Common Read 2012-13: The New Jim Crow
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (The New Press) has been selected as the 2012-13 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Common Read. Alexander, an attorney who is a civil rights advocate and litigator, asserts that crime-fighting policies and systems in the U.S., such as the “war on drugs” and the incarceration system, disproportionately and intentionally affect Americans of color. She describes multifaceted, lifelong discrimination and disenfranchisement that affect people who are branded “felon.” Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. A Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience,…
What One UU Learned from Sikhism
This reflection is contributed by Unitarian Universalist Minister Erik Resly. – Ed. I write not as an expert but as an explorer. Many years ago, I tumbled into the Sikh faith at the recommendation of a close friend… Comparative religionist Wendy Doniger observes how often we temporarily fish off a neighbor’s dock only to later return to our own native harbor better able to catch the fish that were always swimming beneath our feet. How true. Over time, the window that Sikhism opened for me into the sacred has become a mirror in which to reflect on my own tradition. I share the following observations in a spirit of deep gratitude. Sikhism has never been a…
Congregation 24/7
This article by Mark Oppenheimer originally appeared the August 17, 2012 edition of the New York Times. – Ed. Unitarians Break With Tradition of Extended Time Off in Summer “If you phone a Unitarian Church between the middle of June and Labor Day in September, the most you are apt to get is a recorded message,” Charles S. Slap said in his sermon at the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, N.Y., on Sept. 8, 1985. “Our more orthodox friends never cease to be astounded by the contents of the message: ‘This church is closed for the summer. If you are one of those people who actually need a church during the summer, try the Presbyterians.’…
Transitioning? Cross the Bridge!
Participate in the Bridge Connections program keeps you connected to UU community. Maybe you’re going off to college, getting your own apartment, or starting a new job. Maybe you’ve joined AmeriCorps, the military or other lifestyle that would make it hard to access religious community. However your life is changing right now, you are moving away from the UU community of your youth and entering young adulthood. We can make it easier for you to find a UU community in your new location, wherever that may be. Remaining in touch with a community of the faith in which you grew up can help you celebrate and weather the changes and challenges of this transitional…
Spotlight On: Buckman Bridge
Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Church in Jacksonville, FL is one of the two congregations awarded Anchor Congregation status in 2012. The other is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, CA. The only adjective that I can find to properly describe Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Church’s young adult movement is swarming. Now for some reason that word has some negative associations. Probably because bees can be scary. But I’m not talking about a scary swarm here. I’m talking about an amazing swarm that swiftly created a highly functioning hive of its own and is now busy going to its neighbors and helping them build. You also might notice that I called them a young adult movement, not…
Spotlight On: UU Church of Davis
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, CA is one of the two congregations awarded Anchor Congregation status in 2012. The other is Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Church in Jacksonville, FL.-Ed. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, CA simply does young adult and campus ministry right. And they have for a long time. They are a model I cite often, would like to be able to clone. Perhaps the most successful part of their program is their internship program for those seeking ministerial fellowship. Young adult and campus ministry is half of the intern’s position. Now, putting campus ministry in the portfolio of an intern is a model commonly used by many. And most are. Unsuccessful because the…
All We Kindred Pilgrim Souls
I wrote a longer blog post, explaining the clear linkage that I saw between two important decisions that were made at this year’s General Assembly: repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery and expanding the definition of a congregation. I was then searching for a way to explain this in a liturgical and motivational manner. This sermon-esque response is in written form as well as video blog, both below. For the longer explanatory post, go here. Video Blog (If not appearing on page, please press your refresh button.) Written Blog The answer to my search for a motivational way to share this message was in the name of our Offices’ blog the whole time. The answers to…
The Ship is Sinking
3,174 individuals came together this June for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s first ever Justice General Assembly in Phoenix, AZ. After Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB 1070 law was passed, the 2010 General Assembly delegates were given the option to boycott or answer the call of our partners in AZ to come, witness, and work for justice. As you have probably guessed, they voted to put the Justice in this year’s Justice General Assembly (GA). Standing on the Side of Love with our partners in AZ, we attended a witness event at Tent City, participated in a citizenship fair, attended workshops on anti-racism, the prison industrial complex and immigration, and voted to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery. The…
Ribbons!
Amaze everyone at General Assembly (GA) with your snazzy orange ribbons! Here are the two ribbons you can dazzle the crowds with: Campus Ministry Ribbons are available for all involved in a campus ministry group, including the congregation that supports them. Ribbons can be picked up at the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries booth at the Exhibit Hall. We are part of the “UUA Expressway”, the row of UUA office booths that will be clearly marked. Anchor Congregations Ribbons are available for Anchor Congregations (you know who you are as you’ve received emails from me this year). You and everyone in your congregation, young adult group and campus ministry group can pick one up at…
Fore–Hindsight
This post by YA Chris Jenkins and Y Elizabeth Hitchcock of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship originally appeared on the Growing Unitarian Universalism blog. – Ed. Looking Back At The Next 50 Years Posted in Associational, Faith in Action on May 22nd, 2012 by Tandi Rogers – Be the first to comment The Closing Worship of the Pacific Northwest District Assembly, which was also the 50th Anniversary Celebration, included a reflection looking back at the next 50 years. Young adult Chris Jenkins and youth Elizabeth Hitchcock of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship shared a the following compilation created by the assembled youth and young adults… During our District Assembly the Rev. Dr. Tom Chulak gave us…
