Just want to know if anyone here from Florida is a Christian? Just seems like the UUA in florida puts at the back of the line. What to meet more UU Christians.

https://www.uuworld.org/articles/psc-application-start

Association’s next chief executive and spiritual leader to be elected at General Assembly 2023

Elaine McArdle 4/4/2022

A new Unitarian Universalist Association president—the public, spiritual, and executive leader of the UU movement and the UUA organization and staff—will be elected at General Assembly 2023, for a six-year term.

The person elected will succeed President Susan Frederick-Gray, who was elected at the UUA’s General Assembly in 2017.

The Presidential Search Committee (PSC), which the General Assembly created in 2010, is tasked with evaluating applications for president and selecting at least two nominees.

The PSC posted the application form online on Monday, April 4, 2022. From this day on, it began accepting applications. The deadline to submit applications is July 15, 2022. Nominees will be announced on November 15, 2022.

The six-member Presidential Search Committee comprises the Rev. Theresa Soto; the Rev. Jaimie Dingus; Denise Rimes; Cathy Seggel; James Snell; and Marva Williams. The team said that, while it anticipates nominating two nominees, it would consider nominating a third if there are three standout candidates.

In accordance with the job description, UUA bylaws, and Massachusetts law, a candidate must be “a member in good standing of a UUA member congregation; a resident of the United States; at least 18 years of age; able to travel extensively and work both weekdays, weekends, and evenings, and able to spend a significant amount of time in Boston.”

Candidates may also run by petition rather than through the PSC process. The petition process opens on December 1, 2022, and closes on February 1, 2023. Candidates who run by petition must follow a process outlined in Bylaw 9.6a (PDF), which requires that their petition is signed by no fewer than fifty certified member congregations, including at least one congregation from three of the UUA’s five regions.

Continuing the UUA’s commitment to dismantling white supremacy culture and other systems of domination and oppression—and receiving a wide pool of diverse applicants—is a top commitment of the search committee.

It is addressing this commitment in a variety of ways, including making sure its members have done continuing education, along with the rest of the UUA staff, on disability justice, and accessible and inclusive hiring practices. The PSC will also be doing work around implicit bias in order to be open to a variety of candidates.

As the process for applications is heavily dependent on written communication, the PSC offers any potential applicant the option to contact the committee with suggestions for a different form of application that better shows off the applicant’s gifts and perspectives, and it hopes people take that opportunity.

The PSC is also seeking input and advice from different stakeholders. Members of the committee are meeting with a variety of UU organizations, including DRUUMM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries), BLUU (Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism), TRUUsT (Transgender Religious professional UUs Together), and EqUUal Access, to get their input and to encourage members to apply or to nominate leaders from their communities.

The 2023 election is only the second election in which the PSC has been involved. While the committee is basing much of its process and timeline on the previous PSC’s work, it has a more condensed timeline because the presidential election period has been shortened.

The committee has also sought the reflections and input of the previous PSC, as well as from current UUA President Susan Frederick-Gray and other candidates from the 2017 presidential election in order to learn and to improve the process based on their perspectives.

https://www.uuworld.org/articles/congregations-change

UU congregations across the country are grappling with change. Here are five that chose equity and inclusion over “the way we’ve always done it.” How might your congregation engage with change?

In 2020, after years of consideration, two congregations previously named for Thomas Jefferson voted to rename themselves, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville, Virginia, and All Peoples, A Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Louisville, Kentucky. As Charlottesville explained in its announcement, “We want to choose a name that will not obscure our values of working for justice and undoing racism behind a name that tells a different story to many.” Louisville’s announcement said, “perhaps even more important are the lessons we’ve learned along the way about letting go of the old, fostering empathy, trusting each other, and embracing a better version of ourselves.”

When the UU Church of Greater Lansing, Michigan, relocated to a former school building in 2016, the congregation recognized that the increased space opened new opportunities for community engagement. It now partners with the local Refugee Development Center to offer free English classes, legal assistance, and social support for immigrants.

Since 2015, First Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has partnered with Y2Y Harvard Square to provide a 4,725-square-foot shelter and daytime drop-in center in its basement where homeless youth and young adults can connect with various resources. The student-run shelter has remained open during the pandemic.

