Courses

 

                                    THE WRIGHT TAVERN CENTER
AT THE FIRST PARISH IN CONCORD
An Oasis in Our Busy Lives
Winter Classes 2012
Registrations for all these classes are open now.
Please contact Cassy Bosworth in the church office.
  
I. GROWING YOUR SPIRIT
 
Tibetan Buddhism
 
The Buddhist group will be meeting in the First Parish Chapel Wednesdays mornings and Thursdays evenings.  These weekly sessions are open to all who are interested in transforming love, compassion, and wisdom into action.  You are welcome to share the spirit of community at these gatherings regardless of your familiarity with Tibetan Buddhism.  Donations are gratefully accepted.  Contact Bill Seaver at 978-369-7318 if you have any questions.
 
Wednesday: 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Thursday: 7:30-9:00 p.m.
 
T’ai Ji
 
Being in touch with our own energy  creates endless possibilities within ourselves  By combining music with qigong and the simple movement of T’ai Ji  we can release blocked energy, create wellness  and bring our lives into balance.  This class is geared to people of all ages.  It offers gentle low-impact exercise to reduce stress, enhance optimal health and to simply create a sense of joy in our lives.  
 Instructor: Mae Pagan
 
Mae Pagan
 
has studied t’ai ji and qigong for 22 years.  She follows the teachings of Chungliang Al Huang and his non-traditional style of teaching T’ai Ji movement as a joyful approach to life as well as a path to wellness.  With a background in Tibetan Qigong and Reiki she provides a gentle mix of T’ai Ji movement with the healing aspects of qigong.   She also holds degrees in philosophy, psychology and education.
 
Friday:  Jan. 13, Feb. 17, Mar. 16, Apr. 13, May 11, Jun 8      12:30-1:30 p.m.                             $ 25/session
 
T'ai Chi and Qi Gong
 
T'ai chi is a gentle flowing exercise that will help you build and circulate energy. Based on teachings from China, we will do Qi Gong movements that help you retain flexibility in all your joints. Students will also learn the Hwa Yu tai chi form, a series of connected movement that is like a slow-motion dance. Research shows that tai chi and qi gong improve stability, improve immune function, and create many of the benefits of meditation. If you've tried meditation, but find it hard to sit still, tai chi and qi gong may be the way to give yourself those benefits while gently moving your body.  No past experience is necessary. Wear comfortable clothing.Instructor: Sue Wood
 
Sue Wood
 
has been practicing Hwa Yu tai chi since 1984. She was taught by David Zucker. She currently continues her tai chi and qi gong study with Dr. Yang Yang of the Center For Tai Chi Studies (http://www.chentaiji.com/).
 
Tuesday: February 7-March 27    6:30-8:00 p.m.    $120/8 classes
 
ABC Music Together (0-4)
 
Mixed Age classes offer an opportunity for children to participate at their own level, while the adults (no matter what their level of musical ability) and older children provide models for ways of music-making they might want to try another time. Everyone in a mixed age class benefits by experiencing the music-making of those around them – some terrific teaching ideas come from very young children, who have a special originality and spontaneity in their approach to music.
Instructors: Tom and Deb Foote.
  
Deb Foote has been the Director of ABC Music Together since 2004. She took Music Together with her daughter for 3 years and has taught for more than 8 years in Newton, Wayland, West Concord, Weston, Concord, Bedford and Acton. Debbie graduated from Northwestern University with a BM in Flute and Voice Performance and studied Dalcroze Eurhythmics at the Manhattan School of Music.
  
Tom Foote has taught early childhood music for several years. He is a professional drummer and studied at Shepherd College, Berklee College of Music and Drummer's Collective. He is versed in all styles of music including; classical and world percussion, African drumming and drum set. He studies African djembe with Moussa Traore, a master drummer from Mali. Tom is the founder of Rhythm Kids, a program that offers multicultural music and drumming classes for children five and older.  You can visit his site at
for more information
Tuesday: Jan. 3      9:30-10:30 a.m. or 10:30-11:30 a.m. (9 week program)
Thursday: Jan. 5    9:30-10:30 a.m. or 10:30-11:30 a.m.  (9 week program)
Friday: Jan. 6         9:30-10:30 a.m. or 10:30-11:30 a.m.  (9 week program)
For more information and to register go to www.abcmusictogether.com
 
