to respond verbally.

You may want to remind participants that this is a SPIRITUAL check-in, not about one’s life in general.

What are you carrying in your heart? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

For facilitators: Based on your group, you might choose to read the covenant regularly or share it in some way. There may be times this feels unnecessary, but it offers participants a chance to address any concerns before they become bigger problems.However, if it becomes rote, with no response, you may want to visit it less regularly.

Have copies of the covenant for everyone in the group so you can either refer to it or read it together.

Anything about the covenant that we should address?

Reflection

Today we’re talking about the first source of Unitarian Universalism. I just want to give you a heads up that next week we’ll be talking more in-depth about our spiritual journeys, so know that we don’t have to cover everything today!

The first source is:

Direct**experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

Some possible reflection questions:

So What?

What does this reflection call you to do? In our circle? In your life?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”

Sources Sessions

Session 3: Spiritual Histories

Session 3: Spiritual Histories

Session Metadata
Session3
TitleSpiritual Histories
UU SourceDirect Experience
Unit1st Source: Direct Experience
Head / Hands / HeartHands
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

***Note to Facilitator:*Before sending email note that the amount of time each participant will get to share their spiritual histories depends on how many people are in your group. The “ten minutes” referenced in this email and in the session plan assume a group of eight; if you have more or fewer participants, change the time accordingly by dividing 80 minutes by the total number of people in your group.

Email to Participants

**Tips for online.**Make sure your settings allow for participants to share their own screen in case they want to share photos, a video, or text with the group. Add this information to the email so participants know what to expect.

Our next session on [date] offers us a chance to take the ideas we talked about during our last session and apply them to our own lives. There are no books or articles as homework this time, just the invitation to “read” your own life, inspired by our first UU source:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

During the session, you’ll be given [ten] minutes to present your spiritual journey in any way you choose. It may be through talking about your religious homes, or a few major turning points in your journey, or through thematic questions that you’ve tried to address. Feel free to bring any pictures, artwork, objects, music and/or video if that helps you to share your spiritual journey.

In preparation for this sharing, use your UU Wellspring journal to reflect on these questions:

Clearly, those are some pretty big questions. Remember, you’ll have [ten] minutes to talk about your spiritual journey. That is enough time to tell much of your story, but not nearly enough time to answer all of the above questions. Focus on what feels most important for you to share with us.

But you don’t need to be done with these questions just because of the time limit of our session. These questions can be very helpful as a starting point with your spiritual director. Use your time with your spiritual director to go more deeply into your answers and see what other questions arise.

It will be good to be together again and hear one another’s stories! If you feel called, share some highlights of your story (or pictures) on the UU Wellspring Facebook****Page and our Instagram page by searching for UU Wellspring. Please follow us for regular inspiration from our programs.

In Faith,

(Name(s) of Facilitator(s)

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Today we are continuing to connect with the first source of UUism, which is:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

UUA

Our opening reading is “Love After Love” by Derek Wolcott. If you prefer to have words and visuals, the poem with subtitles is found here on YouTube. We aren’t adding music today since we want to reserve the time for sharing.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

***Note to Facilitators:*At this point in the year, be prepared for participants to have questions about how much silence to share. Reassure them that this discomfort is normal and will work itself out over time. This can be especially difficult if someone has a very emotional check-in (or an emotional spiritual history during this session). It’s hard to sit by silently and watch someone cry! But the silence that is at the core of true listening can hold much more pain and emotion than our words can; encourage your group to leave room in the circle for that kind of listening to happen.

Note that it is not required to stare into the center of the circle. Many groups prefer to gaze at one another as part of being present during their deep listening. Various forms of nonverbal, nonphysical expression can be a natural part of deep listening.

Check-In

Today’s session will be slightly different than others. In order to make sure we have enough time for everyone to share their spiritual histories, we are going to shorten our check-in time slightly — but it’s still important we share how our spiritual life is going! Please briefly check in about your spiritual practice and spiritual direction.

Reflection

Note to Facilitators: Divide the time available by the number of people in the group. An electronic timer is very useful — allow the sound of the timer to remind someone their time is up instead of you having to cut them off. Some people appreciate a “one minute warning” so they know to start wrapping up. Be sure to leave silence in between each speaker as well.

*Your job this session (as always) is to protect the process. Make sure everyone has the opportunity to share their story in a safe and loving space. Do not let this run into the next session.*If you have extra time after everyone has shared, ask the group:

So What?

What does thinking about your own spiritual history and hearing from others call you to do in the world?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Sources Sessions

Session 4: Prophetic Voices of Our UU Ancestors

Session 4: Prophetic Voices of Our UU Ancestors

Session Metadata
Session4
TitleProphetic Voices of Our UU Ancestors
UU SourceProphetic Women and Men
Unit2nd Source: Prophetic Women and Men
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

It was wonderful to hear everyone’s spiritual histories at our last session! Keep being the theologian of your own life, keep doing your spiritual practice, and carry that ever-deepening “direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder” forward into our reflections about the next UU source:

Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

UUA

Prophetic people. Words and deeds. Justice, compassion, love. There is much here to think about!

At our next session on [date], we’ll hear the prophetic voices of some of our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors. You’ll find highlights of Unitarian and Universalist history and many options to extend your reading. The list below is long, so choose one (or more) from each section. The goal is your reflection on our heritage, rather than feeling the need to read or view every piece in this extensive collection.

Unitarian and Universalist History

Unitarians

We’ll learn about Francis David and Michael Servetus, two Unitarian heretics from the time of the Inquisition and Reformation. We’ll also be introduced to the remarkable women of the Iowa Sisterhood, a group of Unitarian women ministers from the late 1800s; the persistence of Ethelred Brown, a Unitarian minister from Jamaica; and Frances Ellen Harper, an abolitionist and women’s rights activist and writer. Also highlighted is a sermon by Rev. Jen Crow, UU Wellspring’s founder.

16th Century Unitarians

19th and 20th Century Unitarians

Universalists

The beauty of our Universalist heritage is that God loves all of us. The early Universalists were also Protestants and differed from their neighbors primarily in their belief that God’s love will lead to eternal salvation for all (give or take, with some controversy about exactly how this would happen). You didn’t need to be chosen, blessed, or act in a certain manner, but rather you were loved and therefore saved. We honor this as one of the places where UUism emerged.

The Bible may at times hold inspiration, beauty, as well as challenges for Unitarian Universalists. Early Universalists upheld the Bible as prophetic and read the Bible to say that God is a loving God, providing salvation to all. While it is true that the Bible has been used to justify shame and violence over the centuries, our Universalist heritage shows us there is another way: the God of radical, inclusive love.

19th and 20th Century Universalists

Also, in preparation for our next gathering, please reflect on these questions:

OPTIONAL: If you are interested and have time to learn more about Unitarian Universalist history in the United States, a very accessible book is Rev. John Buehren’s Unitarians and Universalists in Americaor reviewing a broader history, visit the UUA Unitarian and Universalist history website and the booklist of the Unitarian and Universalist Historical Society.

And if you are still intrigued by UU history, one extensive resource is the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. You may find the readings and videos in this section too extensive for this session.

I look forward to seeing you all!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our opening words are from the Gospel of Thomas:

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”

Today’s music is “Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.”

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Reflection

For this session, we’ll move from our personal spiritual journeys to the journeys of our Unitarian ancestors, and from the first source to the second. The second source states that UUs draw religious inspiration from:

Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

UUA

The history of both Unitarianism and Universalism is filled with prophetic voices! But before we turn to our reflection questions, let’s talk a little about Unitarian history.

What threads did you notice in the readings? What surprised you?

**Note to Facilitators:**Although this is not meant to be a “history lesson,” participants can develop a basic understanding of why people such as Michael Servetus and Francis David are such important prophetic voices from Unitarian history. Often, people understand how radical the Iowa Sisterhood was, but sometimes have a harder time understanding how radical the idea of Unitarianism was during the Reformation.

