Justice begins when people of conscience refuse to stay silent. Join us for a Unitarian Universalist service of reflection and action as we take part in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign. Together we’ll explore how writing letters has freed prisoners, protected activists, and upheld the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Come prepared to write, reflect, and reaffirm our Fifth Principle: the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process to make justice real.

Presented by Perri Gardner and Jonathan Thompson

Today’s social climate is complicated by very divergent views of religion, race, and marriage.   Differing personal beliefs about these can even divide otherwise close-knit families. With cultural differences taking center stage today, we might all benefit from an objective perspective offered by anthropology.   The “study of human societies in all places and at all times” has been around for over 100 years and can offer useful insights.   This presentation will briefly provide an anthropologist’s perspective of our nation’s current divisiveness.

Presented by Jim Woods, former Director of the Herrett Center

Pam Blankenheim is Worship Associate

Join us this Sunday, October 26^th for a discussion, led by Donald Allen from the Pocatello Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, about the possibility of life on other planets and how faith interacts with this.

Don Morishita is the Worship Associate

Please join us as Shelley McEuen, CSI Department  Chair/Distinguished Professor of English and coordinator of the Rock Creek Institute shares the historic, biological, economic, and agricultural significance of the Rock Creek watershed that flows right through our own backyard connecting us all.
This partnership reflects the ethos of what Unitarian Universalists stand for: connection, collaboration and compassion.

Melody Lenkner is Worship Associate

Please join us as Christine Geisel, an educational life coach and educator for Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at CSI shares a vision for reimagined ESL classes.

In partnership with the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Pathway of Hope plans to plant the seeds for an ongoing ESL program that will not only benefit immigrants and refugees in the Magic Valley but will enrich the lives of existing community members.

This partnership reflects the ethos of what Unitarian Universalists stand for: connection, collaboration and compassion.

Worship Associate Melody Lenkner

The Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is pleased to welcome Dr. Colin Johnson, assistant professor of political science at Idaho State University. Colin will speak about self-expression and politics, drawing on his personal experience of exploring his identity as a gay man while living in Russia and other places in the former USSR. His title, “Our Past Is on the Horizon,” comes from Osip Mandelstam’s 1921 essay, “The Word and Culture,” which questions the contradictions inherent to culture and to politics as we collectively work to redefine our common futures. Reflecting on his own experience of these contradictions, Colin will offer his perspective on perseverance in the midst of political exhaustion and tumult.”

Don Morishita is Worship Associate

Brian  Attebery, Professor Emeritus of English at Idaho State University will speak on the 1939 L. Frank Baum’s movie The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland. The story of Oz began in 1900, with L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

In that book and 13 sequels, Baum developed the idea of Oz not only as a place of magic but also as a utopian space of freedom, equality, and justice. He included powerful female figures, reflecting the influence of his wife’s mother, suffrage leader Matilda Joslyn Gage. Oz offered a refuge for everyone, no matter how eccentric or unusual, and, in the second volume, The Marvelous Land of Oz, he created one of the first transgender characters in children’s literature. Recent tributes to Baum’s vision include the book, stage, and movie versions of Wicked. 

Dave and Chris Woodhead are the owner/operators of The Lamphouse Theater in “Old Town Twin Falls.” This Sunday, Dave and Chris will give us a fascinating look at the history of The Lamphouse and how the establishment has come to be a community treasure. From free flicks to book swaps; from first run movies to camp favorites;  from Chautauqua talks and poetry readings to stand up comedians we’ll learn why The Lamphouse is the place to be for a plethora of reasons.

Perri Gardner will speak.

On this first Sunday in September, the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will celebrate the beginning of the new church year by presenting the traditional Water Communion service, moderated by Anne Martin.
Members and guests are encouraged to bring a small amount of water which represents an experience with water in the last year which holds special importance to that person.  The water will be poured into a large bowl and that person will share why the water is so special.  At the end of the service, the combined water, symbol of a shared faith from many different sources will be taken outside to water and sustain the life of plants around the fellowship.