We have a variety of programs for adults planned this year!
On this page you will find many classes, book groups, and workshops. We also have Spiritual Practice Groups, which you can find here: Spiritual Practice Groups
Registration for classes is open to all members and friends of OUUC and members of the larger community. To help us keep these offerings sustainable, we suggest participants donate $0-$10 per class meeting. Don’t bring cash to class, either write a check or make a donation online.
Current Classes and Programs
OUUC Book Group
2nd Thursdays, 6:30pm
The group will be meeting on the 2nd Thursday at OUUC at 6:30 (following the community dinner) beginning in September (but skipping December). The meeting will also be multiplatform on zoom.
Our first book will be The Ravished Forest by Sandra Crowell which tells the story of Helen Mitchell Sanders of the Chehalis tribe and her fight for justice for Native Americans who had been cheated out of receiving the full value of their forest land from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The author will be meeting with us in September to answer any questions you have.
Please share any book recommendations you have for October or November with Frances Tanaka.
Copies of The Ravaged Forest will be available to borrow or for purchase for $20, contact Frances to get a copy.
Love at the Center Discussion Group
2nd Wednesdays of each month 7pm
All are welcome to join us for a discussion group around the book “Love at the Center”
“Given everything our world faces today, having faith in love is no small thing.” – Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt
Unitarian Universalists as a progressive religious community hold a humbling expectation to periodically re-evaluate the freely chosen covenant that holds us together. While this work impacts the bylaws that define our governance structures, it also gives life to the values we express in common cause. We do this work to live into the Unitarian Universalism of the future.
In response to the Article II Study Commission and the final adopted language of Article II outlining our shared values, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.
Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.
In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.
Our group will meet monthly to discuss 3 essays from the book each month.
2nd Wednedays on zoom, 7-8:30pm
September 10th: Essays 1-3
October 8th: Essays 4-6
November 12th: Essays 7-9
December 10th: Essays 10-12
January 14th: Essays 13-15
February 11th: Essays 16-18
March 4: Essays 19-21
April 8: Essays 22-24
May 13th: Essays 25-26
Drama Workshop with Janet Spencer
6 weeks of: Theatre Games, acting lessons, Play reading (aloud), character study, scene study. No experience necessary. For ages 6 – 100
Janet studied acting in New York, at Barnard College and the Michael Howard Studio, and appeared in a few off-Broadway productions in her early 20’s. Hunger drove her into theatrical management, a career she followed for 40 years. Janet has returned to acting, appearing in three Harlequin productions since moving to Olympia.WhenJan 24 – Feb 28, 2026 (1:00 pm – 2:30 pm)
Tao of Gender Book Discussion
This class affirms the shared values of pluralism and interdependence, centered on love. Through participatory reading and mutual exploration, we will use Taryn M. Witten’s The Tao of Gender to help us apply Taoist concpets like yin and yang to gender theories. Everyone is welcome.We’ll reflect on personal experiences of gender and explore how these ideas intersect with Unitarian Universalist shared values. The overarching questions for this class are, ‘What is the Tao of gender?’ and ‘What are the ways of understanding gender through Taoism?’
Schyler is a nonbinary educator and lifelong learner with experience facilitating dialogue-based classes. They have a personal interest in Taoism and gender expansiveness and bring a spirit of curiosity and care to spaces of shared exploration. Schyler’s approach centers inclusive conversation, deep listening, and spiritual reflection.
Interested in purchasing the book?–Notify the class steward after registration.
Zoom link will be provided by Event Contact.
Jan 26 – Mar 2, 2026 (6:30 pm – 8:00 pm)
Discussion of the Darkness Divine
Discussion of The Darkness Divine by UU minister and poet Kristen L Harper. Led By Aurora Winters
The class will be a discussion group on the book The Darkness Divine by Rev. Dr.Kristen Harper. She is the minister at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable Universalist on Cape Cod. The book has 10 chapters, with discussion questions and exercises after each chapter. It is available through the UUA Bookstore for $14. Here is the blurb on the UUA site:
Too often in U.S. culture—and notably in faith communities—a culture of white supremacy is reinforced in damaging but unexamined ways. In The Darkness Divine, minister and poet Kristen L. Harper confronts and unpacks the language, imagery, buzzwords, and cultural touchstones that demean and dehumanize Black people but are so commonplace they can easily escape notice.
More importantly, in a brilliant arrangement of essays and poems in the vein of Claudia Rankine, Harper lifts up the strength, beauty, and resilience of Black people and outlines a path forward. She invites readers to explore what they have learned and assimilated so they might de-center whiteness and stretch their understanding and imagination to radically transform perceptions of blackness.
Feb 2 – Jun 2, 2026 (1:00 pm – 3:00 pm)
Want to Teach a Class?
What, me? Teach a class?
Would you like to share your knowledge, experience, passion or hobby with others? How does it fit in with OUUC’s mission statement and UUA values? The Adult Faith Development Team is starting to develop its Spring classes. What would you like to propose and teach?
Faith development isn’t just about exploring your beliefs and spiritual practices, it’s also about how we act on those beliefs individually and together. Our mission statement includes “ends” that state: “As I grow and learn, I practice my faith, act courageously, and appreciate beauty.” Another end states”…We deepen our connections as we learn, love, work, play, sing and find meaning together.” There’s a lot of room for creative thinking between our mission and values.
Check out our new one-page form (attached below) that includes Tips for Class Leaders on one side and an application to teach a class on the other. It includes our mission and values for ready reference.
Contact any member of our team if you have questions or send us your class application—Rev. Sara Lewis, Linda Selsor and Linda Whitcher —our contact info is in Realm.
