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January 14, 2011
Contents:
I. UU-UNO Seeks Youth Envoy Coordinator
The UU United Nations Office (UU-UNO) is seeking a Youth Envoy Coordinator in the NYC area to manage high school aged youth engagement with the envoy program and the UU-UNO.
Since the UU-UNO was founded in 1962, UU envoys of all ages have been working to ensure that their UU congregation’s voices are represented at the United Nations. Through their work with the UU-UNO, UU envoys have been tremendously successful at influencing UN policy to promote global justice andpromoting UN and international awareness in their congregations.
Today the UU-UNO continues to make a difference by: Addressing gender based violence, ending criminal sanctions against LGBT people, and supporting 160 Children in Ghana orphaned by HIV/ AIDS. It is important to our office that we represent all the diverse voices of the Unitarian Universalist faith by ensuring that every congregation has an Envoy or Envoy Committee.
Learn more about the Youth Envoy Coordinator position available with the UU-UNO!
II. Community Supported Film in Afghanistan
Boston-based Community Supported Film (CSFilm) would like to present to your congregation an evening of films and discussion about the efforts being made by Afghans to address their challenging social and economic conditions.
The films present an unheard and intimate view of Afghans’ daily life and their perspectives on stability and development. Their stories provide a perspective that goes beyond the relentless battlefront coverage that dominates the western media.
Learn more about CSFilms and how you can organize a film screening at your congregation!
III. Uganda JustJourney Sermon Available as Congregational Resource
Rev. John Gibbons, chair of the UUSC Board of Trustees and a participant on the Uganda JustJourney this past November, has written a moving sermon that offers an insightful account of the trip.
"White Men Stuck in the Mud!" follows the journey from Kampala to Pader and back, delving into the African concepts of sankofa (taking what is good of the past into the present to make forward progress) and ubuntu (interdependence).
Read the sermon online!
IV. UUPCC Virtual Conference Call - Jan. 23
January 23, Sunday, 8:00 pm EST
"Partner Communications and Support"
Presenters: Cathy Perry, Lee Boeke Burke, Rev. Nihal Attanayake, and Rodger Mattlage
Join this call to hear and share issues around partner church communications and support when faced with differing languages and cultures. Lee Boeke Burke, UUPCC Networker for the Philippines, and Rev. Nihal Attanayake, head of the UU Church of the Philippines Faith in Action Program and UUCP's International Relations Officer, will discuss their recent guidelines for the Philippines.
They will be joined by Rodger Mattlage of First Parish Church, Concord, MA, with a Transylvanian partner, and Cathy Perry of East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue WA, with two partners in the Khasi Hills. Please bring your concerns and questions to this conversation - this an area we all want to and can improve upon!
Register now for the next UUPCC Virtual Conference Call!
V. UUSC: Haiti One Year Later: What Can You Do?
At the one-year commemoration of the devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake, Haiti remains in crisis. More than 1.5 million people are still homeless and living in camps for the displaced, increasing their vulnerability to new challenges — the recent cholera outbreak, November flooding from Hurricane Tomas, and violence from the contested elections at the end of November.
Learn about what you can do to assist the effort in Haiti, whether by making a donation to the UUSC/UUA Joint Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund or volunteering with the UUSC's Haiti Volunteer Program!
VI. Sermon Competitions
Greeley Award
The UU United Nations Office invites you to submit the sermon or address from your UN Sunday service for the 2011 Dana Greeley Award.
Consisting of a $1,000 honorarium and the opportunity to deliver the winning address at General Assembly 2011, the award honors the memory of the Rev. Dana McLean Greeley, first president of the Unitarian Universalist Association and a strong supporter of the United Nations.
Sermons highlighting the work of the United Nations and the UU-UNO will be given priority consideration for this award. Submissions are due by February 1, 2011 to greeleysermon@uu-uno.org.
For more information and submission guidelines, visit www.uu-uno.org.
UU's for Justice in the Middle East - Annual Sermon Competition
UUJME (Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East) views the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one of the defining legal and moral issues of our time, with wide-ranging ramifications for the future of global interfaith relations and human rights.
