InterConnections Grows Up

InterConnections is nearing its eighth birthday and it’s time to give it some new clothes and, fitting with its growing maturity, some more responsibility in its efforts to serve you, the leaders of UU congregations. This issue offers you a taste of what’s to come, and in the fall you’ll see a lot more. The newsletter’s look will be freshened then, but the biggest enhancements will be in InterConnections’s online services and the way they work hand-in-hand with the newsletter.

The enhancements were set in motion when a group of UUA staff people got their heads together to brainstorm ways to elevate InterConnections to a new level of service to you. But timing of the enhancements—to begin in the fall—is determined by the coming availability of new software for the UUA Web site. To prepare for this, we are adjusting the newsletter’s publication schedule to free resources for the new Web efforts. The feedback available to us is that people tend to put high value on the newsletter, but that the summer issue arrives at a time of little activity in most congregations and is thus of limited use. So the newsletter will now arrive in mailboxes four times a year, in late August as leaders gear up for the new church year, and in October, January, and March.

The taste of our enhancements available in this issue is the box right on this page that calls louder attention to existing InterConnections Web services and guides you to e-mail lists and other resources that can be very useful to congregational leaders. This box will grow as new Web services become available, starting in the fall.

We are always thirsty for more feedback that will help us serve you better. If you have thoughts, I’d love to see them and share them with my brainstorming colleagues.

—Tom Stites
Publisher

Web Resources Guide

Answer congregational questions at InterConnections Resources, www.uua.org/layleader. It has four parts:
Leadership Quickstart: Answers to your immediate questions.
Resource Library: All copies of the InterConnections newsletter in a database searchable by topic or committee concern. Copy individual articles or whole issues.
Leadership Events: a calendar of workshops and conferences.
FAQ: More than 100 frequently asked questions, with answers.

Other essential resources:
E-mail lists for many areas of congregational life, including membership, finance, and public relations committees: www.uua.org/lists. Sign up and get help from experienced people in other congregations.
Congregational services: www.uua.org/cde.
Worship: www.uua.org/worshipweb.
Social justice: www.uua.org/justice.
Young adult ministry: www.uua.org/ya-cm.
Small group ministry: www.uua.org/cde/sgm.
Safety and ethics: www.uua.org/cde/ethics.

Congregational Data Available from UUA

Would asking questions of other UU congregations be helpful in drafting a strategic plan for yours? Would you like to publicize an event to more than just your congregation? Or advertise a new resource you’ve created? The UUA Data Services office can help you with mailing labels and database creation.

Cost is 10 cents per address. Data request forms and further information about these services is on-line at www.uua.org/congregation. E-mail data_services@uua.org or call 617- 948-4641. Addresses are provided for one-time use and not for fundraising without specific permission.

Young Adult Ethics Code Developed

The UUA’s Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministry has created a code of ethics for peer leaders in young adult and campus ministry. The code, available at www.uua.org/ya-cm/ youngadults/ethics.html, addresses topics such as self-care, time management, antiracism and antioppression, leadership development, and sexual ethics.

JUUST Change Helps Focus Justice Work

JUUST Change, a new service available from the UUA, helps congregations increase effectiveness in antioppression and social-justice work.

Consultants can help congregations identify leaders, develop mission and vision statements about their social justice work, set goals, and build partnerships in the larger community.
Congregations accepted for consultations are asked to commit to five days of consulting and to support the program financially. The cost is scaled from $1,250 to $1,850 according to size and Annual Program Fund standing. The next deadline for applications is October 1.
JUUST Change is a new approach to the antioppression focus that was the mission of the UUA’s former Faith in Action department.

For more information go to www.uua.org/programs/justice/antiracism/consultancy.html or contact the Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris, director for Congregational Services, trobinsonharris@uua.org, 617-948-6462.

Military Families Need to be Welcomed

The UUA’s Washington office has developed a new resource to help congregations welcome veterans and military families that focuses on the role all UU congregations can play in recognizing the human impact of the war with Iraq.

Writes the Rev. Alida DeCoster, "Whether our political and moral views lead us to support or oppose the war, as Unitarian Universalists it is important that we give our care and respect to those of our citizens who are risking their lives with courage every day. We can begin by educating ourselves better about the experience of military personnel and their families in our congregations and communities.”

Things congregations can do to make veterans welcome, according to DeCoster: Welcome them home. Thank them for their service. Ask military families how you can support them. Hear their stories. Help them connect with community resources.

To find out more, see "Welcoming Veterans and Military Families in Our Congregations and Communities" at www.uua.org/uuawo/new/article.php?id=589.

Defibrillators Enhance Safety at East Shore

After a member of East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Wash., had a heart attack at a church meeting and subsequently died, the congregation bought two automatic external defibrillators. One is kept outside the sanctuary, the other in the education building. Administrative staff has been trained in their use and in basic CPR. Religious education teachers will also be trained, says Andrew Ziskind, president of the board of trustees.
The units cost $2,000 each and were bought with donations at the church auction where each year, in addition to the goods and services offered, participants are asked to donate toward a specific item which has broad emotional appeal.

