Life Enrichment Classes and Activities
Life Enrichment has merged with Religious Education to form the Spriitual and Ethical Enrichment Committee. We value education as a life-long process, and offer courses, single-session events and interest groups for variety of topics of interest to Unitarian Universalists of all ages, including:
- Book Table: Swap and Buy
- Book Discussion Group
- Information Forum for Visitors
- Knit UUs Together
- Men's Discussion Group
- SUUNDAE (Sunday UUs Need and Deserve Adult Enrichment)
- Various Classes and Workshops
We learned flower arranging the Saturday before
Mother's Day.
For courses requiring registration, place your name and phone number on the sign-up sheet in the church lobby or call the church office at 945-8109. All events will take place at the church unless otherwise noted. Some workshops are appropriate for and welcome youth; check with the leaders of a particular workshop with regard to age-limits.
Information Forum for Visitors
All visitors and their families are invited to learn more about our congregation and Unitarian Universalism. Information Forums are facilitated by our minister and/or our Director of Religious Education, and a representative from our Adult Enrichment Committee. We'll respond to your questions about our free faith tradition, and suggest ways in which you may become involved and connected. Please come join us! No RSVP's necessary!
Pia Sen taught us Indian Classical Dance
Sunday Mornings: SUUNDAE
SUUNDAE (Sunday UUs Need and Deserve Adult Enrichment) forums are held most Sundays from 9:00 to 9:45 A.M in room 114 (Middle School Room). All are welcome to join the early risers for coffee and conversation. We'll have presentations and discussions on various topics, led by members and friends of our church. Everyone is invited to attend and no sign-up is required.
SUUNDAE Morning Discussion Group: 9:00 am in Middle School Room
Beginning Mindfulness: Learning the Way of Awareness - Sharron Swain - Begins in January on most Sunday Mornings at 9:00 AM.
Unless otherwise planned, the SUUNDAE is open forum.
Classes
The Right Words at the Right Time" with Barbara Koehler, Sundays, March 14 & 28, Noon until ?
There's an Indian proverb that says, "Tell me a fact and I'll learn. Tell me a truth and I'll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever." I invite you to join me in reading "the stories of more than one hundred remarkable people who responded to ... an ...invitation to reach back into their own lives in search of that moment when words made all the difference. Each one is a brief glimpse into the heart, a moment of awakening, a lightbulb that revealed a truth that has stayed with them for a lifetime, or a challenge that moved them to action."
If you can, read the book "The Right Words at the Right Time," by Marlo Thomas and Friends. We'll meet on Sunday, March 14 at noon to discuss it. I'll ask you to write your own story, which we'll share with each other two Sundays later, March 28. We may have the opportunity to read our stories to the congregation at a Sunday service , most likely in April. Sign-up sheets will be available in the sanctuary starting February 7.
Bee-Keeping
Danielle Dowell will be offering a 4 part beekeeping class on Sundays after the service, starting January 24th. You'll need to provide your own veil for the field trip to see the bees, but otherwise it's informational, hands-on hivebuilding - a great opportunity for anyone over the age of 10 who's interested in nurturing our pollinators.
This 4-session course is designed to provide the necessary information needed for new beekeepers to start and care for a honey bee colony. During each two hour session, we will cover the basics of honey bee biology, setting up an apiary, hive management, and honey production. Hands-on sessions will include assembling hives, inspecting a colony, and extracting honey. The first three sessions will be held at the church, the fourth and final will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens apiary, date to be determined (when temperatures are above 55 degrees.)
Class size is limited to 15 participants ages 10 and up. Persons who are interested in learning about beekeeping but not actually interested in keeping bees are welcome to join us, but preference for class space will be given to those intending to keep bees.
Required : The purchase of a beekeepers veil. NOT PRIOR TO CLASS: we will do this together during the first session. Prices begin at $16.95.
Highly recommended, but not required : The Beekeeper's Handbook, third edition, by Sammataro and Avitabile.
ISBN: 978-0801485039.
Parenting Workshop
For parents of babies through 5-year olds, facilitated by
Kerri Barnstuble, a doula, educator, social worker, and parent of two meets downstairs in room 103 on 3rd Sundays of the month from 12-1:30. It's a time to share experiences, get perspective, and meet other new parents.
For childcare RSVP to child.care 
.
