UUShoals Programs

Please scroll down to see earlier 2010 programs

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Shoals

-2010 -

Calendar of Events for March

March 7, 2010 – “How a Year in Afghanistan Helped Make Everything Clear”. Doug Traversa will share how his deployment in Afghanistan taught him valuable lessons and led him to Unitarian Universalism. He will share stories about facing death, learning about Islam from his interpreters, and how tough his adjustment was returning to the States. He will discuss how he became a Unitarian Universalist, and how vitally important our religion is today. Doug Traversa retired from the Air Force January 31, 2009 and became the lay minister of the UU Church of Tullahoma the next day. He is a student at Vanderbilt Divinity School in the Master of Divinity Program. He is married to his wife, Jancy; they have been married 25 years. They have three wonderful children who are all on their own now. They have five dogs in their home, plus foster dogs.

March 14, 2010 – Local band, The Blue Navigators, will perform a variety of blues, rock, country and folks songs.

March 21, 2010 – Dolores Hydock, professional actress and storyteller from Birmingham, Alabama will present, “Taking Wing: A Story of Love and Friendship”.

March 27^th, Saturday night,2010 – Ken Sizemore, singer, songwriter and folk musician from Panama City, Florida, will give a free concert at the UU Congregation of the Shoals. The concert will begin at 7:00 p.m.

March 28, 2010 – Singer, songwriter and folk musician, Ken Sizemore will present, “We Shall Overcome---Songs of the Civil and Human Rights Movement”. Mr. Sizemore dedicates this program to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Shoals

-2010 -

Calendar of Events for February

February 7, 2010 – Daphne Simpkins, Professor of Creative Writing at AUM, will present, “Civil Rights and the Jewish Community”. Inspired by Mary Stanton’s book The Hand of Esau this lecture will explore the question of how the Montgomery bus boycott affected the Jewish community in the South, specifically, Montgomery, AL. Like other minority groups who find themselves embroiled in larger sociological issues, the Jewish community had many particular considerations to weigh ( and their own faith to consider as well as their own economic survival) when challenged to respond to this movement toward equal rights that had its roots not only in the Constitution, but according to Martin Luther King, Jr., the Christian gospel.

February 14, 2010 – “Risk More: Living a Life of Courage and Adventure”. John Izzo, Ph.D., is the bestselling author of Second Innocence and the host of the public television series The Five Things You Must Discover Before You Die. Dr. Izzo interviewed over 200 people, ages 60 – 106, each of whom was identified by friends and acquaintances as “the one person they knew who had found happiness and meaning.” This DVD series shares their stories –funny, moving, and thought-provoking—and the Five Secrets he learned from listening to them. This is the 2^nd DVD of the series.

February 21, 2010 – “The Beauty of the Country and the Warm, Gentle People of Nicaragua”. Betty and Ron Gillespie will share their November 2009 visit to San Juan del sur, Nicaragua in photos and stories. Ron and Betty spent eleven days enjoying the beautiful crescent beach of San Juan del sur, exploring the warm sun, the tropical paradise and the beauty of the Pacific Ocean.

February 28, 2010 – The UNA Department of Music and Theatre presents, “Turn of the Millennium: Choral Gems from 1990-2010”. This concert features the UNA Chamber Choir and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble in a program of the best modern choral music from around the world and right here at home. Composers include Part, Whitacre, Hogan, Owens, Loeppky, Lauridsen, Stone, Paulus, Meader, and many others. A wonderful choral experience not to be missed!

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Shoals

-2010 -

Calendar of Events for January

January 3, 2010 – Sharon Bonner Austell will present, “Looking at the Road Through the Raindrops”. Ms. Austell will talk about the lenses through which we view our lives, and ways to improve our views by recognizing our strengths and indwelling divinity. (Ms. Austell has a BA in religion and psychology from Athens State College and is a first year student at Vanderbilt University in the Master of Divinity program. She is pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church. She has been married for 19 years to her high-school sweetheart and they have four children.)

January 10, 2010 – DVD presentation of “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die”, by Dr. John Izzo. Talk # 1 on January 10, 2010 will be "Reflect More: Living a Life of Intention". (John Izzo is the bestselling author of Second Innocence and the host of the public television series The Five Things You Must Discover Before You Die. Holding advanced degrees in religion and psychology, Izzo has spoken to one million people on four continents about living more purposeful lives. For this book/DVD series, John Izzo interviewed over 200 people, ages 60-106, each of whom was identified by friends and acquaintances as “the one person they knew who had found happiness and meaning.” From town barbers to Holocaust survivors, from aboriginal chiefs to CEOs, these people had over 18,000 years of life experience between them. He asked them questions like, What brought you the greatest joy? What do you wish you had learned sooner? What ultimately mattered and what didn’t? Here Izzo shares their stories- funny, moving, and thought-provoking—and the Five Secrets he learned from listening to them.)

January 17, 2010 -- Brandon J. Simonson will present, “On Jewish Life in Persian Egypt: How Ancient Languages and Cultures Can Contribute to Our Understanding of Religious Literature”. This presentation will explore the people behind the texts, but not those who necessarily contributed to the writing of the texts, by examining the daily lives of the inhabitants of the Jewish colony in Elephantine, a small island on the Nile River. This examination is possible due to the survival of several letters, lists, and laws from the community, all preserved on papyri. Valuable to the study of ancient life in Persian period Egypt, these texts also provide a glimpse into life contemporaneous with the development of the biblical text and can perhaps provide insight into the ancient lives of those not preserved in aristocratic documents like the biblical text. ( Brandon J. Simonson is from Red Wing, Minnesota and is currently a master’s student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He recently submitted his thesis on the role of ancient languages and cultures for interpretation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. He has presented papers at Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and at regional meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature.)

January 24, 2010 – Gerald and Cindy Crawford will present, “Our Friends to the North—The Canadian Maritime Provinces”. The Crawfords spent most of August and September traveling in Eastern Canada with a group of American RV enthusiasts. They learned so much about, and gained a great respect for the warm people and beautiful windswept country in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador and Prince Edward Island. The presentation will include photos and history, along with a close look at the Acadians, the hardy descendants of Seventeenth- Century French colonists.

January 31, 2010 – Brenda Durham will present, “Ars Viviendi – The Art of Living Well”. We can easily become discouraged and pessimistic when we turn on the news and are continually bombarded with the dominance of the negative sides of our human natures in society. We can become frustrated with the human race and give up on others. Or we can learn to look beyond appearances to see what is true for everyone and find hope in the world and learn to experience the art of living well. (Brenda Durham is a Divinity School student at Vanderbilt University. She is from Birmingham, AL and holds a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management from Birmingham-Southern College. Her goal is to pursue ordination as a Unity minister. She is a Master Prosperity Teacher having trained with Edwene Gaines and is a Master Reiki practitioner.)