Also ask some of the following questions:

Some possible main ideas to convey:

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Sources Sessions

Session 5: Prophetic Voices of Today

Session 5: Prophetic Voices of Today

Session Metadata
Session5
TitleProphetic Voices of Today
UU SourceProphetic Women and Men
Unit2nd Source: Prophetic Women and Men
Head / Hands / HeartHands
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksLectio Divina

Preparation

**Note to Facilitator:**This session includes bringing prophetic witness to the issue of social justice. Since this is such a huge, complicated, and personal topic, please spend some extra time thinking through how you will approach this session. Reflecting ahead of time on your own personal anxieties, concerns, and hopes for this session is vitally important in order to create a brave, sacred space for everyone in your group. Everyone may have a call, for some direct action, for others it will be indirect.

Also note that the session includes a Lectio Divina opportunity where  you will read a poem three times. You will want to leave about ten minutes for this right before the closing.

Email to Participants

In our last session, we explored our UU faith heritage and heard the prophetic voices of some of our Unitarian ancestors, as we reflected on our second source:

Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

For our next session on [date], we will continue exploring our second UU source as we hear from some modern prophets. Our second source recognizes that new voices can transform our hearts and our faith tradition and challenge us to create a more just world. Like prophets of the past who were considered radical in their time (Iowa Sisterhood, Servetus, etc.), modern prophets do the (often unpopular) work of envisioning and calling forth a world that has never been. Prophets are often people whose individually articulated vision arises out of recognizing a larger community’s need for change. They often seem to be channeling a message moving through them but that did not begin with them and will not end there. Listening to and being exposed to words and deeds of prophetic people helps us more deeply understand our faith and see what is possible.

Systemic poverty, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia (and all the ways the dominant culture tries to marginalize entire groups of people) are so deeply entrenched in our society and minds. It can feel impossible to imagine a world without them and incredibly overwhelming to confront these evils directly, but that is what these prophets and our faith call us to do. As Unitarian Universalists, it is core to our theology that everyone has inherent worth, that no one is excluded, that we all have a voice. And we affirm that it matters as much what we do with our lives as what we believe.

We acknowledge there are as many prophetic voices that call us to seek and create justice as there are systems of oppression functioning in our world. It is not our task to do a comprehensive review of all of these- that is far too much for one session. Our main task in this session will be to listen to the wisdom of a few contemporary prophetic voices imagining and calling for justice, to invite this wisdom into our hearts, and to consider its power to challenge or affirm our way of being and transforming our world.

You may be recognizing your own barriers to public witness and activism, even as we are inspired by these vocal prophets. Remember to honor your daily acts of kindness and compassion as well as the larger movements you will explore today. As you learn about these activists, you might want to give thanks or honor their work as part of your own spiritual practice.  All acts of kindness and witness can be honored.

Read or watch some of the selections below that you anticipate will challenge you the most. You might choose to seek out a prophetic voice that is not represented below. As you read, imagine yourself in the 1960s listening to Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech for the first time and how revolutionary and unimaginable his vision might have seemed then. Perhaps the visions articulated by these modern prophets seem as impossible now as Dr. King’s did then! But with the work of hands and the change of hearts and minds, so much becomes possible.

Articles

Media

Reflection Questions

In faith,

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our opening words are “Prayer for Living in Tension” by Rev. Joseph M. Cherry. Printed by permission of the author. You might choose to replace “step into our discomfort” with the more inclusive “move into our discomfort.”

If we have any hope of transforming the world and changing ourselves, we must be bold enough to step into our discomfort, brave enough to be clumsy there, loving enough to forgive ourselves and others.

May we, as a people of faith, be granted the strength to be so bold, so brave, and so loving.

“Prayer for Living in Tension” by Joseph M. Cherry

Today’s music is “I Am Light” by India Arie.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Note to Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

**Note to Facilitators:**No spiritual practice presentation since lectio divina will be held at the end of the session as a group spiritual practice.

Reflection

Note for Facilitators: There are two parts to the reflection time for this session:

Use the lectio divina part of the session as you see fit. If your group is going deep with the questions, spend extra time there. If your group starts debating or if the conversation becomes disrespectful, move into lectio divina earlier.

Today we are continuing our reflection on the second source of UUism:

Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

UUA

Reflection Questions

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina /lLECK-TEE-OH Dah-veen-ah/ is historically a Christian monastic tradition of reading verses of the Bible multiple times with the intention of deeper understanding and unity with God. Thomas Cramner in his “Homily on Scripture” described it as: “Let us ruminate, and, as it were, chew the cud, that we may have the sweet juice, spiritual effect, marrow, honey, kernel, taste, comfort and consolation of them.” www.anglicancommunion.org

Many people of faith as well as those who seek a spiritual connection use the process ofLectio Devina to ground and to either go within to touch their own spirit and/or to find a unity of spirit. Today we will employ our own process ofLectio Divina by listening to a poem read three times. I will first read aloud “Community Means Strength” by Starhawk as everyone listens.

I will read it aloud a second time and I invite you to note a word or phrase that speaks to you. I will share my screen so that if you want, you can follow along.

On our third reading, I invite you to focus on the word or phrase you chose and after this reading you will be invited to share the word or phrase with the group and briefly share how that word or phrase impacted you.

So What?

What is something that you are just now starting to believe is possible? What is helping you see this new way of being? Is it stories? Something getting unblocked?

Gratitude and Closing

After everyone has said a word, either of appreciation or if you read the Lectio Devina, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation. You might end with a protest song, such as “The Times They Are a Changing” by Bob Dylan or “Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)” by Joan Baez.

Sources Sessions

Session 6: Your Own Prophetic Voice

Session 6: Your Own Prophetic Voice

Session Metadata
Session6
TitleYour Own Prophetic Voice
UU SourceProphetic Women and Men
Unit2nd Source: Prophetic Women and Men
Head / Hands / HeartHeart
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

For our next session on [date], we’re each going to listen to our own prophetic voice. We’ve heard about our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors and other prophetic voices telling new truths and from contemporary UUs about being fully, courageously themselves. Now it’s our turn to step up and see what it’s like if we take the second source to heart:

[My] words and deeds … challenge [others] to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

UUA

For some of us, thinking of ourselves as a “prophetic voice” might be empowering and thus inspire us to speak ever more loudly for justice. For others in our group, it might make us feel a little guilty that we don’t do nearly as much as we should, or it might even sound utterly ridiculous.

For those of us who identify with the latter, try this: think about “the structures of evil” in a significantly smaller way: Where is there emotional hurt or spiritual harm in your life? In your family, workplace or community? How could you confront that hurt and harm with the transforming power of love?

Before our next session, there are three short (and amazing!) videos to watch, reflection questions to write about in your UU Wellspring journal, and an experiment to try.

Media

(Note: you can click on the “interactive transcript” icon if you’d like to read along while watching)

Reflection Questions

Exercise

Try looking for opportunities to be a prophetic voice. This does not have to be a huge, dramatic gesture! The challenge is to step outside of our regular comfort zones and act with vulnerability and courage.

Maybe you’ll call out an injustice at work or write a letter to the editor. Maybe you’ll attend a rally or workshop. Maybe you’ll speak up about a topic you often remain silent about.

Or maybe you’ll take the first step towards something you’ve been avoiding. Maybe this isn’t something that will be resolved in a day and you’ll discover a new avenue for action.

Or maybe you already dedicate your life to social justice work, and, all too often, come face-to-face with trauma or injustice. In that case, think about how being a prophetic voice of compassion in your own life might help you sustain your work. How might the transforming power of love bring hope and courage?

Notice what using your prophetic voice is like for you and come to our session ready to tell us about your experience.

I look forward to hearing about it!

And finally, in order to deepen our experience of spiritual practice as we journey together this year, each group member will be given the opportunity to lead a spiritual practice during a session. You are welcome to share a spiritual practice that has meaning for you or one that you’d like to try. You can keep track of who is presenting **with this calendar.**Some examples of spiritual practices include: -Nature meditation: 5-10 minutes of silence outside -Prayer: leading the group in prayer or each person writing a prayer -Movement: yoga poses, Tai Chi, Dance of Universal Peace, running, ecstatic dancing, swimming laps -Breathing exercises -Singing or listening to music -Journal writing -Meditation: sitting, walking, eating or moving -Meditation on a reading (poem, psalm, quotation) -Meditation on a work of art (painting, piece of sculpture, any handmade object) -Meditation on a natural object (stone, branch, seed pod) -Guided meditation recording -Art: draw or sculpt with clay an expression of your relationship with __ (fill in the blank) i.e., your spiritual practice, your relationship with trust, with prayer, your body, with the divine, etc.

