How do we respond to the impact of this pandemic in our lives? We work together. Recently, five congregations in Western Pennsylvania have joined together to share worship in rotation- each taking a different Sunday. By doing this, less energy needs to be focused on worship and can instead be directed at supporting individual congregants during this difficult time.
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery
What mistake do you hope to avoid making tomorrow?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple—that’s creativity.”
—Charles Mingus
What have you made more beautiful through simplifying it?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.”
—Victor Pinchuk
Where do you see art and creativity shaping our society?
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We used to say that humans were the only animal to make tools, but that turns out to be flat-out wrong. It would be misguided to say that we are the only beings to make art—don’t whales create songs? We are, however, the only animal to have figured out the glories of cooking. Go, humans!
How do you express your creativity through food?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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It kind of seems like a miracle—that one can make warm, wearable art with intricate, beautiful patterns, just with some string and a couple of sticks.
What act of creation astounds you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Each year hundreds of UUs look forward to Central East Region’s Summer Institute (CERSI) especially the hugs, ice cream with families, long conversations with friends, pop up jam sessions and interesting classes. However, like everything else in the Summer of 2020, Summer Institute had to cancel due to COVID-19. Cancel? After 40 years of this wonderful intentional community, cancel? The Planning Committee and other leaders who work on SI all year long went through the stages of grief like a lot of people who have had to cancel plans.
Continue reading CERSI Creates Alternatives for Event on UUA.org.
“In the rising of the sun and in it’s going down, we remember them…. So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.”
Who are you remembering this Memorial Day?
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There is nothing delicate about the process of ironwork—it involves searing heat and bludgeoning pressure. The act of creation isn’t always pretty, even if the results are.
When have you been through the fire to bring something to birth?
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“Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity.” -T.S. Eliot
What endeavors do you worry about?
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“While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die—whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness.”
—Gilda Radner
What glorious uniqueness do you celebrate about yourself?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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There’s no question about it: The world as we knew it no longer exists. The upheaval to “normal life” caused by the coronavirus might also bring an upheaval to the structures that keep inequalities in place – but it’s not guaranteed. The pandemic has certainly drawn much wider attention to the inequalities that have always been present in daily life. And even without a pandemic disrupting life around the globe, our planet is confronted with an even greater existential threat: the climate crisis.
Continue reading People, Power, Planet: The 2020 UU@UN Intergenerational Seminar on UUA.org.
We might not all have the same flexibility or the same moves or even the same sense of the music, but that doesn’t stop us from all being in the same dance.
What creative endeavor do you like to do in conjunction with others?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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So… You’ve run some Zoom meetings where a few folks chatted away, enjoying each other’s video and audio. Perhaps you’ve ventured into larger scale production and are conducting Sunday Services via Zoom. But what if you’re called on to stage a full congregational meeting, with formal debate on motions followed by auditable voting?
When his brother died of COVID-19, Mark Hicks helped to plan a meaningful memorial for his family. This is his story.
“Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you’re passionate about something, then you’re more willing to take risks.”
—Yo-Yo Ma
What are you passionate enough about to take a risk?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Central East Region of the UUA
We are living in times that are upending our routines and requiring us to think in new ways. We know there is no tried-and-true answer "out there" for us to research. We need to think adaptively and that means we need to try different approaches and see what works best.
Continue reading CER Staff Offer Gatherings for Congregational Leaders on UUA.org.
There’s something irresistible about a big box of crayons. Even if your picture isn’t going to use all those colors, it’s still nice to know that they are there.
How is your creativity enhanced by broader access to resources?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.”
—Brene Brown
How has a failure led you to something unexpected and new?
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UUA Congregational Life Staff Group, UUA Ministries and Faith Development: Credentialing and Professional Development Office
Companioning one another spiritually is one of the most important ministries of a faith community. It’s often referred to as “Pastoral Care,” which might imply that the Pastor should do all of the care. But ministry in congregations is meant to be shared between ordained and lay leaders.
When we are lied to—particularly by those in authority—the world feels less safe, less trustworthy. Actually, the world becomes less safe and less trustworthy. The truth is an essential commodity.