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR)
 
Cultivating mindfulness, or awareness of the present moment, creates the framework for this popular course modelled after the internationally-recognized program established by Jon Kabat-Zinn at UMass Medical School. Research continues to suggest positive benefits from the practice of mindfulness-based stress reduction to the immune system, chronic illness, hypertension, chronic pain, as well as to the daily stresses of our busy lives. This interactive course consists of eight weekly 2-hour group classes where participants will be introduced to and practice guided mindfulness meditation, relaxation techniques, gentle yoga stretches, and self-inquiry exercises. Participants commonly report a reduction of stress-related symptoms, increased awareness and concentration, and improvement of positive coping skills at home and in the workplace. 
 
 
Choose either

Thursday evenings (7-9 p.m.) January 12 to March 8(no class on February 23) OR Friday mornings (9:30-11:30 a.m.) January 13 to March 9 ( no class on Februay 24)   Enrollment is limited to 15.

COST:

Tuition is $290, plus an additional
$85 materials fee (including text, CDs, and manual) Continuing
Education for nurses and other health professionals available.  Discount for Blue Cross Blue Shield members

 
COST:
INSTRUCTOR:Pamela Katz Ressler, RN, MS, HN-BC,
is a board-certified holisticnurse and stress management specialist. Pam is the founder and president of Stress Resources, LLC in Concord, and provides stress management programming and consulting nationally. Additionally,

she is an adjunct faculty member at both Tufts University School of Medicine and UMass/Boston's College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Pam serves on the board of directors for the non-profit organization, the Integrative Medicine Alliance. Pam and her family are active members of First Parish in Concord.  For more information about the MBSR program, visit www.stressresources.com. Contact Pam Ressler ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 978-369-5243)  to register.
 


SoulPlay: Exploring on Behalf of Your Soul

SoulPlay brings together two intuitive practices: InterPlay® and SoulCollage®. InterPlay engages us in activities that lead to our movement and stories, silence and song, ease and amusement.  SoulCollage is an intuitive art form that invites our souls to speak through collaged images that we create. Combining SoulCollage and Interplay opens us up to express and nurture our innate wisdom in playful and intuitive ways.

In these classes, we will guide participants in ways of combining SoulCollage with Interplay to create a rich experiential mix of movement, imagery, and words that can yield new insights and awareness. Participants will make SoulCollage cards and work with them in sound and movement. Linking our cards to spontaneous movement integrates body, mind and spirit in ways that feel grounding, rejuvenating, and freeing.  When tending our soul, it adds an extra dimension to link our symbolic, imaginative imagery with our physical body, with movement, with breath. To do so is to nurture our whole body spirit. Previous experience in art or movement is not needed. All materials will be supplied. Leaders: CC King and PamSwing

 

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 29            7-9 p.m.

Fee:  $120 for the series.  Ask about scholarship
support. 

 
Concord Area Humanist (CAH) Group
We are a Concord area group welcoming you to normally two evening meetings each month, with a Humanist perspective.  The Wednesday meetings start with a social at 7:00 p.m.,  program at 7:30 p.m..  We inclusively bring together the various non-supernatural life-stances that have the same emphasis on our being responsible for what happens around us, such as Buddhist-, Judaic-, Religious-, and Secular-Humanism, Ethical Culture, Naturalism, and all the others that have a life-stance consistent with Humanism and its Aspirations - Humanist Manifesto III.  Come and enjoy investigating with us the intersection of science and culture, ethics and social trends, books and ideas.  Times and place of meetings may change, so please always check our latest announcements on
www.MeetUp.com, and RSVP while you are there.  Active links here, and in the program listings, will lead to further information.  You may also email  Patrick Everett at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Maria Greene at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  CAH is affiliated with the American Humanist Association and with the UU-HUUmanists.  Our program follows.
First Wednesday in September Dialog - Jonathan Figdor
 
 

Open Discussion Group,   Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Concord Library

Continuation of previous discussion, or new topic TBD


------------------------

First Wednesday in February Dialog – Dr. Abby Hafer, First Parish Parlor

Dr. Abby Hafer has a D.Phil. in Zoology from Oxford University in England.  She is a College Professor teaching Human Anatomy and Physiology at Curry College.  Abby has had many years of research in both Physiology and Zoology.  She has been giving public lectures on Evolution since 2007.  She will give a new presentation on animals that should not exist according to Intelligent Design, *but do anyway*.  She will especially discuss two unusually intriguing creatures that appear to break all the rules.