Tips and things to consider: AMOUNT OF TIME: You have 5 to 10 minutes to lead this experience.  Please plan accordingly in order to share your practice with us while also helping us ensure that we keep with the overall flow of the session.

INSTRUCTION: For most of these practices little instruction or words are usually necessary. The opportunity to go deeper within and get in touch with ourselves is what teaches.

With faith,

Session Plan

Note to Facilitator: Let people know that in the email for the next session they will be asked to email the facilitator(s) response to a few questions to offer participants the chance to weigh in on any concerns they have so your group can reset and refocus as needed. The questions are 1) What is working well? 2) What is not working well? 3) What would you like to change?

Second, often around this time of the year, participants struggle with wanting to get to know each other more. It can be very helpful (and fun!) to schedule a gathering such as a potluck (if you are together) or an online chat time so your group can spend some time simply chatting and laughing together. Groups that have done this have found it releases some of the pressure that builds up for people who struggle with not being able to cross-talk. They then are able to more fully engage in the silence and deep listening of future UU Wellspring sessions.

If your group chooses to do a gathering, it is important to find a date and time that works for everyone in the group. Anyone can be the online or in person host, but rather to make sure everyone is fully included.

Chalice Lighting and Silence

From p.37 Sources of Our Faith, edited by Kathleen Rolenz.

The first act of a prophet

is to hear one’s own first cry.

Desire is good

and longing is the first prayer.

Let us bless ourselves with knowing

and bless each other with words that are true.

Barbara Pescan, From Sources of Our Faith, edited by Kathleen Rolenz.

Or you might share Jonipher Kwong’s “Our Voices Must be Heard” (p. 10) from Voices from the Margins: An Anthology of Meditationsedited by Jacqui James and Mark D. Morrison-Reed.

Today’s music is “Just Before Dawn” by William Ackerman.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

As the facilitator, please model the sharing of a spiritual practice for the group. If the practice is meditative, you may want to limit the meditation length at the start of the session.

Before I begin sharing my spiritual practice with you, let’s remind ourselves that our spiritual practices may also highlight the pluralism within our group. This means there are multiple, valid, complete religious paths and spiritual practices. My path and practices may feel valid and complete, and I encourage all of you to be open to all of the paths and spiritual practices as they are shared. Although it might feel vulnerable, we invite you to try out and share your spiritual practices when your turn comes, recognizing the sacred space we have created together.

Rev. Kelly Dignan says, “Unitarian Universalist minister Fred Muir writes in Turning Pointthat pluralism implies diversity, but it’s more than that. It’s more than tolerating difference. It’s engaging in the difference. We risk surfing the surface theologically if we don’t do the engaging part.

I look forward to engaging in the diversity of spiritual practices that we are all engaging in.

Reflection

**Note for Facilitator:**Encourage participants to respond to the feedback questions in the email for next session.

Today we’re reflecting on a slight rewrite of the second UU source:

My words and deeds … challenge [others] to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

UUA

Reflection Questions

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Respond to Participant Feedback

**Note to Facilitator.**Please share a summary of your group’s feedback with UU Wellspring emailing:

Director@uuwellspring.org Or Send Hard copies to Linnea Nelson UU Wellspring 8848 Grey Hawk Point Orlando, FL 32836

Sources Sessions

Session 7: Solstice Ritual

Session 7: Solstice Ritual

Session Metadata
Session7
TitleSolstice Ritual
UU SourceProphetic Women and Men
Unit2nd Source: Prophetic Women and Men
Head / Hands / HeartN/A
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualYes
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksRitual

Preparation

Note to Facilitator: If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, your Solstice celebration will be in June. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere your Solstice celebration occurs in December. Place this session accordingly.

Tip for Online Meeting: Some groups choose to skip this session if they are not able to meet in person. Instead you may choose to encourage participants to visit an online Solstice Ritual or create their own solstice ritual. However, those who have chosen to have a Solstice Session online have found it very meaningful. You might start out the session with lowered lights on everyone’s screen and when you discuss the light later, have everyone add light to their spaces.

Email to Participants

Dear Wellspring Friends

At our next session on [xx], we are going to celebrate the winter solstice, a holiday centered on the experience of darkness and the return of the light. After the inspiring intensity of our sessions so far, it will be good to take some time to let our souls catch up and simply be together.

In the northern hemisphere, this is the season of light: the growing light of the Solstice, the candles of the Menorah, the Kinara bright with seven lights, and the starlight showing the way to the newborn Jesus. Solstice, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Hanukkah all celebrate with light. The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. It is a time to call to mind the blessings of darkness and feel the promise of returning light. Together we will celebrate the winter solstice. There are no readings for this session, just the invitation to bring something to share: a favorite poem, a piece of music, a photograph, a memory, or anything that your spirit is calling you to pay attention to.

As you think about what you might bring to share, spend some time reflecting on these questions and perhaps writing about them in your UU Wellspring journal.

If you are interested in Summer Solstice, view the workshop #618 from General Assembly 2020 on Summer Solstice.

Reflection Questions

[If you are meeting online:] Please also bring a candle or something to light to keep nearby. You are also warmly invited to bring a favorite drink or holiday food. If we were together in person, this would be a time to share favorite foods and drink. Since we cannot do that this time, we will share over zoom what we are enjoying.

[If you are meeting in person:] There are no readings for this session, just the invitation to bring something to share: a favorite poem, a piece of music, a photograph, a memory, or anything that your spirit is calling you to pay attention to. As you think about what you might bring to share, spend some time reflecting on these questions and perhaps writing about them in your UU Wellspring journal.

Also, take a moment to sign yourself up for a session during which you’ll take ten minutes to share a spiritual practice with the group. Please let me know if you have questions about this or want to discuss further! [You might add a sign up link here.]

Also also, if you haven’t had a chance to yet, please take the time to email me with your responses to these questions before our next session. This is a chance to weigh in on any concerns they have so your group can reset and refocus as needed. Please cut and paste the questions below when you email me.

  1. What is working well?

  2. What is not working well?

  3. What would you like to change?

Blessings,

[your name]

Session Plan

Materials needed:

**Facilitator Preparation:**In addition to the chalice, set up as many candles on the center table as there are people in your group. Light them, except the chalice, before people arrive. Turn off the rest of the lights in the room.

Add greenery, sparkles, whatever decorations you choose to make the table look festive. You may want to have small gifts or food to share with members of the group later in the ritual – something as simple as tangerines or chocolate.

Feel free to modify this session as you like – the goal is for you and your group to feel closer, more connected as a result of sharing stories and ritual. It’s a break from the hard work of reading history and theology, and a time to connect from the heart.

If your group meets during the daytime, think about trying to schedule a time for this ritual when it will be dark outside. Although it’s not absolutely necessary, it adds greatly to the ritual to have candles bringing back the light in the darkness.

Music suggestions:

Chalice Lighting and Silence

(10 minutes)

We’ll take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this moment. Our opening words are from “Winter Solstice” by Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker.

At this winter’s turning of the year let us go gently – for once – into the night, its dream-drenched, glittering stillness a haven for our souls. Let us breathe deeply and settle into this glittering stillness of darkness and light.

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Ritual

Transition to the solstice ritual byextinguishing all candles except chalice*. (Lights in the room should already be off.)*

Begin: At this darkest time of the year, when the sun is farthest from us and the night is longest, we come together, as our ancestors have for generations, to honor both the darkness and the return of the light.

We start in darkness, with poetry and song. I’ll read the poem “Blessing for the Longest Night” by Jan Richardson, and then we will hear the song [song choice].

Blessing for the Longest Night

All throughout these months

as the shadows

have lengthened,

this blessing has been

gathering itself,

making ready,

preparing for

this night.

It has practiced

walking in the dark,

traveling with

its eyes closed,

feeling its way

by memory

by touch

by the pull of the moon

even as it wanes.

