Revitalizing UU Women's Groups

Curricula

Bly, Mary; Graham, Beth; and Reinauer, Judith. Side by Side. Boston: UUA, 1999. Seven sessions provide forum for mothers and daughters to examine their relationship through activities and discussion that will lead to better communication during the teenage years.

Breiddal, Susan. Spirituality in Everyday Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. Seven-session UU course offers opportunities to explore and expand spirituality in a group setting. For intergenerational groups exploring sacred experiences. Manuals available for instructors and participants.

Fisher, Elizabeth. Rise Up and Call Her Name. Boston: The Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation, 1994. Thirteen-week curriculum visits several earth-based spiritual traditions in North America, Central America, Africa, India, and Asia where the earth is considered sacred and the processes of nature are honored. Offers goddess images, historical and cultural context, experiential exploration, contemporary voices and art, discussion and personal sharing and participatory rituals. Includes video, facilitator’s manual, and participant’s sourcebook. Available through your UU church, your district office or the UUA.

Hamilton-Holway, Barbara. Evensong. Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 1999. Includes eight community-building worship services designed for groups of 10–20. Activities encourage participants to get to know one another through personal sharing.

Hewlett, Sylvia Ann and West, Cornel. The War Against Parents. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Addresses not only how to help American children, but also their parents who face daunting obstacles presented in the workplace, popular culture, and laws.

Ranck, Shirley A. Cakes for the Queen of Heaven. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986. This ten-session guidebook is for groups of women exploring feminist theology. Resources include readings, visuals, presentations, learning activities, discussions, songs, and simple rituals. Topics include ancient goddess worship, Demeter-Persephone myths, voices of women in Judaism and Christianity, issues of power and dominance between the sexes, and women’s impetus for change in religious communities. Comes in a kit with filmstrips, a book of readings and songs, and the following three books: Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths by Charlene Spretnak, Changing of the Gods, Feminism and the End of Traditional Religions by Naomi R. Goldenberg, and Toward a New Psychology of Women, by Jean Baker Miller, M.D. First check with your UU Church and district office, then with the UUA.

UUA. The Parent Trilogy: Three Programs for UU Parents and Other Adults. Boston: UUA, 1998. Offers guidelines and handouts for sessions on theology and child-raising. Guides parents and kids as they define their beliefs about god, prayer, and other religious issues as well as social justice. Also offers five sessions geared for adults who want to explore issues related to war, sex roles, and socialized behavior. Includes guidebook, handouts, and slides.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Gender Justice: Women’s Rights are Human Rights. Study action guide on the International Women’s Rights Movement. Six sessions include use of a video showing successful women’s rights actions, activities, songs, quizzes, excerpts from UN women’s rights documents, background information on each topic, photos from Beijing, ideas for action, platform for action, etc.