The essential role a minister can perform in a congregation’s Adult Religious Education is, at times, amazingly impactful. These may be such times.

Philosophical clarity can be tremendously difficult to achieve. When the times require action, work by a minister and members of the congregation are part of that action. That seems to be where Adult Religious Education fits in our concept of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa. Work here in recent years put a special addition on the map: our Multipurpose Education Building.

This year, we will again explore the UUA’s Common Read, Paul Rasor’s 2013 book Reclaiming Prophetic Witness: Liberal Religion in the Public Square. We responded to the earlier offerings of Behind the Kitchen Door, The New Jim Crow, and The Death of Josseline. Adult RE at our church actively gathers a group for study of Joseph Goldstein’s One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, including meditation before and after discussion of Goldstein, to complement the weekly Mindfulness Meditation led by the same Adult RE leader, as well as our church-sponsored weekly Tibetan Buddhist Meditation.  Light Yoga Class caps our standard week.

A growing number of Adult RE leaders and facilitators here in Tampa continually work, acting to help our world, helping us and our surrounding community galvanize real courage to change the things that should be changed. Wisdom is a goal for adult education as we see it. We wish to be open and considerate of one another in the flow of our learning and take into consideration the covenantal relationship we have together.

We gain greatly by expertly-led courses in Parenting and in Marriage. Ministerial expertise and adult education professionalism characterize course offerings for newcomers, such as one of our Pathways to Membership: “Building Your Own Theology.” Another class on that pathway is “UU 101,” wherein learners consider basic UU history and how our church works.

In our vibrant way, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa reaches for courage and wisdom in a troubled world, as it has throughout important times in our history, while relying on our discernment regarding the tasks before us. Our leadership at the UUCT has the goal of continuing to change our world through relevant RE programs.

Jeff Austin, Adult Religious Education Chair