Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections is a UUCE tradition in which, roughly once a month, a member shares from the pulpit a brief essay about his or her spiritual journey. The tradition has been ongoing since 1983 and more than 220 peoplehave presented a Reflection. Board members and other church leaders are typically invited to present a Reflection, but an effort is also made to include a range of voices -- male/female, longtime member/newer member, older/younger, etc. Anyone can nominate a person to share a Reflection.

The volumes -- 17 so far -- are bound in booklet form and made available for purchase. The volumes can be purchased most Sundays in which a Reflection is presented, or by contacting the Personal Reflections coordinator directly.  Richard Highland served as coordinator for the program's first 17 years; J. Wright took over in 2000. 

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS GUIDELINES

Congratulations! You’ve agreed to be part of a rich tradition at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene by sharing a Personal Reflection. Here are some requirements and reminders that can make for a more satisfying and less stressful presentation.

TOPIC:
Defining the content of a Personal Reflection is tricky. Each presentation is unique. Perhaps the key reminder is that the subject is YOU and some portion of your spiritual journey -- who you are, what you are, and how you ended up here at our church. Do not attempt to give a year-by-year account of your life; select one or more spiritual highlights or themes.

Remember that this is a PERSONAL reflection. Speak from the heart. Speak, too, in a tone that is respectful and appropriate to your listeners. Politics is relevant only as it helps define who you are. Humor is fine, but not as a main focus. Avoid extended quotations from other sources. Concentrate on “the real you.”

LENGTH:
It is IMPERATIVE that your Personal Reflection take between 5 and 8 minutes to deliver. Your challenge is to boil down your message to these time constraints. The reason is that the worship service is tightly scheduled with the assumption that your talk will fall into the 5-to-8-minute range. Please make every effort to respect these limits. As a rule of thumb, most people find that an essay of between 800 words and 1,000 words satisfies the 5-to-8-minute goal.

PLANNING/REHEARSING:
Avoid the temptation to procrastinate. Creating a draft of your Reflection several weeks before its delivery will give you more practice time and can put you at greater ease. You will definitely want to rehearse your talk aloud before sharing it on Sunday. This serves several purposes: It helps you evaluate whether your message, when spoken aloud, comes across as you intend; it tells you whether your talk meets the time constraints or needs further editing; and it helps you get familiar with saying the words aloud so that you avoid “reading” the talk.

PRESENTATION:
Don’t forget that you are talking to a group of friends. Give your talk with the confidence that comes from knowing what you want to say and how you want to say it. Don't race through your text; enunciate; be sure to use the microphone so that all may easily hear you. And remember: You get to share your Reflection twice -- at both the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. service.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
In addition to your Reflection, you'll be asked to provide a very brief biographical statement -- indicating how long you've attended UUCE and some of the activities (committee work, choir, social events, etc.) that you've participated in here. This information will be shared when you are introduced to present your Reflection. It should be emailed to me, the Minister and assigned Worship Associate at least one week before your Reflection.

MINISTERIAL GUIDANCE:
Depending on his/her preference, the minister may ask you to share a draft of your Personal Reflection a week or two in advance, so that he/she may offer suggestions or feedback, and consider how to integrate the themes offered in your Reflection with other elements of the service.

PUBLICATION:
Personal Reflections are published in booklet form and made available to the congregation, so write your talk with publication in mind. I will ask that you e-mail me a copy of your Reflection no later than two weeks after your presentation. If you have any problems, concerns or questions, do not hesitate to contact me. And thank you again for sharing a part of yourself with your UU community.


Jeff Wright
Personal Reflections coordinator
541-554-9837/jeffwrite@hotmail.com