Track 1 - The Future of Unitarian Universalism: A Conversation for Religious Professionals 40 and Under

FOR: Ministers and religious educators age 40 or under, (possibly board members and strong youth leaders). This is mostly an invitation only track, but if you’d like to be included please contact Jennifer Nichols at jnichols@uua.org.  

Tandi was on the UUA Growth Team that gathered 12 of our most dynamic ministers to talk about the growth of Unitarian Universalism. The conversation was video taped and expanded into a book.  Your Program Specialist Jennifer Nichols thought, “what if we replicated this for religious professionals under 40?” 

Our time together will be an experiment inspired by that earlier experience. However, rather than a marathon of discussion, our time will include games, art, reflection, small group exploration, as well as video-taped interviews and discussion. 

How does Unitarian Universalism form how I am in the world?

How does my leadership shape Unitarian Universalism?

What are the gifts and challenges of our contemporary UU congregations?

What is your yearnings for our faith?

What do you wish the previous generations understood about your experience of Unitarian Universalism? About our contemporary congregations?

What do you wish for the next generation?

Is we were starting completely over in creating Unitarian Universalist religious community what would it look like?

And more questions that bubble up to the surface? 

Come and let’s see what we co-create together…

Track 2 - Examining Your Mission Field

 Leader: Rev. Susan Smith

Track 3 - Worship: From Theory to Practice

This Worship workshop covers everything that used to be covered on this topic for Dwight Brown Leadership Experience and then some. Beginning with the premise that worship involves everyone in the congregation as either leaders or worshippers. This training will prepare you to better understand not only how to lead worship, but the theory and rationale behind what Unitarian Universalists hope to achieve in worship services. You will learn about services for adults, children, inter-generational, youth, multi-generational as well as ones such as joint Thanksgiving Services with interfaith congregations.

Participants will have the opportunity to create short worship services for each other as well as the final service for the entire camp on Sunday morning.

Worship literally means "considering things we deem worthy." As Unitarians & Universalists deconstructed traditional Christianity during the 19th century, with an emphasis on reasoned-out rather than inherited faith convictions, our ancestors pulled us out of traditional theistic metaphysics. Ralph Waldo Emerson admonished us to "trust your own mind," and Theodore Parker urged us to see the permanent in religion, not the tropes, leading to an applied faith premised on moral teaching and the gospel of love. 

Then humanistic naturalism led to a model of worship that was primarily didactic, emphasizing this life, while centered on logical positivism as a prevailing epistemology. It also meant we are not just skeptical, but highly suspicious about vague intonations of "divinity," "the holy," and any notion of a god of history or intervention. The result: typically "head-centered" lectures that provide - not often enough - "intellectual stimulation" - but seldom touch the heart, let alone demand life transformation. 

Moreover, we devalue "sacred" space by thinking of worship as one of the many activities that take place in multi-purpose rooms, rather than the central act of a faith community. Far too rarely do our sanctuaries evoke anything but a utilitarian aesthetic. Add to that the challenges of the feminist critique of patriarchalism, the birth of pagan religiosity, and a renewed commitment to multi-culturalism, it all becomes a challenge to seek something more the lowest common denominator.

Said less elegantly: Most of what passes for "worship" (or all to often "programs") is deadly dull, shallow, amateurishly executed and not tied in any consistent way to the great legacy of the Free Church. 

Where does leave us today? In need of a worship reformation! We can do much, much better.

This worship track will seek to show ways to return worship to the center of the faith community - not just on Sunday. Can you imagine your Board meeting as a worship? Is it possible to conduct a stewardship campaign deeply focused on our "transcendent centers of power & meaning?" What will it take to create an energizing worship that makes a difference in the lives of today's and tomorrow's Unitarian Universalists.

Some other themes for our time together: How to appeal to all the senses. How to include children for the whole of worship - not just 10 minutes. How to use music, drama, dance and still appeal to our minds. How to integrate diverse theological premises (yes, the atheists and pagans can celebrate together!). How to use today's readily available audio/visual resources - with careful attention to copyright. What kinds of liturgy are worth looking at? How does the worship leader lead?

Track 4 - Shaping Your Stewardship

 Would you like to breathe new life into your congregation’s stewardship or are you new to the process and would like to learn more? During the weekend workshop we’ll cover what motivates people to give, how to get your members comfortable with talking about financial commitments, different options for the annual budget drive, tools to educate and motivate your congregation, year-round stewardship methods and how to plan well for success.

The sessions will be a combination of presentation, exercises (fun ones that don’t make your muscles hurt) as well as time for questions and answers. Come, participate and return to your church community with ideas and tools to ramp up the funding for your mission and vision!

The course will be most helpful if each congregation sends a team. Please send no less than two and no more than four leaders.

Track 5 - UU Identity

EVERYTHING WE DO IS FAITH DEVELOPMENT, All We Teach is Unitarian Universalism, The Congregation is the Curriculum

 The “UU Identity” module aims for the following:

What it means to be a Unitarian Universalist is at the core of our faith, yet many people find it difficult to express this concept. In this module we will look at our perceptions of UU identity, examine it as a dynamic process, explore the many names by which we identity our UU self. We will share ways in which we celebrate our UU identity, then examine what it means to live this identity. Finally, we will share ways we can take these tools back to our congregations. UU Identity is one of the modules offered through Renaissance Program for religious educators and others in our faith community.

Explicit Goals

· To create an understanding of identity as a process

· To become aware of how the process unfolds

· To identify ways to foster the process, specifically among Religious Education participants and generally among their congregations

Implicit Goals 

· To help participants identify their own growth as Unitarian Universalists

 · To create an interactive environment for discussion and for the sharing of ideas

Philosophy of Religious Education

 Multiculturalism

While the program is open to everyone interested, the UUA and the Religious Education Committee of the Southwest UU District strongly encourage people working in religious education to participate in the Renaissance Program.

Track 6 - Building Multicultural Coalitions