Adult Religious Education
Activities to help us connect, reflect, stretch, and grow.
Email ARE@wildflowerchurch.org for more information about these programs or to suggest new ones.
Owning Your Religious Past
Facilitator: Chaplain Bis Thornton and Dee Adams
What kind of relationship do you have with your own religious past? Many of us have an ambivalent relationship to our childhood religions–alongside painful memories of rejection or control, there are often things we miss that brought us illumination, connection, wisdom, strength, and more.
The good news is that you don’t have to return to the religion of your past to bring the joyful, supportive practices into your present spiritual life. If that sounds like something you’d like some support in, please join us for “Owning Your Religious Past.”
“Owning Your Religious Past” is a 5-week group workshop that will provide simple tools for re-examining and retrieving positive aspects of past religious connections. This course will involve both group sharing and private exploration.
The workshop will meet at 1:30-3:30pm from November 3rd to December 1st at Wildflower Church. We will meet over Zoom on November 10th.
Session 1:
Personal Religious Timeline
Session 2:
The Haunting House of Worship
Session 3:
An Exercise of Reconciliation
Session 4:
Claiming the Positives
Session 5:
Conclusion and Worship
Book and Study Groups
Facilitator: Susie Epstein
Occurs the 1st Wednesday of each month from 7-8 p.m. on Zoom.
Wildflower’s Adult Religious Education Book and Discussion Group meets online the 1st Wednesday of every month. We discuss a new book each month. Many (but not all) of the books we select are available at no cost through Austin Public Library’s “Libby” app and can be viewed as either print online or as audio book. Many of the authors we read are from marginalized and oppressed identities.
Our upcoming books are:
December 4, 2024: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius–his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.
January 2025: Break
February 2025: The Places That Scare You by Pema Chödrön
Beloved Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön offers guidance for coping with the difficult moments in our lives–showing us how they can soften our hearts and open us to greater kindness
We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through.
In The Places That Scare You , Pema Chödrön provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others–to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections. Drawing from the core teachings of Buddhism, she shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what’s happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is. If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we’ve always dreamed of.
Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist teacher, author, nun, and mother who inspires millions worldwide with her down-to-earth message of practicing peace in turbulent times.
The Pema Chödrön Foundation is dedicated to preserving and sharing Pema’s teachings as well as supporting many charitable organizations dear to Pema’s heart.
All are welcome to join us for a friendly and relaxed conversation as we review this book. Come join us!
Contact ARE@wildflowerchurch.org with questions and to get the link to the online meeting.
Tarot Circle for Intuitive Transformation!
Facilitator: Melissa Meeks
Occurs the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 7-8 p.m. on Zoom.
Wildflower’s Adult Religious Education Tarot Circle meets online the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Come and explore your spiritual life through the lens of the Tarot.
Questions or to register: ARE@wildflowerchurch.org
Past Classes
UU Elevator Pitch
Facilitator: Simone Monique Barnes
Have you ever panicked when someone asks you “What’s a Unitarian Universalist?” How can you answer that question in a brief but meaningful way? UU Elevator Speech is a 3-session series that seeks to help you articulate your UU faith. It is called an elevator speech because, on an elevator ride when someone asks you, “What is UU?” you only have a short time to make a meaningful statement.
This class will help participants feel confident about articulating Unitarian Universalism, empowering them and helping them feel ownership.
It also prepares leaders to live and speak about their faith in the larger community.
Session 1:
It’s Not A Credo
Session 2:
Writing Your UU Elevator Speech
Session 3:
Sharing Your UU Elevator Speech
Click here to register for our upcoming session
Choose from:
Thursdays, 12 pm – 1 pm on Zoom – October 3, 10, 17
or
Orientation to Membership
Facilitator: Director and the Membership Team
Curious about Unitarian Universalism? Wonder what Wildflower Unitarian Universalist Church is all about? Interested in becoming a Voting Member of Wildflower UU Church?
Attend an Orientation on Wednesday, October 9, 7pm-8:30 pm on Zoom. We’d love to get to know you better!
Past Book Club Reads
2024