The MidAmerica Messenger

Volume 3, Issue 7    |    February 2016

 

 

Each month we try to provide you with the latest information about the MidAmerica Region of the UUA, and this month is no exception. If you'd like to know more about what's going on with the wider UU movement, there's the UU Bulletin. Check out the latest edition.

And as always, the latest news about Unitarian Universalism can be found at http://www.uuworld.org. Be sure to check out the article on the two women who have been nominated for the UUA presidency!

As always, we appreciate your comments and suggestions for the newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yours in Faith,
Phillip Lund
Congregational Life Consultant
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612-875-0959

Regional Assembly 2016 Registration is Now Open!

Registration for the 2016 MidAmerica Regional Assembly is now open! Building on last year's New Era theme, this year's assembly will be looking at WHO we want to be as faith communities in the coming years. Who will we Unitarian Universalists need to be, to be relevant? How will we get there? Who will be accompanying us on this journey?

Join us at the InterContinental Hotel in Saint Paul, Minnesota, April 29 to May 1 for an exciting weekend celebrating the future of Unitarian Universalism in the MidAmerica Region. Register now for the 2016 MidAmerica Regional Assembly and receive the early bird rate.

Sexually Safer Congregations

By Rev. Dr. Lisa Presley, Congregational Life Consultant

The UUA and the Religious Institute are partnering to launch a new initiative to help our congregations reduce the possibilities of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct within their walls. There are several aspects that help congregations do this--have policies in place for staff and volunteer screening and training, education for congregation members of all ages, youth group covenants, effective policies for incorporating persons with history of sexual offenses, and an on-going commitment from the board on down to helping maintain a place of sexual safety. The Religious Institute has developed a comprehensive website to assist congregations in developing and assessing their safety policies, as well as a program where congregations can apply for the Best Practices Seal. For more information or assistance, feel free to contact Lisa Presley, the program manager for this work in the MidAmerica Region, and/or visit the Religious Institute website at www.religiousinstitute.org/safer-congregations. Lisa is helping our Region adapt necessary policies too, and so she knows some of the rewards and challenges first hand.

The WHO in the New Era of UUism: Widening the Circle

By Nancy Combs-Morgan, Credentialed Religious Educator-Master Level, Congregational Life Consultant

As you may have already seen, the theme for the MidAmerica Regional Assembly is "The WHO in the New Era of Unitarian Universalism." Part of widening the circle of our faith means affirming that we are a multi-generational community, so we hope that the "WHO" includes our amazing youth leaders.

With that in mind, I am working with the talented leaders of the Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance (MUUSJA) in providing a special add-on track for leaders of all ages to expand their thinking and skills in faith based activism. Rev. Ashley Horan, the Executive Director of MUUSJA, and I are working to organize a half-day training, on Friday, April 29th, from 12:30-4:00 p.m., at Unity UU Congregation in St. Paul, that will include a youth and adult panel of leaders who will share their firsthand experiences as courageous leaders who are seeking to build a just and loving world.

There will also be break out tracks specifically for youth and religious educators. I will be leading the track for religious educators, with the focus on how to incorporate social justice themes and activities into congregational religious education programming. MUUSJA will be handling the registration for this add-on training, and the event will be posted soon. We hope that the youth and adult leaders who take part in the MUUSJA pre-RA training will also register and participate in our regional assembly.

Announcing the 2016 Winter Chalice Lighters Call

The Winter 2016 Chalice Lighters call features four MidAmerica Region congregations: the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato, MN: the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northfield, MN; the James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Madison, WI; and the UU Fellowship of Decatur, IL. To find out what each congregation hopes to do with funds they'll receive, and to donate online, visit https://midamericauua.org/programs/chalice-lighters/2561-2016-winter-call.

And thank you to everyone who's signed up to participate in the Chalice Lighter Program. Your generous support helps strengthen Unitarian Universalism throughout the region.

