Here you will find information about our various adult learning programs, their dates and registration (if any).
adult learning opportunities | What We Offer
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We commit to lifelong learning and spiritual practice that enriches our lives and those around us. We offer balanced content and spiritual practices from the world's great religions and wisdom traditions, informed by our distinct Unitarian Universalist perspective. Throughout the year, we may offer this content in various formats such as workshop, retreat, forum, or discussion group.
We schedule adult lifelong learning classes and workshops throughout the year. They are led by expert volunteers, staff and outside guests. To register for adult learning exploration classes you may signup online, on designated sheets in the UU Santa Fe foyer, or contact the class facilitator or our Lifelong Learning Director. UU Santa Fe Adult lifelong learning is a cooperative adventure. If you would like to facilitate a program, contact our Lifelong Learning Director. |
Under Development 2019
Recent 2018 Offerings
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Upcoming offeringsStarting Point 2019
As our journeys take new or unexpected turns, we all find ourselves looking for new kinds of companions. So if you're a long-timer UU but never participated in a small group, well then Starting Point is the perfect place for you. Likewise, maybe you’re a long-timer looking to fall in love with your church and Unitarian Universalism all over again. Well then, consider Starting Point your spiritual “re-start.” |
Program facilitators may cancel any program that does not have at least 5 registrants.
For more information about these programs scroll down this page. 2019 Offerings At-A-Glance
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”―Mahatma Gandhi |
Refresh! Fellowship and Family Nights
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To sign up to attend Refresh!, and volunteer to setup and cleanup, click the button below.
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Refresh! Fellowship and Family Nights
Most Second and Fourth Sundays, 5-7 pm Sponsored jointly by Lifelong Learning, Membership and Hospitality, and Social Justice Teams Something for everyone—a multigenerational evening! Start your week out right! Invite your friends for all or part!!
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Adult Lifelong Learning Offerings - 2019
Daring Democracy“Every aspect of our lives is, in a sense, a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.” 
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Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning and Connection for the America We Want
Dates 4 Sunday Sessions, January 13, 27 and February 10, 24, 6 pm Location in the UU Santa Fe Library Facilitated by Sherry Kraemer Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning and the SJ Immigrant and Refugee Teams Book Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning and Connection for the America We Want by Frances Moore Lappe and Adam Eichen Registration not necessary You may come to any or all sessions! "Legendary Diet for a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé and organizer-scholar Adam Eichen offer a fresh, surprising response to America’s democracy crisis. This intergenerational duo opens with an essential truth: It’s not the magnitude of a challenge that crushes the human spirit. No—it’s feeling powerless that does us in. So, the heart of their book is solutions. With riveting stories and little-known evidence, Lappé and Eichen demystify how we got here and show us how everyday citizens are making historic change." ―Small Planet Institute Part of Refresh! An evening of Potluck • Family Activities • Music • Adult Small Group Discussion • Beginning at 5 pm |
Starting Point 2019On Our Way Home
by David Whyte “It’s amazing really. As a human being all you have to do is enumerate exactly the way you don’t feel at home in the world, and the moment you’ve uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you are already on your way home.” |
Starting Point 2019 | Particularly for Newcomers
Dates 4 Saturday sessions, January 19, February 2, 16, and March 2, 2019, 10 am - 12 pm Location in the UU Santa Fe Library Facilitated by Ministry, Lifelong Learning, and Membership & Hospitality Teams Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Team Registration necessary, click here As our journeys take new or unexpected turns, we all find ourselves looking for new kinds of companions. So, if you're a longtime UU but never participated in a small group, well then Starting Point is the perfect place for you. Likewise, maybe you’re a long-timer looking to fall in love with this community and Unitarian Universalism all over again. Well then, consider Starting Point your spiritual “re-start.” |
T’ai Chi Chih, “Joy Through Movement"
No Effort.
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T'ai Chi Chih
Dates 8 Tuesday sessions, January 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12, 19, 10-11 am Location in the UU Santa Fe Fogelson Hall Facilitated by Jim Eagle Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Team Registration appreciated but not required, click here Cost $5 donation to UU Santa Fe per class You may come to any or all sessions! T’ai Chi Chih consists of nineteen movements and one pose intended to generate, circulate and balance the body’s life energy, which the Chinese call Chi. It is a modern movement form with roots in the Qi Gong and T’ai Chi Chuan traditions. Young and old have been doing slow, graceful, moving meditations like these for over 2000 years for their mental and physical health benefits. A goal of this class is to develop the ability to move through the T’ai Chi Chih forms with a focused awareness and with minimal physical effort. This takes practice, but T’ai Chi Chih practitioners have reported improvements in balance, flexibility, strength, plus a deeper sense of well-being. |
Mary Oliver as a Spiritual Practice"That we keep the soul in the body, that we keep the deep water still, so it reflects without blurring, and that we know without knowing."―Ursula Le Guin 
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Mary Oliver as a Spiritual Practice
Date(s) Saturday, February 16, 10-11 am - This class is still deciding on when and how often they will continue to meet. Location in the UU Santa Fe Fellowship Lounge Facilitated by Maj-Britt Eagle Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Team Registration appreciated but not required, click here The opening of consciousness to whatever appears ~ emptied of thought, story, knowledge ~ may ask "that we keep the soul in the body, that we keep the deep water still, so it reflects without blurring, and that we know without knowing" (Ursula Le Guin). So it is as a spiritual practice that we invite you to join us in the reading the poetry of Mary Oliver. Bring your favorite collection, or your curiosity, or your sense that “perhaps, this too is ZEN?” Further meeting times are for us to determine yet ~ as frequently as once a week? Or once a month? On another day of the week, another time? Our intention is to select a particular collection of poems (have you a favorite?), and to read every one ~ together ~ as a practice of paying attention. |
Nurturing the Earth
Natalie has a BSc. Degree in plant science from Cornell University, and has been a lifelong gardener, professional horticulturist, lecturer to garden clubs, and ten-year-owner of her landscape design and skilled garden maintenance business in the Boston area. Since moving to Santa Fe 12 years ago, she has learned all about growing plants in the desert, and developed a strong interest in environmental issues.
