Six Tibetan monks and their driver will arrive at UUCO on Wednesday, February 18 and will leave on Monday, February 23.  During this time we invite you to participate in the activities we have scheduled to learn more about Tibetan culture and spirituality and to support the thousands of monks who are in need of food, clothing, education, and medical attention while in exile in India.  You have a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of thousands of monks overseas by your donations.  If you are unable to participate in any of the activities we invite you to make your support known by donating to the Drepung Gomang Institute.  All donations are tax-deductible.  For more information on these monks go here:  http://www.drepunggomang.org/

Welcome Dinner for the Tibetan Monks: You and your family are welcome to join the host families as they meet our guests on Wednesday, February 18, 5:30-8:00 p.m., at the UU Hall. Please rsvp to Victoria Smith by Monday, February 16, if you would like to join in the fun. She will be coordinating the food brought to the potluck dinner.

On Thursday and Friday, February 19 and 20, the monks will be teaching some workshops for adults, youth, and children at the Power House of Oxford on University Avenue.  While there is no fee we are asking for donations.  We suggest $10 per adult and $5 per child.  Donations will be made at the Power House on the day of the workshop.  You will need to register for the workshops because the classes have preferred group sizes, depending on the specific workshop.You will register for the workshops through the Power House website at: http://oxfordarts.com/calendar/month.calendar/2015/02/30/- 

Thursday February 19

9:30 - 11:30  Butter Sculpture  (Adults)
1:15-2:15      Simple Butter Sculpture  (Children/youth)
3:30-4:30      Tibetan Designs (coloring) (Children/youth)

6:00 pm   Cultural Pageant at Oxford Public Library *FREE*

Friday, February 20:
9:30-11:30  Sand Painting   (Adults)
1:15-2:15    Simple Butter Sculpture  (Children/youth)
3:30-4:30    Tibetan Designs (coloring) (Children/youth)

7:00 pm  "Tibetan Cuisine" Dinner at St. Peter's Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall        
The monks will prepare this meal as a fundraiser.  We suggest a donation of $20 per person made out to the Drepung Gomang Institute.    Please make reservations as soon as possible by contacting Sandra Moss at [email protected].   

Saturday, February 21:

10:00 am   Cultural Visit and Prayer Time on Campus
                       at James Meredith Statue and Labyrinth at UM
You are invited to join the University's  "Just One Breath" Meditation Group at the James Meredith Statue 

1:00 pm   Meditation and Yoga 
                 at Center for Healing and Wellness
                 2704 W. Oxford Loop, Suite 110, Oxford, MS
                 A donation of $10 per person is suggested.
                 Register at [email protected]

Sunday, February 22
 
The monks will be a part of our Sunday Service at 11 am. A collection will be taken up to go towards supporting the monks in exile.  After the service, we will host one of our special UU potluck luncheons. It will be our Farewell Reception to the monks, as they will leave February 23. Please come and bring a dish!

This service is based on the UUA Common Read for 2014-2015:  Reclaiming Prophetic Witness:  Liberal Religion in the Public Square, by Paul Rasor.  This year's Common Read asks us to think about what it means to be religiously liberal and prophetic in our interactions with the world.  We'll talk about Rasor's ideas and then see how we might apply them to our lives at UUCO and in Oxford, Mississippi, the US and the world.  Reading is not necessary to participate in our discussion -- or to have an opinion! -- though some of us will have read the book.  Discussion will include the opportunity to speak within small groups about our own experiences of advocating for social justice and the values that come into play when we do.  Eunice Benton will be out Service Leader and Luanne Buchanan will lead the discussion.

The schedule of events for the Tibetan Monk Tour is:

Thursday, February 19, 2015:

9:30am - 11:30am  Butter Sculpture  (Adults) at Power House on University Avenue
1:15pm - 2:15pm    Simple Butter Sculpture  (Children/youth) at Power House on University Avenue
3:30pm - 4:30pm    Tibetan Designs (coloring) (Children/youth) at Power House on University Avenue
5:30pm - 8:00pm    Cultural Pageant  at Oxford Public Library on Bramlett Blvd.

Friday, February 20, 2015:
9:30am - 11:30am  Sand Painting   (Adults) at Power House on University Avenue
1:15pm - 2:15pm   Simple Butter Sculpture  (Children/youth) at Power House on University Avenue
3:30pm - 4:30pm   Tibetan Designs (coloring) (Children/youth) at Power House on University Avenue
7:00pm                 "Tibetan Cuisine" Dinner at St. Peter's Episcopal Church fellowship hall

Reservations for the workshops and dinner may be made by contacting Sandra Moss at [email protected].  

Sunday, February 22, 2015:
11:00am               Sunday Service at UUCO Hall at 31, County Road 198, Oxford
Potluck Luncheon immediately following service.

