Why do I need more Religious Education?

If you have ever wondered why bad things happen to good people, if creation is a “cosmic fluke,” or how Unitarian Universalists can behave virtuously without heaven and hell, then you are in danger of falling into theology.

 

Somehow we have it in our heads that it is “un-Unitarian Universalist” to “do theology,” because that is what the orthodox do; and we are, if truth be known, heretics. Heresy, while commonly understood as deviation from orthodox belief, originally meant choice – the heretic is one who both dissents and chooses.

 

Unitarian Universalists are very definitely happy heretics. We choose to do theology in a liberal religious mode. But if we are living, breathing, hurting, laughing, crying, questing, human beings, it is impossible not to be theologians.” R. Gilbert (Building Your Own Theology)

 

To me, theology has to do with the stuff of human experience, the meaning of being and becoming.

 

I hope that you will partake in adult religious education during this church year because it will help you define: who you are, what you believe, why you believe it, how to express what you believe, and (when you get really confident), how to live what you believe when challenged by all that faces us in the world.

 

In faith,

Bob McKetchnie

 

 

 

Facilitated Bible Reading

“Massive injustice has been and continues to be done in the name of the Bible. But the problem is that all of us allow the powers and principalities of both secular and spiritual oppression to usurp the spirit of the Bible and use it to legitimize such clear sins as economic and environmental exploitation, racism, sexism, homophobia, and more. Meanwhile the Bible is about the beauty and goodness of creation itself; about the ancient human struggle for freedom and liberation; about frustration with violence and injustice throughout the generations; and about experiences of exultation, expectation, and inspiration that can sustain the human quest for wisdom, justice and peace.” (John Buehrens: “Understanding the Bible”)

First Parish offers a Facilitated Bible Reading with our minister, Bob McKetchnie. on the last Wednesday of each month from Sept to May (except December). In November we will meet on the 19^th due to the Thanksgiving holiday. All meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. and run no later than 9:00 p.m.

This class does not interpret the Bible for you. It requires you to read the text and engage in discussion about what the text means to you and how it may have meaning in the contemporary world in which we live. Bob facilitates by offering the insight of many biblical scholars who offer “commentary” on individual texts and shares what he has learned in over twenty-five years of studying the Bible himself.

The text we use is the following:

"New Revised Standard Version of the Bible with Apocrypha"  ISBN # 0195283805

 

Introduction to Unitarian Universalism

This three-session adult education course is designed to introduce the ideas, history, and people that make up the First Parish of Medfield and the Free Church Tradition of which Unitarianism and Universalism are a part. This is one step towards involvement in a community of faith dedicated to the preservation of religious freedom and the uplifting of the human spirit.

 

 

Building Your Own Theology

D. H. Lawrence once wrote,” I believe that religious education is a life-span process of building our own theology and harnessing those deepest explosions.” How does one “build” a theology unless they have what Richard Gilbert calls a “toolbox”?

This eight week course will leave you more confident than ever before about what you truly believe, how you came to know it, and how to express it to others. You will learn so much about yourself in this class.

The class is offered on eight consecutive Monday nights from March 30^th until May 18^th (inclusive) from 7:15 p.m.-9:15. Class size will be 9-12.

 

Covenant Groups

As we continue to grow it becomes more of a challenge to know each other well. Covenant groups give us an opportunity to build stronger relationships with each other and with the larger congregation of which we are all a part.

By meeting together regularly – listening, responding, laughing, and learning – we discover the truth of what Emerson wrote: “Within us is the soul of the whole, the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal One.” As we offer something of ourselves and discover one another, we are enriched and deepened by this ministry of care.

Covenant groups are made up of up to 10 people who commit to meeting regularly with each other. In their meetings, which center around a thought-provoking reading, covenant group members talk about things that are important to them, share stories, offer support, and, in the process, get to know each other. The relationships that covenant group members establish with each other strengthen the larger First Parish community.

See Bob McKetchnie if you are interested in more information or e-mail him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Unitarian Universalist History Tour

Come join me for a two and one half hour walking tour of the beautiful Mt Auburn cemetery on the Watertown/Cambridge line. Mt. Auburn is known as America’s first garden cemetery out of which grew America’s public park system.

Buried there are hundreds of famous Unitarians and Universalists such as: William Ellery Channing, Hosea Balou, Fannie Farmer, Medfield’s own, Hannah Adams, John Murray, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – to name just a few.

Join me on October 5^th. We will leave from First Parish after the morning service and will be back in Medfield about 4:30 p.m.