“The Muskogees and How Their Past is Present”

Every Sunday the First Existentialist facilitator recites our mission statement in our Celebration of Life. It ends with, “We also acknowledge that in the 1800s the Muskogee-Creek people were driven from this land, and we support justice for all indigenous people.” Who were the Muskogees? How are the devastating challenges they faced (right here where we live) and the choices they made in the early 1800s related to grave problems and choices we all struggle with today?

Facilitator: Sara Drew
Musicians: Mick Kinney

“Two Spirits”

An invitation to celebrate Pride and Indigenous People’s Day by honoring truths our ancestors knew about and the sacredness of the queer community.

Facilitator: Rev. Marsha Mitchiner
Musicians: Charli Vogt

“Small is Good. Small is All.”

“Small is Good. Small is All.” is the first principle of adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy. It encourages us to not be carried away by overwhelm and sadness, but rather to find the smallest positive step we can take, and then take another one and another one. Sara will talk about small things that matter even in the midst of devastation and how we can begin to recognize these tiny moments and the ripple effects they are responsible for.

Facilitator: Rev. Marti Keller
Musicians: Bill Chelton

“Celebrating 50 Years!”

Facilitators: Rev. Marsha Mitchiner and Libby Ware
Musicians: E-chorus, Big Light Band (Shanti Price, Harold Torres, Jean Heinrich) and Jeremy Glass

“The Days of Lilacs – Kumla Manor, Sweden”

This  talk will follow Lili Baxter’s talk last year about her  grandmother Laura, who she is named after. It will focus on her parents, Holocaust refugees from Poland, who found each other again in Sweden after the war, and Lili’s own earliest beginnings in Kumla Manor. She returned to Kumla Manor and its flowering lilacs in June.

Facilitator: Sara Drew
Musicians: Mick Kinney

“I Feel Like Ranting About Reconstruction Era: Here We Go Again”

The Reconstruction Era after the Civil War was the most significant period for generating plans to fix this country’s previous woes. The experiences of the movers and shakers of that era, through to the Civil Rights Movement, provided blueprints on ways of building a country that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. Let us learn those lessons from the past and heal the weakest places in order to keep moving this country forward.

Facilitator: Charlene Ball
Musicians: Craig Rafuse

“The Hundred Dollar Hamburger: Reflections on Wealth, Responsibility, and Self-Care”

Would you pay a hundred dollars for a hamburger? That was the subject that a pair of boys in their early teens debated some fifty-five years ago. The conversation took some unusual turns, and carries particular relevance today.

Facilitator: Wade Marbaugh
Musicians: William Chelton

“Batman, the Outsiders, and Me”

Clint will  talk about feeling like the outsider in nearly every situation, and how he’s  learned to deal with it.

Facilitator: Jan Modica
Musicians: Craig Rafuse

“The Great Dance: Freedom, Belonging, and the Sovereignty of the Soul”

Join Ruth Schowalter to unlock the wisdom of your body.  She will do a little show-and-tell from her newly published intergenerational book, The Great Dance (she’s the artist), followed by an embodied exploration of its central vision: that the universe, Earth, and all living beings belong to one unfolding dance of relationship.

What does it  mean to awaken the sovereignty of our souls—the “me of me” and the “you of you”?  We will acknowledge our own unique dance while honoring the dance of others. You are invited through simple movement, storytelling, and reflection (or witnessing, if you prefer) to experience the freedom that comes with being your authentic self while in community.

Facilitator: Sara Drew
Musicians: Kristen Hampton