ABOUT THE OUUC ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM
OUUC’s adult education program offers a wide range of classes to help members and others in their spiritual development and in a broad variety of life skills, as well as to increase knowledge in specific areas, or just to have fun. The Adult Education Committee reviews ideas for classes, finds and assists instructors, and publishes seasonal catalogs of the class offerings.
Registration is open to all members and friends of OUUC and members of the larger community. To help us keep these offerings sustainable, we suggest a donation of $10 for a single session class, and of $20 for a longer course.
To reduce the chance of class cancellations because too few people have signed up, please register at least a week before your class begins. Click on the title of the class you would like to take, and you should arrive at the Registration Page. Please contact us if you have problems.
Unless otherwise noted, all class leaders are members of the OUUC community who generously contribute their expertise, time and hard work to develop their course material, completely gratis. Please make every effort to attend all sessions of each class for which you have signed up, or let the class leader know ahead of time if you can’t attend. Newcomers to OUUC can find classes relevant to this faith tradition marked with a chalice logo.
The Adult Education Committee welcomes offers to lead future classes from members of the broader community as well as from the OUUC congregation. Please direct proposals or inquiries to the Adult Education Committee, c/o the OUUC Office (dre@ouuc.org / 360-786-6383), or contact a committee member. A member of the committee will contact you and guide you through the process of setting up your class. Current members are: Margo Curl, Joanne Dufour, Mary Moore, Kathy O’Connor, Larry O’Connor, Julie Rosmond, John Snyder, Pat Sonnenstuhl, Michael Kyer, Gary Worthington (Chair), and Sara Lewis (Staff).
CURRENT CLASSES OPEN TO REGISTRATION:
Book Group, Fourth Thursdays 7-9pm
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (1/28)
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (2/25)
To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey (25 )
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (4/22)
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the Spy who Helped Win WW II by Sonia Purne (5/27 )
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Mochele (6/24)
Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators, 10 sessions: Saturdays 9-10:30am, January 9th– March 13th
In a small group setting, adults explore their roles as the most important sexuality educators their children will have.
Ten sessions invite parents and caregivers to explore their role as the primary sexuality educators of their elementary through teen age children. The 90-minute sessions use a small group ministry format to engage adults in topics including Gender Identity, Relationships, Social Media, and Consent.
Active Hope Group, Wednesdays 6:30-8pm, January 13, 20, 27, and Feb. 3rd
This Active Hope group will feature practices inspired by the book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy and the organization, The Work that Reconnects ( https://workthatreconnects.org/ ), the brain child of Joanna Macy and others. This will be part book group, part experiential exercises.
We will complete questions about our lives, including the hopes and feelings about what’s happening to the world, and we’ll also take part in Zoom-adapted rituals that will help us deepen our connection to the natural world, our deep emotions, and our connections to each other and the larger society.
This is a process of empowerment and transformation that moves in a spiral and is used to build inner strength, resilience and the resolve to participate in our collective transition, also referred to as the Great Turning.
An excerpt from the website about the book, Active Hope:
“Active Hope is about finding, and offering, our best response to the crisis of sustainability unfolding in our world. It offers tools that help us face the mess we’re in, as well as find and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.
At the heart of this book is the idea that Active Hope is something we do rather than have. It involves being clear what we hope for and then playing our role in the process of bringing that about. The journey of finding, and offering, our unique contribution to the Great Turning helps us to discover new strengths, open to a wider network of allies and experience a deepening of our aliveness.
When our responses are guided by the intention to act for the healing of our world, the mess we’re in not only becomes easier to face, our lives also become more meaningful and satisfying.”
Please get a copy of some form of the book. You can order a paper copy through Browser’s or Orca books, or download an e-book or audio book. There is a revised edition supposedly coming out on December 20, but there is a note with that announcement saying it may take a while for suppliers to get it.
Diana Moore is a grandmother, yoga teacher, dreamwork enthusiast and activist for the rights of indigenous people and the more-than-human world.
The Theology of the Good Place (ages 12+) Four sessions: Mondays 7pm-8:30pm January 25, Feb. 1, 8, and 15
The Good Place is a Netflix sitcom that takes place after death, where people wake up and are assured that everything is OK … they are in the “good” place. In this four session class, we will explore the theology, ethics, and moral philosophy of the series using a UU lens. Participants will watch the clips of the show on their own time, and gather for discussion after, so a Netflix membership will be needed.
Taught by Sara Lewis
Lunch Break Book Club! Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents 7 sessions: Mondays noon-1pm Feb. 1 – March 15
In this seven session book discussion group, we will read and discuss the new book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Caste explores the history and sociology of America’s racialized system of hierarchy, with author Wilkerson exploring eight pillars that underlie caste systems. A combination of researched narrative and stories of real people, this work gives us hope for the future of our shared humanity.
The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons
This course will be offered twice: Tuesday, Feb. 9th, 2021, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 11th, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Register for Feb. 9th
Register for Feb. 11th
Instructor: Joanne Dufour, member of the Olympia Coalition Against Nuclear Weapons
The passage and coming into force of the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons has energized the anti nuclear community worldwide. This class will introduce this new international law,
explain how it came to be and its implications for the future of nuclear weapons. The work of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner
and Codepink with its Don’t Bank on the Bomb campaign will be included along with ideas for individual action.
Tell Me Who You Are Tuesday Feb. 16th 7-9pm
Leader:Sandra Worthington
Minimum4, Maximum 12
Tell Me Who You Are invites participants to focus on what aspects of one’s life are the most important. Between classes, attendees will write either a personal statement or an obituary for themselves.
Perhaps traveling has made you open to different cultural ideas and practices. Being from a large family, or having one sibling, may impact you in a variety ofways. What events in your life continue to affect you, and how?
Reading excerpts about the people featured in the book Tell Me Who You Are, by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi, will suggest what you may want to include in your personal statement, or in your obituary, which we will share.
Persons who attended the class when it was offered previously are welcome to participate again. If you are new to OUUC, you may find a connection to new friends.
Sandra was a school teacher for 28 years in the Olympia School District, focusing on writing with middle and high school students. She has a strong interest in psychology.
The 2020-21 UUA Common Read is Breathe: A Letter to My Sons by Imani Perry. Breathe reflects on race, racism, and the hope that one’s child will be wholly known and valued by society. It is “an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience.” The New York Times calls Breathe “an elixir of history, ancestry and compassion, which, together, become instruction…a parent’s unflinching demand, born of inherited trauma and love, for her children’s right simply to be possible.” Carol McKinley will facilitate these discussions.
New Member Class, Saturdays 2-3:30pm, March 6, 13, 20th
Are you interested in becoming a member of OUUC, or just interested in knowing more about how things work around here? Join us for this 3 session class led by Rev. Mary Gear, our Director of Community and Faith Development, Sara Lewis, and congregational leaders.