Building Your Own Theology Part 1
Richard S. Gilbert

An experiential seminar to help persons understand, develop and articulate their values.
A process for writing one's "Credo" based on a religious model.
SessionDateTopic and description
1 A Liberal Religious Theological Model
To get acquainted, to do group building, to develop a mutually agreeable 'contract' among participants and to introduce a theological model to be used throughout the program.
2 A Spiritual Odyssey: Your Own
To provide the opportunity for each person to tell his/her story in an accepting setting with attentive listeners; to have group members do some theological reflection on the story they tell
3 Varieties of Liberal Religious Experience
To enable persons to share their own religious experiences with small groups and reflect on why they are religious
4 Human Nature: Some Self Understanding
To consider the theories of human nature and to begin to develop a statement about one's own nature and human nature in general
5 Ultimate Reality - Creating an Honest God
To consider the nature of Ultimate Reality by whatever name we call it and to explore our relationship to it.
6 History - An Honest Backward Look To help group members develop a critical appreciation of their heritage and a fresh appreciation of the Unitarian Universalist tradition
7 Ethics - The Important of Being Good for Nothing
To assist the group members in developing their own list of an 'ethical ten commandments' and to sharpen their skills in thinking through ethical problems.
8 We are the Meaning Makers
To explore the sources of meaning for religious liberals
9 Imperatives of my Theology
To demonstrate the fundamentally 'praxis' nature of personal theology. Praxis is a continuing process of experiencing and reflecting on experience. Experiences give rise to reflections, which prompt experiences, which suggest new reflection in an ongoing process.
10 Wrapping it up: A Credo
To put the group experience into perspective. To provide opportunity for refining Credo statements. To evaluate the experience.
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