Speakers for July

  Our Sunday services at 11:00 a.m. feature a different guest speaker each week, either a member of our congregation or someone from the surrounding community. We address a variety of topics, from literature and history to politics, religious thought and social issues. We welcome suggestions for speakers, please contact Donna Orchard donnaforchard@gmail.com

July 1

Speakers: ROBIN FABEL
Title: Commemorative Statues: How Time Changes What They Stand For
Summary: FUF member, Robin Fabel will discuss statues commemorating, chiefly, military men. Taking most of his examples from the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War, he will explain how years and sometimes centuries alter the passions and ideologies that caused people to spend time and money on commemorative sculpture. British born and a citizen of the U.S. for more than forty years, Robin has taught history all his adult life. Two Fulbright lectureships
punctuated his thirty years of teaching at Auburn.
Introduction: Michael Patrick

July 15

Speaker:  MARY PILCHER
Title: A Broad Look at the Me Too Movement Within a Community
Summary: Mary Pilcher will describe the seismic shift in our culture toward women as a result of the Women’s March, the Me Too Movement and women themselves, speaking out. A Selma native and now practicing attorney in Fairhope, she has received training and certification for Mediation and Conciliation and is a member of the Board of Directors of South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program.
Introduction: Thelma Topper

July 29
Speaker: HARRIETTE HUGGINS
Title: BE SMART: A Conversation About Kids, Guns, and Safety
Summary: Every year, nearly 300 children aged seventeen and under gain access to a gun and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. Nearly 500 more die by suicide with a gun. Asserting that many of these deaths are entirely preventable by
five easy steps to parenting and every-day life, Harriet Huggins will introduce and explain these steps. Huggins is retired after twenty years in the Auburn College of Education’s Learning Resources Center and is now a volunteer Events Lead for the Alabama Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Introduction: Donna Orchard

July 8

Speaker: SAM HARRIS (TED TALK)
Title: Science Can Answer Moral Questions
Summary: Questions of good and evil, right or wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can—and should—be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life. His work focuses on how the growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live.
Introduction: Michael DeLaney



July 22

Speaker: CHARLIE MORRIS
Title: The Dynamics of Transsexual Youth
Summary: Covering understanding gender on a spectrum, common misconceptions of gender identity, and resources in the community, Charlie Morris will discuss the role of shame in the construction of one’s identity and the sociological/psychological implications of shame. A licensed independent clinical social worker who works primarily with children, adolescents and their families, Morris also is an adjunct professor who teaches graduate courses for the University of Alabama and a board member for several nonprofits in Baldwin County.
Introduction: Brisa Ables