What are sources that you trust to tell you the truth?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Please join our ad-hoc group of Indigenous people and allies to urge your Members of Congress to take appropriate actions to protect the lives of our Indigenous loved ones – and all people – living in federal prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue reading Congress, #ReleaseOurRelatives! on UUA.org.
Thomas Edison said that “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Malcolm Gladwell claims that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to gain true mastery of a skill. Creative genius is great, but it rarely turns into anything notable without a whole lot of hard work.
What do you care enough to work hard at, even though you don’t get paid to do it?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Dear Leaders,
As states around the country begin to loosen guidelines and take actions to reopen, even as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb, we have received many questions from congregations about returning to in-person gatherings.
Continue reading Message from the UUA President: Updated Guidance for Gathering on UUA.org.
“Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.”
—Twyla Tharp
In what non-artistic way are you creative?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Carving is the art of making things beautiful by taking bits away.
What has become more beautiful to you by having less of it?
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The great joy of blogging and social media is you don’t have to have someone immediately available who wants to listen in order to have your say about things that matter to you.
What do you want the world to know?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Susan Frederick-Gray, Ashley Horan
Dear Leaders,
I am grateful to share my weekly message today with the Rev. Ashley Horan, the UUA’s Organizing Strategy Director. We write to share an update on UU the Vote and how it is pivoting in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
UU the Vote launched last fall with a mission to mobilize Unitarian Universalists to combat voter suppression, have values-based issue conversations in their communities, mobilize new and infrequent voters, and provide spiritual sustenance for faith-based electoral organizing.
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
—Erich Fromm
What have you discovered by letting go of what you knew?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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"..if we could perhaps do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us…."
—Pablo Neruda, "A callarse" ("Keeping Quiet," translated by Stephen Mitchell)
One of the regular columns in our small town, weekly newspaper is the Animal Activity Blotter from the Animal Control Officer. It’s my favorite thing in the paper. Here is a recent entry:
Continue reading Startled into Noticing on UUA.org.
A bicycle full of flowers is a pretty ineffective form of transportation. On the other hand, if you insist on filling your bicycle baskets with groceries you will have no room for flowers.
How have you given an item new life by reimagining its purpose? How have you given yourself new life by reimagining your purpose?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Now that we’re entering our third month of social distancing, we’re beginning to discover the possibilities (and well as the limits) of maintaining a virtual religious organization.
At the MidAmerica Regional Assembly on April 18, 2020, our Keynote Speaker Taquiena Boston, Special Advisor to the UUA President on Equity, Inclusion, and Change, asked these questions in her keynote address:
Continue reading Design for Dismantling Systemic White Supremacy on UUA.org.
Maybe showing a highly adorned face to the world is just showing off, or an unwelcome focus on appearances. Then again, maybe the elaborate exterior is an expression of the creativity inside that deserves its place in the sun.
How do you like to adorn yourself?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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The Gaelic holiday of Beltaine marks the mid-point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, the beginning of summer. It celebrates creativity in the most fundamental way—fertility.
What do you see growing in your life?
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“When we work with love we renew the spirit; that renewal is an act of self-love, it nurtures our growth.”
― bell hooks
How do you renew your spirit through acts of love?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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The UUA Board of Trustees has passed a resolution to make the 2020 General Assembly a 100% virtual event. This decision alleviates the anxiety and concern shared by many about how GA might proceed given the impact of COVID-19. It also gives the Association time to plan a more robust and rewarding virtual experience.
Continue reading Opportunities for Connection ~ May 2020 on UUA.org.
“Specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart; this nullity imagines that it has attained a level of civilization never before achieved.”
―Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Continue reading Refusing the Lie on UUA.org.
We sure could use a reset button on the world, right? Unfortunately, all we get are all the tiny ways that each of us nudges the world in the direction we hope it will go.
How will you nudge the world today?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.”
― Isabel Allende
What hidden strength have you seen come forward during the present crisis?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“rise
said the moon
and the new day came”
― Rupi Kaur
Who or what compels you to rise?
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Music, in its infinite variety, is a potent source of renewal, moving our minds and hearts to places we could not otherwise have traveled, moving our bodies in synchrony to the beat.
What music moves you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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This gallery of web-optimized chalice art and is available for informal use. Right-click on any image to save it to your computer. You may edit these images with any graphics-editing software.
