Our Mission

We offer opportunities for members and friends to explore and to grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, to learn from and to strengthen their connection with each other and the world.

Through our ASD program, we offer a variety of classes, small groups, book discussions, movies, and events designed to support and enhance the life-long spiritual exploration of our members.  Our offerings encourage participants to open their minds and hearts to new understandings, to share their diverse experiences with one another, and to engage in compassionate action outside of the congregation.  We invite you to join us in the pursuit of our congregational mission: To inspire joy and justice in an imperfect world. 

In the past we have offered programs and discussion around many topics such as:

• Aging in Wisdom and Grace
• Mindfulness Meditation
• Memoir Writing as Spiritual Practice
• Writing One’s Ethical Will
• Deep Listening 
• Conversations that Promote Peace
• Systemic Injustice 
• Theology in Our Everyday Lives 

Watch this space and the weekly newsletter for updates and new offerings as they come online!

Have an idea for an offering?  Please share your idea with asd@uumarin.org

‘23-’24 Programs

• Meditation
• Classes
• Small Groups
• Book Discussion
• Meaningful Movies

Meditation

Still Waters is an ongoing, silent worship/meditation group held on Tuesdays from 4:15-5:00 pm on Zoom.  Each Zoom gathering provides opportunities for silent meditation, quiet reflection, and sharing. A poem or religious text is read, followed by 15 minutes of silence. We then have an opportunity to voice any insights. Rinse and repeat for the second half! For more information contact stillwaters@uumarin.org  

Still Waters Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86538666898
Meeting ID: 865 3866 6898        Phone: 669 444 9171

Classes, Fall, 2023

Foundations of Unitarian Universalism is a three-week class that explores the history of our heretical faith. We’ll trace our roots in radical protestant Christianity through the revolutionary era of Transcendentalism and the 20th-century arc of Humanism… to our pluralistic and multi-cultural present. This class is a great way to really explore and define your Unitarian Universalist identity and place YOUR personal spiritual journey in the context of centuries worth of seekers, iconoclasts, and revolutionaries. You won’t want to miss this! October 22^nd, Nov. 5^th, Nov. 19^th, 5:30 – 7 pm, potluck dinner and drinks.

Facilitator: Rev. Cory Wells Lovell; Contact revcory@uumarin.org

Global Spiritual Evolution is a class focused on the evolution of world religions. John Young, UU Marin member and retired UU Minister will be leading a course based on his book, Nurture Your Spiritual Path: Exploring the Rainbow of Belief. You may purchase the book at Amazon Books (paperback for $14 or Kindle for $10), and our Adult Spiritual Development Team will also have several copies on sale on October 1 during the Committee Fair for $14. His only requirement for attendance is to read the chapters covered in advance of the sessions attended since questions and discussion will be a major part of each class.

Facilitator: Rev. John Young
Contact: asd@uumarin.org
Noon to 1:30 pm Sundays

• Oct. 8: A Shared Perspective & our life-long Spiritual Evolutions (1^st & last chapters)
• Oct. 15: Hinduism
• Oct. 22: Jainism & Buddhism
• Oct. 29: Taoism & Confucianism
• Nov.  5: Shinto and Asian Syncretism
• Nov. 12: Zoroastrianism & Sikhism
• Nov. 19: Judaism
• Dec.  3: Christianity
• Dec. 10: Islam
• Dec. 17: Global Spirituality Today

Small Group Ministries – Fall 2023

Small-group ministry is intentional, lay-led small groups that deepen and expand the ministry of a congregation. Two key focuses are Intimacy, or building community and deepening relationships, and ultimacy, or the opportunity for deeper spiritual exploration and search for meaning.

—From the UUA

Soul Matters is a theme-based, facilitated, small-group ministry. 8-10 participants commit to meeting monthly for 10 months to develop stronger connections with each other and engage in deep listening to their inner voice and to one another. Packets are provided each month to all participants allowing for exploration into a spiritual theme such as forgiveness. Learn more here. New Groups formed in September. Three groups are forming this fall. All groups that have space will welcome new participants midstream.

