Services to UUs

Developed for and in the context of Unitarian Universalist settings, many of these offerings are adaptable to other audiences, particularly gatherings of people seeking psychological and spiritual growth and/or facilitating the growth of others.

 

Worship Services -- Music for Services and Events

Classes and Workshops -- Retreat Facilitation

Rites of Passage

 

 

 

 

Worship Services:

As a worship leader, I offer reflections (sermons) and songs on a variety of topics of spiritual significance.  

Recent Topics Include:

"Singing the Whispers, Heeding the Call"
As I singer and songwriter, I experience songwriting as a transformative process that grows out of and furthers psychological healing and spiritual deepening. In this hopeful and uplifting service, I reflect on the experience of depression and alienation, and the importance of creativity, support and spiritual community in the healing process, illustrating my comments with pivotal songs from my repertoire.

"When the Ego Bows to the Heart"
The spiritual journey invites us to come to know our selves, not as we wish we could be, but as we truly are. In this service, I weave readings and reflections with my own poignant and occasionally funny songs of self-discovery in this service about what it means to know and to love our selves.

"Cultivating Supple Spirits"
Change is inevitable, and much of it is beyond our control. In this service of songs and reflections, I explore how spiritual practices cultivate a suppleness of spirit that can help us to grow through the changes we each must face.

"Apprehending Transcendence, Diminishing God"
The first source which we Unitarian Universalists draw upon is "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life." In this service of songs and reflections, I explore the experience of transcendence and the role of organized religion in the development of faith.

"This Side of the Grave"
In "Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us," (Beacon Press, 2001), theologians Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker examine the Christian doctrines of substitutionary atonement (the idea that Jesus' death makes amends for the sins of humankind and reconciles us with God) and redemptive suffering (the idea that suffering saves us or brings us closer to God). They explore how these doctrines sanction violence and perpetuate suffering. The authors' individual searches for a positive, life-affirming theology brought about their collaboration, and in the process of that collaboration, they each undertook their own personal journeys of transformation, finding in them paths to salvation and the unfolding of a theology. In this service, I use "Proverbs of Ashes" as a point of departure for a discussion of our search for salvation in this lifetime, on this side of the grave.

 

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Music for Services and Events:

Drawing both from my own music and from a diverse repertoire of traditional and folk music, singer/songwriters, and musicals, I provide thematically appropriate music for worship services, weddings, memorial services, celebrations and meetings.

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Classes and Workshops

I offer classes and workshops on singing, creativity and the relationship between creativity and spirituality.

 

 

"When the Soul Sings"

An exploration through performance, discussion and participatory singing, of how music and poetry allow us to connect with our deepest selves and with one another.

"The Creative Connection"

Incredible things happen when we use our creativity to connect with ourselves and one another. Through creative exploration, we come to know and value ourselves; through creative expression, we share ourselves with one another; and when we create together, we build community. This inspiring performance/workshop explores the role of creativity in our spiritual growth as Unitarian Universalists, and the ways in which our congregations can both foster creativity and benefit from it.

  "The Heart and Soul of Singing (Skill Optional)"

Calling all car singers, shower singers, closet singers! Calling all would-be singers who believe they can't - or shouldn't - sing! Calling all who know or want to know the sheer joy of singing, the physical pleasure of the breath and the voice, the freedom and exhilaration of expression, the sense of community that occurs when people raise their voices in song! Come and sing!

This course is about the heart and soul of singing. Skill is optional. I can't teach you to sing with good technique (because, truth be told, I don't myself). I can't even promise you'll no longer need a bucket to carry a tune. But I hope you'll come to hold that bucket with less fear and shame and more joy and pleasure, and I hope you'll learn to roll your windows down and sing boldly in the company of others! Come! Come and sing!

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Retreat Facilitation

Music is often a unifying element of spiritual retreats, setting the tone, calling participants into themselves and into community with one another, facilitating participants' emotional and spiritual experience, and tying together disparate program elements. As a co-facilitator of retreats, I coordinate and/or provide music and other retreat elements, from workshops to worship services. I collaborate with other planners and retreat leaders to ensure a rich, nurturing experience for participants.

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Rites of Passage

Weddings

I am trained in pre-nuptial assessment, and authorized by my congregation, First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, to officiate at weddings. Please contact me if you would like to discuss the possibility of having me officiate at your wedding.

Please note: If you are interested in holding your wedding in the historic Frank LLoyd Wright meeting house, please contact First Unitarian Society directly at (608) 233-9774.

 

 

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