FUUN Bay Area Dream Circle

Do you keep a dream journal? Do you wonder what they mean and what they can do? My housemate, Suzanne Bernardi and I will be starting a dream interpretation group this fall here in Oakland, based on the work of UU minister and dream counselor Jeremy Taylor. We aim to explore our dreams as a way of understanding the messages of our subconscious as well as promoting healing in ourselves and the world.

If you are interested, please contact Michael Tank at uutank@gmail.com to hop on the scheduling doodle! Also, Rev. Taylor has some upcoming workshops in the Bay Area which are definitely recommended for anyone interested in dreamwork:

October 12-16 - Oakland, CA
One week intensive seminar on projective dream work; part of a university level class, open to auditors (not sure if this can be audited for free)

October 17 - Walnut Creek, CA
Talk:"Dreams, Archetypes and their Influence on our Lives," 10:30-11:30. All are welcome.

October 18 - San Rafael, CA (Lucas Valley)
A Day of Dream Work - open to all; early registration advised. Come get your questions answered, meet others interested in dream work, perhaps form a group, and there's a chance your name will be "drawn out of the hat" and the group will explore your dream in depth (sharing a dream is always voluntary). $85.00. Contact Kathy (kathrytaylor123@comcast.net)

Welcoming BBQ for UU Campus Ministry at Cal

Just got this communique from Paul Hudson over the Oakland YA list. Anyone interested in dropping in for a meet and greet with the campus ministry at Cal? Check it out:

Dear UU Young Adult leaders,

The UU Campus Ministry Support Committee of the UU Church of Berkeley and the Berkeley Fellowship of UUs will be hosting a welcome back BBQ for the UU Campus Ministry group on Saturday, August 29th, in the afternoon, at the Starr King School for the Ministry.

And we're looking for participation from UUYAN'ers to welcome returning and new UU young adults.

It would be great to have members from your groups attend, and to bring a potluck item along, too. From experience, I know that organizing something like this on your ends is challenging, but if any of you can come, or if you know of anyone in your groups who might be interested and willing, please let me know, and please pass on the announcement.

I'm not quite sure what an "UUYAN" is these days, but apparently its really hard to organize one! Let's not break that stereotype too quickly, eh?

SF Bonfire a Success!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the FUUN beach bonfire a success. I was shocked at how effective Twitter was as an organizing tool when set up properly. It was especially wonderful to be singing circle songs around the fire with all y'all again. And beach wink! Aaah!

A lot of folks expressed a sentiment that the bonfire was the perfect "comedown" from bridging from Youth community at WUUKY, the week-long youth camp we have here in the PCD. We were talking about this back at my house the next evening, and we came up with a proposal that we should have an unofficial gathering like that after every WUUKY, to welcome in the youth who are coming out of YRUU. I am looking forward to holding space for more gatherings and more community ritual!

"Earth as the Body of God" @ First UU Oakland, CA

Two weeks ago, my housemate and I decided to go to church in the morning. We looked up the sermon topic and found that an old friend of ours from YRUU, Marcus Liefert, was worship associate for the morning. The service was entitled "Earth as the Body of God." As worship associate, Marcus spoke directly from the heart about his recent experiences in Brazil, in which he realized that everything from the stunning natural beauty to the heartbreaking poverty of the favelas was a part of what he called "the body of god." The language he used cultivated a sense of spirit and reverence.

I was struck by the contrast between Marcus' heart-speak and the minister's head-speak. She shared her common struggle of trying to be eco-friendly, and drew keenly from the ecological literature. Her sermon was well thought out, but hardly as felt as the contributions of the worship associate.

At one point, the minister called on the congregation to share with one another - for about forty-five seconds - how they were struck by this idea that the earth is the body of god. I appreciated the gesture towards a more interactive service, but as my housemate observed later, the short time provided for that space allowed only for lip-service to an in-depth conversation. Only a small breadcrumb of our philosophies could be shared. Our soul-searches were not exposed, and more likely than not, little common ground was reached.

Indeed, if we were discussing this same topic in YRUU, we would take an hour to discuss the topic amongst each other, and still we would not be satisfied in the breadth of the discussion! Yet at least we would have the opportunity to truly break our barriers down, coming to a genuine rapport with one another's beliefs, and possibly some recognition of shared philosophy.

The worship associate model can be used to start engaging ministers in developing new patterns of organizing Sunday service. If I were to transform this service into the circular tradition, the worship associate would play as much of a role as he or she desired in setting the tone, and it might be the job of the minister to facilitate a deeper conversation amongst the congregation - lasting a half hour or even 45 minutes. The minister might use their intimate knowledge of spiritual literature to deepen the conversation, coaxing the congregation to share more freely and find new common ground.

FUUN Looking for Contributors.

The Free Unitarian Universalist Network is looking for writers who can passionately and powerfully discuss the political and spiritual dynamics of the growth of circular, ecstatic traditions in Unitarian Universalism and in larger society. This blog is intended to be a forum for ideas related to Unitarian Universalist ecstatic traditions, which have traditionally been practiced within the context of youth and young adult ministry.

We seek church-shoppers, autonomous youth and young adult activists, ministerial students, congregational young adult group leaders, campus ministry organizers. We seek yoga instructors, ecstatic dancers, musicians, priestesses and poets. We seek involved church members as well as those who cannot find their place in a church.

As a movement, we seek to inspire spiritual depth in our communities. We are the Unitarian Universalists' version of the Daily Kos. We might be more of a weekly, but we are similar in that we are building, sharing, broadcasting a common vision of what our faith communities could be, transcending the struggles of the past in order to create the communities of our future.

If you are interested, please email free.unitarians(at)gmail.com and describe what you're up to and why you would like to contribute to the FUUN blog.

Welcome to the Free Unitarian Universalist Network Blog!

This blog is intended to be a forum for ideas related to Unitarian Universalist ecstatic traditions, which have traditionally been practiced within the context of youth and young adult ministry.