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2010 Programs
January 3 — Breath is Life
The program will be a discussion of the recent UU World
magazine article entitled “Breath is Life,” defending abortion from a
liberal Christian perspective. The article is written by Rev. William
(Scotty) McLennan, a Unitarian Universalist minister and Dean for
Religious Life at Stanford University. (He is also the inspiration for
cartoonist Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury character, the Rev. Scot Sloan.)
His latest book, Jesus Was a Liberal (Palgrave 2009), offers
a thoughtful case for liberal Christianity—including this theological
justification for abortion. Whatever your own theological views may be,
we hope this essay will give you a fresh perspective and help you in
conversations with Christians about this controversial subject. The
Unitarian Universalist Association has consistently supported a woman’s
right to choose abortion since 1968. The article can be found online
at: http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/151714.shtml
January 10 — Music from the Early 1900s
Herb Holt will enlighten us on one of his favorite composers from the
early part of the 1900s. He will also play some of the songs from that
era. Herb spoke to us last year on George and Ira Gershwin. It was
quite interesting and very entertaining.
January 17 — Current Events
Once again member Les Kraus consented to lead us in a discussion on
current events. Given that a year has passed since Obama was sworn into
office, we can critique his performance in his first year and talk
about other topics that people choose. Here’s your chance to bring up
whatever topic in which you have a special interest.
January 24 — The ‘All Do Better’ Imperative
Our speaker for today is Dane Smith, who is president of Growth and
Justice, located in St. Paul. He will talk to us about “The ‘All
Do Better’ Imperative: How investing in Human Potential is Good for
Minnesota and Good for Business in the Long Run.” It goes along with
what Paul Wellstone said, “We all do better when we ALL do better.”
January 31 — Food Choices
We will watch the movie Fresh to help prepare us for a future speaker on the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The Larsons, Chris Hall and Marilyn Vialle watched this and thought it had some good points on our food choices.
February 7 — Barack Obama and the Politics of Change
Has it happened yet? David Schultz is a professor in the Hamline
University School of Business. He has a PhD in political science and a
JD from the University of Minnesota, an LLM from the University of
London, MA’s in policitcal science and philosophy from Rutgers
University. He has authored over 20 books. David is a nationally
recognized expert on political ethics, money and politics, and
political participation. You may have seen him on Almanac on Minnesota Public Television on the political science panel.
February 14 — The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Rob King will speak to us on the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
Rob is a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the
University of Minnesota. He held the E. Fred Koller Chair in
Agricultural Management Information Systems from 1983 to 2004 and
served as head of the Department of Applied Economics from July 2004
through June 2008. His research focuses on local food systems, on
organic agriculture and on management issues facing food retailers,
farmer cooperatives, and farmers.
February 21 — Movie Fresh and Continuing Discussion of Food Choices
On January 31st, we watched a portion of the movie Fresh: http://www.freshthemovie.com
Our program for this Sunday will be a viewing of the remainder of that
movie, with discussion of the topics of agriculture and food
distribution. In other words, “What are we eating, and where does it
come from?” It should be a lively discussion – join us!
March 7 — Thoughts on The Afterlife
Fellowship member Marnie Karger will lead an informative, imaginative,
and introspective discussion about what happens after we die. The
discussion will scan the traditional beliefs of major world religions,
delve into some new ideas, and invite you to consider not only what
your afterlife might be, but also what that vision means in terms of
how you live your life.
March 14 – Welcome to the Holodeck with Bob Speeter
The program will be an original interactive guided meditation focused
on bringing to recognition the “stories” that humans create in
constructing a worldview. The meditation will look at how
“stories” keep us from our true selves. After a walk through
story creation, the meditation will suggest methods, such as
forgiveness and relinquishing stories to reclaiming our true
nature. The meditation will use a unique method and interaction
that should provide a lasting reminder of “story” creating and provide
a visual means of changing the story or letting it go altogether.
