2026-27 Adult Faith Development Offerings
For questions or assistance with registration, please contact Sunny Manato, RE Assistant at reassistant@uucharlottesville.org
Last Update: September 29, 2026.
UUCville Support Group “Open House”
Our congregation has several ongoing support groups. We are hosting an “open house” to see if people in the congregation are interested in joining a support group this fall. Would you like to be part of a chronic illness caregivers support group? Are you interested in a support group for caregivers of people with dementia? Are there other needs we could create circles of support for each other?
Join Beth Jaeger-Landis to explore these options and share what type of support you might be seeking.
Dates: Offered twice, Sunday, October 25th at 9:30 AM in Lower Hall Room 3 or Thursday October 29, 6:30-7:30PM in the parlor.
Registration Link: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/392c3b
Understanding Happiness
Happiness is a topic that deserves reflection, exploration, and discussion. Join us as we read and discuss Joan Chittister’s book Happiness. Chittister is a Benedictine nun and spiritual writer whose contemplative exploration redefines happiness not as a fleeting byproduct of wealth, fame, or comfort, but as an essential personal quality and “an organ of the soul” to be consciously learned and nourished. Chittister describes what happiness is, and is not, and supports this with published texts, some of which are ancient. Participants will read sections of the book on their own and then we’ll gather to discuss and share together.
Facilitator: May Guenin
May says, “After reading this book I wanted to read it again and discuss her ideas with other people. I hope you will join me.”
Dates and Times: 1:00 -2:00PM on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month in the parlor beginning October 8th.
Registration Link: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/a06b67
This I Believe: An Exploration of Beliefs and Values
Join Rev. Tim for a shared exploration of your most deeply held spiritual beliefs and values. The course will consider the importance of our individual spiritual journeys, as well as our understandings of such things as truth, human nature, god or spirit, and ethics. The course is modeled on UUCville’s Coming of Age program and will include the writing of personal credos and the possibility of sharing those credos during a Sunday service.
Facilitator: Rev. Tim
Dates & Times: Wednesdays evenings 7:00-8:30PM, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, (session 1, 2, 6 in person and others on Zoom)
Number of Participants: 10 minimum, 20 maximum
Free of charge
Register here: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/7920932583
Facing Death with Life
Death and the dying process are an important part of life. This program facilitates personal reflection, learning, and spiritual growth focused on death and dying. Together, we’ll bring death, dying, and grief into the light of our daily lives and talk about it. We invite participants to experience death and dying as a healthy part of life, including the preparation, the moment of death, the grieving, and the living on.
This class is not a grief support group, nor an intellectual study of death. It includes sociological information and reflection, theological reflection, personal and shared narrative, creative expression, journaling, and practical learning and preparation. The intention is to help participants move from viewing death as an abstract concept to the personal recognition of death’s meaning in their life, with the goal that all who participate will find a closer and more comfortable relationship with their own inevitable death.
Facing Death with Life includes four two-hour workshops, plus material for participants to read or view in preparation for each workshop.
Facilitators: Rev. Leia Durland-Jones and Patty Wallens
Rev. Leia serves as UUCville’s Minister of Faith Development. Patty worked in hospice and palliative care for 12+ years and is co-chair of Pastoral Visitors at UUCville.
Dates: Postponed until Spring 2027
Witnessing For Peace & Justice in Palestine
Following the service on October 4, join Kendall Bills for a presentation about her experience as a nonviolent peace and justice activist on the West Bank in Palestine.
Facilitator: Rev. Tim Temerson and Kendall Bills Sunday October 4 immediately following the service in the sanctuary.
No registration required.
Exploring Existential Questions
Join Revs. Tim and Leia for a time to explore whatever questions, big or small, are on your mind. Participants are invited to submit their questions in advance of our time together. Two different sessions are offered!
Dates & Time: EVENING session: October 6 7-8:30PM in person OR DAYTIME October 7, 10:30AM-Noon
Register here: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/209a49
Love in the Center: Exploring UU Theologies
The Unitarian Universalist Association’s Common Read 2026-2027
We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.
In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.
Join Rev. Leia for a four session class exploring Love at the Center, this year’s UUA Common Read.