So believe me

when I tell you

this blessing will

reach you

even if you

have not light enough

to read it;

it will find you

even though you cannot

see it coming.

You will know

the moment of its

arriving

by your release

of the breath

you have held

so long;

a loosening

of the clenching

in your hands,

of the clutch

around your heart;

a thinning

of the darkness

that had drawn itself

around you.

This blessing

does not mean

to take the night away

but it knows

its hidden roads,

knows the resting spots

along the path,

knows what it means

to travel

in the company

of a friend.

So when

this blessing comes,

take its hand.

Get up.

Set out on the road

you cannot see.

This is the night

when you can trust

that any direction

you go,

you will be walking

toward the dawn.

Used by permission.  © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

**Note to Facilitator.**Play music in the darkness. Use music suggested in facilitator notes or choose your own. When the music ends, say into the darkness:

This part of our ritual is a chance for us to talk about the blessings and the challenges of darkness. This is not yet the time to share what you have brought with you, but rather a chance to say out loud what this moment is bringing up for you. As you are so moved, I invite you to briefly share what darkness has meant to you:

When have you felt like you were most “in the darkness”? What challenges does darkness hold? What lessons does darkness teach?

After people have responded:

We now bring back the light. You are invited to tell us about what you brought to share with the group — a favorite poem, a piece of music, a photograph, a memory, or anything that your spirit is calling you to pay attention to.

As you share, light a candle, a sign of your own inner light. We will hold one another in loving silence as people speak and will allow space between offerings to honor what has been spoken.

After everyone has shared, if there is time, ask:

So What?

How does this ritual relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. Closing words: May the true light within you guide you on your way. Play “Here Comes the Sun” and celebrate the return of the light.

Sources Sessions

Session 8: Jewish and Christian Teachings

Session 8: Jewish and Christian Teachings

Session Metadata
Session8
TitleJewish and Christian Teachings
UU SourceJewish and Christian Teachings
Unit3rd Source: Jewish and Christian Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

Our next session will be on concepts of both Jewish and Christian teachings.

At our next session on [date], we’ll start our reflection on this UU source:

Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

UUA

Unitarian Universalism was born in Christianity and Christianity was formed in the time of Judaism. In order to better understand how we embrace the Source today, we will be reading and hearing from more contemporary Jewish Unitarian Universalists and Christian Unitarian Universalists and how the Source affects their lives.

Jewish and Christian teachings are rooted in the Bible, yet there are questions about who wrote the Christian Bible and how much was actually written during the life of Jesus. The Hebrew Scriptures, or Tanakh, are composed of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), Prophets, and Writings, also known as The Hebrew Bible. Christianity arose from Judaism, so we will begin with reading texts by and about Jewish Unitarian Universalists.

There are more readings and videos here than you likely have time to delve into. Choose some options from Judaism and some from Christianity as your time permits.

Readings on the Intersection of Judaism and Unitarian Universalism:

Optional Readings and Videos

Readings on the Intersection of Christianity and Unitarian Universalism:

Optional Reading

Reflection Questions

If you have not yet emailed your responses to the feedback questions below to me, please do so before our next session. This is a chance to weigh in on any concerns they have so your group can reset and refocus as needed. Please cut and paste the questions below when you email me.

  1. What is working well?

  2. What is not working well?

  3. What would you like to change?

Thinking of you all and looking forward to our time together!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

My hope is that we always strive to see past the labels we tend to put on one another, that we avoid the “other-ing” we can easily slip into when we don’t see eye-to-eye theologically, and that we celebrate the essence of what we share in a tradition rich with dialogue and diversity steeped in an unshakable understanding of the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, whatever their beliefs. Cricket Potter

Cricket Potter from the essay “Learning to Love the Questions” in Christian Voices in Unitarian Universalism: Contemporary Essays, Skinner House Books.

Today’s music is**Leat Sabbah,** Avinu Malkeinu (4 min 43 sec)

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant. Use this time to discuss any feedback that has been received (what in the group is working well/not working well/could be changed).

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

We’re starting our reflection on this UU source:

Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

UUA

Reflection Questions

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation. Possible closing music: Spirit of Life as sung by the Orange County UU Choir.

Sources Sessions

Session 9: Reimagining God: Process Theology

Session 9: Reimagining God: Process Theology

Session Metadata
Session9
TitleReimagining God: Process Theology
UU SourceJewish and Christian Teachings
Unit3rd Source: Jewish and Christian Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHands
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

Dear UU Wellspring friends,

For our next session on [date], we will be following the example of our Universalist ancestors by reimagining the concept of God. People like John Murray and Olympia Brown looked to scripture and found there not a God of judgment and damnation, but of love and inclusion. How might we, inspired by their vision, continue to reimagine God?

Within our group there will be diverse reactions to this word, God. For some, a belief in God might be close to their heart and inspire their spirit. For others, the word may be an outdated or divisive concept. Let’s see where this topic takes us.

As a starting point to our reimaging of God, we’ll be learning about process theology. Process theology seeks to integrate spirituality, philosophy, science, ethics, and more into a worldview that embraces our expanding knowledge of the universe. The God of process theology is radically different from traditional definitions:

Readings

Media

Reflection Questions

If you are interested in exploring this concept further through Science Fiction, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower explores a created religion of**“Earthseed.**” This is optional and not part of the session, but might be of interest.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

As we consider that God may be present in everything, we will continue our exploration of the UU Source by responding to our thoughts through the ideas of Process Theology.

Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

UUA

Our opening reading is “**A Theology Adequate for the Night”**by Nancy Shaffer.

Today’s music is “The Oneness of Everything“ by Jim Scott.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

***Note to Facilitator:*Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant. Use this time also to talk about the feedback you have received (what in the group is working well/not working well/could be changed).

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation. If you would like to play music as people exit, you might play Karen Drucker’s “Face of God“

Sources Sessions

Session 10: Prayer

Session 10: Prayer

Session Metadata
Session10
TitlePrayer
UU SourceJewish and Christian Teachings
Unit3rd Source: Jewish and Christian Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHeart
Has ExerciseYes
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksExercise

Preparation

Email to Participants

Our next session is on [date]. For the previous two sessions, we have focused on Jewish and Christian teachings and process theology — inspiring and also somewhat rigorous intellectual topics. For our next session, we are going to move from thinking about the concept of God to an experience of a spiritual practice inspired by Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

This spiritual practice is prayer. Prayer will have a different meaning and history for each of us. The goal for this session is for us to experience one way people reach out and reach in to touch divine love.

We won’t share a spiritual practice during this session since we will have an opportunity to practice prayer together.

Readings

Reflection Questions

A reminder: if you haven’t ordered the book Heartwood: Living with the End in Mind by Barbara Becker, you may want to do so now so you have it in time to read for session fourteen. We recognize this author comes from a place of privilege, which she notes in the book. We continue to search for resources that fully meet the mission of UU Wellspring and that has a powerful message.

Also, check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook****Pagefor to share your prayers with the UU Wellspring Community. We also have a UU Wellspring Instagram page with quotes to inspire you!

In faith,

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

We start our session with an eight-word prayer written by a former UU Wellspring participant:

Help me; hear me; hold me; heal me.

Again: Help me; hear me; hold me; heal me.

UU Wellspring Participant

Or you can share Jonipher Kwong’s “The Three Jewels” (p. 61) fromVoices from the Margins: An Anthology of Meditationsedited by Jacqui James and Mark D. Morrison-Reed.

The music is “Have Mercy on Us (Khudaya, rahem kar)” from Sing With the World: Global Songs for Children.  Or for now or a break: Prayers for the World by the Pentatonix.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Note for Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Remind people to order the book Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind by Barbara Becker if they haven’t already. They will need to have it read for Session 14. Note that we ask you to be aware of the privilege that Becker notes in her writing and use a critical eye as you read.

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

For facilitators:

This session includes an exercise that invites people to write their own prayer. Bring paper and pens for everyone in your group and be sure to save enough time to do the exercise (at least 20 minutes).

A reminder as we begin our reflection on prayer, that prayer will have a different meaning and history for each of us. The goal for this session is not to convince you of anything about prayer, but rather to experience one way people reach out and reach in to touch divine love.

