Today we’re stepping into Bonding Harbor — the place on the Deeper Joy map where we begin to come together as a group. It’s that early moment where we learn names, get a sense of the group’s energy, move together through shared tasks and even play, and begin building the trustworthiness that makes community possible. Bonding Harbor is where we learn what we can do together.

Panelists Shannon Harper and Jocelyn Soules give their perspectives on how communities deepen their connectedness and build the trust necessary for crafting profound and lasting relationships.

Click these links to learn more about Deeper Joy and Whole Church Religious Education.

Instagram / Youtube / Facebook

We mentioned:
https://www.uua.org/lifespan/curricula/deeper-joy/deeper-joy-rpg

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

When we are getting to know new people or new communities, we look for spaces where our stories feel that they are safely received. In Deeper Joy, this is represented by Opening Up Beach - a phase in community building that is about the courage to bring parts of ourselves forward as well as the care of receiving them. Our panelists, Reverends Tandi Rogers and Darrick Jackson, will share their own insights about how vulnerability and play take center stage in this phase of community building. Give it a listen!

Click these links to learn more about Deeper Joy and Whole Church Religious Education.

Instagram / Youtube / Facebook

We mentioned:

Deeper Joy Role Playing Game (RPG)

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

Covenant is at the core of who we are as Unitarian Universalists. How can a Whole Church approach to religious education help us practice living into covenant across generations? Since we center covenant instead of creed in our approach to religious life, what difference does that make for how we aspire to live together in community?

These questions and so much more will be explored with panelists Jenn Blosser and Michael Molina in our second installment of this Season’s JUUst Breathe.

Instagram: @juustbreathepod

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Resources:

Learn more about Covenant: https://www.uua.org/lifespan/re-sources/threshold-conversations/theology-covenant

Learn more about Whole Church Religious Education: https://www.uua.org/lifespan/curricula/whole-church

Learn more about Deeper Joy: https://www.uua.org/youth/deeper-joy

LeaderLab: https://www.uua.org/leaderlab/leadership-technical-skills-reflections-on-right-relationship

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

Guest panelists and long time collaborators, Jennica Davis-Hockett and Joy Berry, meet with Ember to discuss why Unitarian Universalists are embracing a whole church religious education approach and are deepening community connections across generations through a new, amazing resource called Deeper Joy.

Instagram: @juustbreathepod

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

Episode 9 of JUUst Breathe explores the central tenet of all our Shared Values…LOVE - with fabulous panelists Avery Miller Fabregas and Rev Dr. Sofia Betancourt, the President of the UUA!

We are really excited to conclude this season of JUUst Breathe with a bang!

Instagram: @juustbreathepod

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

Interdependence is a condition of our very being, whether or not we notice it. How we choose to engage it has an impact on the world and also on our congregational systems. What are some ways we’re really challenging ourselves in the spirit of building Beloved Community, to be truly radically welcoming, and to foster relationships beyond our congregational walls?

Give this episode a listen to find out what our amazing panelists - religious educator Jil Novenski and Rev Jim Lewis had to say about all this.

Instagram:

instagram.com/juustbreathepod

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

We are each other’s harvest:

We are each other’s business:

We are each other’s magnitude and bond.

-- Gwendolyn Brooks

We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness, and we covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities. Our esteemed guests ponder what Unitarian Universalism might become if we looked beyond traditional definitions and saw our very communities as an endowment for a flourishing religious future.

Instagram:

instagram.com/juustbreathepod

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Pertinent links:

https://www.uua.org/lifespan/re-sources/threshold-conversations/whole-church/whole-re-panel

https://www.blessedbeebyhp.com

https://sidewithlove.org/actioncenter

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb

Cornel West said that "Justice is what love looks like in public."

Our panelists, Lisa Garcia Sampson and Antoinette Scully - two of our UU state action network leaders, discuss what we can do to continue to build Beloved Community during these very trying and challenging times times, while also dismantling the oppressive systems that keep all of us from being truly free.

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/juustbreathelive

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3355850741412013

Coalition of UU State Action Networks:

https://cuusan.org/

Music: "Where Do We Come From," by Brian Tate performed by Rev Christopher Lamb