Help Create a Youth, Young Adult Sunday

Congregations are being asked to designate a Sunday in the fall of 2002 to recognize, celebrate, and raise money for youth, campus, and young adult ministries. The effort is part of the Campaign for Unitarian Universalism, a UUA capital fundraising effort whose goals include $4 million to support local, district, and continental efforts to build up youth and young adult ministries. Worship resources are available to help congregations plan their Youth and Young Adult Sunday events.

For help, and to register your Sunday event, contact the coordinator, Alison Miller (amiller@uua.org). Visit www.uua.org/sunday2002 or call (617) 948-6198.

The UUA Commission on Appraisal's 2001 Report, "Belonging: The Meaning of Membership," is now on the UUA Web site. It explores topics such as: What is it that people seek when they affiliate with our congregations? What is it that congregations owe to their membership?

Congregational lay leaders are invited to a daylong workshop on Thursday, June 20, immediately preceding General Assembly in Quebec City, on the topic of "identity-based conflict."

Workshop leaders are Jay Rothman and Randi Land, nationally known for their work with conflict resolution. Rothman is currently helping residents of Cincinnati and its police force resolve differences brought about by last spring's civil disturbance over racial issues. Visit their web site at www.ariagroup.com.

The workshop will be from 9 to 3 p.m. The opening event of GA proper, the banner parade and opening plenary, will be at 7 p.m. that evening. Details about workshop registration and cost are available from Tracey Robinson-Harris (trobinsonharris@uua.org), acting director, Department of Congregational, District, and Extension Services; (617) 948-6462.

Identity-based conflicts can include the following: the humanist-theist divide, gender disputes, sexual orientation conflicts, race/cultural issues, class divisions, members with children versus members without.

Rothman says, "Because identity-based conflict involves people's sense of who they are and what they care about deeply, it is often rooted in perceived threats to the group's need for dignity, recognition, safety, control, and purpose. However, if engaged effectively, it can bring to the surface people's most profound thoughts and feelings about what gives their life in their congregation meaning. Addressing identity conflict can be a source of ongoing learning and lasting change."

Barbara Brown, president of the Central Midwest District says, "Every congregation has some form of similar difficulties, especially in a denomination such as ours which welcomes many differing beliefs and tolerates them all under one roof."

Sponsors of the workshop are the UUA's District Presidents Association, the Department of Congregational, District and Extension Services; UU Women's Federation and the UU Ministers Association. Jay Rothman has previously worked with UUA field staff.

Harry Potter provided the perfect foil to Sept. 11's terrorism for children and adults at the UU Church of Kent, OH. "Most of us went into depression after Sept. 11," says religious education teacher Becky Haines. "Then I realized that the Harry Potter books could be a big tool to help our kids get through this hate crime. The author, J.K. Rowling, is saying, in my opinion, that hatred and bigotry are wrong choices to make."

Haines and others organized a four-day Harry Potter weekend in December, complete with costumes and a Hogwarts school. Haines collected costumes (graduation robes) from Goodwill and a paper dragon from a local magic shop. The church was decorated appropriately.

Children had to complete four tasks during the weekend: wear a ribbon supporting a cure for AIDS and donate a quarter to the Make-A-Wish Foundation; sign a blanket being made for an elder; choose a religious symbol to wear (chalice, Star of David, cross); write to President Bush about peace, and learn a song about peace.

Many adults, even those without children in the program, got involved. "I believe we made a difference," said Haines. "We built a community with this program. Adults are closer friends with children now."

Another teacher, Cari Orris, said, "It was an incredible imaginary experience for children and it reinforced UU values in so many ways. This is the kind of program that does much to make and keep kids UU."

For a copy of a handbook on how to do a Harry Potter weekend, send a small donation to cover copying costs to Haines at the church, 228 Gougler Ave., Kent, OH 44240.

Two on-line collections of biographies of historic Unitarians, Universalists, and UUs are available to help religious educators and others find the information they need about our past.

The Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography includes more than 100 biographies and 700 more are planned. Subjects range from television writer Rod Serling to Charlotte Masaryk, the first first lady of Czechoslovakia.

The second collection, Notable American Unitarians, a project of First Parish, Cambridge, MA, so far includes 50 biographies of Unitarians who made significant contributions to life between 1936 and 1961, including theologian James Luther Adams and Ida M. Cannon, a pioneer medical social worker.

Congregations are being asked to contribute this spring to the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) endowment fund. The endowment is to provide seed money for innovative programs to support the work of religious educators.

