Morning seminars are classes designed for adults to learn a new skill, get creative, move and meditate or contemplate a deep topic in the company of others who share a similar interest. Morning seminars run Monday – Friday after the theme talk and you attend the same seminar the entire week as each day builds upon the day prior.
Morning seminars fall into three categories, with lots of crossover: the thinking/religion/spiritual (dealing with Unitarian Universalist issues, historical matters, things around you, or social justice), movement (yoga, tai chi, dancing, or exercising), and the artistic/creative (collages, music, journaling, etc.). Each year’s seminars will differ depending on available teachers and interest.
Seminars available for 2026 are listed below. When you register you will enter your 1st & 2nd choices on the registration form. Seminars may be cancelled due to poor enrollment or a teacher cancellation so please have a backup selected.
In addition to our morning seminars, there will be a Leadership Track offered at Summer Institute this year. The 101 Congregational Leadership Development Program will be a broad exploration of topics and skills essential for Congregational Leaders, but not go too deep into any single topic. It will include basic Congregational Systems Theory, Congregational Governance, Leadership Differentiation, Dismantling White Supremacy Culture, Conflict Transformation, and quite a bit more. Additional details and registration will be available when SI registration opens.
Morning Yoga and Meditation
Each morning at CERSI, enjoy a hour of guided yoga practice followed by a 15-minute exploration of meditation, appreciation, breathing techniques and deep relaxation. This yoga practice is designed to be accessible to all, with accommodations offered for those new to yoga and optional challenges offered for those with more experience.
Beth Jewell is a long-time yoga practitioner and a leader of senior fitness classes as well as a UU congregant of 30+ years, first in Ohio and now in Maryland. Beth and her son, Ray, have attended SI nearly every year beginning in 2007. Beth is looking forward to building on her yoga facilitation experience and implementing helpful feedback she received from participants in her CERSI 2025 Morning Yoga workshop.
Creating Science Based Services that Support UU Values
Scientific support for UU principles and values is strong. It is incumbent on UU church presenters to describe/educate those in attendance how the values espoused by the UUA are fully supported by scientific observations both old and new. If you attend this seminar you will be provided examples of science/UU presentations, and be given the opportunity to modify the presentations provided, and/or develop your own topics with other seminar participants. Background in biology and chemistry is helpful but not necessary. All participants should have ready access to computer and Google sheets, Microsoft power point, etc.
Richard Thieret is life long UU, and retired science teacher. He has completed numerous science/UU presentations at UU Fellowship of Athens (Ohio), and three other congregations in our area.
Be the Different Drummer!
This Workshop will be about hand-drumming, song, movement and shamanic drum journey, in a Sacred Space. With a concentration on Afro-Cuban polyrhythms, you will learn the percussion parts of many drum songs. Learn how to facilitate your own Drum Circle! It’s a great time, and fun!
Rebekah Benner, artist, Death Midwife, Pagan chaplain and Interfaith Minister, is creatrix of Terra Amma Grove Spiritual Center and Art Studio adjacent to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. She has studied and taught drum workshops for over 35 years in the USA, Canada and Ireland.
Kinusaiga Fabric Art Class
Kinusaiga is a contemporary Japanese art form that involves creating intricate fabric collages by pressing fabric scraps into pre-cut grooves on a foam board, resulting in textured and layered artworks without the need for sewing. There is no experience needed as you will receive step-by-step instructions. Simply pick a pattern and fabrics that call to you from the selection provided, get lost in making your art, and go home with a beautiful piece ready to display. (All the materials needed will be provided.)
Esther Sampol has been a UU for over 25 years (probably more, unofficially) and, along with her wife, Marjie, is a member of East Shore UU Church in Kirtland, Ohio. She’s always been interested in new ways to make art and learning Kinusaiga has been a wonderful, meditative experience which she is happy to share with you.
Beyond the Box – A Lifelong Journey
A box is both safe and familiar. It is made up of our habits, our traditions, and our unquestioned certainties. The box gives us boundaries, but it also keeps us stuck. In this workshop participants will explore the many different areas of life that we find ourselves in boxes – whether self-imposed or by social expectations. Together we will explore ways for recognizing, breaking free, and pushing past the assumptions, limitations, and barriers that constrain us. This is an important step toward imagining and then creating a more empowered life, a more impactful church community, and a more inclusive society and world.
Marjie Loring believes that by sharing our stories every person can provide encouragement and inspiration to others, empowering them to uncover their own potential to seek out opportunities and overcome challenges. Marjie has over 25 years of experience as a professional facilitator and as a lay leader in UU congregations both in Florida and Ohio. Her passion for personal growth and lifelong learning has guided her throughout her life. She lives in Perry, Ohio with Esther, her wife of 25 years, their dog Bodhi, and their cat Kali Unicorn Sprinkles.
Expressive Collage
Yes, you can collage! Just cut and paste. There are no rules except to have fun collaging. Participants will be provided with many examples of completed collages and an abundance of materials to create their own works. At the end of each day, collagers can opt to share their creations and process with the other participants.
Denise Deschenes has been collaging most of her life, but increasingly since 2013 when she joined the Expressive Collage Group at First UU, Columbus, OH. She is a member of the Columbus Collage Collective. One of Denise’s collages, The Promised Land, was chosen as cover art for the autumn 2025 issue of “Lesbian Connection” periodical.
