UUFOM

April 27, 2008 “Coal: Turning back the Tide”
Peter Sinclair
Coordinator: Heather Cleland-Host

Midland Resident and Global Warming educator Peter Sinclair brings a wider perspective to our local decision making process: We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. Americans, concerned about climate change, pollution, and energy independence, now favor a moratorium on new coal plant construction. We not only know that we must stop the releases of CO2 from fossil fuel power, we know how we are going to do it. The technologies we need to replace fossil fuel are here and are being deployed now. We stand at the threshold of an economic revolution. Michigan can choose to participate, and leverage our skilled labor and manufacturing base to lead the world, or we can watch our state become a technological backwater. We have very little time to make the decision.

May 4, 2008 "Going Home"
Rev. Jane Thickstun
Coordinator: Sara Clavez

What makes a home? Where do we feel at home? Aren't all our journeys and explorations perhaps just seeking the way home?

May 11, 2008 "Doin' Time: Nonviolent Resisters Speak Out for Peace"
Dr. Rosalie Riegle
Coordinator: Jon Cleland-Host Dr.

Rosalie Riegle is writing a book on this title. She is interviewing peace activists from the WWII era to contemporary times. Dr. Riegle taught English at SVSU for 34 years, then retired to Evanston, IL to be close to some of her grandchildren. She co-founded two Catholic Worker houses in Saginaw and has previously published two oral histories: Voices from the Catholic Worker and Dorothy Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her. "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring." - Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal, 1950.

May 18, 2008 "The Meaning of Membership"
Rev. Jane Thickstun
Coordinator: Kevin King

We'll explore what it means to be a member of a Unitarian Universalist congregation, and how we can honor the memory and hope of the religious movement we have pledged our loyalty to. This service will feature a New Member Recognition Ceremony to recognize those who have most recently joined our church. If you have been thinking about becoming a member, but have not done so yet, give me a call (989-631-5590) so that we can include you, too.

May 25, 2008 "What's in a Name?"
Rev. Jane Thickstun
Coordinator: R. G. Converse

Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day. Why the change? People change their names for various reasons ¨C what are those reasons? What is involved in the act of naming ¨C how do we give names to people, to things, to feelings, to sensations, to thoughts? Can it be a spiritual exercise?