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Annual conference, which had been scheduled for June 24–28 in Providence, Rhode Island, will take place entirely online, UUA announces.

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The goal of the Unitarian Universalist (UU) brand identity is to create a shared way for Unitarian Universalists to effectively communicate who we are, what we do, and why it matters. There is power in numbers. The more UU congregations, groups and individuals who use the brand identity, the louder our voices can become and the more likely we are to break through the media noise with our message of healing and hope.

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Do you remember playing a game as a child called Traffic Light where a leader called out “green light!” and we children behind them would race to tag them. And then they’d call out “red light!” and we’d stop instantly.  Sometimes so suddenly that we’d fall over with the momentum and giggle in a pile.  When “yellow light!” was called we’d move into slow motion, exaggerated running pantomime toward the leader.  The goal in this game is to tag the leader first, and then you become leader.

Boston, MA — The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is changing its annual General Assembly (GA) conference to an all-online event to expand access and ensure the health and safety of all participants given the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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This webinar is designed for small congregations that are new to using the Zoom meeting platform for virtual worship and other church activities. Together we go over the basics of Zoom and look through the contents of the "Guide to Streaming Sunday Services, Meetings, and Classes" webpage at UUA.org.

Please read the Guide first.

Originally presented March 2020

Recently we have heard people say “we will have to cancel our covenant groups.” Not so! Small groups of all kinds can still meet online. Covenant groups can continue, as can a variety of new congregational online groups – art groups, game groups, story groups. Watch to explore how your community can stay connected while we are all at home. As always we welcome your input and suggestions about online congregational groups you love!

While our congregations are not meeting in person, many of us are wondering how to continue to collect funds. One way is digital giving, whether that is through text or app. We explore four possible sources for digital giving currently used by UU congregations, how they work, fee structure, strengths and weakness, and how to communicate their existence to your members and friends. Includes questions/answers and your stories of what you are using for digital giving and how they work.

SLIDES from the presentation (PDF)

Rev. Tandi Rogers hosts a panel of ministers from a West Coast epicenter. Discussion includes:

What is important to know about:

• Pastoral care
• Sunday morning
• Leadership support, including board, Staff
• Annual meetings
• Stewardship
• What Justice and connection to the larger community looks like now (after all of the internal stuff is a bit calmer) 
• How to be a source of and connection to accurate information.

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When designing an online memorial service there are some worshipful elements that can enhance the experience. These are a few ideas that will hopefully spark creativity for your own situation and context. Again, there is no right way to do this! We humans need to be together during times of grief, and an online service cannot meet the deeper needs.

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For the last eleven years, youth at West Shore UU Church have spent a cold winter’s night outdoors to raise awareness of homelessness in our community, called Homeless on Hilliard. This year, we decided to do things a little differently. We added a day of learning at an organization working with people experiencing homelessness and we opened registration to UU youth in the Cleveland and WACKY (Wooster, Akron, Canton/Cleveland, Kent, Youngstown) Clusters.

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As I am sure you all suspect the in-person training on April 17th in Deep Canvassing has been cancelled. The GREAT news is that we are going to be able to offer this same content ON-LINE.

Register TODAY tinyurl.com/u28fyg6

Wednesday, April 29, 2020
8:00 pm to 9:00 pm EDT

Right now, with the Coronavirus and COVID-19, it is hard to predict where our country will be by the time Leadership School starts on July 12th. Here is our pledge to you:

1. We will make the decision about whether we need to cancel the in-person leadership schools by no later than June 1st. We will be following the guidance of the CDC, as well as Illinois State Health Department, and will be working in partnership with Illinois Wesleyan to ensure that it is safe to hold this event in person.

With outbreaks of life-threatening disease spreading and the increasing impact of pandemic near, we can often feel helpless. But as communities of faith, we have a significant role to play in the prevention of pandemics and the response to pandemics when they occur.

The UUA has a central page on their website for congregations facing the Covid-19 pandemic:
https://www.uua.org/safe/pandemics.

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As we face a time of societal struggle, grief, and uncertainty, two things we’ve found to keep us going on the Love Resists team are being in close community with others (online video gatherings, mutual aid networks) and taking action to tip the scales of recovery towards a people-centered response (The People’s Bailout campaign).

