First Existentialist Congregation
An independent member of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Dr. Jean Heinrich is a moving human being, musician, licensed clinical psychologist, long-standing member of the First Existentialist Congregation, and sometimes Trickster. She is presenting, in word and song, “Re-imagine: Being And Flow” and inviting you to experience creating in one’s mind in a new, refreshed way.
Franklin Abbott has been a practicing psychotherapist in Atlanta for nearly forty years. He is also a poet, musician, community organizer and amateur oral historian. His connection to the Congregation and Old Stone Church goes back more than forty years to early urban radical faery gatherings held in the sanctuary before First E became its steward. He has spoken at First E many times, performed music and poetry there, coordinated events and memorials. He and First E founding minister Lanier Clance were friends and co-hosted an eclectic close existential radio program on WRFG for over five years in the mid-‘80’s.
These remain tumultuous times; likely, more tumultuous than we have ever experienced. As hard as we have tried and after all we have been through, we find our circumstances worse than when COVID first appeared. Much worse. We are in lockdown with thousands dying daily. Hope is on the horizon but we still face a global crisis and, as a nation, one might argue we have failed to curb the tide of suffering and loss. How do we muster the courage to proceed especially when we may be of an age where we have less resilience, less energy and fortitude? Together, we can explore teachings and practices that can support our resolve to carry on. First and foremost, we must be determined to not cause more harm. We start with ourselves. What can we do to ease the suffering in our own lives? This allows us to take yet another giant step forward and resolve to cultivate the skillful means to help end the suffering in the lives of others. The good news is we are not alone. Being in spiritual community is refuge. Together, we will know the benefit of our resolve.
John Mifsud was born on the Island of Malta and identifies as Arab-American. He has practiced Insight Meditation since 2001 and graduated from the Community Dharma Leaders Training Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is currently on the Board of Directors. John has extensive retreat experience and practiced throughout Asia. He is the Guiding Teacher of the Malta Insight Meditation Society and a former Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). He is the founding leader of EBMC’s Deep Refuge Sangha for Alphabet Brothers of Color. He teaches internationally with a special interest in delivering mindfulness tools to marginalized communities.
“Words Matter”
A look at words of the year for 2020 – our own ones – looking back, looking forward – and the official ones from the major dictionaries. Words have always mattered to Rev. Marti Keller – as a journalist, cultural critic, social justice advocate, and minister.
Rev. Keller, a self-described Jewnitarian, has just completed a month of intensive study during Elul, the time of personal preparation for the Jewish high holy days. She co-edited “Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism,” is past president and present board member of Unitarian Universalists for Jewish Awareness, and past member of the executive committee of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.
In June, the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation honored Rev. Keller with the Ministry to Women Award for activist-minister.
Rev. Kimble Sorrells is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, with a ministry in contemplative practices focused on equipping us with the peace and resolve to be justice makers in the world. They are also a Registered Yoga Teacher and draw on this and other spiritual traditions to inform their ministry. As a Bi-vocational minister, Kimble also works with Lifeline Animal Project as the Community Programs Manager, guiding caseworkers as they assist pet owners in times of challenge.
Kimble has experience in variety of ministry setting. They have worked in LGBTQ advocacy for many years including as staff for Reconciling Ministries Network and the Atlanta Pride Committee. They currently serve on the Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board and work primarily in advocacy with the Transgender community.
What does a Spiritual Health Researcher research? And how does it relate to matters of the spirit? Come hear about a research program investigating chaplaincy and compassion, and how the findings are implemented to bring comfort to the afflicted.
Patricia (Kim) Palmer serves the Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center as the Manager of Research Projects in Spiritual Health. She is a board certified chaplain with over five years of clinical experience and earned an M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology from Emory University as a Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellow. She is ordained in the Unitarian Universalist tradition and serves as an affiliated community minister for a congregation in Roswell, Georgia. She is currently engaged in a multi-year, multi-study research effort to investigate the effect of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) on chaplains and the effect of CBCT-adapted interventions on patient and provider outcomes, and she is exploring the possibility of a part-time return to clinical work as a chaplain.
