February 7, 2016 - Daphne Simpkins will present," Olympia Brown: Preacher and Suffragist.  Ms. Simpkins is a writer and writing teacher at Auburn University- Montgomery.  This presentation is part of the Alabama Humanities Foundation Roads Scholar Program.

Olympia Brown's daughter wrote of her mother: "She was not popular.  She was indomitable and uncompromising.... She cared little for society, paid no deference to wealth, represented an unfashionable church and promoted a cause regarded as certain to be unsuccessful."  That cause was the right to vote for women.  Brown joined Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone in that work in 1866.  Brown's resolute political activism emerged from her own struggle to become a minister at a time when women were not typically allowed a public voice inside a church.  Deemed by some as "hopelessly unsaved," Brown attended seminary and then accepted preaching positions at humble churches no man would accept.  A famously petite woman with a big voice, Olympia Brown said in her final 1920 address after 72 years of preaching and campaigning for women to have a voice in the church and politics:  "....We can never make the world safe for democracy by fighting....We can establish a league of peace only by teaching the nations the great lesson of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."  Brown preached justice and peace until 1926, when she died at 91.

February 14, 2016 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Transformative Self-Image".  It is important to change our self-image in order to change ourselves, but where did the negative self-image come from in the first place?

February 21, 2016 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Why Are So Many People Trying to Convert Me?"  How did guilt and introspection get to be such a big business?

February 28, 2016 - Rev. Doug Traversa, UU minister at Tullahoma UU Church in Tullahoma, TN  will present, "Liberal Religion is not the Same Thing as Liberal Politics". 

January 3, 2016 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "The Blessing of New Starts".  Every ending is also a new beginning, whether for families, individuals or organizations.  Often, the change is less an ending than a new start.

December 6, 2015 - Daphne Simpkins will present, "A Cup of Kindness for Christmas".  While the phrase "a cup of kindness" is more often associated with the New year's anthem "Auld Lang Syne" we shall consider how relating to and being able to give "a cup of kindness" is the key to understanding the heart of a cheerful giver, the hallmark stance of someone positioned not only to embody the spirit of the season but to share it freely with others all year long.  References: Robert Burns, Frederick Buechner, and Charles Dickens.

December 13, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Jingle Bells: James Lord Pierpont, Conflicted Values and the Advent of a Song

* December 17, 2015, 7:00 p.m. - Special Service "Winter Solstice Celebration"  Featuring Harpist Annette Harman. 

December 20, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "All I Want for Christmas is...."  If you could close your eyes and make a Christmas wish, what would it be?

December 27, 2015 - Rev. Doug Traversa will present, "Pluralism- When religions Don't Claim to Be the Only Way"

November 1, 2015 - Daphne Simpkins will present, " Those Falling Leaves". When J.R.R. Tolkien was frustrated over the long years of writing his famous Lord of the Rings series, he wrote for himself a new vision for defining personal fulfillment in a lesser known story "Leaf by Niggle".  That story puts work--especially artistic endeavors -- in a fresh perspective.  Whether it is an artistic goal of painting a leaf or the annual task of raking leaves, we will look at the concept of our individual labor(s) and how we can have a new vision for working alone and together in community with greater peace and more fulfillment.  Additional referenced work: Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller.

August 2, 2015 - Daphne Simpkins will present, "The Southern Way of Life".  Southerners talk amongst themselves about the nature of the region's hospitality, the way we like our vegetables fried or stewed, our preferences for sports, such as alligator hunting, and our love of the outdoors and especially magnolia trees.  But the "southern way of life" has also produced some unexpected alliances that resulted in the Ku Klux Klan and other criminal activities.  This presentation will reference Wayne Greenshaw's Fighting the Devil in Dixie and Forrest Carter's The Education of Little Tree.   

August 9, 2015 - Eva Walton Kendrick, Alabama Faith Organizer for the Human Rights Campaign, will present, "Faith in the Movement". She serves as the Alabama Faith Organizer with the Human Rights Campaign. This organization (HRC) is the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi, where she was a William Winter Scholar in the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

August 16, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Life After Failure".

August 23, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Belonging".

August 30, 2015 - Rev. Doug Traversa, UU minister at the UU Church of Tullahoma, Tennessee will present, "The First Principle Project- the Worth and Dignity of Every Being".

July 5, 2015 - Chuck Morgret of Sewanee, Tennessee will present, "I Think, Therefore I Am... Changing".  This talk will be an exploration of the nature of "self" from perhaps a different perspective than we are used to.

July 12, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Intruders in the Church".  Although it does not happen often that an intruder enters church during worship to cause trouble, when it does happen, we should know how to handle it.

July 19, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "The Need to Sing". With the W.C. Handy Festival upon us, let's reflect on the personal and religious significance of music and song.  What is it in a song that captures us every time we hear it or sing it.

June 7, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "The Ministry of Presence".  In most situations, people will not remember anything we said or did.  What they will remember is the simple fact that we were there.  Being present is a powerful thing.

June 14, 2015 - Dr. Carl Gebhardt will present, "Through the Glass Darkly: The Value of Sacred Objects".

June 21, 2015 - Danny and Karen Creasy will present, "JIM&NANCY- Two Paths Merged by War".  Over three years ago Danny Creasy was inspired to start a book concentrating on the stories of his preceding generation.  JIM&NANCY- Two Paths Merged by War is a work of creative non-fiction.  At the center, is his American father and British born mother.  It is a chronological compilation of over 100 stories that transition from the American family to the British family.  Mr. Creasy retired last year from a 38 year banking career to pursue his passion for writing.  He holds BS and MBA degrees from UNA.  His wife, Karen, is an educator in the Florence City School System.  She holds BS and MA degrees from UNA's School of Education.   

June 28, 2015 - Muscle Shoals musician, Mitch Mann will present a musical program on acoustic guitar.  Mitch is an accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is one of the finest guitar players in the music industry today.