First Thursdays, beginning Oct. 5^th 7:30-9:00 facilitated by Ann Carden on Zoom. Contact soulmatters_th@uumarin.org

Fourth Wednesdays, beginning Sept. 27^th 1:00-3:00 facilitated by Janice Prochaska in person. Contact soulmatters_w@uumarin.org

Fourth Fridays, beginning Sept. 22^nd 10:00-noon facilitated by Joan Smith on Zoom. Contact soulmatters_f@uumarin.org

The Small Group Ministry is a covenantal group that will meet monthly for 9 months. Participants will be limited to 7 members, will commit to attending each and every meeting, and will develop their covenant together in the first and second sessions.  All participants will have the opportunity to share their perspectives, tell their stories, and listen deeply.  Complete confidentiality will be held.  Starting this fall in October; Dates TBD Facilitator: Jim Harrison; Contact sgm@uumarin.org

The New Member Circle of Trust is for members and friends who have joined over the last year or so.  This group will meet twice a month for 3 months with themes related to why and how we participate in a religious community and will follow a Circle of Trust model developed by the Quaker, Parker Palmer.

Starting this fall in October; Dates  TBD, Facilitator: Dave Hudson; Contact nmcot@uumarin.org

Winter / Spring ‘24

Ongo is a small-group ministry offering in which facilitation is shared.  Participants meet for 12 sessions weekly or biweekly to begin to embody peaceful nonviolence through mindfulness meditation, forgiveness, gratitude, journaling, Non-Violent Communication (NVC) practices and more.  A manual provides ample guidance and support. Participants commit to attend ten of twelve sessions.  Learn more here. Contact asd@uumarin.org with questions or to sign up to participate.  New Groups will be formed in Winter 2024.  Look for updates on this site. Let us know if you’d like to be contacted when registration is open. 

Book Discussions

The new UU Common Read is On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (Beacon Press, 2022). This UU Common Read was announced at the UUA 2023 General Assembly.

This Common Read offers a glimpse into one of our faith’s foundational sources, Judaism. Readers explore the call to accountability as we follow Rabbi Ruttenberg into a framework for making amends offered by the 12th century Jewish physician and scholar, Maimonides.

On Repentance and Repair invites readers of any faith to explore practices for accountability that can bring us into wholeness and really make a difference in our personal, community, and national relationships.

We expect to start a book discussion on this book in the Winter / Spring. Look for updates on this site. Contact asd@uumarn.org if you are interested in participating. 

Classes / Spring 2024

Memoir Writing as Spiritual Practice
In six consecutive weekly gatherings, we will take time to notice and celebrate the magic in our lives. We will dare to reach deep within, to touch – gently, respectfully, thoughtfully – a lived experience – to travel deep into its emotional core, and, with whatever words arrive, to bring back to life that one magical moment in time. Some remembered moments will bring laughter, some, tears. Some will spring back to life eagerly; some may need to be coaxed back into the light. You will marvel at your courage, and smile at your folly. And you will come to see more clearly how the warp and weft of your lived moments have woven and continue to weave together the colors and the textures of your one unique, unrepeatable, irreplaceable, precious life. Learn more about this class here.

Facilitator: Ann Carden. This class will be offered in the Winter / Spring of 2024. Please watch this space for updates. Contact soulmatters_th@uumarin.org to express interest.

Saturday, November 18 th
6:00 PM
Fireside Room

Coming Home:
The Making of Little Bird

November is Native American Heritage Month. To honor local Coast Miwok People, upon whose unceded land this congregation gathers, the Social Justice and the Adult Spiritual Development Teams are planning to offer Coming Home, the compelling feature-length documentary by director Erica Daniels. The documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the production of the acclaimed dramatic series Little Bird on PBS and tells of the groundbreaking movement for Indigenous narrative sovereignty as experienced through the series’ Indigenous creatives and crew. The story of Little Bird itself takes place in Canada during the 60s when Indigenous children were taken from their families and put in boarding schools. This practice took place right here in Marin County as well. The documentary is both jarring and hopeful, as we hear the stories of those affected by this practice and learn of the healing they have encountered through the telling. We will have an opportunity for discussion afterward. Please join us.

Popcorn and drinks will be provided. Please feel free to bring a sandwich or takeout if you haven’t had time for dinner. There will be an opportunity for discussion afterward. Contact asd@uumarin.org with any questions!