NAUA Yearly Summit: October 17-20
Spokane, Washington, USA

Note All times are in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). For EDT add 3 hours, CDT add 2 hours, MDT add one hour.

Workshop

Visioning Workshop Description: Visioning NAUA’s Future  

Judi Durham, Workshop leader

In-Person Breakout Room Moderators: Judi Durham, *Terry Anderson, *Ron Strange, Joyce Francis.
Zoom Breakout Room Moderators: *Stephen Polmar, *Mike Long*, Jean Knapp, Margaret Stewart, Ken Ing
    (*Provisional Board Members)

This workshop will begin with a brief overview of some of the many organized activities and accomplishments since NAUA’s conception. Following this introduction, we will break into small groups to explore our ideas, aspirations, hopes & dreams for the future of this growing organization. Where and how do we want to go and grow? For instance, does your vision for the future of NAUA include the development of Fellowships or regional groups? What are your ideas for doing that? Do you think NAUA should have a stated commitment to Justice in its many forms? Are there other foci that you think NAUA might attend to? What new committees or groups would you like to see developed and/or participate in?

During breakout groups, workshop participants (both in person and online) will brainstorm ideas with a group recorder keeping track of ideas that have been generated. Participants will then come back together to the larger group to share their ideas. Each recorder will hand or email their lists to the workshop leader to be compiled and given to the NAUA board. 

Judith (Judi) C. Durham, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus from the University of Saint Joseph in Connecticut. Before retiring, she also had a psychotherapy private practice for about 30 years. Her career began as an APRN in Adult Psychiatric Nursing before she obtained her advanced degrees in psychology. Her specialization areas included multicultural and international counseling, and the intersection of diversity, culture, and social justice in the provision of mental health services. With this expertise, Judi has taken students to Guyana, So. America; attended and presented at international conferences; and made several trips to Bhutan to support the development and expansion of their nascent mental health services.

Judi grew up in, and as a teen was very active in the UCC-Congregational Church. She still remembers the heated discussions about Ecumenism during the merger of the Congregational Church with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. It was during these discussions that she began to develop her understanding that diversity need not mean division, but rather as something to be embraced. When her husband said he wanted a ‘church home’, Judi found the Unitarian Universalist Society in Manchester, CT., as it spoke to her social justice, inclusive spirituality. Judi and her husband Lauriston (Lorry) King have been members for approximately 15 years.  

Workshop

Losing Your Religion: Moving Toward Healing

Candace Schmidt and Lynn Jinishian, Workshop leaders

The past several years have proven to be challenging to many UU members as they have experienced church leaders speaking and behaving in ways antithetical to the traditional liberal values that attracted them to UUism in the first place. Emotional responses have ranged from confusion and disorientation to hurt, fear and a sense of betrayal. This workshop will provide a space for participants to process their experiences in small groups, with an opportunity to share personal stories and also listen to others who are also grappling with similar experiences and emotions. The two facilitators, Candace Schmidt and Lynn Jinishian, hope participation in this workshop will help NAUA members to process difficult feelings in a supportive environment, and ultimately help them to gain a better understanding of what they have gone through and how to move on, toward a mindset focused on building a healthy religious liberal home for themselves and others.

Lynn Jinishian was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. She recently completed a 36 year career as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator. Lynn joined UUCS in 1996 to be part of a religious liberal community with her husband Robert and their then infant son, Brian. Today she enjoys learning the tiniest details of things she didn’t have time for previously—like how to make the perfect loaf of sourdough. She loves all dogs. If she is not at church on Sunday to learn more about Unitarian history and values, she’s not far away—probably just unplugged at a cabin in the woods of North Idaho where there is a never-ending list of projects.

Candace Schmidt: As a humanistic psychologist, I was drawn to the Unitarian Universalist Church over 20 years ago by the first of the seven principles: “The Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person.” Humanistic psychology places the flourishing of individuals front and center of its philosophy, and I was happy to have found a church and community that deeply resonated with my core values. My work as a clinical psychologist was immensely satisfying and rewarding, and since retirement I have provided consultation with various groups over the past several years. I have been a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane for 16 years and have served in many different capacities, including the Board of Trustees, the Lay Leader Team, and the Healthy Relations Team. As a member of NAUA’s Provisional Board, it has been my pleasure to assist in the formation of NAUA. In addition, I am on the NAUA Editorial Board and the Yearly Summit Planning Team. Other activities I enjoy engaging in include perennial gardening, weaving, and reading.

