First UU Columbus

Join us in honoring our Transcendental roots and our sources that speak to direct experience of the sacred and the spiritual teachings of earth-centered religions, as we celebrate the neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year.

This  is celebration, based loosely on neo-Pagan holidays, that is child-friendly without being child-centered.
Beltane, Friday, May 7, 7 pm

For more information or to volunteer to co-create contact Jolinda Stephens 267-4946 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

3rd Tuesdays, starting 10/20, 6:30pm plus one Saturday to be named by the group.

Many who heard the Rev. Dr Thandeka speak at Summer Institute in July are eager to go more deeply into her spiritually alive theology. We are fortunate she asked us to field test her new course that draws on the work of historical and contemporary Universalist, Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist theologians, to invite participants to  engage some of our tradition’s major theological perspectives and to test those theological points of view against their own lived experience. This is a course with some real meat.

Childcare will be available near the classroom to allow for a flow between care and parent laps as needed. Registration with childcare information requested.

Facilitators: Suzan McCrystal, MDiv, and Jolinda Stephens

First UU has two ongoing men's groups. These groups explore, in a non-threatening, spiritually sensitive environment, what it means to be a male in the 21st century.

What is the origin of the chalice in Unitarian Universalist worship? What is the relationship between Unitarian Universalists and the early Puritans? How have Emerson and the Transcendentalists shaped our present practices? If Unitarian Universalist Association had a spiritual canon, what works would or should be included?

UU History Nuts is a study group born out of the Rev. Eric Meter's February/March 2009 history course. Participants are also the presenters and include a recovering fundamentalist, an excommunicated Catholic, a Reform Jew, an ordained UU minister, a MIT scientist, and an ESL teacher.

Monthly, second Tuesday, 7 pm,  Room 9
Facilitators Tom Baillieul This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and Chas Williams

Biblical quotes pepper our everyday language, and great stories from the Bible are referred to again in literature, music, political discourse, and even sports. Read and discuss some of the great stories on a monthly basis. Each session will look at the historical and social context for the stories. What did they mean to the people who wrote the various Biblical chapters and verses? How did the stories and their meaning(s) change over time? What relevance do they have for us in 21st Century America? Periodic guest facilitators add depth to our own research efforts.(No registration needed)

Tuesdays at 7:00 PM or Saturdays at 8:30 AM
(Orientation Session on the second Saturday of each month 9:45 -10:45 AM) Zen Columbus Sangha invites you to participate in a traditional Zen sit. The practice of meditation can be described as physically and mentally stepping back from all involvements, activities and considerations; letting judgments concerning good and bad, right and wrong fall away, abandoning ideas about outcome; and simply resting in our own fundamental awareness. Each sit includes two 25-minute periods of silent meditation (cushions and chairs are provided), walking meditation, chanting and prostrations.

Contact Tom Tucker (614-263-9275) or www.ZenColumbus.com

Facilitators: Roger Marcum ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) & Len Powlick (451-4045)

Monthly discussion of topics of interest to atheists and agnostics in the community.

Saturday, March 6, 9am-noon.
Contact Tom Baillieul at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Read something that you just have to respond to? Come up with the answer to all humanity's problems but don't know quite how to express it? Want to create the best blog ever? This is the workshop for you. During three hours, a team of communication and policy experts will provide tips on what constitute effective letters to the editor (or blog responses) and facilitate a group critique of writing examples provided by class participants. Emphasis will be placed on clarifying your thoughts, crafting compelling arguments with a limited word count, and leaving the reader with a positive thought or action.

Bring a recent article or media comment that has inspired you to act, and a draft letter that you have created in response.

First Friday of each month, 7:30 and Second Sunday of each month, 12:45
No Registration Required

This long-running series of talks by noted community leaders and scholars will look at the provocative issues of the day. For First Friday: Bring something to share for the potluck meal at 6:30 PM, and then remain for the Forum at 7:30. Contact: Earl Wurdlow

Diverse Music You Want to Know -- First UU's professional chamber music series, continues this winter. A main purpose of the series is to showcase the music of "underrepresented" composers, those whose music is not frequently performed.

The series has just received a grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, for 2010.

March 20: Dr. Tony's Original Ragtime Band – ragtime, early blues and jazz, Tin Pan Alley and pop favorites from the early 20th century.

April 17: Youth Talent Night - a showcase for the many talents of First UU's teens and young people, and a fund raise for the youth justice trip to New Orleans.

April 23: Karaoke Sing-along – Les Kleen brings his huge collection of favorite songs from all eras for an evening of group karaoke.

Wednesdays, March 31st, April 7th and 14th, 7 – 9 PM
Contact Tom Baillieul or Len Powlick

What does art tell us about the diversity of beliefs and practices in early Christianity? How was the 1st Millennium different from anything we've ever been taught? We'll explore the paucity of crucifixion and resurrection images in early Christian churches - and ponder the meaning of the Celtic Sheela-na-gig, a stylized carving of a female placed over church doorways to ward off evil with graphically displayed genitalia. We'll see how the Christian church communicated doctrine to its followers through the media of painting, sculpture, mosaic, and theater. Why and how did things change, and how are these changes reflected in the art of the times? We'll draw on ideas presented in the 2009 book, Saving Paradise, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker (described in the Summer 2008 UU World) and various art history books.

Registration requested

3rd Tuesdays, 7 pm

Bookbites is a monthly book group that has met for ten years.  Topics are chosen by consensus and readers choose a book based on the topic.  Brief reviews (10 to 15 minutes) of each book are shared, enabling others to know about and read books they may not have heard of.  Lively discussions follow.  Passionate readers are welcome!

Contact Kathleen Boston through the main office for more information.

Fourth Sundays after second service
No Registration Required

Contact John Dickenson (614-888-7677)

2nd and 4th Thursdays, 7—9 pm

We’ve all heard that “a picture can say a thousand words.” Come make your own picture soul collage. Express what you feel.

Contact Laurie Doerfler.

Fourth Tuesdays 7:30-9:30 pm
Facilitators Bob and Nan McNamara

Participants will read and discuss fiction and non-fiction books that deal with the issues surrounding gay men and lesbians in America.

3rd Fridays at 6:30 pm, starting January 15
Registration Required
Facilitator: Saoirse, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Welcome. It is time to reestablish your relationship with the Earth. For too long we have connected

Exploring our Mission Statement with our ministers, religious educator and board member
This Winter and Spring we look at the implications of the bold stand the congregation took June 2009. What does true hospitality look like? What contribution do the generous heart and the reasoning mind make to our anti-oppression, multi-cultural work? Should a primary goal of First UU be racial and ethnic diversity? What on earth is privilege and how do we relinquish it?  These are important questions to ponder together as we move forward.

Sunday, March 21, 1 to 3 pm

The Rev. Mark Belletini leads us in an examination of the various theories circulating in the Unitarian Universalist world about diversity within congregations. Is diversity within our congregations a primary goal, a partial reality or something itself understood in diverse ways? How do those understandings support members in their desires to live a more integrated life? How do they help develop skills, teach knowledge, create structure and stoke passion which together could make our congregation a leader in fighting oppression in Franklin County?

Registration requested

In April veteran diversity/anti-oppression trainer and board member Bob Gordon  will help us explore our privileges and ways to use them to dismantle oppression.

Ongoing, Third Sunday, 11:30 am
Contact Tom Baillieul ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Judy Houston ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

The mission of this Board-appointed team is to:

• help make church operations more sustainable and cost effective
• educate members about greener lifestyles
• join in common cause with local environmental groups.