• What is essential?
• What is sustainable?

A clear message comes through these past months: staying connected is absolutely essential. Maintaining our connections is a primary focus of church leadership – minister, staff, and volunteer.

We are still connected on Sunday mornings thanks to a devoted Worship Team. Yet our deeper connections happen in smaller groups, which we are encouraging and nurturing and developing for the months ahead.  The Adult Programs team has been working hard to create many and varied small(er) group options.

To the end of deepening our connections to each other and to our UU tradition, Rev. Dana and Music Director Carolyn Bjerke will lead a program called Wellspring this year. It’s a program of spiritual practice and deepening within a UU context, focusing particularly on the Six Sources of our faith. 

The living tradition of Unitarian Universalism draws on six sources for religious knowledge and spiritual growth: direct experience, prophetic women and men, world religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, science and humanist teachings, and Earth-centered traditions. 

If the seven principles guide our aspirations, and the six sources bring us the inspiration to live them. 

The program will begin with a 3-hour retreat Thursday Oct. 8 from 6-9 pm. The retreat is followed by 19, 2-hour sessions approximately every two weeks through May. Most sessions will be on 2nd and 4th Thursdays from 7-9 pm. See an overview and topics here: Wellspring info. For each source the program engages the ‘head’ grounding the exploration in UU history and theology, engaging topics such as courage, love, and justice. We will also use our ‘Hands’ in considering how each source might change the way we live our lives. And we’ll engage the ‘Heart’ to go deeply into core spiritual themes like vulnerability, forgiveness, and joy. All will be invited to share spiritual struggles, practices, spiritual questions, guided by the wisdom of each source. 

The essential components at the heart of Wellspring are small group connection, commitment to daily spiritual practice, monthly spiritual guidance, reflecting on the assignments, and putting our faith into action. All rest on a foundation of deep listening.

Rev. Dana worked with an earlier version of Wellspring a decade ago. Carolyn took the program as part of the process of becoming a Credentialed Music Director. We both found it meaningful. At it’s a good fit for moving on-line. 

The program will be limited to 10 participants, with Carolyn and Rev. Dana making 12. It is a significant commitment and consistent attendance is important for the whole group. 

Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Jennifer at administrator@uuventura.org.

If you are intrigued and want to know more, here is a 5-minute video with Wellspring participants: Wellspring experiences. We are very excited about working together and to share this program with you.

Warmly,
Rev. Dana and Carolyn