Come join our drum circle this month!  Looking for a fun way to learn about rhythms, teamwork and playing with others?  Drum circles are energizing, meditative, and a whole lot of fun!  No experience required.  Children and Adults are welcome.  Bring your drum or use one of ours!  Don’t want to drum but love to dance?  You are welcome, too!  We will meet on the OCUUC patio around 1pm or when it is cleared.  Don’t forget your lunch or a snack!

Summer Albayati-Krikeche
Ben Pruess
Yassine Krikeche
Rev. Kent Doss

•Tuesday May 8th: Taizé Singing as a Spiritual Practice  

With Amy Tompkins and Ted Lundholm, meets the second Tuesday of each month, 7 – 8:30 p.m. in Gillan 3.

• May 8th, June 12th, July 10th August 14th, September 11th, October 9th, November 13th, December 11th

Taizé Singing originated in Taizé, France. Simple rounds and chants are sung over and over as the participants improvise as the spirit moves them; each person sings louder or softer, faster or slower, harmonizes or not as they become immersed in the experience. Eventually, the song ends naturally and the group moves on to a new song. Those new to Taizé Singing are invited to join the group as we deepen our spiritual experience through the beauty of the music we create.

•Deepening Your Spiritual Practices Reading /Discussion Group: “Living Our Principles” 

Friday, April 27th from 10:00 am to 12 noon with Karen Anderson

Meets alternate Fridays of each month at 10 am-12 pm, please confirm date with Karen and find out the location for the week.  The group meets at a nearby restaurant for breakfast and discussion.

We will begin with reading excerpts from several books, and work to apply our UU principles in our lives. This will be a support group where we will share the journey of life and challenges as we work together to apply what we are learning to our own lives. For  location please contact Karen Anderson.

(There is a possibility of a similar group that meets on Friday from 6:30-8:30 Ppm.  If you are interested in that evening group, please email or call Karen.)

Here are the books we will start with:

• Rev. Forrest Church, The Cathedral of the World
• Rev. Scotty McLennan, Finding Your Religion 

•Final class on Tuesday April 17th: “Early Christianity: From Christ to Constantine 325 AD” with Keith Jenkins & Lynn Jackman

Time & Location: 7:00-9:00 pm in the Social Hall

So you think you’re familiar with Christianity today…good for you!! But do you know what the very first Christians thought…about Christ? About how Christians should behave? About what writings they considered holy?? Well if you don’t know, you can certainly find out!! Come join us for an entertaining, fact-filled and informative time with “Christianity — from Christ to Constantine”. The class will explore the history, beliefs, traditions, and theology of the early Christian church, up to the year 325ad, when the Emperor Constantine called the First Council of Nicea. Come on, admit it…aren’t you a little bit curious what early Christian services were like? Who early Christians were influenced by? How in the world did a religion with only 12 rag-tag adherents take over the mighty Roman Empire and create the world’s best-selling book? Who was Emperor Constantine, and what was the significance of the First Council of Nicea? (Hint: What is a “Unitarian”?) The class begins Tuesday, March 13th at 7:00pm in the Social Hall and runs for 6 consecutive Tuesdays until April 17th. The course will be led by Lynn Jackman and Keith Jenkins and they look forward to you joining them. See you then!

•Deepening Your Spiritual Practices Reading /Discussion Group: “Living Our Principles” 

Friday, April 13th from 10:00 am to 12 noon with Karen Anderson  (adulteducationocuucorg)  

Meets alternate Fridays of each month at 10 am-12 pm, please confirm date with Karen and find out the location for the week.  The group meets at a nearby restaurant for breakfast and discussion.

We will begin with reading excerpts from several books, and work to apply our UU principles in our lives. This will be a support group where we will share the journey of life and challenges as we work together to apply what we are learning to our own lives. For  location please contact Karen Anderson  (adulteducationocuucorg)  .

(There is a possibility of a similar group that meets on Friday from 6:30-8:30 Ppm.  If you are interested in that evening group, please email or call Karen  (AdultEducationOCUUCorg)  .)

Here are the books we will start with:

• Rev. Forrest Church, The Cathedral of the World
• Rev. Scotty McLennan, Finding Your Religion 

•Tuesday May 8th: Taizé Singing as a Spiritual Practice  

With Amy Tompkins and Ted Lundholm, meets the second Tuesday of each month, 7 – 8:30 p.m. in Gillan 3.

