Campus Ministry Conference
This July the National Campus Ministry Association (NCMA) is hosting it’s annual conference. This conference is for professional campus ministry leaders, those who hope to become one, and dedicated lay campus ministry leaders. It will give us as Unitarian Universalists (UUs) an opportunity to gather as a group of UUs in campus ministry, meet with leaders from other denominations, and hear from Brian McLaren, a leader in the emerging church movement. The conference begins on Tuesday, July 9th with a “Sexuality Toolkit for Campus Ministers“ workshop led by our own Melanie Davis, Our Whole Lives (OWL) Program Associate. It will conclude in the evening on Friday, July 12th and registration is open and rolling. If you…
Equal Marriage in Rhode Island
The Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), issued the following statement applauding the legalization of same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. -Ed. Standing on the Side of Equality Today, we celebrate marriage equality in Rhode Island. I want to thank and applaud all who worked tirelessly to secure this victory. Rhode Island now joins nine states and the District of Columbia where same-sex marriage is the legal right for all committed couples. In each of these states and the District of Columbia, Unitarian Universalists were at the forefront of the efforts to secure marriage equality. As a religious community, Unitarian Universalists are called to affirm the worth and dignity of every person regardless…
Come Out AND Keep Faith
Welcoming Faiths Welcomes You This community event addresses head-on the impact of religion and bullying by society on LGBTQ youth and families. 11 area congregations in the Lowell, Andover, and Haverhill Massachusetts area have joined together to form a community advocacy group called LGBTQ Welcoming Communities of Faiths. Welcoming Faiths, along with PFLAG, and the Northern Essex Community College GSA are presenting a community event April 3, 2013 at 7pm titled “Coming Out and Keeping the Faith”. There will be a panel of diverse religious leaders as well as LGBTQ youth impacted by rejection based on religious belief. Be part of the dialog and learn how to be an ally and welcoming to the LGBTQ…
Defying Unreason of Westboro Baptist
Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Vassar College on Thursday, February 28. Students at Vassar are mounting a response (read how you can help them here). – Ed. Illogic of Westboro Church Teachings provokes defections Earlier this month, Megan Phelps-Roper, grand-daughter of WBC founder Fred Phelps explained in an interview why she and her sister Grace left the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC homepage, WBC on Wikipedia) congregation in November, 2012, declaring, “The idea that only WBC had the right answer seemed crazy. It just seemed impossible.” (Read the full interview here.) At WBC Megan Phelps-Roper managed the protest schedule and pioneered the use of social media to get their message out, but states, “I definitely…
Vassar vs Westboro Baptist Church
Some of you may have heard that the Westboro Baptist Church is coming to Vassar. You also might have heard about all the great organizing current Vassar students and alums are doing. What you likely didn’t hear about is how the Unitarian Universalist Campus Ministry Group at Vassar is involved. Below is a statement from Saul Ulloa, co-president of the Unitarian Universalist about what they are doing – and how we can help. -Kayla On February 28th, the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is planning a protest at Vassar College in reaction to Vassar’s accepting and liberal environment, namely our wide acceptance of the LGBTQ community and allies. In response, Vassar’s student body has begun planning events…
UU-UNO Led Talk on Sexual Orientation Change
Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) is the innocent enough sounding term for practices that are designed to force people to give-up same sex orientation. The techniques employed to force individuals to renounce their freely chosen sexual identity can be psychological or physical, and include sexual violence (“corrective rape“). In the Unitarian Universalist (UU) tradition of spearheading, cutting edge advocacy and standing up for vulnerable populations, the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) organized one of the first-ever panels on Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) and its International Human Rights consequences. You can find a complete program recap of the event, including summaries of panelist’s presentations, quotes, and pictures here.You can read a companion article about “Gay Conversion Therapy”…
Merit for All Scouts – Maybe
“They’re going to allow people to discriminate.” The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that it is considering changing its longstanding policy against allowing people who identify as LGBTQ to become scouts. A story on Huffington Post states,”NBC News cites a number of ‘scouting officials and outsiders familiar with internal discussions’ who say a revised BSA policy would not only lift the ban on gay participants from the national youth organization’s rules, but also allow local sponsoring organizations to decide for themselves whether or not to admit gay scouts.” But Zach Wahls, who has been leading a campaign fighting to include lesbians and gays in the Scouts, points out the BSA’s proposal doesn’t go…
Ministers, Get to Know Your Youth!
Youth ministry is all about relationships! Ministers often don’t know where to start with the youth in their congregation. But the minister sets the tone for building and maintaining a healthy multigenerational culture. Here are the three basic steps I recommend as a starting point: Learn everyone’s name. This is a powerful signal that you care about them as individuals. Hang out with your youth once in a while. You don’t have to solve problems or offer advice; spending time with them speaks for itself. Meet with your graduating seniors in a one-hour pastoral conversation, perhaps the single most cost-effective thing you can do to help stay connected to your youth…
S. Colbert: Meet C. Rock
Tongue in cheek or cheeky observation? Watch Chris Rock highlight how complicated race in America can be, a point with which UUs would surely agree. - Ed. Chris Rock’s message for white voters: Obama is not-so-secretly caucasian Ever since the US elected its first mixed race president, there have been many conspiracy theories surrounding the identity of Barack Obama. The Tea Party say he’s a socialist, Donald Trump reckons he wasn’t born in the USA and now comedian Chris Rock has a new one to try out on the electorate: Is Barack Obama white? Rock has made his campaign video as a direct appeal to white voters who, polls indicate, “are supporting Mitt Romney to the…
Oh, Unitarian Universalist Nation!
UUism on the Colbert Report Stephen Cobert brought his steely regard to bear on Unitarian Universalism in a segment about evangelical Christian minister Billy Graham removing Mormonism from his list of “cults” after his endorsement of Mitt Romney. Colbert goes on to expound about other religious groups that Graham considered cults, including, “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.” He sarcastically describes “the dangerous Unitarians” with rules “so loose that their three sacred texts are the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Free to Be You and Me.” The clip where UUism was mentioned is available here. Begin watching at around the 3 minute mark to get the full context of…
