Thanksgiving, JFK, gender, and more
Thinking deeper about Thanksgiving Rebecca Hecking acknowledges that Thanksgiving, even stripped down to the practice of gratitude, is a complicated holiday. Thanksgiving? Stuffed with history and...
View ArticleMandela, compassion, beloved imperfection, and more
Remembering Mandela The Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern celebrates Nelson Mandela’s long commitment to the work of justice. One would think that almost 20 years of revolutionary activism, 27 years in...
View ArticleComing out as UU, trauma and grace, Mandela, and more
Coming out as UU UU World editor Chris Walton—who blogged at Philocrites from 2003 to 2008—joins The VUU’s regular panelists for a discussion about UU blogging, challenging UU bloggers to return to the...
View ArticleRemembering Gordon McKeeman, winter celebrations, conversations and more
Remembering Gordon McKeeman The Rev. James Ford remembers the Rev. Gordon McKeeman, who died this week. Gordon taught that everything was a miracle. Universalism. He pointed to the holy. A Universalism...
View ArticlePlantations and privilege, miracles, collars and more
Plantations and privilege Because the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum stands to inherit land that was part of a slave plantation, she pays particular attention to the recent controversy surrounding Ani...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We share the world with people; and more from UU bloggers
We share the world with people A controversy broke out on Facebook while many people were preoccupied with Christmas. As the Rev. Tom Schade describes it, a holiday meme posted on the UUA’s Facebook...
View ArticleJust pray already, insufficient funds, and more
Insufficient funds The Rev. Theresa Novak shares a poem alluding to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Some dreams come slipping to us From somewhere else Just as we drift Alone in that...
View ArticleThirty days of love, reasons for blogging, squash plants, and more
Thirty Days of Love Many UU bloggers are responding to the Standing on the Side of Love “Thirty Days of Love” campaign. Alex Kapitan answers the campaign’s first question, “Why are we trying to be...
View ArticleRemembering Pete Seeger, Boomers in the pews, and more
Remembering Pete Seeger For the Rev. Dan Harper, who serves as a minister of religious education, “Pete Seeger’s greatest strength was his ability to sing for children and young people.” When he sang,...
View ArticleHot buttons, apocalypse, saints and sinners, and more
Hot buttons UU World‘s news coverage of the UUA Board of Trustees meeting in San Diego sparked a social media hubbub; UUA staff quoted in the article seemed to be inviting a shift in identity from “an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UUA outreach, the Mass Moral March, challenging classism, and more
A new logo for the UUA The UUA launched a new logo this week as part of a larger outreach effort. Online reactions—particularly in UU Facebook conversations—began rolling in almost immediately. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UUA branding, siding with love, a faith that matters, and more
Branding: who we are, what we do, why it matters UU bloggers continue to react to the new UUA logo, announced last week as the first part of a comprehensive brand strategy. The Rev. Dawn Cooley...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Universalist roots, living our faith, pink triangles, and more
Old roots, tender leaves When an unaffiliated congregation with deep Universalist roots reaches out to potential UU guest preachers, seminarian Claire answers the call. I see in that fledgeling...
View ArticleObserving Lent, winter’s lessons, soul-searching, and more
Observing Lent The Rev. Tony Lorenzen loves Ash Wednesday’s Universalist message of acceptance. If there is anything that’s missing sometimes from the contemporary Unitarian Universalist worship...
View ArticleFighting hard battles, Cosmos, evangelism, and more
Fighting hard battles Liz James tells her story of becoming a shoplifter while in foster care—and unlearning the habit. I thought that the choices I made were solely mine—that I became a thief through...
View ArticleWild grief, Fred Phelps, dementors, and more
Wild grief The Rev. Meg Riley experiences “wild grief,” first in her childhood hometown, and then while staying in the UUA’s recently-sold guesthouse in Boston. I knew that I was grieving the loss of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The problem with UUism, organizing for evangelism, marriage equality, and more
What if the baby is the bathwater? In this week’s long-form must-read, “long time friend” John Halstead explains why he hasn’t become a member of the UU congregation he attends. What holds me back, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Convincing ourselves first, ironic racism, the gift of laughter, and more
Convincing ourselves first The Rev. Tom Schade writes that UUs need—right now—to stop worrying about what’s wrong with Unitarian Universalism. We have to tell people what we know; our testimony of...
View ArticleTruthtelling, saying goodbye, small congregations, and more
How are you, really? Faced with severe financial hardship, Kathleen McGregor has trouble finding the energy to blog; it takes everything she has to not fall through a frayed safety net. It is not that...
View ArticleResurrection, letting our light shine, creative turmoil, and more
Revisiting resurrection The Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg reexamines what Easter can mean in a UU context. It’s not about whether there was a resurrection 2,000 years ago, it’s whether the way of Jesus can leads...
View Article