The meditation is designed to bring to life some of the similar
concepts expressed in the works of Ekart Tolle (The Power of Now),
Byron Katie (A Thousand Names for Joy), Don Miguel Ruiz (The Four
Agreements) as well as A Course in Miracles.
Robert Speeter has practiced in the state as a criminal defense
attorney for over 25 years. He has been a student of forgiveness
for the last 10 years and in September, 2009, was ordained as a
ministerial counselor through Pathways of Light, located in Kiel,
WI. Pathways curriculum is based primarily on the principles of A
Course in Miracles with an aim toward facilitating remembering inner
wisdom.
March 21 – Adventures in Mali
Just back from a 10-week study abroad program in Mali, West Africa, Jackie Gauer,
daughter of Scott and Laurie, will share photos and stories of her many adventures
living with a French-speaking devout Muslim family, negotiating the fastest growing city in Africa,
travelling throughout the country and studying the native language, dance, film and culture.
March 28 – Social Witness Process
Chris Hall will lead a discussion on the Social Witness Process – While
called by various names, the social witness process is the method by
which the UUA comes to understand and act on the social issues of our
times, finally bearing witness through statements adopted as UUA policy
by the delegates of a General Assembly (GA). The top five of the
following six (as ranked in voting order on the UUA website) proposed
Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAI’s) will appear on the GA
2010 agenda; one will be selected at GA to be the 2010 – 2014 CSAI
o Energy, Peace, and Justice
o National Economic Reform
o Immigration as a Moral Issue
o Ending Slavery
o Revitalizing American Democracy
o Nuclear Disarmament
April 4 – Spring Celebration, Treasure Hunt and Pot Luck
The Segals will organize a fun treasure hunt for the kids that will be
followed by a pot luck meal. Watch for a sign-up sheet on the
bulletin board.
April 11 – Acoustic Guitar Concert by Harry Chalmiers
Harry Chalmiers is the President of McNally Smith College of Music,
Former Vice President of Berklee College of Music in Boston, former
Executive Director of MacPhail Center for Music, and a former member of
the Lake Fellowship Unitarian Universalists. Basically, Harry is a
guitar player and composer who let his day gig get way out of
control. He will perform a program of acoustic guitar music and
songs, mostly his own compositions.
April 18 – Earth Day
Lake Fellowship’s Youth Religious Education (RE) members will do a program involving the adults on the
environment. Topics will include recycling, stewardship, and
clean air and water from a kid’s point of view.
April 25 – Lake Fellowship Revitalization Service
A discussion of what makes Lake Fellowship UU tick. Board Chair Dan Larson will
discuss historical volunteer positions and plans for next year.
Dan will also demonstrate the new features of our Web site, and provide
us with an update on the General Assembly of the UUA.
May 2 – Will Rogers lecturer and humorist
A cowboy, champion roper, star of the wild west shows, Broadway and the
movies; a lecturer, humorist, syndicated columnist and the most
recognized man in the world in the early 1930’s some say he is
the third most quoted source after the Bible and Shakespeare. This will
be a short and entertaining biography presented in the words of Will
Rogers himself.
May 9 – The Five Reasons Why Clean Renewable Energy Is So Critically Needed
Louis Asher, a multi-faceted former employee of 3M, and an experienced
instructor, returns to Lake Fellowship to present these important
environmental points. Many people are aware that global warming is a
critical reason for the need for clean renewable energy. There
are at least four other strong reasons including: acidification of the
oceans from CO2, health reasons such as mercury contamination from
burning coal, national security and economics.
May 16 – Everything I need to know, I learned in kindergarten... oh, wait.
This will be a panel discussion led by members of our fellowship whose life experience spans several decades, and will focus on life lessons.
May 23 – End of Year Celebration
This marks our final formal gathering of the season. It will include a
potluck cookout (bring a dish to share and something to grill), a
talent show, and will be followed by the annual membership meeting.
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