Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church

The GPUC Adult Religious Enrichment program is designed to enrich the heart and soul, as well as the intellect. We are enjoying a new year with a full agenda of fresh, stimulating activities. There's something for everyone: Adult Forums, the Men's Book Discussion Group, the Women's Book Discussion Group, Movie Nights and other programs that are added as the church year progresses

Minister's seminars usually four sessions each, are held twice a year apart from Sunday services. Often revolving around a single subject, they are designed to help examine our beliefs in more depth than allowed by the time we have during regular services.

Adult forums meet several times during the year following the Sunday services. Speakers drawn from the area, occasionally out of our own congregation, address a wide range of subjects of topical interest.

Special lecture events covering a multitude of subjects are held in high regard by our membership. This is a great way to feed your "lifetime of learning".

Movie nights offer an informal way to reflect more deeply on the meanings of selected films. Dinner is always included.

Book discussion groups for both men and women offer a monthly opportunity to read, converse and debate a series of current published works.
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Book Selections for 2009-10, Women's Group

NOV 19 - The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al Aswany
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Aswany offers a colorful picture of contemporary Egypt. Built in the 1930’s, the building was an “architectural gem” that housed
“the cream of society.” But it underwent considerable change over the decades that followed. Beside the large, fancy apartments, a second separate community developed on the roof, where what had originally been rooms for storage and laundry were eventually converted into tiny and Spartan residential units. These, along with the store on the ground floor, made the Yacoubian a place where many levels of society crossed paths.
Leader, Hanne Nielsen
Refreshments, Doris Cook and Caroline Griffith

JAN 21 (We will join with the men this month)
Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman

Friedman brings his unique point of view to the red hot topic of global climate change. Here he proposes a national plan for going green that will not only benefit the earth, but also make America’s economy stronger and its borders more secure.

Leader, Susan Boynton
Refreshments, Hanne Nielsen and Vicky Keating

FEB 18 - Cezanne’s Quarry by Barbara Corrado Pope

Reverend Corrado’s sister wrote this novel and skillfully explores the subjugation and abuse of women in the 19th century; the injustices of the French legal system; the conflict between Darwinian philosophy and established religious belief; and Cezanne’s art, love of life, and depressed personality.

Leader, Barbara Moran Corrado
Refreshments, Ann Parker and Audrey Brosowski

MAR. 18 - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

In 1996 Hanna Heath, a young Australian book conservator is called to analyze the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a priceless six-hundred-year –old Jewish prayer book that has been salvaged from a destroyed Bosnian library. When Hanna discovers a series of artifacts , she unwittingly exposes and international cover up.

Leader, Christy Winder
Refreshments, Alice Laitner and Barbara Moran

APRIL 15
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The novel begins after WWII, as a writer seeks to make sense of the turmoil and suffering she’s witnessed. But when she starts receiving letters from various people from all walks of life-with a multitude of viewpoints on what they too have been through-she begins to see the world in a new light.

Leader, Kelly Boll
Refreshments, Erika Baer and Evelyn Badzyk

MAY 20 - Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Reichl was the restaurant critic for the NY Times in the 90’s. She used disguises to be unnoticed in the restaurants and she goes into how she assumed the personae of the characters she impersonated and how it changed how she viewed the world. She talks about food snobs, cuisine and the powerful connection between the enjoyment of food and people, and the power people assume because they re in a specific role.
A perfect book for our Pot Luck dinner!

Leader, Ann Lipsitz
Meeting and pot luck at the home of Jill Crane
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Men's Book Discussion Group

On Monday, November 2nd at 7:30 PM, in the church library, the group will discuss The Mother Tongue, English and How it Go That Way by Bill Bryson. The book, wittily compiles the history and origins of the English language and the language's various quirks. It discusses the Indo-European origins of English, the growing status of English as a global language, the complex etymology of English words, the dialects, etc. New members are always welcome. No sign up is necessary.

GPUC Men's Group reading selections for 2009-10

Nov. 2 - The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

The Mother Tongue is a book which wittily compiles the history and origins of the English language and the language’s various quirks. It is subtitled, English and How It Got That Way. The book discusses the Indo-European origins of English, the growing status of English as a global language, the complex etymology of English words, the dialects, etc.

Dec. 7 - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Murial Barbery

Events in the life of a concierge, Renee Michel, whose deliberately concealed intelligence is uncovered by the unstable but intellectually precocious girl name Paloma Josse. Paloma is the daughter of an upper-class family living in the upscale Parisian apartment building where Renee works.
The book is full of allusions to literary works, music, films and paintings. It incorporates themes relating to philosophy, class consciousness, and personal conflict.

Thursday, Jan. 21, 5:30 (with the Women’s Group this month)
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman

Friedman brings his unique point of view to the red hot topic of global climate change. Here he proposes a national plan for going green that will not only benefit the earth, but also make America’s economy stronger and its borders more secure.

Feb. 1 - The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed

This is a very American story. It is prodigiously researched and makes fine use of illuminating primary sources, including extensive letters by Thomas Jefferson and slave property records. Among the most intriguing sources are the reminiscences of Isaac Jefferson, a slave who shared his memories of the Hemings family in 1847, 21 years after Jefferson’s death into Southern antebellum life and the various

Continuing with the Thomas Jefferson theme…..

March 1- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson.

Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College, turns to Adam’s longtime nemesis in a study of key moments of Jefferson’s life: writing the Declaration of Independence, his sojourn in Paris, his presidency, and his retirement. Ellis portrays a complex individual of great strengths and foibles. The book won the National Book Award.

April 5 - Wonderful Life by Stephan Jay Gould

Wonderful Life is a description of one of the biggest fossil finds ever ---a collection of invertebrate remains dating from the early Cambrian (550 million years ago) dug out of the Burgess Shale in British Columbia. Gould presents an outline of the analysis of the remains and uses it to support his own ideas about evolution and history, in particular the theory of “punctuated equilibrium,” which argues that the course of evolution, rather that being smooth, is more like some kind of fractal. Intertwined with the rest of the book is
Gould’s brilliant analysis of how the interpretation of scientific evidence is molded by the beliefs and assumptions of scientists…the hero/villain in this case being the American geologist and paleontologist, Walcott.

May 3 - My Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall

This is Dr. Goodall’s best and most far-reaching book for readers of all ages. She tells the fascinating story of her life, spanning from her early childhood days through the present. Read about how her relationship with the animals in their natural world made her the world famous conservationist she is today.

June 7 - A Benjamin Franklin Reader by Walter Isaacson

The book, edited and annotated by Isaacson is a collection of Benjamin Franklin’s own writings throughout his lifetime. Included in the text are his essays written under and alias to make attacks on social shortcomings or directly against others who had, in some way, made enemies of a young Franklin. Also, included are many diary entries concerning his philosophical views of life and religion as well as details on his scientific experiments and inventions. A full version autobiography is also included. Masked as a letter to his son it shows Franklin’s growth into the man who is revered by many to this day. It also presents his shortcomings for all to see so that no one may think that anyone is ever as perfect as they may appear.