To question,
To love,
To serve,
To celebrate differences— Together.

In the BUUF is the monthly newsletter of the Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 4340 Lincoln Avenue, Saint Joseph, MI 49085-8712. Articles should be given to the newsletter editor no later than the 20th of the month. Items for Sunday Bulletin should be in by Thursday.

Rev. Viola Moore
PASTORAL LETTER

We join, in the spirit of love, to develop our religious attitudes objectively and honestly that life may be more meaningful.

BUUF Ministers
Rev. Dr. Roger Brewin
Rev. Donald Wheat
Rev. Viola Moore (Emerita)
Rev. Jim McConnell

Board of Trustees
Janice Zerfas, President
president at buuf2.org
Emily Hecht,
Vice President
vp at buuf2.org
Dorothy Long, Treasurer
treasurer at buuf2.org
Amy Eklund, Secretary
secretary@buuf2.org
Chris Sirotiak
Lisa Dalgleish

BUUF Adult RE Speaking of Faith

Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. we gather at the homes of members of BUUF to listen to and discuss selected shows from Krista Tippett’s Speaking of Faith NPR program. Feel free to attend any or all of our get-togethers. The programs may be downloaded or listened to for free at speakingoffaith.org. We try to choose and schedule programs a month in advance. If you need directions, phone numbers, or if there is a particular show you would like to discuss or host, please let me know.

Dave Sarra, Director of Religious Education
telephone: 269-426-4051

CALENDAR

Joanne Krettek hosts Speaking of Faith/Being.  This evening we've changed the program.  We'll watch and discuss the movie The Black Swan.

First Wednesday of each month is an informal drumming circle for all ages. It will begin at 7 pm. Arrive when you can, stay till we're done, probably around 9 pm. Bring drums, shaky bangy things. We will have a few extras.

Our goal is simply to have fun sharing the beat. We may sing, we may dance, we may talk, but we'll always start out our circle with the drums. Join us when you can! Open to the public, so bring friends!

A FREE conference presented by the OutCenter
Exploring the LGBT Mind, Body & Soul

Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 10am - 4pm

Brookview School, 501 Zollar Drive, Benton Harbor

Including Workshops Such As:

TRANSHEALTH: physical, emotional, social & spiritual

This workshop will examine the life impacts that occur in transgender people, especially when they come out. The session will do a brief defining of transgender and then look at ...

BUUF Board Meeting
April 10 (8:30 am)
The BUUF Board meets at BUUF at 8:30 a.m.

Sunday Service: Jennifer Hsu
April 10 (10:30 am)
Jennifer Hsu from the OutCenter presents this Sunday's service.

Speaking of Faith
April 12 (7:30 pm)

Julie Williams hosts Speaking of Faith/Being.  Catering for tonight's discussion will be provided by Jim McConnell.  The program titled TuTu’s God of Surprises is described as follows:  An intimate and joyous conversation with the Nobel laureate on how his understanding of God and humanity has unfolded -- from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through the violence that marks South Africa today, and even in his friendship with the Dalai Lama.

Please join us for a special production of Twin City Players’ Regrets Only. This comedy of Manhattan manners explores the latest topics in marriage, friendships and squandered riches. One reviewer is quoted as saying, "A devastatingly accurate political and social satire." There will be a special showing of the play Thursday, April 14. Jay Kaplan, lead attorney for gay issues at the Detroit ACLU, will lead a discussion following the performance. ...

Sunday Service: Dr. Jackie Smith
April 17 (10:30 am - 11:30 am)
Dr. Jackie Smith presents this Sunday's service.

BUUF Seniors
April 20 (11:00 am)
BUUF Seniors will meet at BUUF at for a potluck brunch. After brunch, a speaker from Professional Hearing will describe the technology available to overcome hearing loss, including the benefits of a Loop System in the BUUF sanctuary. If you have questions or need transportation, call Charles or Dorothy Long.

Sunday Service: Rev. Roger Brewin
April 24 (10:30 am)
Rev. Roger Brewin presents this Sunday's service.

District Assembly 2011
April 29(4:00 pm) - April 30

More information HERE.

BUUF Pledge Dinner
April 30 (6:00 pm)
BUUF members will provide our meal for our Annual Pledge Dinner and ask for a donation of $10 per person or $20 per family.  Entertainment will be provided and the food will be excellent!  A good time will be had by all!

Sunday Service: Rev. Jim McConnell
May 01 (10:30 am)
Rev. Jim McConnell presents this Sunday's service.

Family Drumming Circle
May 04 (7:00 pm)

BUUF Book Club

May 06 (7:00 pm)

Amy Eklund hosts this evening's meeting of the BUUF Book Club.  We will discuss The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray by Walter Mosley. 

From a review in Publisher's Weekly on Amazon.com:  Mosley (Known to Evil) plays out an intriguing premise in his powerful latest: a man is given a second shot at life, but at the price of a hastened death. Ptolemy Grey is a 91-year-old man, suffering from dementia and living as a recluse in his Los Angeles apartment. With...

Beth Lefever Graduates from Meadville-Lombard

May 15

ONLINE WORKSHOPS

• Worship
  April 12, 2011
• Worship
  April 14, 2011
• Tending the Flame
  April 21, 2011
• Tending the Flame
  April 26, 2011
• Lay-Ordained Partnership (dates TBA)
  May 1, 2011

Subscribe to MIDWEST UU LEADERSHIP by Email

What is Unitarian Universalism?

As a Religious Leader of a UU congregation, I am often asked the question: What is UUism? Because we are not a creedal religion, there are as many versions of what it means to be a UU as there are UUs. 
 
Here is my version:

We are a religion for liberal free thinkers. We tend to believe that the sacred ground is in the individual. We believe that all spiritual paths, if they are honestly followed, will bring Holiness. Consequently, our congregations consist of people with many religious perspectives. We are Pagans, Christians, Jews, Moslems, Atheists, Humanists, Pantheists, and..... the list goes on.
 
Because the sacred is within the individual, it follows that Spirituality and Authenticity are the same thing for UUs. Therefore the spiritual work of the UU is to discover his or her true self. Hence we are gay, straight, vegan, Republican, bi-sexual, Democrat, transgender, to name a few. We celebrate all honest ways of Being.
 
We believe that Spiritual Authenticity overcomes evil. We don't believe that the solution to the world’s problems is everybody becoming a UU. From our perspective, Spiritually Authentic people, people who have found the Holy in themselves, can make for a peaceful and just world. What the world needs is Authentic (Holy) conservatives, liberals, socialists, communists, capitalists....you get the idea.
 
The mission of our UU churches and fellowships is to establish safe religious communities where people can explore their own religious callings and create their own Holiness. This is how we change the world.
 
Jim McConnell

What Can Science Tell Us?

The greatest invention of the last 400 years is probably the scientific method. Thanks to science, we can peer into the heavens and see the origins of the universe, we can be routinely transported across oceans in only a matter of a few hours, and we have doubled the human life span. The list goes on and is practically endless. 
 
Science can tell us a lot; but, it cannot tell us how to be. Science can tell us why a sunset is of a certain mixture of colors.  It cannot, however, tell us why we find it beautiful. Science can put us on a white Florida beach while Benton Harbor freezes, yet it cannot tell us how we find joy in a long sunny afternoon by the ocean. Science cannot tell us why there is rapture in watching small children at play. Science can create a contestant on "Jeopardy" that never loses. He may be the smartest guy in the room, but you wouldn’t want your daughter going to the prom with him. Science prolongs life and makes it more pleasant. It cannot tell us how to be (live).
 
To learn how to live, we can and should turn to the great teachers of life. Their names are Socrates, Jesus, the Buddha, Rumi, Lao Tzu, Augustine, Paul, Confucius, etc. The great teachers can only take us so far, however. They can take us to the doorway of a well-lived life, but they cannot take us in. To learn to live is to discover one's own true nature. Our true natures are our souls. We must, in a sense, create a science of the soul. UUs are scientists of the soul. Our laboratory is our BUUF Fellowship. Our experimentation includes art, music, poetry, worship, potlucks, cabarets, service projects, and cabinet building.
 
Be a scientist of the soul. The soul you save may be your own.
 
Jim McConnell

What Language Reveals

April 1, 2011

Dear Members and Friends,

In these troubled times it is difficult to keep a firm footing when so many centers are not holding. I look to our Unitarian/Universalist principles and I see that they are not widely shared in the larger community or in our world. We meet each Sunday to reassure ourselves that we have an island of sanity and peace where we are accepted and understood. It does not matter who is in the pulpit. What matters is that we meet as kindred spirits and see each others’ faces. I want to say a word of encouragement by talking about something which is still under our control, namely our personal speech.

Nothing betrays who we are so much as our speech. In our speaking we reveal our education, our economic status, our background, our politics, and even our religion. By following the latest fads in speech we show a lack of independence and a hidden desire to show that we are really up to date. Take for example the word robust, which today is used to describe everything from lovemaking to vegetables. The New Collegiate Dictionary says it means “strong or exhibiting vigorous health”; the second meaning is “firm in purpose or outlook” (robust coffee is from Africa): so there are your choices. Do you remember when it was fashionable to squeeze in the word “parameters” wherever possible?

One of the most frightening things now is the distortion of our language to express hatred. There are 1,000 hate groups in our country according to a study made by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is 1984 again with a vengeance where a word can easily be used to mean its opposite. Remember the words form Alice in Wonderland where Alice says “A word can mean anything I want it to mean.” The Tea Party is very clever in hiding its true purposes in convoluted language. Do not fall for the language trap.

Let us be alert. Even David Brooks of the New York Times make egregious mistakes in grammar. How can you make such mistakes when your 6th grade teacher worked so hard to teach you to say “different from” rather than “different than.” When you speak you reveal your thought process which is accompanied by an emotional tone. So you are telling that much more about who you are. So much depends on the feelings which accompany your speaking. If you do not wish to be known, keep silent. Since we are emotional animals, we tell so much about ourselves. You can see how important this is for preachers, politicians, teachers and anyone who talks for a living.

I recently had to choose a general practitioner in Chicago due to a serious fall. I called the clinic and the doctor I wanted would not be available for a week. The clerk said, “Do you have any objections to a woman doctor?” I answered, “No, none at all, so long as she is a Democrat.” The clerk replied, “Every doctor on our staff is a Democrat.” To my surprise, this beautiful young lady told me that in her childhood she had spent two weeks every summer at the United Church of Christ camp in Sawyer, Michigan; she was very familiar with Tower Hill Road! She is a member of the United Church of Christ in Hyde Park. Her speech rings with the overtones of the Gospel!

May the perfumes and colors of April bless us all.

Love,

A Clean House Shows a Wasted Life

March 1, 2011

Dear Members and Friends,

Last summer my daughter, Rachel, found an apron in a London shop which read A CLEAN HOUSE SHOWS A WASTED LIFE, surely an idea which separates the sheep from the goats. I have been testing this on a variety of persons, many of whom are Unitarians. Usually the response has been immediate laughter.

Many moons ago I visited Paul Tillich in his study at the Harvard Divinity School. His desk was a complete mess with papers and books strewn about. Standing guard over the chaos was a bottle of Jim Beam whiskey. After getting a smiling response to the apron quotation, we went on to discuss the theological and spiritual implications of the idea.

When I try this idea out next week on my internist, I suspect he will come down on the wrong side, although I have often lectured him on the value of a little dirt in your life. He agrees that a little dirt strengthens the immune system, but he still washes the blueberries seven times. I suspect that he is on the wrong side of history.

We all need to examine how we spend the energy of our lives. What is really worth doing? We have a limited amount of time to spend on the issues of justice and peace. Our original goodness prompts us to reach out to the larger community, to encourage even the weakest witness for justice wherever we can. Once, 12 men changed the world. Recently we have seen thousands of Egyptians making a united effort to change 32 years of injustice in its many forms of fear and terror. The state always has violence at its disposal.

Some of you may remember a Joan Crawford film in which she put the energy of her life into having a clean and neat house. Any disorder upset her so much that she lost all perspective. As the story unfolds, she alienates her children, her friends, and finally her husband takes a China vase and smashes it on the bricks of the fireplace. Then a voice says, “They who live unto themselves are finally left to themselves.”

We had a professor in seminary who told the students that they should never trust a decision made in the month of March. I got married on the 28th of March, 1942, a few weeks after being released from the south Chicago jail for not standing up for the national anthem. I still think it is a poor piece of music, with words that remind us that we have a great killing machine at our disposal. How much better it would be to sing of “crowning our good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” Trust your heart no matter what month it is.

I shall be living in Sawyer after March 15th. Circle May 15 on your calendars for Beth’s graduation from Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary.

Love,

Spring Celebrations!

Greetings!

In our RE Classes we’ve been busy celebrating feast days and welcoming Spring. In February we continued our study of Chinese New Year with a field trip to Chinatown to see the parade and lion dances and to enjoy a dinner of authentic Chinese cuisine. We also learned about the Catholic feast day for St. Valentine, the Intercalary Days (end of the year) celebration of the Baha i faith, and the Bulgarian celebration of Spring called Martenitsa when our students wove red and white yarn dolls and other designs.

During the month of March we learned about two more Catholic feast days, Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras (followed by Ash Wednesday) and St. Patrick’s Day. We even attempted some pancake-flipping races which occur in some places on Shrove Tuesday. Then we finished the month learning about the Pagan/Wicca celebration of the Spring Equinox. We’ve decided to study the rain forests during April as we approach Earth Day.

Our adult RE Tuesday night Speaking of Faith get-togethers have included programs other than that of Krista Tippett. We’ve listened to some Prairie Home Companion routines that make fun of UUs, seen the movie Religulous, watched a video of the Cosmology of Brian Swimme, and listened to a Pentecostal Sermon on shame. We’re a very democratic group and take turns choosing programs. If you’ve never attended one of our get-togethers and you’d like to, please let me know, we’d love to include new members!

Dave Sarra

Conversation

There are many levels of conversation:
The best are deep with thoughts
That yield other thoughts
And generate worthwhile memories.
But don’t disparage
Trivial talk;
It makes the world go round;
It is the lubricant of friendship.

Heartha Whitlow

March 2011

Angels

In our February, 2011, newsletter we began a running dialogue called Discussing Wholeness, Transcendence, and God. This issue we have a contribution from Gary Cook called Angels. If you’d like to contribute anything that falls within these wide parameters, please contact Dave Sarra.

ANGELS

I’ve been thinking about angels. I’m not traditionally religious but I try to understand why people make up the stuff they do. Heaven is easy: who doesn’t want to reconnect with dead relatives? (A LOT, if people were honest.) Heaven gives appeal to and comfort from the fear of dying. Jews don’t have heaven, I recently learned.

Angels in one form or another seem to be present in all modern and ancient religions, and I can understand why. Oddly, even I believe in them. Maybe not the feathered singing kind or pixies (are fairy godmothers angels?), nor those wielding vengeful swords, but real live human people. They have an uncanny skill for perceiving distress or confusion in others and know how to give comfort or support. Several times in my life it has happened that an unknown person has appeared, efficiently helped or inspired me in one way or another and disappeared just as quickly. They all had a way of looking in my eyes with an instantly reassuring gaze that communicated their understanding of what was going on. Sometimes all they did was give me a transforming smile that lingered in my memory for days; other times they sought me out and talked with me, already equipped with spooky amounts of insights. It’s easy to attribute supernatural aspects and counterproductive to rationally over-analyze these wonderful events, so... I have angels. I don’t care how or why they do it, I just gratefully accept their gifts. Sometimes I wonder if I have ever played that role to others. A humanist believes that we potentially all are angels. I like that.

Gary Cook

Committee on Ministry

BUUF has contracted with The Reverend Jim McConnell to serve as religious leader from September 1, 2010, through June 5, 2011, and a four-member Committee on Ministry consisting of Julie Williams, Gloria Weberg, Charles Long, and Harvey Johnson, Jr. has been formed to strengthen the quality of ministry within the fellowship. The Committee on Ministry will function as both an advocate and support system for the religious leader and as a liaison between the religious leader, the board, and the congregation.

On December 19, 2010, the committee had its first meeting with Jim and elected Julie Williams as committee chair. Anyone interested in more details of the function, goals and responsibilities of this committee may contact any member.

While the underlying function of the Committee on Ministry is to act as a support team and a liaison, the committee recommends and encourages direct communication between the congregation, the religious leader and the board. We are there, however, if concerns arise that require input, facilitation, or resolve from the committee.

It is also this committee’s responsibility to keep you informed of the nature and scope of Jim’s duties. Jim will provide twenty-two Sunday Services, attend board nine meetings, and provide at least seven articles for the newsletter.  Additionally, Jim will participate in congregational outreach services or congregational activities, as needed, for up to eight hours a month.

Again, any questions regarding the committee or our duties and intent, please feel free to ask. We look forward to our role in offering support, guidance and advocacy to Jim as well as providing communication to the congregation.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Williams
Charles H. Long

Also, please be aware that voting members of BUUF must be present at our Annual Meeting on June 5, 2011, to participate in the discussion and to vote on whether we contract with Jim McConnell to continue to officially serve as our minister/religious leader.

BUUF Board Meeting February 13, 2011

Present:Dorothy Long, Janice Zerfas, Amy Eklund, Emily Hecht, Jim McConnell, Dave Sarra

Minutes from January, moved by Emily, Dorothy seconded, approved as submitted.

Dave said Spiritual Frontiers has keys to the office and they could return the key.  They are no longer using it.  Day has a key and uses it because they store a TV in the sound room.  If a group can’t access their key for a particular meeting date they are encouraged to contact a BUUF board member to work out the locking and unlocking of the building for them for that meeting.

The background check setup is still progressing. Dave has gotten the numbers and paperwork submitted and is waiting for the final approval. He is still looking for a 501C3 paperwork copy. Dorothy will check with Charles to see if he knows where it is.  Dave has some possible interest in using the building for a birthday party.  He was encouraged to pull out the policy to see how it reads regarding member usage.

Emails were received regarding OWL training in April in our district.  We decided to wait another year for retraining so that we could do all the kids in one group since some are not old enough yet.

DRE: going a week at a time, Jennifer thought perhaps the kids would do a choir but there didn’t seem to be enough interest. There will be some work with the RE teachers in terms of consistent expectations for attention and participation.

Dave will check with the piano tuner to see if the second tuning between Milne performances was necessary so we will know what to plan on next year.

Dorothy gave the treasurer’s report.  She distributed a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet.  The checking account has a negative number but money has been moved over to cover that.  There are negative numbers in the endowment funds but they were really checks we received as a result of some class action suit.  Dorothy will talk with someone on the endowment fund about putting some of the money into the restricted endowment.  Dave talked to the bank and they seemed confused about how to do this.  They will keep pursuing this. The $20,000 gift is now listed under special gift funds but since it has no restrictions on it, she suggests that we put it under income under misc contributions.  There is still some money sitting in an Emergency Housing Fund from 2008 that we may rename next year and decide what to do with. (Aside: There was also mention that a member was looking for assistance for a disabled family member who is moving out of state.  It was decided that this would be best handled as a request to the congregation to contribute to this cause as they wished. ) The profit and loss statement shows negative $8000 and there are some people who tend to pay only once or twice a year so that should help offset that.  Expenses and payments do not always come in an orderly fashion. Dorothy has created a slip of paper to sign after counting the collection receipts. The signed copy will go to Gretchen with the money for deposit and will be kept as a record.

Jim will be talking to the kids today about selling food for the cabaret and use that money to finance a meal at the Broadway soup kitchen. 15 gallons of chili and 100 servings of dessert would be provided on March 6 and preparation would be done on Saturday March 5. Today they will be viewing the movie Flatland. Wednesday he will be attending his first area ministerial meeting. He is still mulling the idea of a informational class.  He is proposing a worship committee.  Jim presented Asher and Kathy (previous guest speakers) were presented with a framed photo and a book. Committee on Ministry will be meeting again next week.

Gary will be Emcee for cabaret.  Some have signed up for acts already but there is lots of room on the list yet.

Dorothy moved to adjourn, Emily seconded.  Adjourned.

Fuzzy Aspirations & Hard Realities

Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed will be our Keynote Speaker for District Assembly 2011
in Bloomington Illinois at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center

“Why has becoming more culturally and racially diverse been such a challenge for UUism? Why, when our intentions are so good, is it still a struggle? There is a surprising, and painful, truth behind Unitarian Universalist efforts to become more racially and culturally diverse. This truth must begin with taking an honest look at who we are and why we are who we are, and it ends in a conundrum but not without hope. If UUs really want to change, accepting the truth is the only place to start. Torn between our reality and our aspirations, what are we to do?"

This presentation with will include viewing the DVD: Black Pioneers in A White Denomination, music and singing that explores what music has and has not appeared in UU hymnals over the last 50 years, small group discussion in which hard questions are reflected upon and a lecture based upon the findings in the Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed’s just released book Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism. In the end we will not only consider why achieving diversity is challenging, but also talk about which congregations have become successfully diverse and how.

Join Mark Morrison-Reed for an inspirational exploration of these issues, combined with worship, music and fun! Saturday will consist of two sessions with our keynote presenter, including some small group breakouts. An extended lunch hour will offer 2 one-hour informal sessions for affinity groups, workshop-type presentations, resource sharing, or browsing the UUA bookstore and district vendors.

Raised in the Unitarian Universalist faith, Mark was ordained in the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1979. For 26 years, he and his wife, Donna, served as co-ministers--first in Rochester, New York, then in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Morrison-Reed's graduate thesis, Black Pioneers in a White Denomination, was published in 1984 and is still in print. Now retired from full-time ministry, Morrison-Reed divides his time between writing and other interests. He has been working with Meadville Lombard Theological School to organize and build the library's archive of materials relating to African American involvement in Universalism, Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism and is teaching at the school on his research.

Download and share a "save the date" flyer! (PDF 388KB)
Download and share a detailed brochure (PDF 1.4MB) or keep reading right here.
Register ONLINE!

BUUF website tips

Did you know that you can subscribe to news on the BUUF web site? Here's how:

If you're looking for the latest front page news, all you need to do is click that little orange icon in your browser's address bar and add the link to your bookmarks. Or enter the address into a feed reader like the ones Yahoo mail or Outlook offer.

In addition, we have separate news feeds on our blogs. Click BLOGS on the top menu bar to see a listing, or choose an individual blog from the drop-down menu. In either case, you will actually see the icon inviting you to subscribe on each one.

Subscribe!

Ta-da!!!

No Silent Witness: The Eliot Parsonage Women and Their Unitarian World

(Oxford University Press, 2010)

Dr. Cynthia Grant-Tucker's 2010 biography, "No Silent Witness," follows three generations of ministers’ daughters, mothers, and wives in one of America’s most influential Unitarian dynasties: the family of Abby Adams Cranch and William Greenleaf Eliot. Shifting the center of gravity from pulpits to parsonages, and from confident sermons to whispered doubts, it humanizes the Eliot saints, demystifies their liberal religion, and lifts up a largely unsung female vocation.

Spanning 150 years from the early 19th century forward, the narrative probes the women’s defining experiences: the deaths of numerous children, the anguish of infertility, persistent financial worries, and the juggling of the often competing demands that parishes make on first ladies.

Here, too, we see the matriarch’s granddaughters scripting larger lives as they skirt traditional marriage and women’s usual roles in the church. They follow their hearts into same-sex unions and blaze new trails as they carve out careers in public health service and preschool education.

These stories are linked by the women’s continuing battles to speak and make themselves heard over the thundering clerical wisdom that contradicts their reality.

I found the book to be a fascinating read, mostly because Dr. Tucker's narrative of these women's lives quickly pulled me in to "see" for myself what they had gone through. Especially in a world where our foremothers' stories remain largely untold, the female perspective on history really brings new light to the past. Unitarian-Univeraliststs have our revered historical figures of the 19th century, but No Silent Witness gives a rounded-out view of their lives and times.

Her research into each woman is thorough. Genealogical charts and a family roster are provided to give the reader more solid information to bring all the stories into a whole. She makes every effort to show the struggles of each woman in attempting to keep in her life some kind of balance between her own needs and those of others. Their varying level of success speaks to us in a very personal way, as Tucker delves into their personal qualities, hopes, dreams and emotions.

Author of the acclaimed Prophetic Sisterhood, Tucker also offers an online Discussion Kit for groups, www.nosilentwitness.org.

Michigan UU Social Justice Network

Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network (MUUSJN) is a state-wide network of Unitarian Universalists and our allies who work together for progressive change.

Website: http://www.uujustice.org/

CURRENT ALERT: Michigan legislature working on immigration bill similar to controversial Arizona law.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billintroduced/House/pdf/2011-HIB-4305.pdf

Ten courageous UU ministers who demonstrated the power of love in Lansing on March 16th with a large rally for workers' rights. Left to right: In the scooter, Rev. Laurie Thomas, UU community minister of Lansing; Cassandra Howe (not yet ordained) UU Community Church SW MI (Portage); Rev. Lynda Smith, All Souls Community Church of W. MI (Grand Rapids); Rev. Fran Drew (retired) affiliated with 1st UU Congregation of Ann Arbor; Rev. Chip Roush, [past BUUF student minister] People's Church Ludington substitute minister; Rev. David Pyle, UU Church of Midland; Rev. Yvonne Strejcek, Community UUs of Brighton; Rev. Kathryn Bert, UU Church of Greater Lansing; and Rev.Bill Neely, First UU Church of Detroit.

General Assembly 2011
June 22-26, Charlotte, North Carolina

General Assembly (GA) 2011 in Charlotte will mark the 50th anniversary of the merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America.

Join thousands of fellow Unitarian Universalists from across the country as we remember the persons and events that brought into being the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in May 1961, to reflect on our denomination’s relevant achievements and struggles since then, and to chart new aspirations for the future we are determined to shape.

Experience wonderful and uplifting worship services—morning and night—led by some of our best worship leaders, with glorious music and inspiring messages.

Participate in our democratic process. General Assembly is the way that our faith does business, bringing together the distinctive character of our individual congregations.

Hear terrific speakers. There will be hundreds of dynamic, entertaining programs and informative workshops.

Connect with craftspeople and artisans, social action groups, professional and educational resources, theological schools, UUA organizations and staff, Beacon Press, and the UUA Bookstore in the General Assembly Exhibit Hall.

Network with other congregation leaders, share best practices, and learn from one another. Return to your congregation reinvigorated and inspired to put your values to work.

Witness for our faith in moving and exciting ways as we look forward to and prepare for a special "Justice" General Assembly in Phoenix, AZ in 2012.