Many congregations’ bylaws require regular board meetings, annual meetings, and meetings of the congregation’s members to call a minister or make other important decisions. During a pandemic, when large group gatherings are prohibited or discouraged, can a congregation legally hold such meetings to make important decisions?

Featured Resource: Resources for Your Congregation During COVID-19

Are you overwhelmed with how to manage your congregation with all the changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic? The UUA Safe Congregations Team is curating a growing collection of resources specific to novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The local and national situation is changing day-by-day and hour-by-hour. Your UUA staff will continue to update these resources as needs evolve.

Where to find information:

Are you struggling with how to share your virtual programming with your members? Here is a resource for you!

In a time of physical distancing, how might we respond to deaths that cannot yet be marked by gathering in person? 

You may want to create Grief Kits that can be delivered to the backdoors or porches of congregants.

Our Grief Kits are paper bags containing:

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If we were to be given a pill to be convinced, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay,” would that elicit from us our greatest creativity and courage? No. It’s that knife edge of uncertainty where we come alive to our truest power. ~ Joanna Macy

A large majority of our congregations are facing the start of a new church year on July 1, 2020, and budgeting for the new year is very much on everyone’s mind.  There is no telling how the pandemic will affect pledge drives underway, nor fulfillment of current year pledges. Congregations also fear the loss or reduction of other income from rentals, fundraisers, plate collections, and other contributions.

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Sometimes circumstances call for special material—and the current pandemic is one such circumstance. We're grateful to the people here who have written and shared worship resources for worship in the time of Covid-19.

Dear Congregation Leaders,
 
I am so grateful for your ministry. Each day brings more difficult news of the impacts of coronavirus on our communities, our health systems, our economy, and our congregations. I am heartbroken to share with you that a few Unitarian Universalists have died from COVID-19 and a number of congregations are experiencing multiple cases of the virus among their members. We at the UUA also have staff members in quarantine. Together, we are all learning how to best support and care for one another.
 

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Dear Friends,

As this health crisis reaches all corners of our global family of faith, we the representatives of the International Unitarian/Universalist Joint Working Group wish to offer our heartfelt prayers, thoughts, and blessings to you and your communities. We know this is a difficult and troubling time and that each of you is striving to serve your people as well as you are able given the social distancing restrictions and the economic struggles facing so many of us.

Back when zombies were new again and watching post-apocalyptic dramas seemed like entertaining escapism, I convinced my husband Mat that it would be fun to take a class through Salt Lake continuing education called “In Case of Zombies: Plans, Provisions and Preparedness for Darker Days.” Living in Utah, where the LDS church has a robust End Days industry, I underestimated how seriously the teacher and other students in the class were taking this d

Hey parents who now have kids underfoot, I want to say something that might be shocking. I want to give you permission to NOT DO ANYTHING ACADEMIC with your kids. I want you to know that whatever you need to do to get through this slow moving crisis, it will be enough.

You don't have to become your kids' teacher. You don't have to do any of it. It's okay. Really. Especially those of you who are also still working, from home, trying desperately to do all the things while keeping the children occupied and not fighting.

Take care of yourself. Take care of yourself so you can take care of your children. Be a model for your children on how we experience fear, stress, and anxiety over issues we have no control over. Just like we are always reminded to put on our oxygen mask before helping others, we need to engage in self-care and spiritual practices to sustain ourselves so we can be present for our children.

You see an email or a text from your minister asking for a favor. You know they are busy, so you are happy to help! Could you buy some gift cards?  

STOP!

This scam is hitting hundreds of UU congregations. Ministers are heartbroken that bad actors are playing on the trust and good will of their congregants and exploiting it.

How can your congregation be a good employer during the COVID-19 outbreak? Caring for staff is an opportunity to model your values and spirit for the congregation, to demonstrate the kindness, creativity, and interdependence that these days ask of us. We will update this page regularly, as new questions emerge and new resources become available.

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Like for so many others, for me this past week felt in different moments like a nightmare, a cruel practical joke, and a bad movie. At the beginning of last week, I was gearing up for the first staged readings of my thesis project for Harvard Divinity School -- a full-length, original Biblical musical that was scheduled to run to two sold out crowds at a beautiful, prestigious theater. My mother was going to fly out from Indiana to celebrate with me.