Congregations are encouraged to hold a Sunday service or special event to honor its religious educators and to raise funds at that event for the endowment. A packet of materials has been sent to each religious educator and minister with suggestions for services and fundraisers.

For questions or additional information packets, contact Gene Navias (ebnavias@aol.com), LREDA Endowment Committee Chair; (617) 436-2128.

Preliminary resource guides for the five study/action issues that will be voted on by delegates at General Assembly this June will be available by June 1 on the UUA Web site: www.uua.org/csw. People interested in learning about the issues prior to GA are invited to go to the Web site.

Small congregations (generally under 100 members) may subscribe to the Church on Loan program from The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).

Services include:

• Access to the CLF library of books, RE curricula, videotapes, and audio tapes
• Month of Sundays: complete worship services for use in small groups, including opening words, readings, hymn suggestions, a children's story; sermon, and closing words
• Quest, CLF's monthly publication with sermons by UU preachers and columns by CLF minister Jane Rzepka and DRE Betsy Hill Williams
• Up to 10 subscriptions to uu&me!, the magazine for UU kids from 7 to 12
• A resource packet containing CLF publications: Handbook of Religious Services, Religious Education at Home, Cycle of Seasons, Let's Get Together, Month of Sundays sample, the CLF Library Catalog, and more

The cost is $290 for the first year, $265 each additional year. Contact Lorraine Dennis (ldennis@uua.org), CLF administrator, for more information: (617) 948-6166.

May 1 is the deadline for nominating people for the 2002 Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism. Send names and the reason for nomination to Larry Ladd, Distinguished Service Award Committee Chair, UUA, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108. The award is presented annually at General Assembly.

Contact Nancy Lawrence (nlawrence@uua.org) at (617) 948-4303.

A list of frequently asked questions about church and ministerial finance, along with answers, is now available on the UUA Web site.

The questions, compiled by the Rev. Ralph Mero, director of the UUA Office of Church Staff Finance, address such issues as income tax status for ministers, health benefits, social security, the method of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service, use of parsonages, saving for retirement, and making financial plans.

Paper copies are available from Ralph Mero at 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; (617) 948-6421.

The UUA Bookstore has a dramatically improved Web site that makes shopping and ordering easier than before. The site, still at the old address of www.uua.org/bookstore, now includes bestseller lists and book recommendations from bookstore manager Rose Hanig. Customers may write reviews of books and learn what other books might be similar to one they're buying, just like Amazon.com.

"It's just magnificent," said Hanig. "With our old site, some people had trouble placing orders if they were using a certain server, such as AOL or Netscape. That won't happen with our new site." Charles McNulty, of the UUA's Information Technology department, did the setup.

Learning While Leading: Increasing Your Effectiveness in Ministry, a book by the Rev. Anita Farber-Robertson, provides case studies of new ways for clergy and lay leaders to learn to lead, and offers real-life examples of how more effective leadership enhances the vitality of the community and promotes the deepening of faith. (Alban Institute 2000). Item 7022 $15.95 at the UUA Bookstore, (800) 215-9076.

The UU Church of Arlington, VA (982 members), holds a "peace camp" for one week each summer. Last summer about 50 children from 5 to 11 attended. About half were from the church and the rest were from the larger community, including from two nonprofit organizations serving low-income families. The congregation hires a local couple, M.J. and Jerry Parks, operators of Little Friends for Peace, to run the camp. Using volunteer staffers from the church and the other nonprofits, they lead the children through cooperative games (instead of competitive), arts and dance activities, and conflict resolution excercises, giving them experiences that help instill peace, equality, and the ability to promote change.

For more information contact Sarah Munson (uuca@uucava.org) through the church, 4444 Arlington Blvd., Arlington, VA 22204.

The 2002 edition of the Church and Clergy Tax Guide is now available from Christian Ministry Resources, PO Box 2301, Matthews, NC 28106, (800) 222-1840.

Congregations are encouraged to obtain an annual copy of this reference. The new edition of this useful annual reference contains a summary of U.S. income tax changes effective January 2, 2002. Cost is $15.95 plus $4 shipping.

All UUA-sponsored e-mail lists have been moved to a new mail management program called Mailman to provide more reliable and easier-to-use service. Advisories have been sent to members of each list. If you have questions contact the managers of each list.

To keep up to date with news of the UUA, check the Web site frequently. The front page generally changes weekly.