Wellspring Wednesday

What is Wellspring Wednesday in a time of COVID?
Unity Church’s Wellspring Wednesday has long been a multi-generational opportunity to gather midweek at church for food, fellowship, and fun. While the church building remains closed due to the pandemic, we continue to gather online for programming. Multi-generational chapel services are prerecorded and posted on the church’s YouTube channel each Wednesday for viewing anytime that afternoon or later; and Unity’s Religious Education program offers Our Whole Lives (OWL) classes for youths and periodic Tweens gatherings on Wednesday evenings. 

For adults, one or two live online programs are offered each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. as opportunities for enrichment, spiritual practice and fellowship. I hope you’ll join us. If you haven’t yet participated in an online program using Zoom, church staff can help you get started. Descriptions and registration links for this month’s programs are listed below. (Unless otherwise noted, you can use the registration link right up until the program starts to participate.) Also watch your daily emails from the church for additional program options that may be announced as the month unfolds. As we say in church each Sunday, “Stay tuned!” 

Wellspring Wednesday Songbook

April 21 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Antiracism Literacy Partners: A Next Right Action 
Register: http://bit.ly/ALPApr21
Whether you attended previous sessions or are just checking it out now, this program is an easy entry into finding antiracism books, podcasts, and videos, as well as discussion partners for talking about them. Come to choose a resource, sign up for a buddy or small group, and receive discussion guidelines. This program is part of Unity's Finding Our Next Right Action efforts. Questions? Contact karen@unityunitarian.org.

Open Page Writing about Compassion: A Kind of Fire
Register: http://bit.ly/openpagecompassion
"Compassion is a kind of fire — it disturbs, it surprises, it ignites, it burns, it sears, and it warms," wrote Matthew Fox. "[I]t especially warms and melts cold hearts, cold structures, frozen minds, and self-satisfied lifestyles." As the April sun thaws the ground in the upper Midwest, this guided writing session led by Rev. Karen Hering invites writers and nonwriters alike to consider and write about the softening influence of compassion in our hearts and lives.
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April 28 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Conversations from the Seat
Registration link: http://bit.ly/fromtheseat
For those drawn to everyday meditation or who have found the meditation seat valuable during the pandemic, join Rev. KP Hong in this opportunity to connect and share conversation about practice. From guidance in seated awareness — zazen, to bringing attention and appreciation to everyday ordinary activities, to facing the difficult koans of our historical moment, come for this opportunity to share questions, experiences, and support to steady and deepen regular practice. Moment by moment, effort after effort, practice that touches compassion and wisdom.

Storytime with Peter Ross (and Meet the Author)
Register: http://bit.ly/PeterRossApr28 
Grab your kids — ages four to seven — before bedtime and gather round for storytime with Unity author-illustrator Peter Ross, as he reads and shares his new book, Uh-Oh We've Got Birds. Puffins in the kitchen! Ducks in the bath! Young Oliver is in for an adventure when he discovers his house is teeming with loveable, wild birds. With a little help and a little magic, he just might figure out how to move them all back outdoors where they belong. Following storytime, Peter will stick around to talk to the adults about writing, illustrating, and publishing a new children's book.

May 5 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.
What is the Meaning of This? Behavior and Spirit 
Wednesday, May 5 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Register: http://bit.ly/behaviorandspirt
Marcus Young approached his residency with Unity Church very differently from a typical artist engagement. The last six months, together, we have explored how “art is not separate.” The artist and the participant are not that different from each other. How we make and how we perceive are not two separate things. Art and life can be inspiringly intertwined. Join Marcus and members of Unity’s Artist in Residence Team in a reflection of the last six months of collaboration. What did we make with our dancing on Zoom and sharing of our favorite songs? What was transformed by altering how we attended Foote Music Sunday? What is the meaning of this behavior, and where do we go from here?

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