In 2021, the UU Fellowship of Central Oregon in Bend voted to remove pledging as a requirement of membership in favor of a wider understanding of ways to be supportive, accountable, and in covenant with the congregation. “We wanted the membership procedure and requirements to reflect our values and principles and to fit with what we say we believe—that truly all are welcome,” writes Susan Kinney, past president of Bend’s board.

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I will add one more to this list:

https://firstjefferson.org/home-page/about-us/name-change/

Name Change!

And Then There Were Seven…

Name Change Voting—Round Three on Sunday April 17

With two rounds of elimination behind us, we’re getting very close! Round Three of voting for the new Name for the church will be on Sunday April 17. Like we’ve done the last two weeks, the revised list of names still in the running will be posted on the large plate glass windows in the foyer. This time you’ll get ONE colored sticky dot to use to place on the Name that you prefer. And also, like last week, if you are not able to vote in-person at church you will have the option to vote in our online poll. Check your email on Sunday for a link to the online poll.

A Name Change Town Hall meeting is scheduled for all interested members and friends this Sunday, April 17 after church at 12:30 pm in the Sanctuary. The purpose of the meeting is to review where we stand and our ongoing process in advance of the final vote at our congregational meeting next month. One issue we’ve already identified is about the use of the word “Church” vs. “Congregation” in the Naming. We’ll add this to our agenda. You can also use this forum for campaigning for your favorite Name and how it might advance our mission and vision.

The Name Change committee will have some sandwiches and cookies available for a light lunch, in addition to the coffee hour snacks provided.

Thank you for your robust interest and participation in our Name Change process. Please direct your questions and/or suggestions to [namechange@firstjefferson.org](mailto:namechange@firstjefferson.org) We hope to see you at church on Sunday!

List of Proposed Names

All Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist
Chosen Faith Congregation, A Unitarian Universalist Community
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Worth
Harmony Unitarian Universalist Church
Labyrinth Meadow Unitarian Universalist
Shady Creek Unitarian Universalist Church
Ten Pines Unitarian Universalist Church

https://clfuu.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/1277214

How might Unitarian Universalists understand and relate to Islam, as a faith tradition? Please join us for this three-part seminar, co-sponsored by the Church of the Larger Fellowship and the First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for Unitarian Universalists to move into a deeper understanding of the Islamic faith and its beliefs & traditions.

Unitarian Universalist-Muslim leaders, Reverend Summer Albayati and Reverend Doctor Mellen Kennedy will co-lead this seminar. Advance registration is required.

This class is being offered at no cost to participants. However, if you feel called to support our ministry and help us offset the administrative and instruction costs of running this and similar classes, we invite you to make a donation.

Upcoming Dates

• May 11, 2022--------7–8:30pm EDT
• May 18, 2022--------7–8:30pm EDT
• May 25, 2022--------7–8:30pm EDT

This has been on my mind for a while since joining UU. I grew up a Christian (later Catholic) and my husband grew up Catholic but not church going. We attend our UU congregation almost every Sunday but we don’t have a ritual or anything we do at home. We don’t pray before bed or meals like I did growing up. I would like to incorporate a daily practice into our lives but I feel like I need ideas! Do you have a home chalice you light? do you do something for your spirit in the morning or evening? Would love to hear from you all!

Would anyone happen to know which hymns in the gray or teal hymnal were written by people of color? I mean, aside from the obvious ones, like spirituals or hymns written in Spanish.

I have been requested to select hymns by people of color for this coming Sunday and am not sure how to go about this without falling into clichés (spirituals, songs written in Spanish) and without simply Googling to hopefully get a picture of each composer/lyricist.

I did a brief search on the UUA website and all the worship materials I have seen so far about Beloved Community are all text.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep looking on the UUA site & googling.

From the author: "The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is attempting to both increase general UU membership and greatly increase racial minority membership. While the goals are admirable, the UUA’s approach is ill-conceived and likely to fail."

https://davidcycleback.com/2022/05/05/why-the-uua-is-doomed-to-fail/

First off, I have been attending a Baptist church for the last year or so. I started going after an experience with God; I was an Athiest, who prayed out of desperation, and my prayer was answered. I love the church I attend, the pastor has been a great tutor for me and has helped me understand the Bible and a bit about God. My problem is that I've always felt a bit outside. I have a real hard time accepting Jesus as a God-Man and the trinity seems strange to me still. I prefer to think of God as acting through the limits of the Universe, miracles can happen, but they are within the boundaries of what is actually possible. I believe God can do miracles, but for example, I don't believe in the virgin birth.