Please use the current UUA Logo available for public communications of your Unitarian Universalist (UU) group.
(Some of the chalices below are also available as fonts.)
Association for UU Music Ministries (AUUMM)
Looking for new music for your worship service that you can also use online? Check out this resource!
The AUUMM Music Database is maintained by volunteers from Association for Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries. It was created to assist music directors, choir directors, songleaders, ministers, and other worship leaders to find appropriate music choices to enhance their worship services. It is also a tool to help Unitarian Universalist composers and lyricists disseminate their music.
Continue reading Expand Your Choices for Worship Music with the AUUMM Database on UUA.org.
“There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.”
―the character of Gloria Dump in Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Continue reading Holding On and Letting Go on UUA.org.
“The problem is not entirely in finding a room of one’s own, the time alone, difficult and necessary as that is. The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities. In fact, the problem is how to feed the soul.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh
What helps you to find stillness in the midst of your activities?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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After self-isolating for more than five weeks, I had my routine down. My wife and I still got up before 8 a.m. I'd make coffee and she'd walk the dog (wearing a mask, of course). We'd both work in our respective offices for most of the day. In the afternoons, sometimes, we'd do yoga in the living room. At night we'd make dinner together, then watch something, then go to bed. Repeat.
Continue reading Caring for Our Mental Health in the Pandemic on UUA.org.
A weekly guide to stories about Unitarian Universalists from other media sources
In the TV shows people are transformed—made over—by changing their hair, clothes and makeup. In real life how we change our appearance rarely has a significant impact. But people do make over their lives in surprising and transformative ways, heading off in new directions.
How have you made over your life?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Early in the pandemic crisis my mind kept wandering back to a poem written by my former minister and mentor, Rev Rudy Nemser. The poem, “Long-Haul People,” reminds me that congregations thrive on a million small acts of attention and commitment over weeks, months and years and it is through those acts that we grow the resilience to weather the kind of crisis we now find ourselves in.
David Pyle, MidAmerica Region of the UUA
At the core of the commitment to one another in our covenant is how we care for one another as religious communities. And yet, in times of crisis, conflict, or challenge, the patterns of how we have cared for one another in other times can break down. This webinar will explore both practices of how to care for one another in times of crisis and challenge, but also how the care itself must change because of these times.
Continue reading Pastoral Care in Times of Crisis on UUA.org.
“If there is nothing new under the sun, at least the sun itself is always new, always re-creating itself out of its own inexhaustible fire.”
― Michael Sims
What keeps you going?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Crossing from the dark into the light feels like an invitation, a welcome into the comfort of the familiar. But crossing from the light to the dark—the known to the unknown—is its own kind of invitation, one that holds, perhaps, the greatest potential.
What unknown are you moving into?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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.
“When this ultimate crisis comes… when there is no way out―that is the very moment when we explode from within and the totally other emerges: the sudden surfacing of a strength, a security of unknown origin, welling up from beyond reason, rational expectation, and hope.”
― Émile Durkheim
What, in this present crisis, is welling up in you that is beyond rational expectation?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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UUA Program and Strategy: Outreach Office
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.
“What is the scent of water?”
“Renewal. The goodness of God coming down like dew.”
― Elizabeth Goudge
What form of water provides you with a sense of renewal?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Tandi Rogers, UUA Congregational Life Staff Group
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.
Continue reading What Color is Your Ministry Traffic Light? on UUA.org.
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.
“Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over a period of seven years. That means there’s not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.”
― Steven Hall
What is the greatest change you see in yourself from seven years ago?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“Life is the principle of self-renewal, it is constantly renewing and remaking and changing and transfiguring itself, it is infinitely beyond your or my obtuse theories about it.”
― Boris Pasternak
How have recent events upended your theories about life?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Phillip Lund, MidAmerica Region of the UUA
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
Continue reading Virtual Gatherings for Small Congregations on UUA.org.
Phillip Lund, Sharon Dittmar, MidAmerica Region of the UUA
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!
Continue reading How To Do Small Group Online Gatherings on UUA.org.
Sharon Dittmar, MidAmerica Region of the UUA
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.
