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July 9, 2010
Contents:
I. International Presence at General Assembly 2010
Joining us at this year's General Assembly in Minneapolis were nine international guests: Reema Nanavaty
(Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) - India), Guji Yukiyasu Yamamoto (Tsubaki Grand Shrine - Japan), Rev. Steve Dick (International Council of Unitarians and Universalists - England), Eric Hausman (Deutsche Unitarier - Germany), Rev. Jozsef Kaszoni (First Unitarian Church of Budapest - Hungary), Eva Kelemen (Project Harvest Hope - Transylvania, Romania), Rev. David Gyero (Transylvanian Unitarian Church - Romania), Francisco Javier Lagunes Gaitan (Free Unitarian Congregation of Mexico City), Rev. Robert Balint (Balazs Scholar and minister of Unitarian Church in Meszko - Transylvania, Romania), Rev. Masamichi Kamiya (Rissho Kosei-kai - Japan), and Jennifer Dickson (Canadian Unitarian Council - Canada).
Participating in workshops, panels, and discussions, each of our esteemed guests imparted wisdom, exchanged ideas, and shared in the spirit of strengthening global UU and interfaith connections.
This was also the second (and strongest yet!) year of the International Village in the exhibition hall. Sharing space and resources, seven international UU organizations collaborated to highlight sixth principle work at home and abroad.
Read more about the international goings-on at General Assembly 2010!
II. Witness to a Return Home: A Trip to Uganda
In northern Uganda, more than 1.8 million people have been displaced from their homes for as long as 22 years. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has worked for two years there with partner Caritas Pader, piloting a unique program that has empowered thousands of people displaced by war to return to their villages.
While UUSC has been working in northern Uganda, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has developed a relationship with Rev. Mark Kiyimba, leader of a Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation in Kampala, Uganda's capital. Kiyimba runs a 400-student school and 20-child orphanage near Masaka and has been campaigning against Uganda's draconian anti-homosexuality bill. On the second part of the trip, participants will meet with the UU Kampala congregation; talk with Ugandan leaders of the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's rights; and visit the school and orphanage the Kampala congregation supports.
Learn more about this joint UUA-UUSC travel opportunity!
III. Attend the IARF Congress in September!
The International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) will be hosting its 33rd World Congress September 4-7, 2010 in Kochi, India.
Held every four years, the theme of this year's congress is "Beyond Conflict to Reconciliation: the Challenge of the 21st Century" and the keynote speaker will be the Dalai Lama. Learn more about this special event!
IARF Council members recorded video greetings, welcoming all to this year's congress: 11 Reasons to Attend the IARF's 2010 World Congress
IARF CONGRESS | COCHIN, KERALA, INDIA
SEPTEMBER 1-7, 201O
The Dalai Lama will be keynote speaker for the 33rd IARF Congress, which takes place September 4-7.
UUA President Peter Morales will participate.
Pre-Congress/Congress events include:
- A tour the last week in August.
- September 1-4: International Assoc. for Liberal Religious Women (IALRW)
- September 1-4: Interfaith Issues - Joint program with World Congress of Faiths (WCF)
including worship, small group discussions, and excursions - To register, visit www.worldfaiths.org
- September 4-7: IARF CONGRESS - www.iarf.net
The 33rd Congress of the International Association for Religious Freedom will be a very special occasion for participants. The theme is "Beyond Conflict to Reconciliation: the Challenge of the 21st Century."
An international list of speakers includes: His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Karan Singh, President of the Temple of Understanding, Ms. Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur on Religion or Belief from the United Nations, Dr. Sheikh Ali, Muslim interfaith leader, and Rev. Peter Morales, UUA President.
Also, the International Association for Liberal Religious Women will be celebrating its 100th year with a special program for women. Don't miss these exciting events and of course, don't miss that unique welcome given by Indian hospitality to its guests! Please contact Doris Hunter, chair of the US Chapter, IARF if you have questions about the coming 33rd Congress of IARF.
IV. Short Term Ministry near Lake Chapala, Mexico
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (LCUUF) is interested in hosting a visiting UU Minister for two weeks in 2011, preferably between the months of January and April.
Lake Chapala is within an hour's drive of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city. The LCUU Fellowship has been in existence since March, 2006 and has held lay led services every Sunday since its formation. With a membership of 68, it is governed by an elected Board and has several active standing committees. Completely volunteer run, the Fellowship employs no staff. LCUUF has Mexican not-profit legal status and is a member of the Church of the Larger Fellowship.
The visiting minister would be expected to speak at two Sunday Services, provide consultative services to the board and committees, and facilitate lay leader training. In addition to an honorarium of 8,000 pesos (approximately $650 U.S.) the Fellowship would provide local transportation, some meals, and if desired, accommodation in members' homes.
Continue reading for further information! Applications for this opportunity are due by October 31, 2010.
V. News from the ICUU
The Global Chalice
The latest edition of "The Global Chalice" - the newsletter of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) - is now available online! Included in this edition is: news from the Philippines, Standing on the Side of Love in Uganda, information on upcoming ICUU conferences, an update from Transylvania, and more!
The Center & The Circle: The Challenge of International UU Ministry
ICUU President Brian Kiely presents the first webinar from the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. First delivered as the John Relly Beard lecture of the UK Ministerial Fellowship at the Annual Meetings of the General Assembly in Nottingham in 2010, Rev. Kiley offers his thoughts on the challenges of ministry for our global faith in this video presentation.
Monthly Global Chalice Lighting
This Global Chalice Lighting is to be used during July 2010.
We light this Chalice, a living symbol of the one Life that animates and sustains all things and all persons, the one Life in which we all live and move and have our being, and the one Life which perpetually gives of itself to itself so as to become the many.
By means of the light of truth and reason, and the warmth of fellowship and compassion, may the many come to know themselves to be not only interconnected with each other but also indivisible emanations of that one great Light which enlightens all Life and which can never be extinguished.
Rev. Dr. Ian Ellis-Jones
Australian and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association
VI. UUHIP: Partners for Justice in India Video
The UUA International Resources Office is happy to announce the release of "UUHIP: Partners for Justice in India," a great introduction to the work and philosophy of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Holdeen India Program.
UUHIP works with key leaders and organizations of India's most marginalized and disadvantaged peoples in their struggle to secure human rights and economic and social justice. The program supports the efforts of those peoples excluded or oppressed on the basis of gender, caste, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, especially dalits (untouchables), adivasis (tribals), migrant, bonded and child laborers, domestic and home-based workers, and scavengers, helping them to participate fully in the social, economic and political life of India.
Available online for free, as well as on DVD, the video features profiles of 5 Holdeen India Program partners as well as reflections by Program Direction Kathy Sreedhar, former UUA President Rev. John Buehrens and UU minister Rev. Abhi Janamanchi.
For those interested in obtaining a DVD copy of the video, please contact the International Resources Office.
View "UUHIP: Partners for Justice in India" online!
VII. Events
- July 9-13, 2010: U-U Ministers Conference, Eindhoven, the Netherlands (visit www.icuu.net)
- July 13-17, 2010: The Third ICUU International Theological Symposium, Eindhoven, the Netherlands (visit www.icuu.net)
- July 22-24, 2010: 20th Anniversary of Partnership Between Transylvania and the United States, Koloszvar, Transylvania
- September 1-7, 2010: IARF Congress in Kochi, India
- October 29-31, 2010:European Unitarian Universalist (EUU) Fall Retreat, Mittelwihr, France
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