Front Page News in 2003

December 2003

(12/23/03) UUA President William Sinkford's Holiday Message 2003 (includes video)

(12/11/03) An Interview with the new Moderator – Gini Courter

(12/3/03) The UUA Bookstore Can Fill All Your Holiday Giving Needs!
Looking for terrific music for the holidays for those on your list? The UUA Bookstore now carries a great selection of Putumayo World Music CD's. Featured are "Christmas Around the World", "Dublin to Dakaar," and, for the children on your list, "Dreamland," an award-winning collection of lullabyes and soothing songs.

Interested in a great calendar? How about the Putumayo World Culture 2004 Calendar or the Liberating Beliefs 2004 Calendar, compiled by the UU Women's Heritage Society. These and many other great holiday gift items are yours at the UUA
Bookstore!

(12/3/03) Find a congregation near you!
Finding a UU congregation has never been easier: you can find a UUA member congregation, get a map with directions to the congregation, and links to the congregation's website, all in one easy-to-navigate location. The holidays are a time to celebrate the season in a community of people with whom you can find acceptance and spiritual growth. Visit a UU congregation near you and become more engaged in our "Uncommon Denomination"!

November 2003

(11/25/03) Giving Thanks

(11/20/03) Religious Witness for the Earth holds interfaith "Service of Repentance and Renewal" on global warming

(11/18/03) Statement from Unitarian Universalist Association President the Rev. William G. Sinkford regarding today’s ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

(11/13/03) Start your holiday shopping NOW with Beacon Press and Skinner House Books!
Beacon presents "The Pueblo Imagination" by Lee Marmon, America's most renowned Native American photographer, in a beautiful book that will delight those on your holiday gift list. Read more about the book and order the book from the UUA Bookstore.
New from Skinner House Books and sure to be a hit with those who love inspiring prose: "Never Far From Home: Stories from the Radio Pulpit," by Carl Scovel, edited by Richard Higgins. Scovel writes, "My hope is that these fragments will move readers to open their eyes to the world as it is— with all its beauty, cruelty, and mystery— and there see God with the eyes of a newly awakened faith." Buy this book from the UUA Bookstore and check out the other holiday features as well!

(11/13/03) Got a family? Read the new issue of UU World!

(11/6/03) As California Fires Abate, Residents Struggle to Resume Lives and Livelihoods

(11/4/03) UU Support of Freedom to Marry for Same-Sex Couples Gains Momentum

October 2003

(10/31/03) PSW District Aid Fund Stands at $3,000; Fires Abate But Need for Aid Continues

(10/31/03) PSW District Fund Seeks Contributions to Deliver Aid to UUs and Communities Impacted by California Fires

(10/31/03) A Letter from William Sinkford to California UUs

(10/24/03) Civil Liberties Weekend is About You and Your Rights - Find out more!

(10/20/03) UUA Board of Trustees Elects Gini Courter as Interim Moderator

(10/17/03) Beacon Press Celebrates 150 Years of Publishing
Beacon Press, owned by the UUA and operating since 1854, is celebrating its 150th birthday in 2004, and the celebration has already begun with the publication of a new book by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning poet, Mary Oliver, "Owls and Other Fantasies," and a major new reference, "The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women," edited by Lauren Slater and others.

Publisher's Weekly salutes Beacon with an anniversary article in its current edition, noting that "It's no small feat for an indie press to reach its fifth birthday, an important indicator of long-term success. But nonprofit Beacon Press in Boston has passed that milestone 30 times and counting." A history of Beacon Press has also been published and is available, along with a variety of other resources for Unitarian Universalists, from links posted at http://www.beacon.org/uures.html.

All Beacon titles are available through the UUA Bookstore. Go to http://www.uua.org/bookstore/ and follow the links to "new from Beacon Press" for more information!

(10/10/03) "Give Same Sex Marriage Legal Blessing": Atlanta Minister Lends Support to Same Sex Marriage in Op-Ed Column

(10/09/03) UUA Staff Member Returns From Fact-Finding Tour of China

(10/3/03) Diane Olson resigns as Moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association

• Legal Opinion regarding special election for UUA Moderator 10/8/03
• Board Process for appointing a Moderator 10/8/03
• Letter from UUA President William G. Sinkford, 10/03/03
• Letter from the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, 10/03/03

(10/2/03) Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Annual Report on Giving, 2002-2003
The Unitarian Universalist Association's Annual Report on Giving, 2002-2003 is now available to read and print! It is in PDF format so if you don't have it please download the free software, Adobe Acrobat Reader, now.

• UUA Annual Report on Giving, 2002-2003
• UUA Annual Program Fund Report on Giving, 2002-2003

September 2003

(9/29/03) A Pastoral Letter From the Rev. William G. Sinkford

(9/29/03) The UUA's Monthly Packet to Congregations is now Online!