Reflection Questions

Note that the questions are shortened to allow time for the prayer writing.

Exercise

Now, instead of just talking about prayer, we are going to actually experience it. Take the next few minutes to write a prayer. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just words from your heart. Sit with your prayer for a few minutes until the chime [singing bowl, bell, whatever you use] sounds.

After the chime, as you feel moved, please share your prayer out loud with the group if you feel comfortable doing so. No comments as people are sharing, please, but we will respond at the end of each prayer by saying “Amen.”

Reflection on Exercise

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

You might also use some of the words and imagery from the prayers people read aloud to close this circle, or you might read “That Which Holds All” or another selection from the prayer samples. Music to end the session could include**“The Prayer”**by Pentatonix.

Sources Sessions

Session 11: World Religions

Session 11: World Religions

Session Metadata
Session11
TitleWorld Religions
UU SourceWorld Religions
Unit4th Source: World Religions
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

Dear UU Wellspring friends,

Our next session is on [date]. We’ve talked about courage and love, prophets and prayer, and now we move to our next source:

Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspire us in our ethical and spiritual life.

UUA.org

As Unitarian Universalists, we look not only to our Christian heritage, but to Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism and other world religions for inspiration.

Our goal in this session is not to become experts on all of the world religions. Rather, we will focus on how world religions “inspire us in our ethical and spiritual lives.” The readings and videos encourage an openness to the gifts of the world’s religions, recognizing that many of us value cultural, spiritual and theological gifts from our own religious histories, whether we grew up in the Unitarian Universalist tradition, another faith tradition or as someone who has had many or no particular faith traditions.

Stephen Prothero, in *God is Not One,*quotes from Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs by Ninian Smart, (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1996).

For more than a century, scholars have searched for the essence of religion. They thought they found this holy grail in God, but then they discovered Buddhists and Jains who deny God’s existence. Today it is widely accepted that there is no one essence that all religions share. What they share are family resemblances—tendencies toward this belief or that behavior. In the family of religions, kin tend to perform rituals. They tend to tell stories about how life and death began and to write down these stories in scriptures. They tend to cultivate techniques of ecstasy and devotion. They tend to organize themselves into institutions and to gather in sacred places at sacred times. They tend to instruct human beings how to act toward one another. They tend to profess this belief or that about the gods and the supernatural. They tend to invest objects and places with sacred import. Philosopher of religion Ninian Smart has referred to these tendencies as the seven “dimensions” of religion: the ritual, narrative, experiential, institutional, ethical, doctrinal, and material dimensions.

Prothero, Stephen. God Is Not One (pp. 12-13). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

Again in God is Not One, the author Stephen Prothero states:

One of the most common misconceptions about the world’s religions is that they plumb the same depths, ask the same questions. They do not. Only religions that see God as all good ask how a good God can allow millions to die in tsunamis. Only religions that believe in souls ask whether your soul exists before you are born and what happens to it after you die. And only religions that think we have one soul ask after “the soul” in the singular. Every religion, however, asks after the human condition. Here we are in these human bodies. What now? What next? What are we to become?

Prothero, Stephen. God Is Not One (p. 24). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

I hope you’ll find time for these many opportunities to learn about other world religions and how they might inspire your ethical and spiritual life. If you are interested, Prothero’s book, quoted above,”God Is Not One,” reviews many of the world religions indepth and is available at most booksellers and some libraries.

Readings

Media

Reflection Questions

I look forward to our time together.

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

We are alone yet intricately bound, inextricably connected to soil and stream and forest, to sun and corn and melting snow. We are alone yet bound by stories we cannot get out of to ancestors and descendants we will never meet. And all these natural conditions, these bonds we did not forge ourselves and yet cannot deny, are the strands of a theology, the seeds of faith, the beginning of *re-ligion,*of binding all things.

Victoria Safford in Walking Toward Morning: Meditations. Skinner House Books, 2003.

Music for today is “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” sung in English, Arabic and Hebrew by Emma’s Revolution.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Not for Facilitator:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Sources Sessions

Session 12: Forgiveness and Letting Go

Session 12: Forgiveness and Letting Go

Session Metadata
Session12
TitleForgiveness and Letting Go
UU SourceWorld Religions
Unit4th Source: World Religions
Head / Hands / HeartHeart
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

For our next session on [date], we will undertake the vast task of forgiveness.

Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspire us in our ethical and spiritual life.

UUA

Forgiveness is a core spiritual need that all religions address: in Islam, one of the names for God in the Quran is Al-Ghafoor, The Most Forgiving; in Christianity, Jesus died so that our sins would be forgiven; for Buddhists, forgiveness is necessary for internal harmony; Mahabharata, a Hindu text, states, “forgiveness is Brahma [God]; forgiveness is truth.”

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist Monk who writes in You Are Here:

“Conflict and suffering are often caused by a person not wanting to surrender his concepts and ideas of things. In the relationship between a father and a son, for example, or between partners, this happens all the time. It is important to train yourself to let go of your ideas about things. Freedom is cultivated by this practice of letting go. If you look deeply, you may find that you are holding on to a concept that is causing you to suffer a great deal. Are you intelligent enough, are you free enough, to give up this idea?”

I am becoming calm,

I am letting go.

Having let go, victory is mine.

I smile.

I am free.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. You Are Here (pp. 76-77). Shambhala.

So what are we to do with forgiveness as Unitarian Universalists? UU minister Rev. Kate Tucker’s sermon on forgiveness opens up the topic with wisdom and depth; the Forgiveness Project website shares real stories of what forgiveness looks like in people’s lives. Hanh describes letting go, which doesn’t change that you care deeply, but that you recognize when letting go allows a detachment or freedom from yearning and control. But as with all deeply spiritual concepts, the real work for this topic is your own reflection about forgiveness, your own need to heal and let go.

Readings

Reflection Questions

Thinking of you all and looking forward to our time together.

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our opening reading is a poem by Rick Fields, d. 1999.

Behind the hardness there is fear

And if you touch the heart of the fear

You find sadness

And if you touch the sadness

You find the vast blue sky

-Rick Fields

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. You can also invite people to share a word about what they are letting go of during this forgiveness process as a closing. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Sources Sessions

Session 13: Nature as Spiritual Guide

Session 13: Nature as Spiritual Guide

Session Metadata
Session13
TitleNature as Spiritual Guide
UU SourceEarth-Centered Spirituality
Unit5th Source: Earth-Centered Spirituality
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

At our next session on Thursday, [insert date], we’ll start our exploration of the spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions.

The language of this Source of our UU faith reads:

Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

UUA

As a part of our exploration of this source, we’ll learn a little bit about three different earth-centered philosophies: Transcendentalism, modern paganism, and religious naturalism. None of the readings are very long, so if you find yourself intrigued by one (or more!) of the philosophies and want to go deeper, there are optional suggestions for further study of each. The readings provide much-needed context for this source and for transcendentalism, paganism, and religious naturalism, so start with those.

But since having a purely intellectual discussion about earth-centered spirituality would go against the very heart of this source, we will also seek out experiences that take us outside of ourselves and that bring us into the world of nature, intuition and awe. After all, Thoreau wouldn’t want us to just read his words, but to live them.

Readings

Readings

Attend a ritual with a **CUUPS**chapter, or another event with an earth-based religious group, that is open to all. Respectfully experiencing nature-based religions and traditions is as important as reading about them, if not more so.

Take some time and go out in nature (or as close to nature as you can get given your life surroundings). Sit. Breathe. Notice. Your task is simply to experience your divine connection to the natural world. Do this as often as possible before our session. Notice what it is like for you to be in nature and then journal about the experience. Come to our group ready to share your reflections.

Reflection Questions

Reflecting on the pre-work:

I look forward to hearing about your experiences with nature, Transcendentalism, paganism, and religious naturalism! Also, check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook****Page for Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community. If you post something about your experiences in UU Wellspring while you are there, you may find other UUs who are delving into the same topics!

We will begin reading Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind by Barbara Becker by our next session, so if you haven’t gotten a copy, now is the time!

I look forward to hearing about your experiences with nature, Transcendentalism, paganism, and religious naturalism!

