SWUUC Chalice Lighters Fall Call 2012 awarded to...

...the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston (Texas)!  They have requested the grant for the purpose of:  Creating a Multi-site Church – joining the congregations of First UU Houston, Northwest Community UU Church, and Thoreau UU Congregation, into one church, three campuses.


NW and Thoreau UU have experienced significant shrinkage in the last few years due to various difficulties. First Church will help ensure that they have (respectively) quarter-time and half-time minister, programming, support, and reliable, quality worship services, as well as administrative support.  The funds received would be used towards the cost of additional minister, and publicity for the kickoff of this new venture in growing UUism. 
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UUA's Statement on Hurricane Sandy
Read the UUA's statement on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy here:
http://www.uua.org/news/announcements/280786.shtml
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Submissions Requested for Anthology of Meditations for Spiritual Leaders

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A Wish for the Holidays from Standing on the Side of Love
Between now and the end of November, 20,000 children will take part in "A Wish for the Holidays" by writing letters expressing one shared wish: end deportations so that all families and communities can stay together. We invite your congregation to participate in this project and use it as an opportunity to foster multigenerational involvement in your social justice work. Learn more about this campaign here: www.WeBelongTogether.org/wish.
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Nominations for UUA Board Youth Observer

Nominate yourself or your best and brightest youth leaders to be the Youth Observer onthe UUA Board by April 23!

http://www.uua.org/re/youth/leading/observer/183581.shtml

The December 2011 edition of the UUA monthly Congregational Bulletin is now available.
http://www.uua.org/communications/bulletin/
Cooking Together is LIVE!!

Our GA 2012 open source resource sharing site is now live.  If you have or come across stories that would be good to share, please do so.

 http://immigrationjustice.blogs.uua.org/

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Association Sunday in the Southwestern Unitarian Universalist Conference

Thanks to all the SWUUC congregations which participated in Association Sunday 2011. Click "Read More" for more details.

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Regionalization
Wondering what's going on with your district and regionalization?  Here is some information from Terasa Cooley, Director for Congregational Life.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0vIFWyxrY8

UUA Pamphlets
 

The newest pamphlet To the Point: 15 Elevator Speeches offers a diverse collection of brief responses to the question “What Is Unitarian Universalism?” from Peter Morales, Forrest Church, Bill Sinkford and others. You can read the full text and purchase packs of 25 from the UUA Bookstore at http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1508

 
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Breakthrough Congregations for 2011 are up on UUA website

Inspirational stories of the 2011 Breakthrough Congregations can be found on the UUA web site, at http://www.uua.org/growth/breakthrough/index.shtml. These stories can also be found on the main navigation bar on the lefthand side of the Growing Your Congregation's Membership page (http://www.uua.org/growth/)

Apply Now for Moderator, or Nominate Your Candidate
Gini Courter's term as Moderator of the UUA will be up in 2013, and we need to find the best possible successor. Who do you think should be the next Chair of the UUA's Board of Trustees? Who is the best person to preside at General Assembly? Who, using different language, is best qualified to be the Chief Governance Officer of our Association?
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Massachusetts Tornado Relief Fund for UU Congregations
As you have probably hears, a series of storms and devastating tornadoes ripped through western and central Massachusetts recently.  Click on to find out how you can assist the recovery.
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Share Your Story!

Equual Access is searching for stories of inclusion, hospitality, and creative thinking by our congregations.  If you have a personal story of how a Unitarian Universalist congregation overcame barriers (physical or attitudinal) to welcome a person with disabilities, please share it.

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Interview with SWUUC Minister

Our own Rev. Ron Robinson was interviewed extensively in this piece on Tulsa public radio.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kwgs/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1782856/Local..and..Regional/Project.School.House.The.Turley.Impact

Japan Relief Fund - UUA
Please join with Unitarian Universalists throughout the United States by contributing to the UUA's Japan Relief Fund, which will support the work that our Japanese partners pursue.
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Your building project could be in the UU World!
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UU History and Heritage Prizes

The UU Historical Society announces several prizes for sermons, essays, stories, poems, and other written projects.

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Two SWUUC Congregations Tale Leap of Faith
Check out the new article about Leap of Faith on the UUA.org site. http://uuworld.org/news/articles/172771.shtml
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Common Read for Congregations
This is a common read invitation for congregations to read and discuss The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands by Margaret Regan (Beacon Press, 2010). Project details and a flyer can be found here: http://www.uua.org/publications/commonread/index.shtml
CONGRATULATIONS TO EMERSON UU CHURCH
for being picked as a Leap of Faith Congregation.
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Worship Web

The office of Worship and Music Resources has added more material to the Worship Web on UUA.org. In addition to the chalice lightings, readings, and sermons that have long been available, you can now find new resources including songbooks, articles on music in worship, and tools for creating multigenerational worship services.

It's Our 50th Anniversary!

The Stewardship and Development staff group hopes that you will help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1961 merger that created the Unitarian Universalist Association by taking up a special collection for Association Sunday. Please sign up today and let us know that you are planning an Association Sunday event for October 2010.

Building a New Spiritual Home? Renovating?

The Congregational Stewardship office has financing options available to congregations wishing to build a new spiritual home or make renovations to their current one. You can choose from several different loan and grant options, including a green construction award for congregational renovations that receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. 

