First Existentialist Congregation
An independent member of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Sandra Barnhill is an attorney and founder and CEO of Foreverfamily (formerly AIMAid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers), a 34-year-old nonprofit that strengthens the bonds between children and their incarcerated parents. She is also an Encore Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project.
Our Fellowship Minister, Rev. Marsha Mitchiner, has served the Congregation for over two decades, since ordination by us, following her study with Lanier Clance.
She counsels, connects, and contacts members and friends, and for those who need it, performs the laying-on of hands in her role as a massage therapist.
Many of us can vouch for the quality of her work, and appreciate the wisdom, restraint, and compassion she brings to the job of caring for our Congregation. Marsha speaks once each quarter, and helps smooth the functioning of the Congregation innumerable times in between.
“Does it dance? Does it affirm life here and now?” (from Friedrich Nietzsche cited in article by Kimerer LaMothe, www.bigthink.com, April 15, 2021)
Consider ‘connection and choice’ as a privilege, for sometimes we have freedom to choose where and when we will connect and, sometimes we do not. Even so, freedom remains to make a choice about “how,” a choice about our values, thoughts, attitudes, and guidepost questions. We do have freedom to choose how to respond to circumstances and that freedom needs to be nourished. Please join my considerations and, a lovely question to guide one’s choices, “Does it dance?”
Dr. Jean Heinrich, longtime member of the First Existentialist Congregation, is a moving human being, musician, licensed clinical psychologist, sometimes philosopher and dancer.
Kate is an ordained UCC minister, yoga teacher, writer and speaker. Six years ago, she moved from her beloved Atlanta community of 32 years to live closer to her 96 year-old mother in Ohio.
Always an avid dancer, she’s resumed international folk dancing in Columbus and is a docent at the Columbus Museum of Art. She has missed all of you and looks forward to (virtually) sharing her reflections on life these days with you soon.
Shelby Smith is an existentialist pagan who likes reading fiction, being in gardens (and occasionally gardening), riding her bike and hanging out with her family. In non-pandemic times, she’s been known to frequent thrift shops and enjoy a beer at the local watering hole. For now, she’s working at home in her daytime job at Emory University and her all-the-other-times job as a mom.
Pandemic isolation has had a deep impact on mental health and community dynamics. How can we show up with authenticity – virtually and in person — as we continue to exercise caution due to COVID-19. Rev. Erin Walter will reflect on spiritual resources for mental health and our calling to community care, drawing inspiration from music, Mr. Rogers, and more.
Rev. Erin J. Walter (she/her/hers) is a minister, activist, and musician based in Austin and winner of the 2017 Sermon Award from the UU Women’s Federation. A former YMCA director, Rev. Erin is the singer/songwriter for band Parker Woodland, whose music you’ll hear in this service. She serves as a board member for the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry and the Affiliated Community Minister of Wildflower (Unitarian Universalist) Church in Austin. You can find more about her music and ministry at ErinWalter.com.
Watch Rev. Walter’s presentation at: https://fb.watch/5JunEXj6UG/
As a young Syrian Kurdish refugee washing dishes in a restaurant to support his family, Heval Kelli could not know that many years later he would be a distinguished fellow in cardiology at a university less than one mile from where his journey in the United States began. Facing a steep language learning curve, a monthly rent payment, and mountains of dirty dishes, Heval knew things could be much worse. He and his family fled persecution in Syria where his father was beaten and imprisoned by the police.
As members of the Kurdish minority, the family had few choices and paid a smuggler to get them out. His family arrived in Germany in 1996 and lived in refugee camps until 2001. A circuitous route of migration finally brought them to the United States two weeks after 9/11 where they were assisted by members of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in their adjustment and resettlement in Clarkston, Georgia. Through a network of caring community members, Heval was introduced to Dr. Omar Lattouf, an Emory cardiothoracic surgeon who took an interest in mentoring him through his undergraduate pre-med work at Georgia State University and his admission to Morehouse School of Medicine where he graduated cum laude and was selected by his classmates to receive the “Most Inspiring Person” award. He finished his internal medicine residency training at Emory University, earning recognition as resident of the year as well as honorable distinctions in social and in-patient medicine. Dr. Kelli was awarded the Katz Foundation Fellowship in Preventive Cardiology at Emory University where he completed his cardiology fellowship in 2020. Dr. Kelli and his wife Dr. Abdullah are among the first Kurdish American cardiologists in the United States.
Dr. Kelli’s presentation may be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/FirstExistentialist/videos/390653028578596
Please view Rep Nguyen’s presentation at: https://www.facebook.com/FirstExistentialist/videos/774608973202306
“I’m thinking through a new book on kidnapping and slavery, and I’ve found some interesting stories, some of which rather defy our expectations about the nineteenth century.”
H. Robert Baker is Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University and is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution (2012) and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution,and the Coming of the Civil War (2006). His scholarly articles have appeared in the Law and History Review, Common-Place, and the Journal of Supreme Court History. He holds a Ph.D. in History from UCLA, where he studied with Joyce Appleby. He has received a Fulbright Fellowship and has also been a fellow at the Institute for Constitutional Studies. He also writes about wine, law, and contemporary culture for the blog Tropics of Meta.
Dr. Baker’s presentation may be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/FirstExistentialist/videos/916607052507231
In the past several years many UU congregations have begun honoring the Jewish High Holy Days each autumn with the responsive reading “We forgive ourselves and each other and begin again in love,” from A Litany of Atonement, written by UU minister Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs. These holy days occur near the fall equinox, which is the time when the dark hours of the day begin to surpass the light hours here in the Northern Hemisphere. As we join together on this Easter Day, it feels fitting that we honor spring’s longer day-light hours with a reminder to renew our commitment to love and healing, to begin the resurrection of the growing season with reconnecting to the Earth and the web of life that surrounds us. We are not separate from the Earth, and we are called to connect with all life in service, love, and a commitment to mutual well-being.
Rev. DiAnna Ritola is an Interfaith Minister and a Dianic Wiccan priestess. Her community-based ministry centers on spiritual counseling for trauma, intimate relationships, and sexuality along with rituals to honor life events and passages. DiAnna lives in NYC with her wife, Michele, two dogs (Brigid and Finnbar) and a cat (Lilith), and is doing her best to transform her small yard into a food and flower oasis. In May 2020, she published her first book Mismatched Luggage: Unpacking Your Sexual Baggage for Your Spiritual Journey. Her website is www.DiAnnaRitola.com
Rev. Ritola’s presentation may be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/FirstExistentialist/videos/167091241833574