Session Plan

**Note to Facilitators:**Since this session is about being inspired by the Earth, having part of this session outside makes it more experiential. Stay inside through check-ins, and then, weather permitting, take your group outside for the reflection time.

If it isn’t feasible to take your group outside (no outdoor seating, mobility concerns, etc.), bringing some flowers or greenery to put next to the chalice brings some of the beauty of nature into the circle.

**Next Year:**This is also a good time to begin thinking about UU Wellspring programs for next year. As a facilitator or congregational coordinator, review the programs offered and consider your own interests. There will be a short video in the next session to introduce participants to upcoming opportunities.

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Today we start our experience of this UU source:

Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Our opening words are by Robin Wall Kimmerer from Braiding Sweetgrass:

Breathe it in and you start to remember things you didn’t know you’d forgotten.

Robin Wall Kimmerer from Braiding Sweetgrass:

The Music today is to play a ten minute audio section of bird sounds, with or without the video or a harmony in naturevideo.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Note for Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

Note for facilitators: If you’re planning on going outside, bring your group out now before starting the reflection questions. Once your group is all seated outside, take a few moments of quiet and a few deep breaths to again become fully present.

Reflection Questions

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone stand, holding hands, around the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Sources Sessions

Session 14: UUism and the Crisis of Life

Session 14: UUism and the Crisis of Life

Session Metadata
Session14
TitleUUism and the Crisis of Life
UU SourceEarth-Centered Spirituality
Unit5th Source: Earth-Centered Spirituality
Head / Hands / HeartHands
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

For our next session on [date], we will discuss how our faith has supported us, or not, during the crises of our lives. Part of the earth-centered spirituality source calls us to “live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.” This task is easy when our lives are filled with springtime and flowers, but much harder when we face storms and personal challenges. In other words: the rhythms of nature include both growth and disease, both birth and mortality. How do we live in harmony with all of it? How does Unitarian Universalism support our life?

The pre-work for this session includes an article highlighting the support offered during the most difficult months of the pandemic. UU Chaplains who were called to care for those in crisis, discuss how their faith held them and helped them carry on.

This session also begins our reading of the book Heartwood, The Art of Living with the End in Mind by Barbara Becker. (Context Note: Becker writes from her personal experience and perspective of a white woman with economic and racial privilege. She includes stories and experiences that some have identified as problematic. We encourage a critical lens as you read.)

These additional short pieces explore areas that have challenged UUs:

Reflection Questions

Also, please bring something with youthat represents what sustains you in a time of spiritual, emotional and/or physical crisis. This could be a poem, music, writing, art, or something more personal such as an artifact of your religious past or a photo of a beloved person or place. Another way to think about this is to imagine you are being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and it’s not clear if you will survive. What words, images, prayers, music, ideas would come to you at this time?  What anchors you? How do you keep your heart open even while it’s breaking?

Or maybe you haven’t found the support you need in times of crisis. In times of crisis, such as a health crisis, loss of job or home, what do you long for? What would sustain you?

We will each have a chance to share our items with each other.

You may also be thinking about what’s next? Your spiritual journey doesn’t need to end here! You can find more information on all of UU Wellspring programs on the UU Wellspring website.

I’m looking forward to our time together.

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

**Note to Facilitators:**Read aloud: “I Pray this Day for the Courage to Be…” by Maureen Killoran, found on page 30 of To Wake to Rise.

“I Pray this Day for the Courage to Be…”

I pray this day for the courage to be . . .

The courage to be humble in the face of inequity and pain, to know that the power has been given me to make a difference, although not to end all suffering or to save all the whales that populate our days.

I  pray for the courage of endurance, to keep acting in the midst of despair, to keep trying in the aftermath of failure, to keep hoping in the emptiness  that follows loss or change.

May courage give me patience and may I ever know Love’s healing presence at the heart and center of my days.

Maureen Killoran, from To Wake To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilience edited by William G. Sinkford.

Play Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings or say, “Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.”

Additional optional music to play during a Break or at the end of the session as people are logging off: Standing Stone and Sending You Light, both performed by Unitarian Universalist Voice Activist Melanie DeMore.

Check-In

How is your spiritual practice going? Your spiritual direction? What are you carrying in your heart?

Covenant Review

**Note for Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant, including reading it out loud together at each session.

Anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

We’ll start our reflection time by sharing what we each brought. The invitation was to bring something — poetry, art, music — with you that represents what sustains you in times of crisis. Just a reminder that this is a circle without judgment or comment.

We will listen openly to our own and others’ truth, and then once everyone has shared, we’ll have some time for reflection.

**Note for Facilitators:**Divide the hour by the number of participants to make sure each person has time to share. Ask each person to share what s/he brought and to take [x] minutes to describe how and why it helps them through life crises.

As time allows, some possible reflection questions:

Or ask these more general questions:

So What?

What does this reflection call you to do? In our circle? In your life?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation, such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.

If you want to play music at the end, you might choose “We Shall Be Known” by MaMuse.

Sources Sessions

Session 15: The Theology of Joy

Session 15: The Theology of Joy

Session Metadata
Session15
TitleThe Theology of Joy
UU SourceEarth-Centered Spirituality
Unit5th Source: Earth-Centered Spirituality
Head / Hands / HeartHeart
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

Our next session is on [date].  We’ve learned from spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions and reflected on the struggle to live in harmony with a natural world and the trauma of human living in today’s world. Now it’s time to call out one specific word in this source:

Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions whichcelebratethe sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

UUA.org

Celebrate! Of course. Nature itself teaches that the spiritual life doesn’t always have to be somber.

Researchers at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture claim, however, that “modern culture is marked by joylessness.” This absence of joy creates a vacuum that stress and worry rush in to fill.  The result is a “flattening out” and a “graying” of human experience. The antidote to this spiritual stagnation, according to these Yale researchers, is intentionally bringing more joy into our lives, our families, and our communities.

Readings

If you have the optional books, please read:

Reflection Questions

We will read Let Your Life Speakby Parker Palmer for Session 18 (in three sessions) so you may want to check to see if you have a copy and if not, **order one here**or from your favorite bookseller.

Check into our **UU Wellspring Facebook******Page for Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community!

May you be blessed with abundant joy!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Read aloud “On the Brink” by Leslie Takahashi Morris (p.25 and below) from Voices from the Margins: An Anthology of Meditationsedited by Jacqui James and Mark D. Morrison-Reed. Printed here by permission of the author.

On the Brink All that we have ever loved and all that we have ever been stands with us on the brink of all that we aspire to create: a deeper peace, a larger love, a more embracing hope, a greater generosity of spirit, a deeper joy in this life we share . — Leslie Takahashi Morris

Music for today is the Linus and Lucy theme by Vince Guaraldi.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Note to Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation, such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”

Sources Sessions

Session 16: Good Without God

Session 16: Good Without God

Session Metadata
Session16
TitleGood Without God
UU SourceHumanist Teachings
Unit6th Source: Humanist Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHead
Has ExerciseYes
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksExercise

Preparation

Email to Participants

At our next session on [date], we’ll start our exploration of our last UU source:

Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.

UUA.org

The emphasis on reason in humanism serves as a counter-balance to the focus on intuition in Transcendentalism. Communing with nature is one way to spiritual growth, but we also need to engage our minds in pursuit of the Truth.

The readings this week include a link to the UU Humanist Association, a sermon by the Rev. Karen Hutt that provides both history and inspiration, the three Humanist Manifestos, and a short article about how humanism can offer a direct, relevant response to a contemporary issue of injustice.

Readings

Please explore these documents as your time permits:

Reflection Questions

Check into our **UU Wellspring Facebook******Page for Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community!

I’m looking forward to our time together.

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

We’ll begin our time together with three humanist haikus from the American Humanist Association:

We are made of stars From cosmic dust colliding, Our ribs are our own.

My morality Comes from my humanity, Not from threats or bribes.

Godless? I suppose. Loving the world we live in Is its own reward.

American Humanist Association

Today’s music is “Swimming to the Other Side” by Emma’s Revolution.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart today? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Note to Facilitators: Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

Today we’re starting our reflection on this UU source:

Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.

