When we talk about treatment for substance use disorders, the first things we tend to think of are detox programs and medication assisted treatment. One treatment approach that rarely comes into the conversation is nature connection as a treatment tool for substance use disorders. Let’s change that!
Love is not just an emotion—it’s a sacred, revolutionary act of defiance. Through the story of St. Valentine, a radical who blessed forbidden unions in the face of empire, the wisdom of mysticism, and the lived experiences of queer and trans people, we’ll explore how love transcends boundaries and transforms communities. What does it mean to embody love in a world that seeks to erase and control us? How can the perspectives of the marginalized teach us to live love as resistance, connection, and liberation? Together, we’ll reclaim love as holy power—a force to heal, disrupt, and create a just, expansive future for all.
Carl Thomas, Executive Director with Project Youth+ (formerly College Dreams) will share the important work this local non-profit organization is doing to help underserved youth in Jackson, Josephine and southern Douglas Counties. In over 20 local schools, staff Advisors support high achieving young people to further their education and career possibilities, and work to remove barriers and help keep vulnerable young people in school for their positive future. Out of school youth are also supported through work experience opportunities by Career Coaches and building life skills to navigate challenges. Hear their stories and the ways our congregation can support this important work.
Probably many of us think “circus,” “Tom Thumb,” “Jumbo,” or “Greatest Show on Earth” when we hear the name P.T. Barnum. Member Teresa Northcross explores the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum – showman, best-selling author, politician, impresario, moral reformer, unabashed capitalist, real estate developer, eventual Abolitionist, and a life-long Universalist.
Rev. Summer Albayati, our Pacific Western Region of the UUA staff person will again join us. As we enter a new year she brings her insight, compassion and encouragement to our beloved community.
When we think of the unhoused community, images of tent cities, cardboard signs, struggle, addiction, and isolation often come to mind—a community marked by tremendous needs. Yet, Elias Poore, SOUUP Intern Minister and formerly unhoused community organizer with over eight years of experience working with unhoused communities, challenges us to see beyond these stereotypes. Drawing on their lived experience and work alongside these communities, Eli reflects on the invisibility and vulnerability of houselessness while offering a hopeful vision, highlighting the profound lessons these communities can offer all of us about perseverance, interdependence, inherent worth, and the transformative power of relationships.
In this sequel to Part 1, waterfalls cascade us deeper into the science of awe, including: the wonderful word “eudaemonia”; the gifts of people who are pre-disposed to experience awe; and the relations between awe, wonder, spirituality, and ambiguity.
Together we’ll remember and reflect upon people near, dear and notable whose lives concluded in 2024. We’ll light candles; we’ll sing; we’ll laugh; we may cry; and we will mourn together those we have lost. We will celebrate their legacies, hear their songs and consider how lives well lived can make such a difference.
At the turning of the year, many of us take stock of our lives: what we remember from days flown by, and what we want to find around the next corner. Our second annual participatory year-end service will take us through a collaborative process of sharing our thoughts, dreams, and goals for UUGP. Where have we been, and where do we want to go, as we live the daily joys and challenges of our seven principles? Onward to 2025!
In this time of long dark days when the southern hemisphere of the earth visits the sun, the folks of the north have for millenia ritualized the return of the light marked by the winter solstice. Stories of the return of the sun, celebrations of survival, the anticipation of rebirth that spring would bring, and faith in the promise of the future abound. Join us for a sharing of the stories, music, and the hope and joy of the season as we gather for the first of our longer, sun filled days.
