Adult Education Classes

The Adult Program Council provides a variety of opportunities for adults to meet and share knowledge and insight with one another.  As members and friends of Heritage Church, we accept responsibility for our own religious and spiritual growth, and we recognize that no one has a monopoly on truth, and that we all have valuable knowledge and experiences to share.  

 

Throughout the year, there will be classes offered that all adults may participate in. 

 

Please check back often for upcoming classes.

Upcoming Classes and Programs

 

 

Introduction to UUism

Next class date: August 29, 2009. 

This program, usually led by our minister, offers a brief introduction to Unitarian Universalism.  Newcomers and visitors to the church will have the opportunity to ask questions of both the minister and lay leaders of the church, to learn how they can become more active and involved in Heritage Church.  This program is offered several times throughout the year. 

 

Jesus for the Non-Religious  

Begins Sunday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. for 5 sessions.

This course is based on the popular new book by Rev. Richard Spong, a retired Episcopal Bishop and liberal Christian theologian. Spong challenges much of the traditional understanding, from the tale of Jesus' miraculous birth to the account of his cosmic ascension into the sky. He questions the historicity and relevance of ideas that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he had twelve disciples, or that the miracle stories were ever meant to be descriptions of supernatural events. He also speaks directly to those critics of Christianity who call God a "delusion" and who describe how Christianity itself has become evil and destructive. He proposes a new way of understanding the divinity of Christ as the ultimate dimension of a fulfilled humanity. Jesus for the Non-Religious hopes to finally bring the pious and the secular into a meaningful dialogue, opening the door to a living Christianity in the post-Christian world.

 

Building Your Own Theology

Begins September 27 and runs October 4, 11, 18, 25, and November 1—6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

This 8-10 part course attempts, in the words of Rev. Richard Gilbert, to "provide a systemic, disciplined, and communal approach to building a new personal understanding of our spiritual beliefs, built upon the residue of the beliefs of our youth".   This program is highly recommended to newer members to the UU movement and has been taught successfully at Heritage for over 10 years.

 

Three UU Sermons That Defined UUism

Begins March 8, 15, 22—6:30-8:00 p.m.

Developed by Jim Crocker-Lakness, this program will study our UU history during its formation, by focusing on three highly controversial and famous sermons that shaped our movement.

 

Metaphor, Archetypes and Symbolic Living

Begins April 5—6:30 to 8:00 p.m. for 5 sessions

For most people, metaphor is simply a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish--a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language that we learned in literature classes. However, modern cognitive science (how brains function) has expanded the work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell to realize that metaphor and symbology are pervasive in everyday life and how we grow in wisdom.  The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect.  Living symbolically is at the core of the spiritual experience.  In this program, we will look at Jungian archetypes, recurring myth and storytelling patterns, and why myth has come to dominate our politics over facts and sound policy.  Topics will include: what are the universal myths and stories, male-centered archetypes, female-centered archetypes, using ancient stories for counseling and problem-solving, and political framing (the very conscious process of winning elections primarily on mythmaking).  Facilitated by Dave Sellers.

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