• May 8th, June 12th, July 10th August 14th, September 11th, October 9th, November 13th, December 11th

Taizé Singing originated in Taizé, France. Simple rounds and chants are sung over and over as the participants improvise as the spirit moves them; each person sings louder or softer, faster or slower, harmonizes or not as they become immersed in the experience. Eventually, the song ends naturally and the group moves on to a new song. Those new to Taizé Singing are invited to join the group as we deepen our spiritual experience through the beauty of the music we create.

All Church Potluck and Ethical Eating discussion

The December All Church Potluck will be on December 18th.  Since we will have only one service that Sunday, the Potluck will be a Brunch* at approx. 11:15 am.  Join us for shared meal followed by a presentation/discussion that starts at about noon.

We need 2-3 volunteers for set-up and 2-3 for clean up each time we do a potluck; to volunteer, please email Karen  (adulteducationocuucorg)  . Every participant is asked to wash their own dishes; this makes clean-up easier for the volunteers.

Ethical Eating Discussion –  the Ethical Eating Discussion will start at about 12:00 pm.

The UU General Assembly selected “Ethical Eating” as a Congregational Study/Action Issue. Hunger is both a community problem and an international problem; this is part of the “interdependent web of which we are all a part” from our 7^th UU principle.  Through this series, we are exploring different facets of this issue.  Many people in our community and even in our congregation are struggling to get food to eat that is both economical and healthy.  In December, we will have an informal discussion of how OCUUC members can contribute to the solution.  Please come with your ideas and energy.  We will plan one or more actions that everyone at OCCUC may help with. If you have an idea you would like to present at this gathering, please email Karen  (AdultEducationocuucorg)  .

We hope you will want to join in to make this a great institution of our church.  To do so, we will need people to bring their contributions and also volunteers to help with the set up and clean up.  We need 2-3 volunteers for set-up and 2-3 for clean up each time we do a Lunch; to sign up, please email Karen  (AdultEducationocuucorg)  .

If there is sufficient interest, we will continue Sunday Pot Luck Lunch/Brunch on a monthly basis.

*Basic Brunch Menu Ideas

By: Alice Langholt

Brunch is a comforting kind of meal, a lazily late breakfast or early lunch (however you see it), and so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of choosing a menu. Many people like to include a bit of both kinds of foods – breakfast foods and light lunch foods – in the brunch menu. Here are some ideas for foods that work separately, or in any combination for a basic brunch. The idea here is to avoid strong flavors while enjoying choices from a range of items from each food group. Choose according to your tastes, budget, and the formality of the occasion.

Breakfast foods:

• Breads: bagels, rolls, breakfast pastry, muffins, croissants. Note: that these can be combined with lunch foods such as spreads so the breads are a good cross-over item).
• Fruits: bananas, fruit salad, oranges, seasonal, warm fruit compote
• Warm items: omelets, frittata or quiche, blintzes (crepes), pancakes, waffles, French toast

Lunch foods:

• Soups
• Light salads, such as tuna salad, egg salad, pasta salad, broccoli salad, or chopped salad
• Veggie tray
• Cheeses and luncheon meats
• Yogurt
• Smoked or poached salmon
• Cold chicken salad
• Mini sandwiches (tea sandwiches)
• Carved roast beef

The UU General Assembly selected “Ethical Eating” as a Congregational Study/Action Issue. Hunger is both a community problem and an international problem; this is part of the “interdependent web of which we are all a part” from our 7^th UU principle.  Through this series, we will explore different facets of this issue.

Many people in our community and even in our congregation are struggling to get food to eat that is both economical and healthy.  We will explore ways to feed yourself and your family for possibly as little as $25 per week for a family.

Changing for Good

A course presented through a Monthly Blog sharing the secrets of effective and successful change programs.

Most of us have resolved to make changes in ourselves only to fail miserably.  And undoubtedly you know someone who is addicted, should make changes for health reasons, or struggling with other changes – but finding it hard to accomplish the goal.  You will learn about amazing discoveries about how people successfully make changes.  Also, we will have an opportunity to discuss this process through the blog.  We will look at a remarkable model of change that understands both why people fail and helps us understand what to do differently to succeed.  Look for new posts each month on the Adult Education pages of the OCUUC website.