Generous Gift Received

By Nancy Heege

D'Ann Prior was an extraordinary person. A member of Michael Servetus Unitarian Society in Fridley, Minnesota since 1994, D'Ann was a devoted Unitarian Universalist who truly lived her values. She was active in a variety of social justice efforts. She helped to start a state-wide network of UUs for advocacy work, the Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance, and she worked to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same sex marriages in Minnesota. She wore her gold Standing on the Side of Love t-shirt and baseball cap, even after cancer began to slow her down.

After D'Ann's death, the MidAmerica staff were notified that she had left bequests to her congregation, to MidAmerica Region, and to the Unitarian Universalist Association. In this way, her beloved faith communities, and the causes that she cared about, will continue to benefit from her passion and her generosity.

People interested in making a bequest to the MidAmerica Region can contact Lisa Presley at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

UU Summer Camp: July 3-9, 2016

By Margaret Plett

Consider joining fellow UUs this summer in the Missouri Ozarks at the annual Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Assembly (MUUSA). The weeklong camp offers many workshops and activities for families, couples and singles of all ages. This year Reverend Krista Taves will lead the daily Morning Celebration service on this year's theme: "The UU House of Soul."

Come gather with hundreds of other UUs in the beautiful forests and rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks at YMCA Trout Lodge, where you can connect with old friends, make new ones and participate in a wide variety of activities. Get all the details at www.muusa.org.

 

Learning Network Covenant Update

By Bill Sasso, on behalf of the Learning Network Covenant Task Force

Last April, MidAmerica Region delegates endorsed the Learning Network Covenant (LNC)-an open and inclusive visioning process intended to help us explore the possibilities that our new region can engage. Here's a quick update to keep you informed about the LNC process.

Our LNC Task Force has met recently to review two draft summaries: a statement of principles and direction, and a compilation of stakeholder groups in our MidAmerica visioning process. We are also developing a set of questions for you and your congregation, to help us understand what resources will be most valuable in MidAmerica, and where they might already be present. We also encourage UU organizations other than congregations to be part of the LNC process. We hope to share these drafts with you soon (perhaps in March), and look forward to receiving your feedback and comments.

For more information, or to share your suggestions and insights concerning the MidAmerica Region Learning Network Covenant process, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.! Your questions and/or reflections are always welcome!

Fair Share Giving to the MidAmerica Region

By Lisa Presley, Congregational Life Consultant

Friends, please let me extend a deep apology to the many good congregations that should have been included on our list of Fair Share congregations in the last newsletter, and were not. I don't know if you've ever had that kind of day where the document you forward that supposedly contains the right information is not, in fact, that document! Well, I had one of those days, and passed on to our staff team wrong information.

So in this newsletter, we THANK all those who were inadvertently left off the list of generous Fair Share donors in our last newsletter, as well as all those we did include! We can't do our work without you, and we are most grateful. I apologize for any consternation, hurt, dissing or other ill feelings this has created in your congregations. We so appreciate you!

