.Greater Nashville Unitarian. .Universalist Congregation.

GNUUC ANNUAL IN-GATHERING SERVICE
PROFESSOR A-J LEVINE

Plan to join us for this “official” start of the fall congregation program. We gather at the end of summer to celebrate our life together and welcome momentums, rocks, water, etc. from your travels or time in the city to share together and place on the center worship table. We look forward to another active and busy year and look forward to our worship, fellowship, religious education for all ages, shared work for justice, and the myriad ways we care for one another. And it’s great to start the season with our Guest Speaker – AJ Levine. BE WITH US BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE PART OF OUR CELEBRATION!!!

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Graduate Department of Religion, and Program in Jewish Studies. A self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” Professor Levine combines historical- critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies.

Service Coordinator: Thena Berry
Greeters: Marion Bogen, Bob Niemi, Denise O’Briant
Food Table Volunteers: Lenore & David Vanderkooi

October
3 – Rev. Kalen Fristad

September
26 – Rev. Gary White
19 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy & Imam Sheikh Osama Bahloul
12 – Prof. AJ Levine
5 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy & Mr. Lindsay “Jerry” Lee

August
29 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy & GNUUC Youth
22 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
15 – Prof. AJ Levine
8 – Rev. Bill Barnes
1 – Rev. Mark Forrester

July
25 – Tom Neilson
18 – Rev. Gary White
10 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
4 – Bill Peach

June
27 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
20 – Rabbi Rami Shapiro
13 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
6 – Rev. Gary White

May
31 – Prof. A.J. Levine
23 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
16 – Rabbi Laurie Rice
9 – Rev. Ben Berry and Rev. Dan Rosemergy
2 – Rev. Gary White (service cancelled due to flooding)

Apri
25 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
18 – Rev. Ben Berry @ GNUUC and another youth-led worship service @ the retreat site
11 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
4 – Rev. Ben Berry

March
28 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
21 – Prof. A.J. Levine
14 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
7 – Ken Sizemore “The Old Folkie”

February
28 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
21 – A.J. Levine
14 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
7 – Special Service

January
31 – A.J. Levine
24 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
17 – Rev. Ben Berry (MLK Jr. Day)
10 – Rev. Dan Rosemergy
3 – Rev. Mark Forrester

(Revised 06/07/2010)

“LABOR IN THE PULPIT: THE DREAM OF JUSTICE”
THE REV. DR. DAN ROSEMERGY and MR. LINDSAY “JERRY” LEE

On this Labor Day Sunday, Dan and “Jerry” Lee, President of the Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council will reflect on the important relationship of workers and communities of faith. The dream of justice for working families is a dream shared by the labor movement and the faith community. From the earliest struggles for worker justice, allies from the faith community have stood side by side with workers to provide the moral framework for our shared efforts. We will look at current challenges for American workers and highlight the long UUA commitment to workers’ rights and justice in the workplace.

Service Coordinator: Denise Croker
Greeters: Barbara Belfiglio, Kathy Haley, Holly Miles, Roger Wiesmeyer
Food Table Volunteers: Judy & Jack Goetz

“THE BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST: CULTURAL TOUCHSTONES”
A 5TH SUNDAY SPECIAL SERVICE WITH DAN ROSEMERGY & GNUUC YOUTH

Each August since 1998, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. It was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references, and quickly became a catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each generation. We will highlight some of the findings on the list and hear from Lauren Wright, Darian DeReimer, and Sybil Watkins on their own perception of today’s world. We will become aware that this college class of 2014 reminds us, once again, that a generation comes and goes in the blink of our eyes, which are, like the rest of us, getting older and older.

Service Coordinator: Larry Romans
Greeters: Michael Moryc, Rachel Sumner
Food Table Volunteers: Dan Ramey & Echoe Harris

“SUMMER REFLECTION: TOWARD A TRUE KINSHIP OF FAITHS”
THE REV. DR. DAN ROSEMERGY, GNUUC MINISTER

Dan will discuss the recent surge of opposition to the building or expansion of Islamic Centers across the country including here in Middle Tennessee and the Manhattan Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero in New York City. He will update us on efforts here in the Nashville area to work together across faith lines to build understanding and interfaith dialogue. He will reflect on the Dalai Lama’s new book entitled “Toward a True Kinship of Faith” and the growing movement to promote the Charter for Compassion. Dan will conclude by challenging all of us to join the UUA and UUSC campaign in support of the Lower Manhattan Mosque.

Service Coordinator: Mike Morgan
Greeters: Art Ebbets, Judy & Jack Goetz, Phyllis Cancilla, Leslie Kinnear, Jim & Suzanne Myers
Food Table Volunteers: Susan & Manfred Menking

“CHRISTIAN WITNESS AND THE MIDDLE EAST: WHERE GOOD INTENTIONS GO WRONG”
PROFESSOR A-J LEVINE

Often relying on uninformed politics, historical ignorance, and extremely selective biblical studies, far too many Christian peace activists — in advocating for Palestinian rights — distort Jewish history and theology, damage rather than build up the peace process, and put into danger Jewish/Christian and Jewish/Unitarian relations. How does this well-intended peace advocacy go wrong, and how can people of good will work together for peace and justice?