Greater New Orleans UUs Support the UUSC-UUA Haiti Fund
The Greater New Orleans UU churches have raised $2,929 for the UUSC-UUA Haiti Reflief Fund. See full text of a letter written to Don Skinner (editor of Interconnections) by Rev. Jim VanderWeele of Community Church UU in New Orleans. Note: Community UUC raised additional funds after this letter was written, for a total of $1,360.
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Letter from UUA President Rev. Peter Morales
The Rev. Peter Morales has a letter announcing organizational and staffing changes posted on the UUA website. The letter can be accessed at http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/158959.shtml.
Huntsville Fellowship has First Service in New Building
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Champions of Change piloted in SWUUC
As an outcome of the SWUUC District Fall Conference 2009, the new Champions of Change pilot program has been born. We are very excited about this new lay leader development program and, to this point, the five participants are indicating that the program is being quite helpful. Please see Wayne Clark's blog (see below) for an overview of the program and bios of the participants. Check out the Congregational Stewardship blog at http://congregationalstewardship.blogs.uua.org/ Purchase Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship at (800)215-9076 or https://www.uua.org/bookstore.
Catalyst now available

The recent edition of Catalyst is now available in the Congregational Bulletin. Catalyst is a newsletter from the UUA Office of Racial and Ethnic Concerns. It contains information on upcoming events and news from Unitarian Universalist organizations, including the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) and Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUM).

New Resource Page for congregation members and leaders

The UUA Office of Electronic Communications is excited to announce that a new recommended resources page is now be available as part of the February 1st debut of a revitalized UUA.org! The new resource page has multimedia content, news, updates, and more for congregation members and leaders.

Images of the Outdoor Spirit Journey
Are you interested in exploring art and spirituality? Have you ever stood quietly before an image that just seemed to speak to you on a spiritual level? Are you a photographer –at any skill level? If this sounds interesting to you, please join this discussion forum. It will be a wonderful opportunity for us to share and explore our best nature photographs.
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Announcing the Alice Southworth Schulman, Class of 1954, Simmons Scholarship for Unitarian Universalist Women
Got a student attending or planning to attend Simmons College in Boston? Read more her for a scholarship opportunity.
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Updating Membership List Online with my.UUA.org – Deadline for next UU World mailing is this month!

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Watch "The People Speak" on the History Channel
Sunday, December 13
8 p.m. Eastern
The History Channel
Please check your local listings
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Congregational Certification of Membership now available

The Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA) online Congregational Certification of Membership system is now ready to certify your congregation's membership and statistical information!  In addition, congregations are invited to participate in the Congregational Poll, which decides whether to admit a revised Draft Statement of Conscience (SOC) on Peacemaking to the final General Assembly (GA) 2010 agenda, and which proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAI) to admit to the final GA 2010 agenda. 

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New Addictions Ministry Website now available

Please check out the new Addictions Ministry website at http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/addictionsministry/

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Rev. Dr. Forrest Church (1948-2009)
It is with a sense of loss that the Ministry and Professional Staff Group informs you of the death of the Reverend Dr. Forrest Church. He died on Thursday, September 24, 2009, after three years of living with esophageal cancer. His death was peaceful and he was at home in the presence of family and friends. Rev. Church was sixty-one years old. Please see the UUA website for Rev. Church's complete obituary. http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/151146.shtml. The UUA website also contains a remembrance of Rev. Church by author Theodore Sorenson. http://www.uua.org/news.newssubmissions/151160.shtml. A service to commemorate the life of Rev. Church will be held on Saturday, October 3, at 4:00 pm at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, 157 Lexington Ave. (at 80th St.) New York NY. The Reverend Galen Guengerich will officiate.
Friday Web-Cast Call to Get SSL Started in Your Community

Getting Started in SSL!  Join Weekly Friday Calls 1 PM EDT

Standing on the Side of Love Campaign and UUA Staff will be holding weekly 45 min. web-cast conference calls to share resources and best practices with people coordinating Standing on the Side of Love activism in their congregations.  Calls will include how to get your congregation involved, how to develop a local campaign, how to use new media, how to bring SSL to interfaith colleagues and allies, and more.

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New Website for Standing on the Side of Love
The UUA launched a new-and far improved-Standing on the Side of Love website late last night.
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What Should the Commission on Appraisal Study Next?

To answer this question, take our online survey at:

http://www.uua.org/coa
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Spanish Language Hymnal Recalled

I felt a special pride and satisfaction when our new Spanish language hymnal, Las voces del camino (Voices on the Journey), was published a few weeks ago.

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New Name for UUA Staff Group
District Services now Congregational Life
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UUA President statement marking the first anniversary of the Knoxville shootings.
UUA President Peter Morales has issued a statement marking the first anniversary (July 27) of the tragic shootings which occurred at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. 
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UUA President Responds to Shooting at Holocaust Museum
"My prayers go out to all those who were harmed physically and emotionally by this senseless act of violence. Hate crimes strike against our nation's highest values-equality, justice, and diversity." Read more.
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Live Oak UU Church Endowment Accepting Grant Proposals
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UUA President makes statement

Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. William G. Sinkford issued the following statement regarding the murder of Dr. George Tiller:

I am shocked and outraged by the brutal murder of Dr. George Tiller.

America has lost a decent and courageous man. My heart aches for Dr. Tiller's grieving family and for the congregation of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, where the shooting took place. This extreme act serves as a heartbreaking reminder that our churches have become increasingly vulnerable to ideological violence in recent years.

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The 2009 UUA Fair Compensation Guidelines are now available
As you prepare your congregation budgets this year, make sure you check the UUA guidelines ( http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/compensation/) to make sure you are paying those who serve your congregation a fair wage.  If you have any questions on this matter please contact the district office or our compensation consultant, Gay Lambirth.
New Items Added to RE Library
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Membership Book Opens for New Congregation
The San Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Gathering in Georgetown, Texas (north of Austin) is well on its way to affiliation with the UUA. Welcome!
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