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*NEW* Nurturing the Earth: Bring New Life to Your Soil
Date(s) Two Saturday sessions, March 23, March 30, 10 am-12 pm Location in Fellowship Hall Facilitated by Natalie Delvaille Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Team and the Environmental Justice Team Registration appreciated but not required, click here The soil beneath us is so ignored and undervalued by society that we think of it as “dirt.” If we think of it at all, it’s usually as a means to an end, such as growing tomatoes in our backyards. Now that we are conscious of environmental issues, we begin to value animal species and the plants of the Earth, but not soil particularly. As a result, the essential functioning of this life-giving layer crucial to our survival is being destroyed in significant ways. This class will help you understand how soil evolved, what it’s made up of, how the environment interacts with it, and why we must take action to preserve healthy soil and remediate damaged soil. We’ll discuss the ways soil is being destroyed by climate change, agriculture, mining and drilling, manufacturing, construction, and careless acts of pollution. Then, we’ll look closely at practices we can use to improve and remediate soil wherever we are interested in doing so, and evaluate the substances you can, should, or shouldn’t use to do that. In the last hour we’ll discuss soil testing, information sources, and interest groups on this subject and we’ll perform simple soil texture tests on our own soil. Since the course builds on information from earlier sessions, attending only one of the two sessions is not recommended. |
Seeking the Ground of an Eco-theology in times of Climate DisruptionThe death you yield to, that you go into, out of that emptiness pregnant with nothingness, god was born.―Meister Eckhart 
To love a person or place is to take responsibility for its well-being.―Kathleen Dean Moore |
Seeking the Ground of an Eco-theology in times of Climate Disruption
Date(s) Six Saturday sessions, weekly beginning April 13 through May 18, 10-11:30 am Location in the UU Santa Fe Library Facilitated by Maj-Britt Eagle Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Team Registration required, click here In a wide-ranging exploration, Seeking the Ground of an Eco-Theology will examine the interconnectedness of self, community, and an ecology of love. Among the many works we will ponder and discuss are:
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Off-Campus Practices |
Santa Fe is blessed with many spiritual and movement practices that we make no attempt to duplicate when they are so readily available in the wider community. Below are offerings with organizations/facilitators with whom UU Santa Fe has a cooperative relationship.
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Spiritual Direction
Rev. Tony Thieman-Somora
806.239.7212 PO Box 24204 Santa Fe, NM 87502 |
*NEW 2019* Spiritual Direction
Rev. Tony Thieman-Somora Dates by appointment Location UU Santa Fe and other locations Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Costs apply (sliding scale); please inquire Rev. Thieman-Somora obtained a certificate in spiritual direction from the University of St. Mary of the Lake and has over 30 years experience. Rev. Tony is a member of Spiritual Directors International and a member of UU Santa Fe. |
How does a Spiritual Director help me:
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Warm Water
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*NEW 2019* Warm Water Gentle Yoga
Dates continuous―contact Marion Phelps for schedule Location Santa Fe Aqua Therapy Center, 696 Calle Espejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Facilitated by Amy Jelliffe, MD Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Costs apply, please inquire Warm Water Yoga is a gentle practice accessible for all. The water is 95 degrees and helps the muscles relax and tensions melt away. Come join our fun community to increase flexibility and deepen your breath. Call Marion Phelps at the Santa Fe Aqua Therapy Center at 505.989.7085 or email her at watsusf@comcast.net for details. |
qigong
Qi is often translated as life energy.
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*NEW 2019* Qigong
Dates continuous―contact Jay Bunker for schedule Location The Studio, 332 Camino del Monte Sol Facilitated by Jay Bunker, co-host Sponsored by Adult Lifelong Learning Cost $10-$20 donation to cover studio rental The hosts do not teach, but facilitate the practice using Master Mingtong Gu’s audio recordings. Qigong is a "holistic movement practice of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used in the belief that it promotes health, spirituality, and martial arts training."―Wikipedia |
Other ResourcesOur outside Book Cart located near the portal entrance is a place to trade free books and magazines. Check it out! |
Harriet Kidder Memorial Library
You may like to visit the UU Santa Fe Harriet Kidder Memorial adult library to check out print materials on a variety of topics. Specific donations to our adult library and other program needs may be made through UU Santa Fe's AmazonSmiles Wishlist. Sign on and browse through our Wishlist. |
And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.―Sarah York (Unitarian Universalist, minister, educator)