Our Justice Ministry Film Night is returning to second Friday evenings at 7pm. Our first offering is a film by Kathleen Dowdey. John Lewis: Get in the Way is the first biographical documentary about John Lewis. It is an inspiring portrait of one man cast into extraordinary times and his unhesitating dedication to seek justice for the marginalized and ignored. The film spans more than half a century, tracing Lewis’ journey of courage, confrontations, and hard-won triumphs. A discussion period will follow the film.
Mr. Lewis was the youngest speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech. And in March 1965, Lewis led the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, where Alabama State Troopers attacked peaceful protesters with billy clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas. Their horrific actions were broadcast on nightly news reports into living rooms across America; eight months later, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law.
There is no charge for viewing the film but donations are welcome. Or text UUAVL to 73256. Or send a check to UUCA, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville, NC 28801. You may donate to our General Fund or to our Community Plate outreach program. In February we will be donating all Community Plate income to an Asheville High School scholarship fund established by UUCA to be awarded once a year to a student who will attend a North Carolina publicly funded college, has financial need, has participated in community service, and has a weighted GPA of 3.0 or better. Extra consideration is given to first-generation college attendees.
I had a chuckle recently when, just out of curiosity, I took a look at the eNews column I wrote at this time last year. In that column, I took note of the fact of how rare it was to be looking ahead to a double year–2020–remarking that it had been a century since the last one–1919. I did take note of the war that consumed the world in 1919, which thankfully we have managed to avoid a century later. But little did I anticipate that the two years would share a different notorious commonality – massive pandemics that sickened and, in our case continues to kill, millions world-wide.
I did wonder if 2020 might be “an epoch-making” year and guessed that if we did it might have something to do with the upcoming election. Well, I got that one right, but I could never have guessed how.
I said I expected the year would also be important to UUCA, with my planned retirement, which, of course, was delayed – see paragraph 1. And I said that to prepare us for the transition I would devote some time in worship to “the basics of our religion,” choosing as a way to do that a series of services about our 7 principles. I did that and found it a helpful discipline for us, even if it turned out I was sticking around. This year as, once again, I look forward to my retirement I want to attempt a similar project, and we’ll see where this takes us.
Our religious lives are challenged in so many ways by all that we’re living through that I thought it would be worthwhile to look at our grounding. To do that, I’m going to use as a prompt a book called A House for Hope: The Promise of Progressive Religion in the 21st Century. Its authors are two respected leaders in our movement; Rev. Rebecca Ann Parker and Rev. John Buehrens.
The book uses the metaphor of a house to describe the basic theological premises of our tradition. In a series of services, we’ll work our way up from the ground we build on to the foundation, the walls, the roof, the welcoming rooms and the threshold. And we’ll touch on such subjects as what we understand to be the beginning and end of all things, what religious community looks like, how we cope with evil, how we understand God or ultimacy, what it is to be human, and what the mission of liberal or progressive community is.
It’s a lot, and needless to say what I have to offer will give you only a tasting of a very rich feast. But I hope it will be enough to get you reflecting more deeply on who we are, what we have to do, and where you situate yourself in this hopeful tradition. We begin this Sunday in The Garden. See you there.
Fear not. UUCA is not in any financial danger. But there ARE dangerous shoals up ahead as we find ourselves in a new normal after COVID times. Members of the Leadership Development Committee will lead a discussion about the near-future of UUCA using this article as a conversation starter. All are invited to attend. We’ll use breakout groups if necessary. Contact James Cassara for the session link. Brought to you by the Leadership Development Committee.
As we begin the new year in which vaccines are being made available to many and a new president will be inaugurated, what do we imagine this year will hold for us? How can we use our imagination to envision our dreams for ourselves, our beloveds and our world AND work to make that vision a reality? Join us in Vespers, Sunday Worship, Covenant Groups and religious education to explore in community the importance of imagination in our lives. Below are a few prompts inviting you to make time an reflect on this month’s theme.
Imagination is a danger thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one. – Walter Brueggemann
Our Justice Ministry Film Night is returning to second Friday evenings at 7pm. Our first offering is a film by Kathleen Dowdey. John Lewis: Get in the Way is the first biographical documentary about John Lewis. It is an inspiring portrait of one man cast into extraordinary times and his unhesitating dedication to seek justice for the marginalized and ignored. The film spans more than half a century, tracing Lewis’ journey of courage, confrontations, and hard-won triumphs. A discussion period will follow the film.
I had a chuckle recently when, just out of curiosity, I took a look at the eNews column I wrote at this time last year. In that column, I took note of the fact of how rare it was to be looking ahead to a double year–2020–remarking that it had been a century since the last one–1919. I did take note of the war that consumed the world in 1919, which thankfully we have managed to avoid a century later. But little did I anticipate that the two years would share a different notorious commonality – massive pandemics that sickened and, in our case continues to kill, millions world-wide.
p ahead as we find ourselves in a new normal after COVID times. Members of the Leadership Development Committee will lead a discussion about the near-future of UUCA using