I've read a bit about Unitarianism on Wikipedia, and it seems more right, as far as how it aligns with my beliefs. Would you say this is correct? I would like to more firmly understand what a Unitarian is and what they believe regarding Jesus and God, as well as how they think of scripture and other works.

I consider myself Christian Universalist meaning for me that I don’t believe in damnation, at least not in the infernal suffering sense. I was raised Protestant, namely Baptist and Methodist. I’ve been to an Episcopalian church and I liked it, I liked the people. I don’t know how common it is for Catholics to be Universalists or for Universalists to incorporate Catholic practices into their lives, such as the rosary. I have rosary beads and I want to incorporate that into my life. I don’t know of any specifically Catholic Universalist churches, but I suppose there is probably something like it somewhere.

Hey! I'm coming to my first UU event next week but I have a few questions regarding the demographic. I understand that UU is all-inclusive and accepting and the principles are the reason I want to be apart of UU, but I am a little bit self conscious about not being around my age group. I'm 19M and Asian descent, would there be any members around my age?

It was a bit of a culture shock. I’m used to fancy graphics, rock bands, and flashing lights with my Sunday message. I’m used to feeling uncomfortable in the seats, sticking out like a sore thumb with my not-so-passing trans self. I didn’t feel right at home per say. I didn’t feel terrible either. I’ve been questioning the beliefs I was raised with for a long time and it’s hard to find a religious home or community that I connect with. So, UU Reddit, I ask you: why do you believe what you believe? What does this church have to offer? I understand about love and inclusion, but what are the deeper meanings behind the beliefs? In general, what would you want someone testing the waters like me to know?

EDIT: Thank you guys so much for the responses! You all have been so nice. Reddit is always hit or miss with engagement when I post. I’m very grateful for each and every comment though. Getting some insight into what I’m stepping into is definitely making my choice easier. I will try to ask about getting more involved next weekend. I also saw something on my local church’s site about a newcomers kind of class. I’ll check that out as well.

Greetings.

So, I recently got involved in theologic questions, and came across this post, in wich someone explain that God hate him because he had sexual relations, notably with people of the same sex.

I try to explain to him that homosexuality isn't a sin, and that it is okay, but there also are some people that tells him he can't be forgiven, that homosexuality will forbid him to have the love of God and these things.

I can see he is distressed, and I want to help him, but I think that if I am alone in saying that God love him, while other people send their favourite homophobe passages of the bible, he risk to get to hate himself more and more.

Do you think you could help him ? I just ask you to be kind and patient.

​

The link to the post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/u2r5wc/losing_my_mind_seeking_god_but_he_rejected_me/i4kue16/?context=3

is there any online UU services that are online? if not would anyone wish to organize one? perhaps we could do it in vr

sat siri akal, and hello everyone. I am a sikh without a Gurdwara (sikh temple) in my area. from what i have read the UU looks like an accepting place, and i am wondering how it would be to attend a service with you all? in Sikhi we have a concept called "sat sangat" the sangat is the people around you on a similar journey through spirituality, or their quest to understand god/the universe. i feel like i am missing this aspect in my life currently. as a Sikh we believe all god/gods are the same just described and worshiped in many different ways, as long as the people/person of any religion are on the path to be closer to whatever they believe we are all the same. we are taught that there is truth in all different paths, and encouraged to learn from and about other religions. would a bearded man with a turban be welcome in the UU? would there be opportunity to involve myself and serve the congregation and the community? thank you for your time.

Do any of you have any resources for individuals abused by religious professionals as adults? I have exhausted my resources and do not wish to report by the UUA.

This past week I was so nervous, because I had volunteered to speak to my local UU community. I did on Sunday and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

I’ve been just thinking about the future and I feel that of all the churches I’ve researched, if I wanted to take my future children to a church and make that a part of their life, the UU church is the one I most would want to become a member of. My question though is this: as a queer family (I’m a lesbian and so I’d be attending this church with my wife and kids) would I be welcome, and would there be a decent portion of queer couples and families who attend? I want my kids to be exposed to other families like theirs and I’m curious for people who already attend what the demographic of the average congregation tends to be like.

