Joining the Soul Matters Sharing Circle
The Soul Matters Sharing Circle is an independent Unitarian Universalist organization that develops high-quality content for Sunday worship services, small groups and religious education classes. In 2023-24, the team’s resources are being built around ten monthly themes that explore “The Gifts of Faith.”
Rev. Scott Tayler, the organization founder, and the rest of the Soul Matters team has expressed support for the work we're doing on AI and the Human and says he is pleased to work with us in finding ways to weave the AI conversation into their materials. We very much appreciate this vote of confidence and aim to make the most of this invitation.
Soul Matters does great work, which I’ve seen first-hand as a member of UU Saratoga's Worship Team. Their monthly packets -- delivered two months in advance to allow plenty of time for planning -- are always jam-packed with sermons, readings, children's stories, and other materials that we and all subscribing congregations are free to employ in our Sunday services and RE classes.
In collaboration with AI and Faith, we're committed to bringing the AI into conversation into UU congregations. There’s no better way to do this than by providing great AI-themed content to Rev. Tayler and his team.
So, going forward, we’ll be seeking voices in AI and Faith’s membership that we think have most to contribute to the AI conversation in UU congregations. As a first step, we’re reviewing this list of themes and brainstorming topics and approaches to enrich them:
September: Welcome
October: Heritage
November: Generosity
December: Mystery
January: Liberating Love
February: Justice & Equity
March: Transformation
April: Interdependence
May: Pluralism
June: Renewal
It’s worth noting that this list has been developed with an eye to a proposed new statement of UUA purposes and values. The Soul Matters team aims to “support subscribing UU congregations as they do the sacred work of discerning which of our beloved UU values will best guide our faith as we engage today’s world.”
This representation of UU values is offered by the Article II Commission in its recent report:
We consider AI and the Human to be a “sharing circle” in the same spirit as Soul Matters, but with a focus on the ascendance and implications of AI. Please drop us a note with any thoughts or observations you consider relevant to these themes.