(9/29/03) Join in the Talk and Connect to UUs around the World On Line!
Did you know that nearly 20,000 UUs are involved in online communities hosted by the UUA? The UUA offers email lists to support social justice, leadership, growth, education, ministry, disseminate denominational information, and more. UUA-l puts you in touch with what's going on at the UUA. A list on Covenant Group Ministry offers information, support and tips for those involved in this popular small group ministry model. For a complete list of all the UUA's email lists, visit our website and connect to UUs around the globe!

(9/15/03) UUA President meets with the Dalai Lama

(9/8/03) Remembering those who died on September 11, 2001
Reflect on how the events of Sept. 11, 2001 have changed our lives, and read meditations and prayers written for the anniversary of these tragic events on our Faithful Reflections One Year Later website.

August 2003

(8/29/03) The UUA's Monthly Packet to Congregations is now Online!.

(8/25/03) Got Kids? Know Kids? Share Unitarian Universalism with them and enrich their lives - and yours!

(8/25/03) Visit a UU Congregation this week!
Did you know that each week, over 200 people visit the UUA website looking for a congregation to visit? If you're still searching for your spiritual home, find a UU congregation near you on our easy to access congregational search page!

(8/14/03) Share Your Faith. Share Unitarian Universalism's Good News!

(8/14/03) Read "A Chosen Faith" by John A. Buehrens and Forrest Church to take your faith deeper!

(8/14/03) Become an informed leader of your UU Congregation!
Visit the NEW InterConnections site for tools to help you lead effectively in a UU congregation!

July 2003

(7/1/03) GA Hometown Press Release

June 2003

(6/30/03) General Assembly's Friday Plenary III

(6/30/03) The War Over Gay Marriage , Newsweek

(6/29/03) GA 2003 Friday morning plenary features Sinkford’s report

(6/28/03) Words of 'reverence' roil a church , By Michael Paulson, Boston Globe

(6/28/03) Introducing Bible's wisdom to skeptics , By Rich Barlow, Boston Globe

(6/26/03) Opening Celebration & Plenary I

(6/26/03) Pres. William G. Sinkford's Statement on the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Lawrence et al v. Texas

(6/19/03) Welcome to Boston – Home of the UUA and the 2003 General Assembly by Dan Harper

(6/11/03) UUA President Speaks at Midwest Conference on Drug War and Racism

(6/5/03) Religious Leaders Call for Support of Civil Marriage for Gays and Lesbians

May 2003

(5/30/03) UUA President Returns from Jordan Following Interfaith Meeting with Iraqi Religious Groups

(5/22/03) National Geographic features UUA Holdeen India program grantee
The current issue of National Geographic, now on news stands, features an article on the "Untouchables" of India, or Dalits, and programs to help change the lives of India's poorest and most disparaged people. The National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights is featured in the story, along with their leader, Martin Macwan, whom the UUA's Holdeen India Program has recognized as a prophetic organizer since 1988. Macwan, the recipient of the 2000 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, notes in the article that his work would not have been possible without seed money from the Holdeen India Program. Under Macwan's leadership, this group brought the concerns of Dalit people to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

The UUA's Kathy Sreedhar, Director of the Holdeen India Fund, was intimately involved with the creation of the National Geographic article. She consulted extensively with the author, connecting him with the sources in India who could provide compelling testimony about the lives and struggles of Dalit people. Author Tom O'Neill and the National Geographic staff have provided unprecedented attention on the plight of the Dalit people. In a striking "Note from the Editor" in the opening of the magazine, Bill Allen proclaims that "The time has come for the denial and ignorance to end" and relates the struggles of the Dalit people to the struggles of African Americans in the United States.

UU youth groups and adult discussion groups might use this article as a springboard for talking about how the Holdeen India Program embodies the very best of Unitarian Universalist values and a UU commitment to justice. An excerpt and images from the article as well as video and support materials on the Dalits are available online at http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/index.html; the complete article is available by subscription through the website or on news stands.

(5/21/03) Unitarian Universalism featured in New York Times
(Boston, May 19, 2003) In an article published in the May 17, 2003 New York Times, writer Richard Higgins discusses UUA President William G. Sinkford's hope that Unitarian Universalists will reclaim a "vocabulary of reverence." Higgins reports that "in recent sermons, talks, and articles, Mr. Sinkford said he was struck by the fact that the association's Purposes and Principles... contain not one piece of traditional religious language."

The article, which also quotes rational atheists and humanists, including former UUA President William F. Schulz, is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/17/national/17RELI.html?tntemail1 (The New York Times requires you to register with their site to read all articles). A subsequent article by Kevin Eckstrom on the same topic has since been published on BeliefNet.com and has also run in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, http://www.beliefnet.com/story/127/story_12707_1.html.