Participants are asked to read the book prior to participating. The book is available in paperback or as an ebook. If you would like to borrow a loaner copy, please speak with Rev. Leia
Recommend sites for purchasing: Inspirit the UUA Bookstore or Bookshop.org
Dates: Wednesdays November 18 and December 2, 9, 16 on Zoom. Link will be sent once you register
Location: online
Number of Participants: minimum 5, maximum 15
Register here: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/6209215
Hope In Hard Times: a Support Circle
Has the state of the world left you feeling uncertain or anxious, perhaps about a job, school, family, or the future? Join us for one hour of community, conversation, and mutual support.
Date & Time: Sundays 12:30-1:30PM in the parlor. Nov. 8 with Rev. Leia . Dec. 6 with Rev. Tim
Register here: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/f7ed08
The Enneagram as a Tool for Spiritual Growth
In this nine-session class, we’ll explore the multilayered growth paths of the Enneagram. The first class will be an introduction to the concept, and each subsequent class will discuss a particular point on the Enneagram and its perspective. As we explore the resonance of each type, you’ll get a feel for what your home base is. Each type has its own gifts and attributes, as well as patterns that protect and keep us safe but sometimes limited. When we learn the fixations and passions of our type, we can unlock ways to grow and change. Learning about the perspectives of the types can help us build compassion for others.
Facilitator: Debby Norton
Debby holds an MEd and is an accredited CPEnneagram professional. Her teachers, Beatrice Chestnut PhD and Uranio Paes, have written the books The Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self Knowledge and The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up. She holds certification in AMI Montessori ages 3-12 and is also an accredited 5Rhythms teacher. She holds movement meditation classes in town and teaches ukulele, guitar, and music for children at The Front Porch.
Dates and Times: Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM Oct 6, Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 3, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 8, Dec 15
Supply fee: $36 (discounted rate) for the CPCompass online test for type
Fee for facilitator: By donation
Number of participants: 5 minimum, 20 maximum
Register here: https://uucharlottesville.breezechms.com/form/d601f816
Let’s Do It! Completing Your End of Life Paperwork
Many of us have good intentions about completing our advance medical directive or “5 Wishes” document but haven’t actually taken the time to sit down and complete it. There also may be questions you have or the desire to talk through things before you write down your wishes.
Join Rev. Leia, Patty Wallens, and others as we make the time to complete these important documents while being supported by others in a loving community.
Copies of the “5 Wishes” document will be available.
Date and Time: Sunday November 15, 12:30- 1:30 in the church parlor. Come and go as you like.
Clear Spring Zen Buddhist Sanga
This Soto Zen Buddhist group was founded by church members thirty years ago and has met regularly each week on Wednesday nights since then. Usually there are four or five people gathering for two twenty-five minute sitting periods with five minutes of walking meditation in between. Informal conversation follows sitting meditation. On Sunday mornings, we sit together at 8:30 AM for twenty-five minutes connected by Zoom, and then have a dharma talk from our teacher Marian Morgan, or one of our members. For more information, or to arrange for some instruction about our sitting practice before you join us, or to receive the Zoom link for Sunday morning, contact Wayne Arnason.
Location: The Blue Room on the second floor of the church on Wednesdays, Sundays on Zoom
Facilitator: Steve Hughes or Wayne Arnason
Dates and Times: Wednesdays at 7 PM, Sundays at 8:30 AM.
DEMENTIA – A Journey Shared: Finding our deeper WE, through Spirit and Community
This group offers support for those dealing with dementia as a caregiver and/or deeply affected friend or family member. Rather than trying to ‘problem-solve,’ the focus is on compassionate sharing & listening, while actively inviting ‘Spirit’ to be present with us.
Facilitators: Joan Kast and Beth Jaeger-Landis
Dates and Times: This group meets 1st and 3rd Sundays. Please reach out to Joan or Beth if you are interested in attending.
Tai Chi for Health – Qigong/eight ways
Tai Chi Movements that facilitate body awareness to improve balance and flexibility and improve mood.
Facilitators: Vicki & John Shackford
Vicki Shackford has studied and taught Tai Chi since 1980. She also teaches Hawaiian Swimming — using many of the same principles.
John Shackford has studied and taught Tai Chi since 1975. He also studies Process Philosophy and Whitehead.
Dates and Times: Every Wednesday, 10:30 – 11:30 AM. No class June 24. Last class for the summer is July 22. Classes will resume on September 9, 2026.
Location: In person in the social hall or outdoors on the church grounds (weather permitting).