Workshop

Kerdcera – The Art of Being Thoughtful

Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof, Workshop Leader

Kerdcera (pronounced curd-car-ah) is derived from two proto Indo-European words meaning “heart” and “head.” Dojo is a Japanese word referring to a place students practice a particular art, usually a martial art. The Kerdcera Dojo is a place participants practice reason and emotional intelligence, “The Art of Being Thoughtful.” Developed in 2017 by Rev. Dr. Todd F. Eklof and psychologist Candace Schmidt, PhD, its participants have been meeting weekly to practice the Kerdcera technique ever since. “The purpose of Kerdcera has always been to boil logic down to its most fundamental principles so this ancient tool can be useful anywhere, anytime, to anyone,” Eklof says. “But people are also emotional creatures. We all think and we all feel. Kerdcera is about both heart and mind working well together.” In this workshop, you’ll learn the Kerdcera technique and can begin practicing the Art of Being Thoughtful for yourself.

Keynote Speaker

John Wood Jr. is a leading figure in the American depolarization movement. He is national ambassador for Braver Angels, the United States largest grassroots, bipartisan organization dedicated to political depolarization.

A nationally recognized public speaker on the subjects of political and racial reconciliation, Wood has spoken across America to a wide range of the nation’s most respected think tanks, universities, corporations, philanthropic organizations and political associations including the Aspen Institute, the Manhattan Institute, CPAC 2019, Global Philanthropy Forum, the Philanthropy Roundtable, Upswell, Target, General Mills, LucasFilm, Oregon League of Cities, Institute for Local Government, and campus audiences including Pepperdine, Duke University, USC, Purdue, UC Berkeley and many others.

Mr. Wood’s written work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Examiner, Quillette Magazine, Areo Magazine, Reflections (A Journal of the Yale School of Divinity), Real Clear Politics, Persuasion Magazine, The American Interest and many others. Wood is a cohost of the Braver Angels Podcast and host of The John Wood Jr. Show.

Prior to his work with Braver Angels, Wood was the state of California’s youngest active nominee for congress in the 2014 election cycle, challenging Maxine Waters in California’s 43rd district. His unifying campaign was covered by outlets including The National Review and The Larry Elder Show. After the election Wood was elected as 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles, the largest Republican county party in America.

In addition to his work with Braver Angels, Wood serves as an advisor to The American Project (an initiative of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy dedicated to restoring the communitarian roots of conservatism), the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, the 1776 Unites Project, is a member of the Progress Network (an initiative of the New America Foundation) and is a field-builder with the New Pluralists Collaborative (a coalitional group focused on connecting and supporting organization committed to depolarization and social justice). Wood has worked in support of educational opportunities for at risk youth in inner-city Los Angeles in the areas of tutoring and private education. He sits on the board of directors for Strive Arts and Academics, a celebrated private educational facility in South Los Angeles.

Wood was raised in a musical family. His father is noted Jazz Pianist John Wood, his mother a popular Los Angeles based R&B singer Deonda Theus. Wood’s grandfather was record industry pioneer Randy Wood, of Dot Records and Randy’s Record Shop fame. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.

Worship Leader

Rev. Dr. Todd F. Eklof, a native of San Francisco, CA, where he was born in 1964, has been the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, WA since 2011, where he’s appreciated for his mind-altering sermons, compassionate soul, and social activism. Rev. Eklof started in the ministry as an ordained Southern Baptist minister but left the Christian faith while still in seminary as a young man, explaining, “I simply outgrew it.” He then started a 16-year career in TV news and corporate video production, during which time he became a Unitarian Universalist (1988) and reentered the ministry as such in 1999, when he began serving the Clifton Unitarian Church in Louisville, Kentucky until 2011.

He’s been widely appreciated for his environmental and gay rights activism, in addition to engaging in the areas of criminal justice reform, restorative justice, the peace movement, as well as immigration and racial justice. Eklof has two undergraduate degrees, one in Philosophy, the other in Communications, a Master of Arts in Religious Studies, and a Doctor of Ministry. He is also a certified member of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA), completed Singularity University’s Executive Program in 2018, He and his spouse of 35 years have a 32-year-old son and a 28-year-old daughter, along with Chester and Wiley, their two canine companions.