.Greater Nashville Unitarian. .Universalist Congregation.

We are pleased to announce that Roger Wiesmeyer(GNUUC Music Committee) has arranged for a very special evening program with David Huntsinger–Nashville’s premiere gospel music session pianist–on Wednesday, May 6th, at 7:00pm. David will discuss the “Great Awakening’s Western Expansion and Its Influence on Hymnody in the United States.”He will look at hymns, and social movements from the Colonial period through the 19th century. The varied program will include presentation (with audio-visual component), music (piano, fiddle, guitar and oboe), a Sacred Harp hymn, camp meeting songs, and even a few hymns from early Universalists.

It promises to be intellectually exciting as well as musically inspiring. Plan to attend and invite friends and neighbors.

A “CRASH” COURSE IN CHALLENGING OUR MORAL ABSOLUTES
Some wonderful filmmakers have tapped into the secret of how to place our hearts and minds in conflict with each other. When they do, they offer us extraordinary vehicles by which we can investigate the terrain of moral ambiguity vs. moral absolutes. This, in turn, allows us to confront some of the paradoxes we face in dealing with, among other things, what we may consider as the “bad” things people do.

An intensive viewing of the 2006 Oscar-winner, “Crash,” will help us discuss how filmmaker Paul Haggis used his skills to both place us in and claw our way out of these quandaries. For three Wednesdays (April 9, 16, & 23), starting at 7PM, Jeff Stein will lead the discussion and recommends that you do NOT view or review the film until after these sessions are finished.

Jeff Stein was a producer or executive in charge of development and production for film features, has written some fifteen screenplays, and is a founding faculty member of the Watkins College of Art and Design Film School where he teaches producing and production management, screenwriting, and physical production. He will be teaching at Vanderbilt next year.

The Wednesday evening Adult RE series is now underway with programs being provided each week by members/friends of our congregation. Our programs will be presented largely by our gifted and talented members and friends.

The next two Wednesdays (Dec. 5 and 12) at 7 PM at GNUUC, Professor Eva Touster will talk about “Poetry as an Art” rather than as self-expression (although to some extent all writing is self-expression).  She will choose a lyric (as opposed to a narrative or dramatic) form and supply copies of representative poems for discussion.  The focus will be on modern English-language poems. She will provide printed copies and will encourage discussion.

Eva Touster is Professor of English, Emerita, of Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and was a founding and continuing editor of the Cumberland Poetry Review for the entire period of its publication (1981-2004).  She is the author of a collection of poems, The Wind, The Rose and The Stone, available at Davis-Kidd and Borders.

An optional social period begins at six.  Attendees are asked to bring a brown-bag supper; the church will provide beverages.  The program begins at 7PM and lasts until 8:30PM. Child care is provided on request.  All are welcome!

Wednesday Night Program, 7pm, November 28, 2007, Michael Moryc

Come share in the glorious results of a recent nature photography trip to Olympic National Park and Mount Ranier Wilderness.

Michael Moryc has been capturing images in nature for the last 30 years. This national award-winning Nashville-based photographer is a charter member of the North American Nature Photographer’s Association (NANPA), a field contributor to Nature Photographer magazine and teaches workshops and classes on Nature photography.

You can view some of his work at www.creationphotos.com.

Brown bag dinner and social hour starts at 6pm. Beverages provided. Program runs from 7pm to 8:30pm. Contact the congregation office to request childcare.