A Vision for Liberal Religion

2025 May 19 | NAUA Academy, News

Ralph Waldo Emerson decried the Unitarianism of his day as “corpse-cold” and urged the religion to evolve with new understandings of the contemporary world. Those understandings are still with us today, but our Living Tradition asks us to continue evolving with the times. Dr. Matthew Shear will share with us a positive view of what a liberal religion for the 21st century could look like.

Dr. Matthew Shear is a 1980 graduate of the New England College of Optometry, and completed a post-graduate program from the Baltimore Academy for Behavioral Optometry in 2002. He has also trained as a peer counselor, eventually teaching the technique to others. His particular interest is in the effects of misperception on our understanding of ourselves and the world, and how that affects our behaviors. This focus eventually led him from clinical practice to becoming a religious professional. He began preaching lay led services in 2007, and in 2018 was engaged by Channing Church in Rockland, MA as their full time Preacher, where he served for two years. A former Board member of UUMUAC, he is still an occasional preacher of their 3rd Wednesday Vesper services and elsewhere.

 

Understanding our Supreme Courts: US and Canadian Perspectives

2024 Feb 16 | News

In these session (origionally presented on Feb 13, 2024) our three presenters discus the ways in which our two Supreme Courts are appointed and some of the major issues with which they deal.  The decisions of these courts have powerful and sometimes unexpected effects on all our lives.

 

FACILITATOR BIOS:
Nils and Joyce (husband & wife who live in Port Townsend, WA) have offered SCOTUS overview courses for their county library for the past three years, as well as a book study of The Great Dissenter:  The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero.  For several years before that, they offered historical and topical overviews of the Supreme Court through the local UU fellowship’s adult education program, their county library and two local Community Colleges.

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Nils Pedersen is a retired patent attorney and newly-admitted member of the WA State Bar.  His current legal interest is estate law and end-of-life legal planning.

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Joyce Francis is a retired international relations professor and long-time organizer and facilitator of adult-education programs.  She is also a member of NAUA’s Academy Advisory Board.Speakers:

Anthony (Tony) Carfagnini began practicing law in 1979 and carried on a corporate commercial, real estate, wills and estates and aboriginal law practice.ony’s professional interests and experience include business law, corporate governance, indigenous consultation and resource development, and privacy law. For over 40 years he acted as legal counsel to a number of First Nations and indigenous organizations engaged in child welfare, medical services, political advocacy, renewable energy projects, forestry and economic development.