When you're building up a team of lay pastoral caregivers in your congregation, it's important to ask good questions. Their answers will help you determine whether a prospective caregiver has the appropriate boundaries and skills for the role. Here are some questions that can help you assess whether their gifts should be put to use by the congregation as a lay pastoral caregiver, or perhaps in another way. 

As a parent of young children, the idea of staying home with my kids for two weeks makes me think: severe cabin fever.

Selfishly, I began wondering how our congregations can help. I mean, really, there would be days a five minute Facetime call with my six year old so someone else can hear all about her fish tank and how much she loves her fish would help save my sanity.

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Are you wondering what UUA publications you can use when streaming or posting recordings of your worship service?

Zoom is an affordable paid service that has both streaming and meeting capabilities. It is used by the UUA, its affiliates and many member congregations.​ At minimum, you will need a laptop computer, a webcam, Wi-Fi, and a Zoom account.

Participants will need the Zoom link and to download the free Zoom software to access the livestream.

Pros:

Dear Central East Region UUs,

We write today with an update on our event schedule this spring.  Due to the threat that COVID-19 poses to susceptible members of our UU families and communities, we will be canceling, postponing or re-imagining all regional events for March and April. This decision parallels decisions made in several other UUA regions. We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will make decisions about future events as we move forward into the spring.

Online meetings and streaming worship don't work well for everyone. Here are some tips and tools to make your online programs more accessible. Suggestions that we can add to this page are encouraged!

In this community, we hold hope close. We don’t
always know what comes next, but that cannot dissuade us.
We don’t always know just what to do, but that will not mean
that we are lost in the wilderness. We rely on the certainty
beneath, the foundation of our values and ethics.
—Rev. Theresa I. Soto, “We Hold Hope Close”

Resources from Past General Assemblies

• General Assembly 2019 Track: How to Be a Good Employer and Supervisor
• General Assembly 2017 workshop slides:

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“There is nothing unusual about feeling the suffering (or glory) of another life. This is how we are designed, to live in intimate relationship with all life around us.”
—Susan Raffo

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The following was a homily presented during the Re-Dedication of the UU Church of Wilmington, Delaware by Tracy Spinka-Doms, congregational president.

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Featured Resource: General Assembly 2020 - Rooted, Inspired and Ready!

General Assembly can be a transformative experience for all those who attend. The worship, the opportunities for networking, the workshops, the discussions - they all enrich the lives of those who participate. But it can also be expensive - registration fees, housing, meals and transportation add up. So how can you attend this event on a budget? Here are a few tips from your Central East staff.

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Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite.
—D. Antoinette Foy

content warning: pregnancy loss

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This blog post originally appeared in the UUA International Blog on February 19, 2020 under the title "Get Excited for the UU-UNO's 2020 Intergenerational Spring Seminar."

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The time has almost come for the 2020 UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar! With only two weeks left to register, participants have a lot to look forward to. Gathering from all over the United States and Canada, youth and adults with a shared passion for and commitment to international human rights will come together for an amazing three-day seminar to discuss climate justice and how to be a global activist.  

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“Search engines find the information, not necessarily the truth.”
― Amit Kalantri

"How do you make the best vegan chocolate?” This simple question started a three-hour journey down an internet rabbit hole. One video led to another: Coconut oil or cacao butter as a base? Raw cacao or cocoa powder? Sugar or maple syrup?  

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“Our planet is made up of two breaths. One comes from the oceans and the other comes from the trees. Today, the oceans are under severe stress of being able to provide this to the world.”

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"I live constantly with the awareness that there are no maps for what I am doing; that I am making the path as I go. Yet …even as I move across what seems like uncharted territory, there is a way that lies beneath the way that I am going.  We are all creating the road as we go. Yet beneath this, undergirding this, is a path carved by those who have traveled here before us.”
—Jan Richardson

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Lately I’ve been noticing how many common idioms use the language of extraction, exploitation, coercion or hierarchy:

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“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.”
—Amelia Earhart

My friend Ty is a rock star. I mean, he’s literally a rock star. His band Vintage Trouble has played shows all over the world, headlined music festivals, and opened for the likes of The Who and AC/DC. I love telling people about his success not because I want to name drop or bask in reflected glory, but because I’m so thrilled that the universe is blessing him a thousandfold.

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Rev. David Pyle, Regional Lead

By Mya Wade-Harper

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.—The Proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism