Media Kit - General Assembly 2006, Saint Louis, MO

The 2006 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association will be held in St. Louis, from Wednesday June 21 through Sunday, June 25. More than 4000 Unitarian Universalists from across the country will gather at the America's Center in St. Louis to worship, celebrate and to take part in the democratic process that guides the work of this "uncommon denomination" of 1,000 congregations. We warmly invite your attention to this unique and festive event.

Major highlights of the gathering include:

• Opening Celebration, featuring a jazz orchestra, full choir, and a parade of hundreds of colorful congregational banners – an excellent photo opportunity (Wednesday, 8:00 PM).
• The Ware Lecture, a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize–winning nature poet Mary Oliver ( Saturday at 9:00 PM).
• " Seeker Service," an intergenerational, multi-media worship service open to the entire greater St. Louis community (Sunday, 9:30 AM at America's Center).

As an alternative religious voice, Unitarian Universalism offers a fresh – and often controversial – faith perspective on today's most compelling social issues. Presentations on a wide range of topics give a glimpse into the UUA's passionate commitment to social justice. A few examples:

• UUA President William Sinkford offer tips to religious liberals for "Getting on Message: Challenging the Christian Right" (Thursday 9:45).
• Barry Lynn, the outspoken director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, offers a provocative look at "The Religious Right: More Intrusive than Ever" (Friday at 4:00 PM and Saturday at 8:30 AM).
• William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA offers thought about "Genocide then/Genocide Now" on how to apply lessons from the holocaust to the tragedy in Darfur (Thursday 1:00 PM).
• "Marriage Equality Battles in 2006" celebrates ten years of UU commitment to full legal marriage rights for all couples and outlines the current challenges for activists (Friday 4:00 PM).
• A controversial event with a local angle is "Supporting Sex Ed: Lessons from Missouri," with the Rev. Becky Turner, Executive Director of the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (Thursday 1:00)
• "Young Adult Activism for Reproductive Justice" showcases the work of teens and young adults in advocating for sex education and reproductive choice (Thursday 9:45 AM).

Theological diversity is the most distinctive feature of this "non-creedal" faith. UU spirituality is deep as well as broad, as suggested by these and many other events:

• The Rev. Forrest Church speaks on his book The American Creed (Saturday at 7:15 PM) – note: this event is just days before the television adaptation debuts on the Hallmark Channel on July 3rd
• NPR correspondent Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon, examines an exploding religious phenomenon in her presentation "The State of Paganism Today" (Saturday 11:00 AM).
• Diverse events are sponsored by UU theological interest groups, including the Covenant of UU Pagans (CUUPS), UUs for Jewish Awareness, UU Christian Fellowship, UU Buddhist Fellowship, and UU Humanists.

A deep commitment to environmental justice is practiced in UU communities in all parts of the country. Green events at General Assembly include:

• A presentation on the Carbon Fund and information about how congregations can use "carbon offsets" or "carbon credits" in their local green efforts (Saturday 2:15 PM).
• Influential environmental writer Wes Jackson teams up with Project Harvest Hope to present "An Agriculture Where Nature is the Measure" (Saturday 7:15 PM).
• Bestselling author David C. Korten lectures on "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community" (Friday at 2:15 PM and Saturday at 8:30 AM).

St. Louis-related events include a special presentation by UUA President Bill Sinkford, "Henry Hampton: Honoring the Legacy" (Saturday 11:00 AM) and a historical lecture, "The Eliot Pulse in a City with a Heart" (Saturday 2:15 PM). The annual service project recipient is Fit for Life, an after-school program for inner city youth.

All General Assembly events and presentations are listed in the enclosed program as well as online at www.uua.org/ga/prog.html. If you have any questions about the upcoming General Assembly or Unitarian Universalism in general, please do not hesitate to contact my Boston office. The UUA's onsite press office at the General Assembly will be located in the Parkview/Aubert Rooms in the Renaissance Grand Hotel, and press credentials will be available there.

Please contact me as soon as possible if you have any questions or would like to arrange for interviews or press credentials in St. Louis. I hope to see you at our event-packed General Assembly.

Sincerely,
Janet Hayes
UUA Information Officer

For more information:

Unitarian Universalism:

• Information on the Unitarian Universalist Association
• Article about Unitarian Universalism

General Assembly, St. Louis:

• Unitarian Universalism in St. Louis
• Photographs of last year's General Assembly:
  • Assembly
  • Community
  • Worship
• Unitarianism in historical St. Louis
• Biographical sketch of Mary Oliver, General Assembly speaker
• Environmentalism at General Assembly

Rev. William Sinkford, President of the UUA:

• Biographical sketch of Rev. Sinkford
• Photograph of Rev. Sinkford
• Yankee Magazine 9/03
• National Black Justice Coalition 4/06
• Darfur Visit

Support for Marriage Equality:

• People 5/04
• More coverage of the UUA's Marriage Equality work