Registration for Fall ’23 now open!

Take a Class or Join a Group

Registration for Adult RE classes for Fall 2023 is open. 

Please take a look at the registration form and consider if one or more of our offerings is right for you. All classes are free and open to anyone, including non-BUUFers. 

The first class starts on Saturday, 9/30/23, 9:00 – 4:00 pm, in-person so do not delay!

Give it to Yourself NOW

Facilitator: Sangam Stanczak

Dates and time | Saturday | September 30 (CANCELED)

9:00am – 4:00pm | in-person

Come journey with Sangam. She invites you to navigate an old hurt. As a class (or as an individual) we will give you that which you lacked then. We can heal ourselves, especially in community (an intimate group of 5 participants), with movement, meditation, and other introspective and interactive methods. (snacks and a lunch of various salads, fruits, and nuts provided)

Session limited to 5

Memoir as Presence

Facilitator: Laura Stavoe (BUUFer and interfaith chaplaincy student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities)

Dates and time | Tuesday morning |

9:00am – 11:30am | October 3 | in-person at BUUF in Library

Session limited to 12

Note: You do not need to read anything in preparation for this workshop. Bring paper and pen, or your writing device of choice. 

In this half-day workshop, we will explore the role of story in helping ourselves and each other through difficult times. Whether you see yourself more as reader or writer, storyteller or storylistener, you will have an opportunity to learn from your own stories and those of others in community.

About the Genre: In 2005, writer Joan Didion wrote about the unexpected death of her husband John Dunn. The Year of Magical Thinking was structured differently from most memoir because Didion invited us into the internal and external journey almost in real time. In an interview Didion said, she was writing about grief more like a travel narrative, so that if you ever end up visiting this place, you might recognize some of the terrain. Many have felt accompanied through grief by that book. More recent memoirs that fit in this genre include Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper, What We Wish Were True by Schuyler Quinn, The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander. There are many more.

During the workshop, we will read, write, and talk about the stories that have accompanied us through hard times and engage in activities crafted to help us pay deep attention to our own stories. Participants can expect to leave with ideas and resources for continuing the exploration. 

Laura Stavoe is a member of the BUUF community and a current interfaith chaplaincy student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities; she is interested in studying the intersections of creativity, spiritual care, and community. Laura has taught writing and literature for more than thirty years, and she is currently teaching Psychosocial Aspects of Death and Dying at College of Western Idaho.

Enrollment | Registration  preferred.  Drop ins welcome.  Limited to 25

Home Funerals and Green Burials

Facilitators: Ann Bolyard & Carol Ogburn

Dates and time | Thursdays, October 19, 26 & November 2

7:00pm – 8 :30pm | in person at BUUF

This three-session class will look at new ways of celebrating life while honoring the death of a family member. These new ways are really old ways our ancestors practiced. When a person died the body was prepared by family members, laid out at home for a funeral, and then buried in a family plot. We will view the video “A Family Undertaking” about home funerals, we will learn about modern green burials, and we will have a chance to practice the steps of preparing a body for a home funeral / green burial. (don’t worry, the volunteer is alive and clothed!)

Fighting Facism One “My Little Pony” at a Time

Facilitator: Rev. Sara LaWall

Dates and time | Thursdays, 6:00pm-7:30pm,

October 26, November 2 & 9 | in-person at BUUF and on Zoom

Take a deep dive into this year’s Berry Street Essay (an historic, annual lecture offered by the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association) from the Rev. Cecilia Kingman. Her essay, “My Little Pony Was Right: Reflections of Fascisms Without and Within,” sparked intense emotions and much conversation at this summer’s annual UUA General Assembly. She reflected on the rise of authoritarianism, right-wing ideology, and fascism both within Unitarian Universalism and in the wider world. She writes, “It’s vital to understand that we are past the point of voting the fascists out. We have entered an era of violent civil conflict, emphasizing the need for strategic and collaborative nonviolent organizing.”

A Wakan Way of Being

Facilitator: Dan Bacon

Dates and time | Fridays, November 3, 10, 17,

6:30pm – 8:00pm am in person at BUUF

Dan will share his views and experiences with this way of life, centered on Native American ideas, that transcends earthly problems.

A Long Strange Trip

Facilitators: Jay Wechselberger & Nan Harms

Dates and time: Mondays, November 6, 13, 20, 27 December 4, 11

6:30pm

In-person at BUUF in the Channing Room

Description: Are you new to Unitarian Universalism, took the “Inquirers” classes, and now would like a more in-depth understanding of the history of UUs? Or, maybe you have been a UU for ages but never got a chance to really study our history. 

Long Strange Trip is a six-part video series by Ron Cordes that explores the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought and practice from the early, liberal strands in faith at the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism. This program comes from the UUA.

Jay and Nancy will show the videos and lead a discussion afterwards.

Materials: none

Enrollment: Registration preferred. Drop ins welcome.

Limited to 18

Registration for Fall 2023 now open! Take a Class or Join a Group