Adult Classes

We have a small Adult Education program. Some of our classes are religious, some are not. We left the whole Spring catalog here to show you what we do, even though some classes may be over.

Buddhism 101
Classical Theater on DVD
Community Conversation on Diversity
Drumming Circle
Explorations in Art
Exploring Meditation Approaches East And West
Great Decisions
Sacred Ground, our earth-based spirituality group. (Goes to new page.)
Sign Language Class For All Ages Worship Weavers
UU DVDs
UU World Group

There is a separate page for Children's Religious Education.

Our courses are open to everyone, members and non-members alike. You may register by calling the leader, if you know him / her, or by calling our office at (209) 545-1837 Monday through Thursday, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.

Buddhism 101

Lori Wong lives in the Modesto area, has been a Buddhist meditation practitioner in the Theravada tradition since 2003 and is a board member of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies in Redwood City, California. She has also served on the board and is a past president of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City.
For Spring 2010, she will offer two classes, The Ten Perfections and Awakening Joy. Awakening Joy is an online course, but we will meet in person one day a month to discuss the topics and exercises from the course. The Ten Perfections is an in-person class. It meets at 10 a.m. in the Sanctuary every Wednesday. We welcome new visitors Each session will include a half-hour of silent meditation, the topic for the day and time for Q and A or discussion. Free, but donations to the teacher are welcome.

Classical Theater on DVD

Join Margaret and Dave Waterman for DVD presentations of classic theater performances on the fourth Tuesday of almost every month. After the show we discuss the play. It's a good chance to converse with a warm, wise, witty and literate group. See the Calendar page for this month's title.

Community Conversation on Diversity

The Stanislaus Chapter of the NAACP, the UUF of SC, members of the Latino community and members of the LGBT comunity invite you to a Community Conversation. We will explore issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Each event will begin with a presentation given by a leader in our community, followed by facilitated small group discussion. 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Church of the Brethren, at 2301 Woodland Avenue, Modesto (MapQuest).
Feel free to bring a light snack or non-alcoholic beverage to share.

Drumming Circle

We will be meeting on the third Monday of each month from 6:30 - 8:00 pm in the Johnson Room.
No meetings during the summer (June - August) of 2010
This group is open to all; UU members, family, and friends). Please bring your own drum or percussion instrument if you have one. Contact Holly Grace Palmer via the webmaster (address at the bottom of the the navigation bar) for additional information.

Explorations in Art

We began this class under the title The Artist's Way and later Vein of Gold when we were following the guidance in the books of Julia Cameron. We are now book-less, relying on our own resources.

We have used many media in this class, sharing our resources and creative ideas. These media include sculpture from recycled materials, working with clay such as Sculpty, papier maché, acrylics, water color, pastels, and collage.

The group is open to new members. We meet in the Johnson Room from 10 to 1 on all Fridays except the third. (And we take a break in the summer.) Since we already have many supplies we now only take collections when we run out of something or choose to buy something new. We do ask a donation of $3 a session from members and $5 from non-members to the Fellowship to help cover the cost of utilities, etc.

We begin with a sharing time and end by looking at what we have produced that day. Bring a notebook for journaling.

Helen Million and Pat Egenberger are the facilitators.

Exploring Meditation Approaches East And West

Great Decisions

A group discussion involving personal justice and ethics. These international events are based on materials published by the Foreign Policy Administration (FPA). Learn and share your ideas on Foreign Policy and closely related topics. You will have the opportunity to send ballots to the FPA on various issues. We meet Monday evenings in the Johnson Room.

Sign Language Class For All Ages

Join us and learn basic sign language and communication skills for deaf and the hearing impaired. Learn basic greetings, sign language alphabet, create your own sign language name.

UU DVDs

We have a small collections of DVDs about Unitarian Universalism, and about church leadership. You can borrow them from Rev. Grace. Titles:

• A People So Bold - Resources for congregations to deepen work for Social Justice
  
  
• Lay Leader Drive Time Essays" - 21 short, spoken essays (on CD, not DVD) designed to engage, inspire, uplift, enlighten, rejuvenate and motivate
  
  
• UU University at General Assembly 2009
  
  
• Now is the Time (2008) - leading congregations into a multiracial, multicultural future
  
  
• Now is the Time (2007) - leading congregations into a multiracial, multicultural future
  
  
• Renewal - Stories from America's Religious-Environmental Movement
  
  

UU World Group

The group meets the third Thursday of each month to discuss articles from the UU World publication, as well as other sources. We will limit participation on this one; you must call to register in advance.

Worship Weavers

Rev. Grace will offer a workshop for everyone interested in making our worship services as skilled, engaging and inspiring as they can be. We need people with ideas, people who are artistic, people who are planners, people who would be willing to speak or read in a service, people with interesting collections or bounteous gardens, people who love poetry or have favorite readings, people who are interested in helping with our services in any way. She will hold it in our sanctuary on Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 9:30 till noon.