Movement and Stillness, Sound and Silence
Presented in the format of a Sufi Sesshin, we will alternate between the Dances of Universal Peace and silent meditation. Together we cultivate serenity, insight, resilience, and hope. By singing and dancing together, we aim to shift from a mindset of “me” to a mindset of “we”. Dances of Universal Peace are simple circle dances, with singing of sacred phrases from different traditions around the world. Through embodied meditation and prayer we remind ourselves that we are all in this together, sharing the same planet. This offering requires no experience and is accessible to all.
The Dances found Alicia in Dallas in the late 90’s, and she has been leading for over 20 years. A dedicated student of Sufism, she has embraced many universal principles that infuse the Dances. Alicia and Emily started leading the Dances in 2024 at the Kent UU church.
Amazing Architecture of Oberlin!
Stroll or scoot through Oberlin’s amazing, eclectic campus of architectural gems, with styles spanning from Neo-Classical to Prairie to green contemporary, and learn the history of this practical art form as you go. Learn about socio-political factors as design motivators, and begin to recognize elements of each major artistic movement. Workshops will be a combination of in-class presentations on the basics of architecture history (with some fun examples of adjacent arts like music and painting) and on-site tours to see excellent examples of each style.
Katie Grigg-Miller holds an architectural degree from The Ohio State University and spent many years in the field. She loves the arts, how they relate to each other, and what they reveal about social ideals.
Get “F.L.Y”
Would you like to get a little FITTER? Be a little LEANER? Feel a little YOUNGER? In this classroom-based seminar we will: 1. Review the science behind the powerful anti-aging effects of exercise. 2. Learn basic nutritional guidelines to improve your everyday eating habits in ways that will build better long-term health. 3. Practice simple exercises that can improve your posture, strengthen your movements, and increase your flexibility, while simultaneously reducing nagging aches & pains. and 4. Get motivated to go home and GET “F.L.Y.” ! NOTE: Wear sneakers & loose comfortable clothing to class, and be prepared to stand up & move around a bit. Bring a notepad & pen to take notes. You will be creating your own workout plan that you can follow at home—no need to pay for a gym membership or any fancy workout clothes!
Christa Champion is an athlete, physical educator, and life-long learner who has taught and coached at the collegiate and scholastic levels for over thirty years. She currently teaches PE classes at Concord Academy in Massachusetts, where she also coaches the throwers and pole vaulters on the track & field team. Champion holds a Master of Science degree in Exercise & Sport Studies from Smith College, and occasionally works as a private health and fitness consultant. She recently trained for and competed in a decathlon for the first time, at the age of sixty.
Let’s Nature Journal Together!
This is your invitation to put down your cell phone, pick up a journal, a pen, and a pocket-sized art kit to head outdoors into a creative practice that sparks wonder and joy. To sketch or paint requires outward attention. To write reflectively requires inward attention. Combine the two in a nature journal, and you have a creative, new meditative practice. “I don’t know exactly what prayer is,” writes Mary Oliver. “I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed.” Nature journaling is attentiveness in action. It empowers you to explore your own wonder, to notice beauty, to kneel down, record what you see, and feel blessed! You need not be a naturalist, an artist, or a poet to be enriched by nature journaling. You can, like Henry David Thoreau, keep a journal that records details of the natural world alongside spiritual reflections. “It is not what you look at that matters,” wrote Thoreau. “It’s what you see.” So, join with others UUs to see how nature journaling can cultivate community, introspection, creativity, mindfulness, and fun!
Nancy Boutilier is a poet, a bass player, a high school English teacher, and a lifelong UU. Recognizing the sad truth in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s assertion that most Americans can identify over a hundred corporate logos and app icons but hardly a tree or a bird, Nancy realized that nature journaling was a way to get her students to turn their eyes away from their screens to what’s down in the dirt, up in the branches, over in the meadow, across the river, and beyond the horizon.
Building Bridges: Having Political Conversations with Compassion, Courage and Passion
Building Bridges will be a workshop intended to give UU’s the confidence and hope to boldly confront our politically troubled country. The election of Donald Trump, growing political apathy, and mounting global crises make us feel powerless. We don’t know what to do. Having tough political conversations is a place to start. When we engage people, make them feel respected, and invite them in, we can stop the slide to the right and save our democracy. In this workshop participants will identify the power of their personal experiences, learn how to have difficult conversations with loved ones or while campaigning, and practice being a force for good.
Donovan is a political organizer and theatre creator based in Toronto. He has had the opportunity to engage with anti-racism work, theater, and community organizing in Canada and the United States. He is actively involved in the Unitarian Universalist church, regularly giving talks at congregations on faith-based anti-racism work and living the 8th principle.
The Science Behind Our Minds
This seminar explores the scientific underpinnings of humanity’s development and explains the key aspects of how human beings believe, think, decide, and act. The seminar explores topics from emergent behavior and creation to the rise of intelligence and consciousness, to perception and cognition, morality, and how social dilemmas and cooperation continue to shape us.
William Novak is a retired computer scientist with 45 years of experience at major corporations and universities, including Carnegie Mellon, Texas Instruments, and General Electric, and holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Throughout his career he has specialized in researching and consulting with large engineering programs, often focussing on socio-technical issues and organizational incentives and their impacts on decision-making. He now enjoys sharing his diverse interests in science and technology with others through lectures and workshops.