Rise Up Singing

This informal monthly musical gathering of adults and children provides participants with an opportunity to sing and share traditional and contemporary folk songs,spirituals, hymns, rounds and chants in fellowship. Singers of all ages and experience are welcome. Bring a copy of Rise Up Singing if you own one. Individuals are encouraged to bring instruments if they wish.  Led by: Beth Norton and others.

Beth Norton
has been Music Director at First Parish since 1994. Beth believes in the power of music to express what is beyond words, to deepen our spiritual experience and to build community. As a singer, conductor, violinist and folk musician,
Beth enjoys making music in a wide variety of styles with people of all ages and abilities.

Friday: Jan. 27, Feb. 24, Mar. 23, Apr. 27, May 18      7:30 p.m.           Free

No Registration required

 

The First Parish Women's AM/PM Book Group 

Dates given are for Sunday evening, 7:30-9:00 p.m. and Tuesday morning, 9:30-11:00am.  Sessions will be at First Parish.

Feb. 26, 28      The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

Mar. 25, 27      Room:  A Novel, by Emma Donoghue

Apr. 22, 24      Mary Todd Lincoln:  A Biography, by Jean H. Baker

May. 20, 22     Bossypants, by Tina Fey

Unitarian Universalism



 “To See Into the Life of Things”—a Seminar on William Wordsworth

Join Jenny Rankin for a participatory 3 week class on the British romantic poet, William Wordsworth.

One might describe Wordsworth, born in 1770, as a person on a life-long quest to SEE with a new vision, to see with what he called an “inward” or “spiritual eye?” Do we ever have that same desire? Wordsworth was one of the first to powerfully depict Nature as a spiritual teacher. Do we experience Nature in that way in our lives? Wordsworth believed in “recollection” or the power of memory to transport us—to take us from the current situation, even if lonely or difficult—to another place, a “blessed and serene mood” where the world as we know it drops away and we can see “into the life of things.  We will read poems in class like “Tintern Abbey,” “Ode to Immortality,” “Prelude,” “The Excursion,” and others. We will attempt to delve into Wordsworth’s spirituality and consider our own.

One of the highlights of Emerson’s trip to Europe in 1833 was his meeting with the aging Wordsworth.  We will consider the influence of Wordsworth on Transcendentalists like Emerson and Fuller, and trace how this “spiritual lineage” may have come down to us as modern-day Unitarian Universalists and what shape and form it might
take today.

This class will be offered in two time slots. Drop-ins welcome. To sign up, please call the First Parish
office at 978-369-9602. $5/class donation suggested. 8 person minimum for class to run.

Tuesdays: Jan. 17 and 24, 7-8:30 p.m. Drop-ins welcome.

OR

Thursdays: Jan. 12, 19 and 26, 12-1:30 p.m. Drop-ins welcome. Bring a brown bag lunch.

 

Social Action



Grounded for Flight
Join us in a three part workshop offered Sunday evenings from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at First Parish. Explore how we each can learn to recognize our own spiritual frameworks and how these frameworks create the support or “grounding” to helpus expand and inspire our activism and truly take “flight.”

Workshop #1: “Roots & Wings”: Your spiritual “roots” provide you with grounding and enable you to use your “wings” to act upon yourvalues. This workshop intends to have participants look at their personal and formal religious lives within a spiritual framework to provide insight into why you do what you do.

Workshop #2: “Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice:” Through thought-provoking discussions of the book” Serving with Grace”, this workshop builds on the spiritual frameworks identified in workshop #1. The workshop involves reorienting the way you relate to activism, giving deeper meaning to what you do and giving you methods to maintain balance and “grounding” amid work that can often be frustrating and disheartening.

Workshop #3: “Connections:” This final workshop will focus onconnecting your spiritual framework with your activism. We will explore practical ways to incorporate your framework within your activities in all types of environments – religious, professional – ultimately deepening your impact and your ability to take “flight.”

 

Led by: Craig Nowak, Ministerial Intern, and Faith Bade, Social Action Program Director.

Sunday: Jan. 22, Feb. 12 and Mar. 18 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Fee: $60 plus $12 for book