The main purpose of the visit is for the monks to raise money for their fellow monks in exile in India. At each workshop they would like to raise approximately $200.00. Some of the participants (such as Boys and Girls Club) will not be able to pay for the workshop.  We are asking members of the congregation/community to step forward to pay for all or part of a workshop. We will also need resources to purchase the food for the Tibetan Cuisine and they would like this to be their best fund-raising event. Any donations received will lower the cost of admission tickets to this event.  So please do consider providing a monetary donation to the Unitarian Unitarian Congregation of Oxford, prior to their visit. Be sure to note in the memo line at the bottom of your check that the donation is towards the Tibetan Monk workshops and dinner.

Join us for a service on Confucianism on January 25. Roger Kuhnle will be the service leader. We believe that you will find Confucianism has many compelling ideas for our journey through life.

"[When asked about] serving spiritual beings, Confucius said, "If we are not yet able to serve humankind, how can we serve spiritual beings?"

"I venture to ask about death."
Confucius said, "If we do not yet know about life, how can we know about death?"

--from the "Analects of Confucius" in The Great Asian Religion, edited by Wing-Tsit Chan

It has been just over 50 years since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King proclaimed his dreams for his country on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 250,000 black and white Americans.  How far have we come in the ensuing 50 years?  What is the current state of the dream Dr. King so eloquently articulated?  How far do we still have to go?  Lay minister Dr. Tony Stringer returns to the UUCO pulpit this Sunday, January 18, 2015 to explore what we, as Unitarian Universalists, are morally and theological compelled to do to keep the dream alive.   

Dr. Anthony Y. (Tony) Stringer is Professor and Director of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology in the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. In his professional life, Tony provides diagnostic and rehabilitative care to persons with various neurological conditions; conducts research on brain recovery; is president-elect of the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology; and for his scientific work, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, and the American Psychological Association. In his religious life, Tony has been a lay minister for two UU congregations, authored a book chapter and a curriculum on lay ministry, served as president of The Mountain UU Camp and Conference Center, co-founded a UU African Percussion Choir that was included in the opening ceremony of the Olympics in 1996, and currently serves as a psychologist on the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee.  Tony lives with his wife of 37 years (and occasionally with one or more children and grandchildren), and enthusiastically enjoys travel, jazz, cooking, flat water kayaking, photography, meditation, chess, and voracious reading.  Tony's nature and travel photographs have been included in rotating exhibits at Emory University Hospital.

Our morning service will honor the life of Judith Sargent Murray, who has connections to both Universalism and Mississippi!  Judith was an early advocate for women's rights, an essayist, a playwright, a poet and a letter writer -- but she was also the wife of John Murray, widely considered 'the father of Universalism' in America. 

Our speaker will be Dr. Sheila Skemp, historian and professor at the University of Mississippi, who has done definitive research on Murray (May 1, 1751 - June 9, 1820). .   

Both the life of Judith Sargent Murray and Dr. Skemp have a lot to teach us, even today!  Come and learn about this inspiring woman and hear how she lived the last days of her life in Mississippi, where her brother, Winthrop Sargent, was provincial governor, and how her papers were found here after her death.

A group of six Tibetan monks and their driver is due to arrive in the Oxford community on Wednesday evening, February 18 and plans are underway to host them and help them raise needed funds for exiled monks who are in a Monastery in South India.

 The monks will be teaching workshops at the Power House on University Avenue in Oxford on Thursday and Friday, February 19 and 20.  

Thursday, February 19:
9:30-11:30  Butter Sculpture Workshop (Adults)
1:30-3:00    Simple Butter Sculpture Workshop (Children)
3:30-4:30  Tibetan Designs Workshop  (Children)

Friday, February 20:
9:30-11:30  Sand Painting Workshop (Adults)
1:30-3:00  Simple Butter Workshop  (Children)
3:30-4:30  Tibetan Designs Workshop (Children)

Reservations will need to be made as space is limited.  Please email Sandra Moss at [email protected] to make reservations.

The monks also would like to cook a dinner of “Tibetan Cuisine” for the community one of the evenings.  We are searching for a facility with a kitchen and fellowship hall to accommodate this.  Reservations will be taken after this event is finalized.  

We are hoping that the monks will also build a small mandala and that they will have a slide show playing, so that the
general public can drop in to visit anytime during the two days.  There is also a cultural pageant in the planning stages.  More to come on this.

The main purpose of the visit is for the monks to raise money for the exiled monks in India. At each workshop they would like to raise approximately $200.00. Donations would be for those participants who are unable to pay themselves. Also, we will need resources to purchase the food for the Tibetan Cuisine and they would like this to be their best fund-raising event. Any donations received will lower the cost of admission tickets to this event.

So please do consider providing a monetary donation to the Unitarian Unitarian Congregation of Oxford, prior to their visit. Be sure to note in the memo line at the bottom of your check that the donation is towards the Tibetan Monk workshops and dinner.

On Sunday, the 22nd of February, the monks will be a part of our Sunday Service. After the service, we hope to host one of our special UU potluck luncheons. It would be our Farewell Reception to the monks, as they will leave February 23. We would love for the entire congregation to participate in this!