Justice Empowerment Workshops Available

More than 160 congregations have held Social Justice Empowerment Workshops to help create or strengthen justice programs. The day-and-a-half training includes how to choose issues to work on, how to fund a program, and how to involve members. The cost ranges from $300 to $1,000.

Find more information at www.uua.org/programs/justice or contact Susan Leslie, director of the Office for Congregational Advocacy and Witness at sleslie@uua.org or 617-948-4607.

Lamp in Every Corner Brings Faith to Life

A new book, A Lamp in Every Corner, by Janeen K. Grohsmeyer, features 21 original stories that bring UU history to life for children. There are “Who We Are” stories about UU heroes, “What We Believe” stories about our Seven Principles, and “How We Came to Be” stories about milestones in our religious history. Includes discussion starters. UUA Bookstore 800-215-9076 # 8040 $15

Stickers for Kids

A set of colorful stickers for kids, based on the new My 7 Principles booklet, is available from the UUA bookstore. The stickers, Item 9014, are $7. Included are eight sheets of 15 stickers each. For ages 3 and up. View it at www.uua.org/bookstore.

Good Works Occupy DuPage Covenant Group

When the 13 members of the DUU-Gooders covenant group at the DuPage UU Church, Naperville, Ill., get together, they’re more likely to sort food at a food bank or paint a hallway than talk quietly.

Group coordinator Ginny Pace formed the group to appeal to people who had a passion for action. The group meets twice monthly, once to do a social justice project at church or in the community and again to plan new projects and talk about past ones. Projects are generally done on Saturday mornings or weekday evenings. Group members wear T-shirts identifying themselves as UUs.

The group has done more than 20 projects, including sorting books for schools and prisons, gathering seeds from prairie plants, helping with Special Olympics, and doing yard work for elderly church members. The group presented a Sunday service describing how they “walk their talk.”

Annual Program Fund Rate Will Increase

The requested per-member contribution to the UUA from congregations will be $51 for FY 2005-06, and $53 and $54 for following years. Congregations with 550 or more members have the option of contributing 4.2 percent of total budgeted expenses.
Congregational contributions to the UUA’s Annual Program Fund (APF) provide about 40 percent of the Association’s income.

Deadline for contributions for the current fiscal year is June 30. For more information visit www.uua.org/giving/apf.

Congregations Find Summer Worship, RE Resources at CLF

It can be a challenge for small congregations to find appropriate and inspiring resources for summer worship and religious education. The Church of the Larger Fellowship has tools that can help.

More than 100 complete worship services are available online when you join the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s Church on Loan program, designed especially for small congregations. These services are each organized around a theme, and include sermons by UU ministers, hymns, a children’s story, and readings. See a sample at www.clfuu.org /churchonloan/mos.html.

In addition, the online archives of CLF’s publication Quest can be used by any congregation to supplement worship and R.E. offerings. Go to www.clfuu.org/quest.

San Diego Web Site Supports Ad Campaign

Interested in how a cluster of congregations can develop a Web resource to showcase their programs and activities and actively welcome inquirers? Check out the San Diego cluster of congregations Web site at www.uusandiego.org.

The Web site was developed in connection with the cluster’s current “I Believe” marketing campaign and is generally the first point of contact for people who have seen or heard the campaign ads and want to find more information.

The Web site has also been useful in spreading information among the various congregations about each one’s services and events. And when wildfires ravaged Southern California more than a year ago the Web site also served as an important and timely source of information.

New Online Church Aims To Serve Young Adult Community

For young adults who don’t have a church home, there is now the Church of the Younger Fellowship.

The result of collaboration between a group of UU young adults and the UUA’s Church of the Larger Fellowship, the CYF exists primarily as a Web site, http://www.uucyf.org.
The partner in this venture, the Church of the Larger Fellowship, ministers primarily through its own Web site to more than 3,700 religious liberals, many of whom live isolated from other congregations.

CYF is to be a virtual spiritual home for young adults who have not found a home in a bricks-and-mortar church or who are part of a church but would like additional religious experience, says Lorraine Dennis, the CLF’s executive director.

CLF Senior Minister Jane Rzepka adds, “CYF is a virtual faith community guided by Unitarian Universalist principles. Our dreams for it include young adult worship broadcasts, message boards with threaded discussions, on-line chat discussion groups, a calendar of UU national and regional events, joys and concerns, and a resource center for congregations that are interested in serving young adults.”

CYF members will also have a gathering at General Assembly June 23 to 27 at Fort Worth, Texas, where the formation of CYF will be officially announced. If you know young adults who might appreciate a CYF connection, send them to the Web site for more information.

On-line Site Helps Update UU World List

Congregations can now log on to www.uua.org/congregation using their congregation identification number and a password and get help with their UU World magazine membership list.

It’s now possible to print out a list of who in the congregation receives the magazine, edit the list (add new members, remove others who’ve left, and change addresses), and send it back to the UUA via postal mail. On the same site you can also change and delete addresses for InterConnections recipients.