A few months early but I'm preaching Flower Communion and want to know what everyone's favorite part is while I put together the order of service.

Can I believe in a pantheon of gods and still be a UU?

https://www.docdroid.net/auOOaC6/erwin-schrodinger-my-view-of-the-world-2008-cambridge-university-press-pdf

I've been UU off and on for several years, but only the past few months have I been in a place in life (and physical location) to be able to join and regularly attend an actual UU church, which I absolutely love. My partner and I recently got engaged and we're discussing having the wedding at the church, led by our minister (which I suppose is typical of church members). I've been curious, how does a UU wedding differ from a more traditional Christian wedding (I was raised Southern Baptist so that's my main frame of reference)?

My husband (36M) and I(35f) attended the only UU in our city today for the first time. I was very surprised by how outdated everything seemed. I am atheist, but was raised in a charismatic non-denominational Christian church... We had great music with a large band and several singers, and the place was lively and, well, charismatic. There was always a great buzz in the air. I didn't expect that of the UU; I'm weary of charismatic leaders anyway (too much hype, not enough substance), but I didn't expect this to be so... Boring.

This UU sung from a hymn book. It felt like the times when I was a child and went with my friend to her grandma's church... I'm not trying to be rude; just blunt. My husband and I couldn't think of the words to describe how the reverend spoke, but my husband mentioned he felt like he was at a slam poetry event. She spoke in flowery language but then in the next sentence would describe in layman's terms what she meant. 🙄 Lots of talk of social justice, which is good. But nothing was really uplifting, nor did it give a sense of community. Maybe I'm being too harsh for my first time, but I've read in this sub from others who talk about how UU is failing to attract younger members, and I can greatly see why. I still filled out the paperwork with our info and turned it in, and we were happy to donate as well. Just disappointed and wishing we found somewhere fun-ish/inspiring/energetic where we belong, without the dogma that comes from regular churches.

What kinds of things would you hear about in a UU sermon? Like what kinds of things would they talk about, and what kinds of things would your kids learn about in them? I am just curious.

I am always interested in how people find out about UU. Please select how you came upon it and if what you have experienced is not an option in the poll, please feel free to comment below. Thanks and have a great day!

View Poll

Lately, I have been heavily questioning my religious beliefs. I grew up in a Christian household with somewhat liberal views compared to the people surrounding me. Though, my family still has some more conservative views on certain issues. After interacting with the more conservative/fundamentalist side of Christianity I have become more disillusioned with it as a whole. Yet I still have a hard time coping with the existential dread that comes along with atheism. I used to feel a deep connection to the world and people that I no longer do. I have always had more humanistic/progressive views and heard this place might be a good fit. Has anyone here experienced this? Does anyone here consider themselves religious? Any advice on how to navigate this problem?

https://www.vocesnovae.org/vonnegut-requiem

So I was introduced to Kurt Vonnegut through Slaughterhouse Five in high school English class; it became my favorite book and Vonnegut my favorite author. I may even have this requiem played at my funeral in addition to having "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt" inscribed on my tombstone.

Hi everyone, I found out about this religion (if thats what you call it?) from my (future) university’s resources for LGBTQ people wanting to find churches/temples/etc. I was raised Christian, pretty conservative, so being a lesbian has made it difficult to have religious or spiritual beliefs. I’m not necessarily atheist either though. Anyhow, when I went to the churches website I really loved a lot of things it said, but I also noticed it was very vague. I’m curious what a service actually looks like. Do a lot of people have different beliefs? Is there any set belief on like God or gods etc? I will most likely try the UU church there when I move in August as well as the Episcopal church. I just don’t know what to expect. Thanks!!

I consider music in its various forms to be a spiritual force, capable of touching people's hearts and making their lives richer, even if for a short time. We need it just as we need food, water, and oxygen.

So I invite all members of this subreddit to submit their favorite and most inspirational songs and musical works for all to listen to and learn from. And I will start with this:

Valley of Healing Waters - 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-befrYhjEOY