Our dialog series provides a forum for intellectual pursuit and rational thought as integral to our spiritual journeys at UUCMC. Dialogs are planned on the first and third Sundays of the month at 9 am from September to May.
We welcome suggestions for speakers and topics. Please email uucmc@uucmc.org.
Upcoming Sunday Dialogs, 9:00am, Community Room
April 20th: Civil Resistance Can Defeat Authoritarianism
Tony Giordano
Civil resistance is a nonviolent way for ordinary people to fight for their rights, freedom and justice. Resistance movements are powerful because they summon mass participation to resist oppression by employing actions such as boycotts, strikes and demonstrations.
Tony Giordano has been a member of UUCMC and our Social Justice Committee for 13 years. For the last 8 years he has chaired or co-chaired the UUCMC Democracy/UU the Vote Team. He also is a member of UUSJ Democracy Action Team.
For more: Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know, by Erica Chenoweth; How we can meet the challenges of authoritarianism, by Maria Stephan, Waging Nonviolence (wagingnonviolence.org), November 2024. Online Course: Civil Resistance 1: The Dynamics of Nonviolent Movements, Gandhi-King Global Academy, United States Institute of Peace.
May 4th: Preserving Our Local History
Claire Garland, Kay Harris , David Schreier
Claire Garland (top) and Kay Harris will present an illuminating talk about Monmouth County’s early history from Henry Hudson’s 1609 encounter with the Lenape people to the purchase of lots and tracts of land across the Northeast. Many remnants of the Lenape Navesink communities from centuries ago remain but are often overlooked, causing unawareness by the public of our rich heritage here. Included will be a discussion of the effort to add markers to preserve historic places. David Schreier will review the displacement of the Lenape from New Jersey and surrounding areas, ending approximately 12,000 years in this region.
Director of Sand Hill Indian Historical Assn, Claire is descended from Lenape and Cherokee people as well as colonial Dutch. She has a MEd from Rutgers University and has written and lectured extensively about Monmouth County’s First People.
Kay is the president and a founder of the Asbury Park Museum, president of the Asbury Park Historical Society, and has been recognized for her contributions to preserving local history, architecture, and culture. In 2016, she authored “From Amistad to the White House: Teachable Moments from 1839 to Within My Lifetime.” Kay is also the owner of the Asbury Galleria on the AP Boardwalk.
David is a member of UUCMC and has a keen interest in First Nations initiatives in New Jersey.
For more: https://sandhillindianhistory.org; Indian Summer at Sand Hill: The Revey and Richardson Families at the New Jersey Shore by Claire Garland. https://njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/njs/article/view/312/389
May 18th: From “What is enough?” to “Am I enough ?”
Denise Addonisio
Denise will discuss how her desire to help clients declutter and simplify before moving led to a surprising realization about living a fulfilled life. Please join us if you
would like to discuss the tangible aspects of downsizing or the philosophical side of the meaning of living. I am sure that we will all learn something!