Audio Files Look for this symbol to listen to RealAudio of the Essex Conversations Essex I Summaries Pat Hoertdoerfer Ginger Luke Daniel Harper Susan Suchocki Elizabeth Strong Tom Owen-Towle John Marsh Frances Manly Essex II Summaries Barry Andrews Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley John Beuhrens Pat Ellenwood Richard S. Gilbert Logan Harris Jacqui James Judith A. Frediani Jen Harrison Elizabeth Motander Jones Makanah Elizabeth Morriss Meg Riley Roberta Nelson Rebecca Parker Tracey Robinson-Harris Kathy M. Silver Gary Smith Laura Wilkerson Spencer Greg Stewart John W. Tolley

ESSEX CONVERSATIONS
An Invitational Consultation on UU Religious Education for the Next Century

Please note: The Essex Conversations book has been published and is available from the UUA bookstore.

The purpose of Essex Conversations is to call together Unitarian Universalist leaders in religious education, representing a variety of perspectives, to imagine and articulate the core of Unitarian Universalist Religious Education at the dawn of the 21st century.

In 1975, seventeen religious professionals representing a variety of Unitarian Universalist-related organizations met at Stone House, a conference center in Rhode Island. They met four different times to discuss, dialogue, reflect, and envision the needs of Unitarian Universalist religoius education for the 1980s.

Essex I: top: Ginger Luke, Frances Manly, Tom Yorndorf, Susan Suchocki; middle: Cynthia Breen, Jeannellen Ryan, Susan Archer, Susan Harlow; bottom: John Marsh, Pat Hoertdoerfer, Daniel Harper, Tom Owen-Towle

While the group agreed with the need for occasional evaluations of the curriculum development effort, they also felt that the underlying assumptions of the religoius education efforts of our entire liberal religious community needed to be reexamined and clarified. Certainly a clarification of our assumptions was needed to engage in an adequate evaluation of existing program materials. On the basis of this decision the group agreed to explore three questions:

• What is Unitarian Universalism?
• What content and experiences should be included in our curriculum to fulfill these objectives?

Each member of the group wrote a paper in response to these questions. Each paper was discussed by the total group and suggestions made for clarification and further development. From their work the RE Futures Committee was born and the Futures Era of Unitarian Universalist religious education was begun. Twenty-three years later, as our world approaches a new millenium, it seems important and fitting that another group of leaders should be called together to discuss, dialogue, reflect, and envision the next directions for Unitarian Universalist religious education. Thirteen Unitarian

Essex I: from left: Susan Harlow, Pat Hoertdoerfer, Frances Manly,Jeannellen Ryan, Susan Davison Archer, Tom Yorndorf

Universalist leaders in religious education were invited to paricipate in a three-day gathering in April 1999 at the Essex Conference Center in Essex, Massachusetts. Participants were chosen by a committee of representatives from the Liberal Religious Educators Assocation (LREDA) Board, Meadville/Lombard Theological School, and the UUA Religious Education Department. Three questions posed to the thirteen participants in April 1999 were:

• As we enter the 21st Century, what is at the core of our evolving UU faith?
• What is your vision/goals for our lifespan liberal religious education?
• What are the vital components of Unitarian Universalist religious education?

Two of the final products will be in concrete form: publication of the papers and availability of the audiotapes. On this web site, you can read participants' short summaries of their papers, and listen to realaudio of their presentations, where available. The third "product" of this project is the insights and new possibilities planted in the creative souls of the participants and all who will make use of the materials.