|
Services start at 10:30 a.m.
Our services are also available live via Zoom. Please send a request to [email protected] for the link.
July 7, 2024
Speaker – Cathy DeWitt
Biography:
Cathy DeWitt, an award-winning songwriter, was destined to be a musician; it is literally in her blood. Music filled her living room, from her father’s Dixieland trumpet and stride piano to the Rachmaninoff and Chopin pieces her brother Peter, a prodigy pianist, played on the grand piano. She has shared songs and stages with David Roth, Greg Tamblyn, Garrison Keillor, Pete Seeger and more, and provided music at workshops for many authors including Alan Cohen, Wayne Dyer, and Marianne Williamson.
She recently retired after nearly 30 years at Shands Hospital/UF Health Arts in Medicine program in Gainesville, Florida, where she created the renowned Music in Medicine program. From piano playing in the hospital lobby to elevator singalongs, from hallway concerts to bedside harp, Cathy transformed the hospital environment and the patient experience with music. This leap of faith led to an unexpected and rewarding career.
She is a sought-after guest speaker/musician at churches, arts events and conferences from coast to coast, and has sung professionally throughout Florida, New York, California, London, and Hawaii. Find out more at www.cathydewitt.com
Topic: Music as Medicine: How the Intentional Use of Music can Make Life Better (for You and your Loved Ones)
Today we will discuss and demonstrate ways to use music intentionally to improve mood, increase relaxation or energy, help you grieve, create community, and other things. We’ll set up templates to make playlists for the desired outcome. We’ll talk about why and how music can have these effects, and the importance of music that is “autobiographically salient.” We will Listen, Move, and Sing. Cathy will also talk about her new book, “The Five I’s: Creative Caring at the Bedside”, that describes her five-step process of bringing music to patients and/or loved ones who are ill or bedridden.
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Diana Dechichio
Biography:
Born and raised in an Orthodox Jewish household in the primarily Jewish section of Boston MA she attended Hebrew school where she excelled in the translation of scripture and even earned a double promotion in the school. They wanted her to go to Hebrew High school but by the young age of 14, even working as a Hebrew tutor, she was disillusioned. When she visited her cousins’ Reform congregation at High Holiday season, all she saw were the fur coats and jewels, nothing to do with worshiping God. Added to that was the fact that her Orthodox community had refused to allow her to have a Bat Mitzvah (coming of age for Jewish Girls) and yet a couple of years later, a wealthier family was allowed to have their daughter do this. This added to Diana’s feeling that Judaism was not for her. It was only decades later during her trip to teach nurses in Israel that Diana felt she could identify as Jewish again. Now she and others of Jewish faith keep the “Judeo” part of our “Judeo-Christian” heritage as UUs alive with holiday observances at Spirit of Life UU in Odessa, FL. For more, you will just have to come to the service to hear the rest!!
Topic: My Spiritual Journey and Elevator Talks
Today’s speaker will describe her life before, during and since she discovered UU and what she tells people who ask, “What are you wearing around your neck?”
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Speaker – UU Rev. Dr. Brock Leach
Biography:
Brock lives in Sarasota and works for the Unitarian Universalist Association as a consultant for emerging ministries, helping develop and lead denominational support for religious innovators.
In Sarasota, Brock volunteers on the boards of Children First, Sarasota County’s Head Start agency, the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, and co-chairs the Professional Advisory Group for Pastoral Care at Tampa General Hospital. He also serves on the board of Protect Our Defenders, a national organization that supports victims of sexual assault in the US military.
He recently completed a Doctor of Ministry program at Boston University’s School of Theology. His doctoral research project was to design a system of support for accelerating multiculturalism in Unitarian Universalist congregations.
Topic: Our Shared Purpose
For the first time in Unitarian Universalist history, we have just declared a shared purpose for our faith—to actively engage our members “in the transformation of the world through liberating Love.” At first blush this may seem like a simple platitude, but this morning we’ll explore the specific ways it puts our faith on a radical and salvific trajectory, one for which most human beings deeply hunger. And nothing could be more important, especially right now.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Speaker – UU Rev Katie Culbert
Biography:
Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Katie Culbert served the UU Church of Tampa as Director of Religious Exploration and the UU Church of Sarasota as intern minister, where she was ordained. She has crafted worship services and preached for congregations in Florida and around the country. Katie spent seven years as a Chaplain at Tampa General Hospital and currently works as a Hospice Chaplain for Chapters Health. Katie lives in Tampa with her two teenage sons.
Topic: Dying is an Experience, Not an Event
The experience of dying can be very meaningful to the one dying and to that person’s loved ones and caregivers. Our guest speaker, Reverend Katie Culbert, worked as a hospital chaplain in Tampa before transitioning recently into Hospice chaplaincy. She will share the joy of working with Hospice while lifting up the Hospice philosophy of enhancing one’s quality of life every day.
|
