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UU Faith Works Summer/Fall 2003 Administration
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The Beacon Press Discussion Guides for Unitarian Universalist Communities
Tom Hallock
Beacon Press
Boston, MA
A resource for adult religious education or adult discussion groups seeking to examine issues of concern to the UU movement
Available online at http://www.beacon.org/uuguides/contentuu.html.
About the Program
Ideal tools for life-long learning in UU congregations, Beacon Press books have often led the UU community to identify areas of concern. With this program, we aspire to strengthen the social justice and spiritual work of the denomination.
This program aims to:
deepen awareness of social justice issues in the UU community,
provide the finest and most enlightened thinking about these issues as tools to enrich discussions within UU communities,
create a new understanding of the work of Beacon Press, in UU congregations and communities.
The Beacon Press Discussion Guides provide a flexible structure for a short-term, small-group discussion program using Beacon books. The guides offer support materials for group leaders with all levels of experience, laying out information in such a way that preparation time is minimal.
Please contact Tom Hallock (thallock@beacon.org) if you have any questions or comments about these guides. Your feedback about their content and suggestions for future titles will aid us in our commitment to meet the program needs of UU congregations.
All discussion guides for Beacon titles may be viewed at our web site, www.beacon.org . Many of the guides on our web site are also available as Adobe Acrobat .pdf files for easier printing.
Coming Soon
Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals
John A. Buehrens
Organized into an introduction and fifteen sessions (with suggestions about how to condense or shorten the curriculum, if desired), the study guide will provide questions, exercises and additional resources that will help leaders and participants use Understanding the Bible for their own exploration of the Bible. In addition to providing ample time for participants' responses to their reading, each session will focus on one or two particular biblical texts or stories and will offer specific tools for engaging more deeply with these passages. The guide will also suggest a variety of exercises to address different learning styles and will look for ways to encourage the community building that is an essential part of every religious education course.
Program History
This program was developed in collaboration with the UUA Religious Education Department and Congregational, District and Extension Services and was funded through a grant by the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.
A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism
John A. Buehrens and Forrest Church
An introduction to Unitarian Universalism for searchers, newcomers, and lifelong learners
Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World
Laurent A. Parks, Cheryl H. Keen, James P. Keen and Sharon Daloz Parks
Participants explore their commitment to the common good and strategies to sustain such commitment in a changing world (three sessions).
Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America
Geoffrey Canada
A memoir of a young man's struggles with violence fuels discussion about issues that concern today's youth and how communities can address them (two sessions).
The Force of Spirit
Scott Russell Sanders
For adults of all ages, this program creates a safe space for personal sharing and reflection on the call of spirit in our lives (three sessions).
Free For All: Defending Liberty in America Today
Wendy Kaminer
What are the most important elements of liberty in America today? What is liberty in America today? As a nation, we preach “liberty and justice for all,” and prize freedom—but what exactly is that freedom, and at what cost is it bestowed? The questions raised in the program will be, and should be, difficult to answer (three sessions).
Kindred
Octavia Butler
This program provides a framework for Unitarian Universalist discussion groups to engage in reflective dialogue about the legacy of slavery, the connections between historical burdens and present realities, and our vision for shaping our future (three sessions).
Lifecraft: The Art of Meaning in the Everyday
Forrest Church
From “one of our leading pastors” (Dan Wakefield), a joyous book on the art of finding meaning in daily life.
Lifelines: Holding On (and Letting Go)
Forrest Church
Popular writer and minister Forrest Church explores the lifelines that can sustain us in times of trouble.
Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us
Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker
Models a process by which individuals and religious communities can reflect on their personal and shared histories in order to challenge limiting theologies and reshape our common truths.
The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract
Theodore R. Sizer and Nancy Faust Sizer
This program encourages reflections and contributions of young adults as well as parents, educators and other adults who finished their years of formal schooling, acknowledging that we all have a stake in the nature of moral education (three sessions).
Taking Retirement: A Beginner's Diary
Carl H. Klaus
This program has relevance for all adults of all ages, creates a space for authentic sharing between UU elders and encourages intergenerational dialogue about aging and life transitions (two sessions).
Waist High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled
Nancy Mairs
In her book, Mairs shares her own insights on the nature and meaning of disability in her life. This program encourages the reflections and contributions of all people, whatever their experience with disability (three sessions).
What Is Marriage For? The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution
E. J. Graff
Participants investigate past and current marriage laws and customs and develop personal definitions of marriage (two sessions).
Ordering Information
You can order these and other Beacon books for your discussion group from the UUA Bookstore. The bookstore offers a 10% discount with orders of 5-9 copies of a single title, and 20% off 10 or more copies.
Tel: 1-800-215-9076, Fax: 1-617-723-4805, www.uua.org/bookstore
Beacon Press
25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108
UU Faith Works Home | Summer/Autumn 2003
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