A founding member of Alternate ROOTS, a service organization for community-based artists in the South, deNobriga served as ROOTS’ executive director and planning/development director for ten years. She continues to serve on the working on various committees as needed, and sharing the institutional memory of 40 years of continuous membership.
Raised in Kingsport TN, deNobriga holds an M.A. in Theatre (Directing) from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and a B.A. with honors in Speech Communications and Theatre Arts. Her early employment included directing and managing community theatres in Smithfield and Sanford, NC and performing with The Road Company, a professional ensemble in Johnson City, TN. DeNobriga was a Visiting Artist for two years for the NC Arts Council, and a Fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership program and in the Rockwood Leadership Institute.
She is now a consultant, specializing in strategic planning, building organizational capacity, designing staff/board retreats and guiding creative conflict engagement. She is project manager for the Arts and Democracy, and a member of the consultant pool at the Georgia Center for Non-Profits. She trained as a mediator at the Atlanta Justice Center and is a board member for Arts & Democracy and Alternate ROOTS. She served two terms as Councilmember and one as Mayor for the City of Pine Lake, where she is an advocate for and practitioner of arts and community development.
“Nothing is Written – Where Do We Go From Here?”
2020 is a year that will be vividly remembered by most eve of the world. Here in the US we have faced an uncontrolled pandemic and uncontrolled president. How do we move forward to recover physically, mentally, economically, and emotionally? How do we heal? How will you?
Our Fellowship Minister, Rev. Marsha Mitchiner, has served the Congregation for over two decades, since ordination by us, following her study with Rev. 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.
This year of pandemic has been a rollercoaster. Some days we may feel almost normal, while other days bring us to our knees. Drawing upon scripture, spiritual practice, and original music, Unitarian Universalist Rev. Erin Walter will reflect on how we can face pain and struggle faithfully while also embracing moments of joy and gratitude where we find them.
Rev. Erin Walter serves as the Affiliated Community Minister for Wildflower Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Austin, Texas. Originally a newspaper journalist, Rev. Erin earned a Masters of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School, won UU Women’s Federation Sermon Award in 2017 (preached at GA), and is a board member of the Texas UU Justice Ministry. Her work is rooted in the powerful connection between the arts, justice movements, and multicultural community in her engaging roles as ordained minister, nonprofit director, writer, musician, and Zumba instructor. You can find her band Parker Woodland and her music at ParkerWoodland.com.
“Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Facing Alienations with Radical Acceptance”
Janna Nelson currently lives with her husband, Scott Hooker, and her younger son, David Nelson-Hooker in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they have now lived for almost six years. They moved there after 40 years in Atlanta to be closer to family, and they have always preferred the New Mexican climate and open skies and country.
For Janna, it is a return to a land and people of her youth. Born the youngest of six in rural Alabama in 1958, she moved with her family to New Mexico in 1963. Her father, a Southern Baptist missionary, and the family spent the next seven years in various locations on the Navajo Reservation before moving to Albuquerque. Witnessing and being part of several traumatic and life-changing events left her a seeker.
She moved with her parents to Atlanta in 1975 and culture shock ensued. Due to accessibility issues with high schools at that time, she took a GED and went to Clayton Junior College, then GSU, taking whatever she wanted, working various interesting jobs until she started working at Sevananda, where she worked for seven years. During this time she had her older son. At age 25, she returned to GSU and graduated with a teaching degree three years later, starting a career in education that was deeply satisfying. She also started performing music solo and with others, starting her lifelong partnership in song and love with Scott.
She discovered First Existentialist Congregation in 1981 and it was the first place that felt open enough for her mind and spirit, as she had left religion behind at this point. After years of involvement in various aspects of the community, she entered into a five-year Existential Ministerial Studies Program with Rev. Lanier Clance and was ordained as a minister by the Congregation in 1999, which she continued to serve in a varying capacity until moving to Albuquerque in 2014. She is delighted to see the flourishing of this intentional community and still calls it one of her homes.