Lisa Presley

UU Fellowship of Ames	Ames	IA
UU Fellowship at Burlington	Burlington	IA
UU Society of Black Hawk County	Cedar Falls	IA
UU Fellowship of Clinton	Clinton	IA
Northeast Iowa UU Fellowship	Decorah	IA
First Unitarian Church of Des Moines	Des Moines	IA
UU Fellowship of Dubuque	Dubuque	IA
UU Society of Iowa City	Iowa City	IA
UU Fellowship of North Central Iowa	Mason City	IA
First Uniitarian Church	Sioux City	IA
First Unitarian	Alton	IL
UU Church Normal	Bloomington	IL
Beverly Unitarian Church	Chicago	IL
Peoples Church of Chicago	Chicago	IL
Third Unitarian Church	Chicago	IL
UU Fellowship of Decatur	Decatur	IL
UU Church of Elgin	Elgin	IL
UU Society of Geneva	Geneva	IL
Prairie Circle UU Congregation	Grayslake	IL
UU Congregation of Rock Valley	Rockton	IL
Abraham Lincoln UU Congregation	Springfield	IL
Federated Church	Sycamore	IL
UU Church of Urbana Champaign	Urbana	IL
UU Church of Bloomington	Bloomington	IN
UU Congregation of Columbus	Columbus	IN
UU Fellowship of Elkhart	Elkhart	IN
UU Church of Evansville	Evansville	IN
UU Congregation of Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne	IN
First Unitarian Church of Hobart	Hobart	IN
UU Fellowship of Kokomo	Kokomo	IN
UU Church	Lafayette	IN
UU Church of Muncie	Muncie	IN
Oaklandon UU Church	Oaklandon	IN
First Unitarian Church of South Bend	South Bend	IN
Heartland UU Church	Zionsville	IN
Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence	Lawrence	KS
UU Fellowship of Manhattan	Manhattan	KS
First UU Church of Wichita	Wichita	KS
UU Church of Bowling Green	Bowling Green	KY
Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church	Louisville	KY
Open Door UU Fellowship	Owensboro	KY
UU Fellowship of Madison County	Richmond	KY
Community Uus in Brighton	Brighton	MI
UU Church of Greater Lansing	East Lansing	MI
UU Congregation of Flint	Flint	MI
Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church	Grosse Pointe	MI
People's ChurchKalamazoo	Kalamazoo	MI
The Marquette UU Congregation	Marquette	MI
UU Fellowship of Midland	Midland	MI
UU Fellowship of Central Michigan	Mt Pleasant	MI
Harbor UU Congregation	Muskegon	MI
New Hope Congregation	New Hudson	MI
UU Congregation of Petoskey	Petoskey	MI
UU Community Church of Southwest Michigan	Portage	MI
Northwest UU Church	Southfield	MI
Pilgrim House UU Fellowship	Arden Hills	MN
Headwaters UU Fellowship	Bemidji	MN
Lake Fellowship of U & U	Excelsior	MN
Michael Servetus Unitarian Society	Fridley	MN
Unitarian Fellowship	Grand Rapids	MN
UU Fellowship of Mankato	Mankato	MN
UU Fellowship of Northfield	Northfield	MN
Northwoods UU Fellowship	Pine River	MN
First UU Church	Rochester	MN
St Cloud UU Fellowship	St Cloud	MN
Unitarian Church of Underwood	Underwood	MN
Mesabi UU Church	Virginia	MN
UU Church of Minnetonka	Wayzata	MN
UU Fellowship of Winona	Winona	MN
UU Church	Columbia	MO
UU Fellowship of Jefferson City	Jefferson City	MO
Gaia Community	Kansas City	MO
UU Fellowship of Rolla	Rolla	MO
First Unitarian Church of St Louis	St Louis	MO
Bismarck Mandan UU Fellowship and Church	Bismarck	ND
Grand Forks UU Fellowship	East Grand Forks	ND
UU Church of Fargo Moorhead	Fargo	ND
Kearney UU Fellowship	Kearney	NE
Unitarian Church	Lincoln	NE
First Unitarian Church	Omaha	NE
Second Unitarian Church of Omaha	Omaha	NE
First Unitarian Church	Cincinnati	OH
Northern Hills Fellowship	Cincinnati	OH
St John's UU Church	Cincinnati	OH
Miami Valley UU Fellowship	Dayton	OH
UU Fellowship of Lima	Lima	OH
First Universalist Church	New Madison	OH
Hopedale UU Community	Oxford	OH
UU Fellowship of Yellow Springs	Yellow Springs	OH
Chequamegon UU Fellowship	Ashland	WI
UU Church of the Lakes	Elkhorn	WI
Open Circle UU Fellowship	Fond du Lac	WI
Lake Country UU Church	Hartland	WI
Bradford Community Church	Kenosha	WI
UU Fellowship of La Crosse	La Crosse	WI
UU Fellowship	Marshfield	WI
Unitarian Fellowship of Milwaukee	Milwaukee	WI
Blue Hills UU Fellowship	Rice Lake	WI
Prairie Lakes UU Fellowship	Ripon	WI
UU Society of River Falls	River Falls	WI
Saint Croix UU Fellowship	Saint Croix Falls	WI
UU Fellowship of Door County	Sister Bay	WI
United UU Congregation	Waukesha	WI
First Universalist Unitarian Church of Wausau	Wausau	WI
Northwoods UU Fellowship	Woodruff	WI

 

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