"Parenting Beyond Belief" workshop
All are invited to join us for a "Parenting Beyond Belief" workshop with Dale McGowan on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 beginning at 12:30, following a potluck lunch at the church. $15 per family. Childcare will be provided. To learn more, contact Sharron Swain, dre
Conversational Spanish Class
Fourth Wednesdays from 6:30—8:00 p.m. Join us as we practice and improve our Spanish conversation skills. For more information, contact Helen Rivas, spanish.
Future classes and workshops:
UU 101 and 201 Classes
For those wishing to know more about UUism, how the denomination functions and more about our own church here in Birmingham. Call Angela Pruitt to register.
Time: TBA
Facilitators: TBA
Small Group Leadership Training Coming to UUCB
Julia West will be conducting 2 Small Group Leadership Workshops, one on the 17 th of January and one on the 24 th of January. The workshops are single session, so if you can't make the one, come to the other! A sign-up sheet will be available in the back of the Sanctuary, with up to 20 participants for each session. Sessions will begin at 12:30, so bring a bag lunch, or plan to be back by 12:30 for the class to begin. Contact Chauma Smith Guss to sign up.
In February, we'll follow up with a six week class for Small Group Leadership, so come get your feet wet! Small group fellowship and structure will help us grow stronger as a congregation, particularly in difficult economic times and in times of change, so let's plant the seeds!
Groups
Artist's Way Creative Cluster
Starting January 27, every Wed. night at 6:30 PM(except holidays) Artist's Way meets at the church at 6:30 PM. Based on the book, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron, our goal is to break down our creative blocks while building bonds with others seeking to live more creative lives. Sign up in the sanctuary for this 12 week workshop. Bring your own book and supplies - a notepad and a pen.
Book Discussion Group:
The Book Discussion group will no longer meet every month at a set time. Instead, we will take suggestions from members and friends of the church for particular books we may want to discuss. Given sufficient interest, we will then schedule a time that book will be discussed and publicize it. Those who have a suggestion for a particular book to be discussed, along with a commitment to attend that discussion, should contact Marion Fintel.
Books Discussed have included:
Close Range by Annie Proulx (includes the short story
"Brokeback Mountain")
24 Years of Housework and the Place is Still a Mess: My Life
in Politics by Pat Schroeder
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
1776 by David McCullough
The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
Book Recycling Table: Swap and Buy
Do you have a book that you no longer want, but would love to share with someone who would really appreciate it? The Adult Programming subcommittee of the SEEC will sponsor a book swap each month to coincide with first Sunday lunch, beginning July 1. A Book Swap Table will be set up in the rear of the sanctuary and people wishing to donate books and magazines may simply set them on the table. Those who see a book or magazine they would like to read can then take and keep it (the table will be self-serve). After lunch, whatever is left on the table will be packed up and brought out again the following month. After a period of time, books that haven't been selected will be donated to the Friends of the Homewood Library bookstore and magazines will be recycled. So have a look through your bookshelves and see what you would like to share, and bring them each first Sunday!
The UUA Book Table will still be available periodically, where you may purchase UUA publications. For more information, you may contact Marion Fintel or Lisa Albea.Books from the UUA Bookstore will be available for sale before and after services on dates announced in advance by email and on the website. The Book Table now carries 74 different titles, and includes books on simple living, spiritual practice, social justice, and parenting, as well as books for children. The Book Table gives members and friends the opportunity to examine first and then purchase books from the UUA Book Store, without leaving Birmingham or having to pay for shipping charges.
Knit UUs Together:
Did you ever wonder why so many UUs knit during the service? It's a Zen thing; busy hands, still mind. Join us on fourth Wednesdays of each month and get that Zen feeling too. UUs of all ages and genders are invited to bring your knitting or handy-craft project and sit in peace from 6:30-8:00 in the Middle School Room downstairs. Child care is provided, and we sometimes have knitting and crochet instruction.
Ladies' Lunch Bunch:
Ladies Lunch Bunch has been moved
to the second Thursday of the month at 11:30 AM beginning in February, 2010. Bring your lunch and join us downstairs
in the Volker Room at Church for fellowship and conversation.
Men's Discussion Group:
This group has just disbanded after almost 11 years. We are hoping for a revival led by a new
crop of UU Men at our church.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham
A Welcoming congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Location: 4300 Hampton Heights Drive · Birmingham, Alabama · 35209 · U.S.A
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 19786 · Birmingham, AL 35219
Phone: (205) 945-8109 · Fax: (205) 945-8111
E-mail: office 'at' uucbham.org
Copyright © 2006-2010 Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham
All Rights Reserved.