UUA.org

Reflection Questions

Exercise

Invite your group to take a few minutes and write their own humanist haikus. Haikus are a three line poem with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Reread one or more of the haikus used in the opening reading as examples.

Ask volunteers to read their haikus out loud.

What deeply held beliefs do these haikus name?

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”

Sources Sessions

Session 17: UU Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife

Session 17: UU Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife

Session Metadata
Session17
TitleUU Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife
UU SourceHumanist Teachings
Unit6th Source: Humanist Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHands
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

by uuwellspringdirector | Jul 1, 2021 | Curriculum: Sources | 0 comments

Preparation

Email to Participants

At our next session on [date], we’ll be reflecting on death and the afterlife. This is a difficult topic and also one that can’t be ignored as a part of an authentic spiritual journey.

In her book, Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind, Barbara Becker writes, “in our culture, we are told that death is the last and greatest taboo–as welcome as a skunk at a garden party. Yet most often when I spoke of my experiences with loss, people opened up about their own.”

In this session we will explore what keeps us from opening up about our losses in our culture and how this does, or does not, play-out in our UU faith communities.

We will also consider how our own belief and understanding of an afterlife informs our experience of death, loss and grief.

Since this session will bring up losses, fear and grief for many of us, we will approach our time together with deep love and acceptance. You are invited to share at whatever level you are comfortable; if the grief in your life is still raw, know you are welcome to share much or little of it. If you want additional support, please reach out to me and I’ll connect you with pastoral care resources.

Readings

Reflection Questions

Reminder: If you haven’t yet ordered Parker Palmer’s bookLet Your Life Speak for Session 18, you can order it at an online bookseller or from the UUA Inspirit Book Store.

Also, check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook****Page for Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community.

Thinking of you all.

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Please listen as I read **“Let Me Die Laughing”**by Mark D. Morrison-Reed. Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

If you want to add music, play “Meditation” played by Yo Yo Ma.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart tonight? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice.  Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”

Sources Sessions

Session 18: Let Your Life Speak

Session 18: Let Your Life Speak

Session Metadata
Session18
TitleLet Your Life Speak
UU SourceHumanist Teachings
Unit6th Source: Humanist Teachings
Head / Hands / HeartHeart
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationYes
Special BlocksNone

Preparation

Email to Participants

Humanism reminds us that, above all, what we do matters. UU minister and humanist Kenneth Phifer states, “Humanism tells us that whatever our philosophy of the universe may be, ultimately the responsibility for the kind of world in which we live rests with us.”

Therefore, our final session on humanism as a UU source centers on a bigger answer to our routine question, “So what?” So, what does this UU Wellspring journey call me to do in my life? What comes next?

Our session will focus on two components: how our faith calls us to live our values, and what we are personally called to do and be in our own lives.

The reading and resources provide context for a final reflection on the question we have asked after each session. So, what are you called to do as a result of your 10-month spiritual journey through UU Wellspring?

Readings

Media

Reflection Questions

Please prepare to share your reflection on our final “So, What?” question. These questions are prompts for your reflection and do not necessarily need to all be answered.

You might want to look back at your journal from the beginning of the year where you described your spiritual life. How would you describe it now?

Please complete the UU Wellspring Feedback****form now or after the final session. Facilitators, you will receive a feedback form via email. If you don’t receive one by this session, please contact director@uuwellspring.org.

If UU Wellspring has made an impact on your life, would you consider a donation to fund future curriculum development, updates, and opportunities to make the program available to more people? If so, please visit our website and use the donate button at the bottom of the home page to share your love.

Perhaps you would like to make a legacy gift either online or by check, or even through the UUA Umbrella fund option, that will keep UU Wellspring sustainable and affordable for all. You may also send a check made out to UU Wellspring to Linnea Nelson, Executive Director, 8848 Grey Hawk Point, Orlando, FL 32836. We will be printing your name on our website as a supporter (unless you request to be anonymous.)

If we want to continue as a group, we can consider another UU Wellspring advanced curriculum, including Spiritual Practices, Faithful Actions, Deep Questions or our other Seeker Series that offers opportunities to find some of your own inspiration: Sacred Arts. Our shorter programs include UU Wellspring Reads: Sacred Earth (6 sessions) and our Youth or Young Adult programs (8 sessions). Learn more about any of these program here.

Also, check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook****Pagefor Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community.

I look forward to our time together!

Session Plan

**Online Plan for the End of the Session Gratitude:**You can ask participants to share an affirmation for each person using the email template at the end of this session as your final email if you do not plan to meet the last time.

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our opening words are “Faithless Works” from poet and UU Minister, Rev. Jonipher Kwong, from To Wake To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilienceedited by William G. Sinkford.

Faithless Works

They say faith without works is dead So I worked for equality Next to my queer friends who wanted to get married And I worked for religious freedom Next to my Muslim friends who were accused of being terrorists And I worked for racial justice Next to my Black friends whose lives were affected by police brutality

Yet I didn’t feel fully alive even after working myself to death Until I let me work become a spiritual practice Until I let go of my attachment to the outcome Until I stopped chasing after political issues, one after another I still believe faith without works is dead But works without faith is just as lifeless.

-Jonipher Kwong

The music for today is “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

What are you carrying in your heart today? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

**Note to Facilitators:**Use whatever process your group has established to stay current with the covenant.

Is there anything about the covenant that we should address?

Spiritual Practice Presentation

Reflection, Part One

As UUs, how are we called to live our values.

Reflection, Part Two

So, what are you called to do or be in your life? (40 minutes)

Split the time allotted among the participants and allow them individually to respond and reflect on these questions. This is the final “So, What” question. It’s a chance for participants to pull together their experience of the program and project their learning into the future.

Please remind everyone to complete the feedback form in the last email to the group and to consider a donation to UU Wellspring to support ongoing program updates.

So What?

How does this reflection relate to your spiritual journey? What are you inspired or challenged to do next?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation.

Email to Participants

If you are meeting online, you won’t be able to pass around affirmation cards at the next session to share affirmations with one another. Instead, use this email after your last session (either now or after Session 19).

Dear Friends,

What an inspiring year…so good to companion one another.

Affirmations: Within the week, please send me a one or two line appreciation for each person. Please sign your name after each one. I will gather them and send them back to you individually. Please write them below and just reply to me.

name

name

name

name

etc.

Feedback We thrive on feedback and use it to make the program better. Thanks to those of you who have already completed this **Feedback Form.**For others, could you take a few minutes to do so?

Donations UU Wellspring is a small nonprofit. If you would like to show your appreciation for UU Wellspring, we would welcome any gift through our donation linkor checks made out to UU Wellspring inc and sent to:

UU Wellspring Linnea Nelson, Executive Director 8848 Grey Hawk Pt. Orlando, FL 32836

Legacy gifts and gifts made through the UUA umbrella program are also welcome.

Continue with the UU Wellspring Program Advanced Programs

Visit UU Wellspring to learn about the advanced programs that your congregation can host.

Blessings to all of you!

Sources Sessions

Session 19: Celebration and Reflection

Session 19: Celebration and Reflection

Session Metadata
Session19
TitleCelebration and Reflection
UU SourceConclusion
UnitClosing
Head / Hands / HeartN/A
Has ExerciseNo
Has RitualNo
Has Spiritual Practice PresentationNo
Special BlocksPresentations, Gratitude Exercise, Closing Circle

Preparation

Also note that UU Wellspring materials are subscription based. Please delete any downloads at the end of each program. We update each summer and any downloaded materials should not be considered current. Thank you for supporting UU Wellspring in this way so that we can continue being relevant and meaningful in the lives of so many Unitarian Universalists. If your congregation has not yet committed to next year, please share your experience with leadership to ensure continuation.

Note for facilitators: This final session will probably take more than the normal two-hour meeting depending on the size of the group. Either start earlier or have your group plan on staying later.

If you are meeting in person, in addition to the session plan below, this final session might also include a shared meal, small gifts, poetry, music, laughter — whatever feels right for your group.
**Note:**you will need to provide blank cards and pens for your group for the gratitude exercise.

**Online Groups:**If you choose to meet, make sure the projects are accessible to online meeting. You can teach people how to share their screen if they have videos, documents, websites or photos to share.