“Successful self-changing individuals follow a powerful and, perhaps most important, controllable and predictable course.  Along this course are various stages, each calling for particular and different approaches to change.  The action stage is simple one of six stages – following precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation and preceding maintenance and termination.”(p15)

From Prochaska, J., et al. (1995) Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward.  NY, NY:  Avon Books.

What's actually in here?

So you think you’re pretty familiar with stories in the Bible? You know all about Jonah being swallowed by a whale, the three kings that visited Jesus, and that Noah gathered two of every kind of animal to place on the Ark? Good for you…but you are WRONG!! None of those stories reflect what the Bible actually says! Come join us for a fun and informative time with “Things you THINK are in the Bible…But they AREN’T!! The classes will explore a number of popular stories, topics and situations that through culture and literature most of us have come to believe are in the Bible. This is an adult class, so themes will include violence and sexuality (Think you know what the sin of Onan was? Bet you don’t!). The course will be in three classes at 7:00 pm Wednesday, May 18th, and continue on May 25th and June 1st. As a bonus, we will also cover how the Bible was created and compiled. If you think it’s one book written at one point in time…you better come join us in the Social Hall at OCUUC! Course will be led by Keith Jenkins and Randy Kokal.

Our Green Theology course starts Wednesday, March 16 at 7 PM.

The course syllabus has been posted.

From the syllabus: This adult religious education course in ecological theology is designed to facilitate new habits of perceiving and analyzing our social and natural environments and to embolden the moral judgments and political acts to which liberal religious people are called in a time of environmental crisis.

The Classes (and potlucks!) will be held on March 16, 23, 30, and April 6, 13, 20. This course will also have a weekend seminar on April 29 and 30. Mark your calendars now! These dates are set!

Regarding the potlucks, all are invited that evening, whether you’re taking the course or not. Please bring a dish with enough servings to share. Drinks will be provided. The potluck will run from 5 PM to 6:45 PM and have no “formal” program, but we will discuss important social justice topics in UULM, UUSC, and throughout Orange County.

OCUUC is working to increase commitment to this faith tradition and to the congregation by creating a replicable adult education curriculum on the topic theology and ecology, “Green Theology.” Our goal will be to deepen theological understanding particularly as it relates to a current day issue for our society. This course will be more intensive than a “Building Your Own Theology” course, but not as rigorous as a class at a seminary.

The project will be under the direction of Dr. Michael Hogue, Professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School and the Reverend Doctor Karen Stoyanoff, minister at Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, Costa Mesa, CA.

Contact Reverend Karen  (ministerocuucorg)   or Mike Harmanos  (greenocuucorg)   for details.

AdultEducationocuucorg  (AdultEducationocuucorg)  

We have just had an adult education series about forgiveness.  We watched the film, “Amish Grace,” based on a true story in which a gunman took the lives of five Amish girls in a schoolhouse and then turned the gun on himself.  The response of the Amish community was unconditional forgiveness of the shooter and they even offered comfort and support to his widow.  Why did they do this?

Would you have been able to forgive this gunman?  Would you have considered this a desirable thing to do?  The Amish believe “if you forgive, peace will follow.”  Gideon, the father of one daughter who was murdered, said, “This hate that is inside you, how does it feel?  Hate will eat up your whole heart and then there is no room left for love.”

It has been said, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  Does this make sense to you?  Do you think it makes sense to forgive “all trespasses”?  Are there some offenses that are harder to forgive than others?  Are there some that you should not forgive?

Can you [should you] forgive someone who has not even expressed regret for their action and the harm they have caused?  Perhaps forgiveness is not really about the other who has caused the harm; perhaps instead it is about the damage caused by the act of hating.  The person who committed the offense has harmed you.  And now, each day you hate you are causing more harm to yourself.   The perpetrator’s ability to harm you ended when he committed the crime.  Now, any harm that comes from your hatred is happening today and is under your control.

If the perpetrator asks you to forgive him, should you give it?  Can you offer forgiveness to him?  Perhaps your forgiveness is not about him and cannot help him.  Instead it is about opening your heart.  So, if he wants forgiveness, he needs to forgive himself.  If he believes in God, he needs to ask his God for forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not about forgetting; it is important to learn from the incident.  It is also not about inviting the perpetrator to cause further damage.  It is still important to protect yourself.

This does not mean forgiveness is easy.  The mother of one of the murdered girls said, “I am filled with anger, but I offer my anger up to God and I forgive.  Sometimes I have to do that every hour.”  What helps you to let go of anger?

What are your thoughts about the questions about forgiveness?