Fee: Donation accepted
NO registration necessary, just show up to participate. All ages and skill levels invited.
Advanced Tai Chi
Advanced Tai Chi is for students who practice the Tai Chi form according to Cheng Man-ch’ing: A “Time in the Art” with form and principles reviewed & practiced for self-improvement.
Facilitators: Vicki & John Shackford
Dates and Times: Every Wednesday, 9:15 – 10:15 AM. No class June 24. Last class for the summer is July 22. Classes will resume on September 9, 2026.
Location: In person in the social hall or outdoors on the church grounds (weather permitting). Also offered online via ZOOM.
Fee: Donation accepted
NO registration necessary, just show up to participate.
Beginner’s Tai Chi Form
Beginner’s Tai Chi form is a new Tai Chi class starting offered by Vicki & John Shackford. This is a 45-minute class starting with Qigong warmups followed by an introduction to the Tai Chi short form.
Dates and Times: Every Tuesday, 10AM – 10:45 AM. Last class for the summer is June 23. Classes will resume on September 15, 2026.
Location: Social Hall
Fee: Donations accepted
NO registration necessary, just show up to participate
UUCVille Spirituality Book Group
(meets online only)
The Spirituality Book Group meets once a month on ZOOM to discuss books chosen by consensus at a prior meeting. The WSBG does not meet in the summer, so there are 9 sessions for the church year. Would you like to deepen your spiritual practice and nurture meaningful friendships? New members are always welcome in this group. Together we select, read and discuss a book each month of the church year.
Facilitators: Jeanine Braithwaite & Tammy Wilt
Jeanine has been a UU since her early twenties, and a member of UUCville since moving to Charlottesville in 2014. In her pre-retirement life, she worked for the World Bank and taught at UVa’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. At UUCville, Jeanine has been a Worship Weaver, a member of the Board of Trustees, and Treasurer. At other congregations, she has co-facilitated covenant groups, run fundraising activities, and taught RE.
Tammy has been a member of UUCville since April 2022. She works as a senior mortgage banker and has been in this industry for over 20 years. Tammy has taken several of the classes offered by Revs. Leia and Tim, participates in numerous UUCville events, and enjoys co-facilitating the Book Group.
Dates & Times: 1st Thursday of each month, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Fee: Free, but participants obtain their own books or online sources.
UPPS, or “oops!”: UU Parenting Support
UUPS is a group of parents who gather after the service on the second and fourth Sundays of each month to support each other, swap advice, and discuss parenting topics like eating, technology, discipline, and more. The group will refer to the Mindful Parenting curriculum along with other readings and may be joined by facilitators on occasion.
Take advantage of the Second Hour Child Care and meet us in Lower Hall 3 from 12:30-1:30 PM! Childcare is provided on the playground in good weather and in the nursery when the weather is bad. Please sign children into childcare on the form provided.
Location: Lower Hall 3, across from the nursery.
Facilitator: John Griffith, Liz Shoch, and Michael Mott.
Dates and Times: UUps will meet Sunday, May 24 from 12:30-1:30 PM then break for the summer. Check back for future dates and times!
Participants: Unlimited – anyone who identifies as a parent is welcome to show up and join.
Fee: free of charge
Tuesday Evening Buddhist Meditation
Whether you are curious about meditation or have been a meditation practitioner for decades, you are welcome at Insight Meditation Community’s regular Tuesday evening meetings. We begin with a 30-40 minute guided meditation followed by a “dharma” talk (Buddhist teaching) that addresses different facets of meditation practice, including how to bring the heart of meditation into our daily lives. Our evenings end promptly at 8:30pm.
Location: We are meeting both in person and on Zoom. In-person meetings are held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville.
Facilitator: Insight Meditation Community
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, 5:30 – 8:30 PM
Participants: Approximately 50-60 attendees
Fee: free
WomenSpirit: Women’s Spirituality and Ritual Group
The WomenSpirit group gathers 8 times a year to celebrate the 8 Sabbats: the seasonal festivals comprising the Wheel of the Year.
Organizers: Bonnie Hansen & Lauren Doran
2026 Dates & Times: June 19, July 31, September 22, October 30, December 21. All event times are 6:30-8:30 pm.
Location: Lower Hall 2 & the outdoor labyrinth
Fee: No fees.
No registration necessary, just show up to participate.