Service Coordinator: Michael Moryc
Greeters: Larry Blanz, David Frese, Helen Hyatt, Johanna Sulser, Manfred & Susan Menking
Food Table Volunteers: Barbara Belfiglio

“MAKING LOVE HAPPEN” (Romans 8:14-17)
REV. BILL BARNES

We can enter the transition from function to love by learning from Paul.
Rev. Barnes is the founding pastor at Edgehill United Methodist Church, an intentionally interracial, interclass inner-city, reconciling church. Now retired from parish ministry, Rev. Barnes is a founding member of Tying Nashville Together, and in 2007l, published To Love a City, which chronicles his ministry at Edgehill.

Service Coordinator: Thena Berry
Greeters: Marion Bogen, Bob Niemi, Denise O’Briant
Food Table Volunteers: Patricia Green & Lara Bryson

“BELIEVING IS THE BEST WAY TO SEE” (John 20:19-31)
THE REVEREND MARK FORRESTER

While we orient our lives by empirical verification and, thus, live by the dictum, “seeing is believing,” this is not the only path to truth. Saint Anselm’s maxim, “faith seeks understanding,” is a complementary counter-claim that gives balance to the dogged insistence that we must first see, touch, taste, measure or prove something before it exists. Rev. Forrester will explore this passage in the Gospel of John that recounts the story of “Doubting Thomas,” and look at the nature of faith as encompassing of “faithful doubting,” yet finally a way of believing that enables us to see.

Service Coordinator: Denise Croker
Greeters: Barbara Belfiglio, Kathy Haley, Holly Miles, Roger Wiesmeyer
Food Table Volunteers: Jeff & Cintra Bristol

“THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY”
TOM NEILSON

The mystical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam make similar claims about the ultimate nature of reality: that nothing is separate and all is, in a sense, one. Aldous Huxley referred to this understanding as “the perennial philosophy” in his book of the same name. This talk will be a brief introduction to the perennial philosophy. Tom Neilson will draw on his own experiences and on poetry, both sacred and secular, to convey a deep feel for the subject.

Thomas D. Neilson (Psy.D.) is a Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in individual, couples, and group psychotherapy. He has had extensive training in mindfulness and is deeply committed to meditation practices and techniques.

Service Coordinator: Mike Morgan
Greeters: Art Ebbets, Judy & Jack Goetz, Phyllis Cancilla, Leslie Kinnear, Jim & Suzanne Myers
Food Table Volunteers: Alan & Twilla McClellan

“WE KINDLE THIS FLAME…”
THE REVEREND GARY WHITE

Desired by all yet elusive and shy, it can be found in truth and the land of lies. The risk is the hunted fades from the weary eyes of the once eager who now stand lost and searching for vanishing tracks so quickly receding the trail’s surface meandering through the territory of the damned. In time, lives once so bountiful and blessed will diminish into an empty and withered shell. An inevitable shame and failure, only acknowledged by a crowded silence, will suffocate our last gasp for inspiration.

The Reverend Gary White is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and serves as the Director of Religious Life at Vanderbilt University.

Service Coordinator: Michael Moryc
Greeters: Larry Blanz, David Frese, Helen Hyatt, Johanna Sulser, Manfred & Susan Menking
Food Table Volunteers: Cintra & Jeff Bristol

GNUUC’S 16th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Join us for this special service celebrating the 16th Anniversary of GNUUC! It will be a time of remembering and expressing appreciation to all who provided the vision and hard work to bring our congregation into existence; to celebrate all that we have become; and to look forward to our future together as an important progressive faith expression and voice in our community. There will be an opportunity to express our gratitude to outgoing Congregational leadership, to install new officers and Board members for the coming year, and to welcome new members into GNUUC.

Service Coordinator: Thena Berry
Greeters: Marion Bogen, Bob Niemi, Denise O’Briant
Food Table Volunteers: Saung Kim and Bob Niemi

“The Fallacy of Fear”
Bill Peach

Bill Peach will discuss one of the chapters in his last book, “The Fallacy of Fear,” which begins with the premise that we are a nation of July 4th Americans and September 11th Americans. For nine years our political decisions have been made based on fear rather than logical principles or cause and effect. Like unto this (but separate in deference to Charles Sumner) is a resurgence of biblical literalism, End Times, Armageddon, Hellfire, Judgment Day, and whatever. The third part of this is cultural fear that touches both political and religious fears—destruction of traditional marriage and family values, the murder of innocent fetuses, secularism, religious war, socialism, gun confiscation, abolition of prayer, government public education, the death of capitalism, immigration, ethnic impurity.

Service Coordinator: Denise Croker
Greeters: Barbara Belfiglio, Kathy Haley, Holly Miles, Roger Wiesmeyer, Cintra and Jeff Bristol
Food Table Volunteers: Mike Morgan & Larry Romans