Jan Gartner, MidAmerica Region of the UUA
SLIDES from the presentation (PDF)
Continue reading Human Resources 101 Part I Staffing Matters During COVID-19 on UUA.org.
Pacific Western Region of the UUA
Rev. Tandi Rogers hosts a panel of ministers from a West Coast epicenter. Discussion includes:
What is important to know about:
Continue reading Panel Discussion from a West Coast Epicenter of COVID-19 on UUA.org.
The most important phase of building isn’t building at all—it’s the unglamorous work of preparing a firm foundation. Without the mess of digging down to solid footings, the fanciest building is likely to crumble.
What unglamorous work are you doing to lay a firm foundation for what will come later?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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.
Continue reading Tips for Designing Worship Elements for Online Memorial Services on UUA.org.
Sometimes life gives us no choice but to prove how strong we are. But other times we deliberately seek out challenge, proving to ourselves and others that we are tougher and more capable than we could have known otherwise.
How do you choose to challenge yourself?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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West Shore UU Church, Cleveland, OH
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.
Continue reading Ohio Youth Learn About Homelessness on UUA.org.
“As wave is driven by wave
And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,
So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,
Always, forever and new. What was before
Is left behind; what never was is now;
And every passing moment is renewed.”
― Ovid
What are you glad to have left behind you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Not everything broken can be repaired, and not every loss can be replaced. We go on, cleaning up the mess that loss leaves behind as best we can, but we also need time and space for mourning.
What loss are you mourning?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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
Continue reading WEBINAR: Conversations for Liberation on UUA.org.
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:
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.
Continue reading COVID-19 and MWLS: Our Pledge to You on UUA.org.
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.
Continue reading COVID-19 Resources from the UUA on UUA.org.
“I can hardly wait for tomorrow, it means a new life for me each and every day.”
― Stanley Kunitz
What is your hope for tomorrow?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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).
Continue reading Two ways to do collective action with Love Resists and our partners on UUA.org.
UUA Congregational Life Staff Group
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?
Continue reading Is it Legal to Hold Congregational Meetings Online? on UUA.org.
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:
Continue reading Opportunities for Connection ~ April 2020 on UUA.org.
Community UU Congregation at White Plains, White Plains, NY
Are you struggling with how to share your virtual programming with your members? Here is a resource for you!
Continue reading Community UU Congregation in White Plains Shares Outreach Plan on UUA.org.
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:
Continue reading Creating Grief Kits for Times of Physical Distancing. on UUA.org.
Why, when there is so much grandeur up above, would a person choose to look down at the floor? Perhaps because the floor is also beautiful.
Where will you look for beauty today?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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“As a species we’re fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?”
― Stephen King
What do you do to counteract your natural inclination to pick sides?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Perhaps one measure of the power you are exerting is in how great the force is that comes out to oppose you. What you find pushing against you tells you just how much force you are bringing to bear.
What are you pushing against? What is pushing against you?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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
Continue reading Spiral Spiritual Practice in the Time of Corona on UUA.org.
Barry Finklestein, Stewardship for Us
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.
“The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth ― that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community ― and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.”
― Wendell Berry
What do you do to promote the commonwealth of your neighborhood or community?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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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.
Continue reading Worship Resources for the Covid-19 Pandemic on UUA.org.
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.
Continue reading Practicing Community Care in Congregations on UUA.org.
If we remain focused on the long view, the big picture, the grand goal, we risk missing what is right in front of us. The daily details of the immediate world matter. But if we never lift up our eyes to the distance we will never be able to choose where we are headed.
How to you balance your focus on the long vs. the close view?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation with no geographical boundary. Please support the publishing of The Daily Compass by making a $10 or $25 contribution (more if you can, less if you can't)! Thank you for your support!
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Sara Ascher, Roger Bertschausen, Alicia Forde
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
Continue reading A Spiritual Guide to Pandemic Resilience on UUA.org.
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.
Continue reading Dear Parents: It Will Be Enough on UUA.org.
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.
Continue reading Tips for Talking with Children About the Pandemic on UUA.org.
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?
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.
Continue reading Don't Let Scammers Take Advantage During Anxious Times on UUA.org.
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.
Continue reading Congregations as Employers During the COVID-19 Pandemic on UUA.org.
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