To read these articles as well as sermons and statements by Rev. Sinkford and other ministers; participate in an electronic discussion on the subject, "Reclaiming a vocabulary of reverence within Unitarian Universalism" and more, please go to the new website, "Reclaiming a vocabulary of reverence within Unitarian Universalism".

(5/15/03) New from Beacon Press:
"The Best Things in Life Aren't Things" by Joann Davis

(5/8/03) Pastoral message, Being Prepared
by the Rev. Rosemary McNatt, The Fourth Universalist Society, New York, NY

(5/6/03) Interview with UUA President William G. Sinkford in Dharma World magazine

(5/2/03) Pastoral message, Skytalides Basket
by LTJG Eric Johnson, CCPO USNR, Unitarian Universalist Military Ministries

April 2003

(4/28/03) Pastoral message, Pastoral message
by the Rev. Jane Rzepka, Senior Minister, Church of the Larger Fellowship

(4/21/03) Pastoral message, Pastoral message
by the Rev. Barbara J. Pescan, Co-Minister, Unitarian Church of Evanston, IL

(4/14/03) Pastoral message, Pastoral message
by the Rev. Lisa Presley, Interim Minister, Paint Creek Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Rochester Michigan

(4/8/03) Pastoral message, Hope on the Horizon
by the Rev. Forrest Church, Senior Minister, Unitarian Church of All Souls, New York, NY

(04/30/03) UUA President Returns From Interfaith Meeting to Discuss Consequences of War

March 2003

(03/20/03)UUA President William G. Sinkford's Pastoral Prayer...For Those In Harm's Way

(03/20/03) UUA President William G. Sinkford's Statement Concerning the Military Actions of the United States

(3/18/03) From the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association

Dear Friends,

We wait, breath held, for what will almost inevitably be the coming of war. Some of us have participated in vigils for peace. Some of us believe that this war is necessary. But all of us now wait. And all of us need support.

The UUA staff has assembled a variety of resources to help. They are evolving, but there is already much on our website, and more will be added during the next 48 hours. If war comes, we will post both a statement and a pastoral prayer from me, which can be used in worship, or for personal reflection.

We wait, breath held. But we do not need to wait alone.
William G. Sinkford

3/13/2003: New from Beacon Press:
The Language of Spring: Poems for the Season of Renewal

February 2003

2/20/03 Four UU-connected couples join in seeking legal marriage from state's highest court

2/20/03 UUs Continue to Protest Impending War with Iraq in Large Numbers

2/14/03 Unitarian Universalist Astronaut Laurel Clark Remembered with Flowers, Bagpipes, and Warm Recollections

2/12/03 Supporting Freedom to Marry for All People

2/3/03 Unitarian Universalists Mourn the Death of Shuttle Astronaut Laurel Salton Clark

2/3/03 UUA President William G. Sinkford Reacts to Columbia Disaster

2/1/03 Freedom to search
Unitarian Universalists find liberation in individual interpretations of God
By Tom Kisken, InsideVc.com

January 2003

1/31/03 UUA Board of Trustees Send Letter & Resources Regarding Potential War with Iraq

1/31/03 UUA Staffers To Go On Trial for Civil Disobedience

1/29/03 Focus on the Economy:
"Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes" - new from Beacon Press! ISBN 0-8070-4718-X. Buy this book now from the UUA Bookstore! In this compelling book, Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth, argue that individual wealth is a product not only of hard work and smart choices but of the society that provides the fertile soil for success.

Meanwhile, on Capital Hill January 27 to call on legislators and appeal for a halt to proposed tax cuts that would benefit only the rich, UUA President William G. Sinkford reflected the arguments of Gates and Collins: "The proposed new round of expensive tax cuts are designed to benefit the few, and are being proposed at a time when support for the many is being threatened and reduced. We're at war for the soul of America. We need to win this war so that America can be saved, so that the vision of our democracy -- which not only promises but provides life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- can become real." Sinkford's statement reflected the Statement of Conscience passed in 2000 by the UUA General Assembly on Economic Injustice, Poverty and Racism and a 1997 UUA statement on Working to Achieve a Just Economic Community .

1/23/03 UUs Mark 30th Anniversary of Roe v Wade Decision With Worship and Witness

1/21/03 UUs across the US Rally Against Pre-Emptive War

1/16/03 UUA Representatives Return from Iraq

1/7/03 Are you an active leader in a midsized congregation?
Then you should attend the UUA's Continental Conference for Midsize Congregations, March 6-9, 2003, in Kansas City, Missouri!

1/7/03 New from the UUA Bookstore! Soul Work: Anti-Racist Theologies in Dialogue

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