Thank you, Facilitators! We are so grateful for your dedication as a UU Wellspring facilitator.

We would like to send you a small gift for completing ourFacilitator’s Feedback.****

Your feedback will enhance our program and help us understand the needs of your participants. Thank you!

Email to Participants

We have come to the end of this year’s journey together. (That sentence fills me with emotion!) For our final session, we will reflect on what we’ve experienced and celebrate our time together.

At the start of the year, we were invited to become the theologians of our own lives. We then searched for and found courage in prophetic voices, learned about radical love, and reimagined God. We became more mindful of the present moment and reached towards forgiveness. We listened to the teachings of nature and heard messages of hope and joy. We looked towards death and saw our lives in a new light.

What a journey it has been!

For our final session, you are invited topull together what this year has meant for you by integrating your thoughts and experiences. Using whatever medium works best (art, music, poetry, written reflection, etc.), prepare a brief presentation to share with the group that articulates your theology and how you will put those beliefs into action. A few questions to help you get started:

At our session, we will each have time to share our presentation with the group.

If you have not had time to complete the UU Wellspring Feedback form, please do so now.

Another reminder:

If UU Wellspring has made an impact on your life, would you consider a donation to fund future curriculum development, updates, and opportunities to make the program available to more people? If so, please visit our website and use the donate button at the bottom of the home page to share your love.

Perhaps you would like to make a legacy gift either online or by check, or even through the UUA Umbrella fund option, that will keep UU Wellspring sustainable and affordable for all. You may also send a check made out to UU Wellspring to

Linnea Nelson, Executive Director 8848 Grey Hawk Point, Orlando, FL 32836.

We will be printing your name on our website as a supporter (unless you request to be anonymous.)

If we want to continue as a group, or some of you want to continue with others interested in UU Wellspring, UU Wellspring now has a new 12-session program: Love at the Center: UU Values and Covenants. This program extends experiential opportunities and storytelling. As a member congregation, Sources, the foundational UU Wellspring program and/or Love at the Center will be included, so we could choose either one. Other UU Wellspring 6-session programs include UU Wellspring Reads: Sacred Earth or Creating Meaning.

Since you have taken Sources, we can consider other year long programs, such as or Love at the Center, Deep Questions, Spiritual Practices, Faithful Actions, or the Seeker Series that offers opportunities to find some of your own inspiration: Sacred Arts or Spiritual Ancestors. Also, Youth or Young Adult programs include 8 session programs on Sources and Spiritual Practices and a new LOVE: YEA! (8 sessions). Learn more about any of these program here.

Stay connected through the UU Wellspring Facebook****Pageor visit the **webpage**for more information.

With deep gratitude for each of you,

Session Plan

Note for facilitators:  If you are meeting in person, bring blank cards/envelopes and pens for your group for the gratitude exercise. Save at least half an hour at the end of the session for this activity. If you are meeting on line, copy the email from the end of Session 18 and send it out as a final email. Collect the emailed affirmations and send back out individually via email or mail to each individual.

**Online Tip:**See the orange online tip box near the beginning of this session to choose an affirmation process and share it with the group members so they know how to access and send their affirmations.

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our opening words are the same words we used at our opening retreat:

*“We begin by remembering the sound and the feeling of the one Being, the Wellspring of love. We affirm that the next thing we experience shimmers with the light of the Whole Universe.”

Note: “We begin by remembering” is one translation of the Arabic word Bismallah, which is used at the beginning of prayer and from a translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz in The Sufi Book of Life*.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Presentations

**Note to Facilitators:**Plan on no more than ten minutes per group member; again, you might want to use a timer. Honor each group member’s presentation with listening and silence. If there is extra time (save at least half an hour for the gratitude exercise and closing circle), invite people to reflect on what they just heard.

**Online Tip:**Ensure that you have given screen sharing privileges to everyone in case they want to share a visual copy of their project.

Gratitude Exercise

Note to Facilitators: Have each participant choose a notecard and put her/his name on it. Pass the cards around so each member of the group can write a statement of gratitude for the person whose card it is, a remembrance to carry away. This exchange of gratitudes has been very meaningful for participants.

Online Tip: The Gratitude Exercise will be done after the group ends.

Closing Circle

Allow participants time to say out loud what is in their hearts by asking: What do you want us to know as we close our circle?

After responses, have focus on the chalice. Close the circle with each person saying one word they will carry with them.

Blessings, farewell and Amen.

Sources Sessions

Sources Facilitator Guide

UU Sources was originally written by Sara Smalley**with the Reverends Jen Crow, Libby Moore and Deborah Raible. Updates have been provided by Kimberley Debus, Sarah Lenzi, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Linnea Nelson and Rev. Tina Simson with consultation with Rev. Kierstin Homblatte-Allen from Beloved Conversations.

Introduction

“What will you do with this one wild and precious life?” asks the poet Mary Oliver.

UU Wellspring is a 10-month program of distinctly Unitarian Universalist spiritual development designed to help participants answer that provocative question.

Begun in 2005, the program celebrates the depth and breadth of our rich religious tradition. Over the years, UU Wellspring has expanded and now offers five years of programming: Sources (the revised first-year curriculum, described below), Spiritual Practices, Deep Questions, Faithful Actions and Sacred Practices, with Spiritual Ancestors in development.

UU Wellspring offers participants an opportunity for  spiritual deepening that leads to more joyful living, increased congregational leadership, and faithful justice making in their lives and in their communities. UU Wellspring inc gives spiritual power to UU communities that will sustain and strengthen UU identity and justice work through these five essential components:

The First Year: UU Wellspring – Sources

Background

Many Unitarian Universalists, young and old, are familiar with the seven principles, a statement of our most deeply held values that starts with “the inherent worth and dignity of every person” and ends with “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

In addition to affirming and promoting the seven principles, the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism also draws on six sources for religious knowledge and spiritual growth: direct experience, prophetic women and men, world religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, humanist teachings, and Earth-centered traditions. If the seven principles are what we aspire to, the six sources are what inspires us.

In UU Wellspring – Sources, which is a prerequisite for all other years of UU Wellspring, participants are challenged by, comforted by, and inspired by each one of the six sources. They learn not just about Unitarian Universalism, but also about how to integrate their Unitarian Universalist faith more fully into their daily lives.

A note about our resources: We use diverse voices in both readings and music and we credit every writer and artist. When we create our own documents, we seek permission from the authors. We are monitoring to ensure that the musical artists are  from the culture the music represents. Our sensitivity readers look for the music to consistently meet these standards. We seek to continue to hold an evolving understanding of appropriation and we appreciate comments from facilitators and participants to help us be equitable in this area.

Structure

UU Wellspring – Sources is divided into six units, one for each of the six UU sources. Within each of the six units, participants cycle through a head-hands-heart experience of the source:

Holding this all together are the essential components that are the core of all UU Wellspring programs: small group connection, commitment to daily spiritual practice, monthly spiritual direction, reading and reflecting on the assignments, and putting our faith into action, all resting on a foundation of deep listening.

Sessions

Welcome Email to Participants

Retreat

Session 1*— Welcoming the Soul*

Session 2 — Everyday Theology

Session 3 — Spiritual Histories

Session 4— Prophetic Voices of Our Unitarian and Universalist Ancestors

Session 5 — Prophetic Voices of Today

Session 6 — Your Own Prophetic Voice: Vulnerability and Courage

Session 7*— Solstice Ritual*

Jewish and Christian Heritage

Session 8 — Jewish and Christian Teachings

Session 9 — Reimagining God: Process Theology

Session 10 — Prayer

World Religions

Session 11 — World Religions

Session 12 — Forgiveness and Letting Go

5th Source: Earth-Centered Spirituality

Session 13 — Nature as Spiritual Guide

Session 14 — UUism and the Crisis of Life

Session 15 — The Theology of Joy

6th Source: Humanist Teachings

Session 16 — Good without God

Session 17— UU Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife

Session 18 — Let Your Life Speak

Session 19*— Celebration and Reflection* (optional if you are online)

Required Books:

Next Steps:

Please send the email to participants and review the retreat provided in your Source’s Documents.