For UUs to contribute meaningfully to this cause, we must first openly and honestly discuss the issue amongst ourselves. The 2011 UUJME Sermon Contest gives us the opportunity to better understand the barriers that prevent these important discussions from taking place and explore ways to move past them toward an active contribution, in collaboration and fellowship with other faith communities, to a just peace in Israel-Palestine.
Eligible sermons must have been delivered, either by clergy, seminarians, or laypersons, in a UU church service or church-sponsored event, between May 1, 2010 and April 30, 2011. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2011.
The winner will be awarded a $400 prize and given the opportunity to deliver his or her sermon at an event during the 2011 UU General Assembly in Charlotte, NC.
For more information and submission guidelines, visit www.uujme.org.
VII. Traveling and Connecting with U/U’s Internationally
Unitarian Universalists who are planning to travel internationally, whether permanently or temporarily, are invited to consider including a visit with a Unitarian, Universalist or Unitarian Universalist congregation while abroad.
There are UU congregations and groups in nearly 30 countries around the world—some are very small, and some are quite large. And, most of these congregations deeply enjoy having visitors and new members.
With several professional opportunities abroad for UU ministers and seminarians, as well as opportunities for non-clergy to make international connections, there are numerous ways to find community with Unitarian, Universalist or Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations or groups abroad.
VIII. Upcoming IARF Events in the UK
The British Chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) has several upcoming events:
January 15, 2011, 12:00-3:30pm: Launch of the 500th birthday year of Michael Servetus, featuring Rev. Cliff Reed and Jaume de Marcos, both former Secretaries of the ICUU. (followed by open meeting of British Chapter IARF). Location: Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead, London.
- February 19, 2011, 10:00-3:30pm:“Ethics, Ecology, and Interdependence,” featuring BBC Presenter Rev. Peter Owen-Jones and Datuk Leslie Davidson, world authority on Palm Oil. (Datuk is an honour from the Malaysian Government similar to Knighthood). Location: Croydon Unitarian Church
- March 8-10, 2011: Interfaith Retreat at the Brahma Kumaris World Retreat Centre. Further details will be available online.
Learn more about IARF and The General Assembly of Unitarian & Free Christian Churches online!
IX. ICUU Global Chalice Lighting - January
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) announces the 89th in its monthly series of global chalice lighting readings. Congregations worldwide are invited to participate.
All ICUU-affiliated groups have been asked to submit brief chalice lightings for the project. Every month, a reading will be distributed to Unitarian and Universalist congregations around the world. We ask each congregation to use the reading for at least one worship service in the designated month, identifying it as the “Global Chalice Lighting” for that month and naming the group which submitted it. Readings will be circulated in English and, where different, in their original language.
It is hoped that the ICUU Global Chalice Lighting Project will enhance the worship experience in our congregations and raise awareness of the international dimensions of our religious movement.
This Global Chalice Lighting is submitted by the founding President of the ICUU in honor of the organisation’s fifteenth year. It is to be used during January 2011.
All around the world, the light of honest thought shines, showing people the path to their own authentic faith.
All around the world, the warmth of community glows, drawing people in from loneliness and estrangement.
All around the world, the flame of justice burns, inspiring people to acts of faith-filled courage.
Here, too, may the light and warmth of this chalice be to us a beacon of truth, generosity and compassion, that we may learn the ways of faith and love.
-Rev. David Usher
First ICUU President
X. Events
- January 15, 2011: Launch of the 500th birthday year of Michael Servetus, British IARF, England
- January 23, 2011: UUPCC Virtual Conference Call
- February 15-March 7, 2011: Sacred Places: A Pilgrimage to India with Rev. Abhi Janamanchi
- February 19, 2011:“Ethics, Ecology, and Interdependence,” British IARF, England
- March 8-10, 2011:Interfaith Retreat at the Brahma Kumaris World Retreat Centre, British IARF, England
- March 11-24, 2011: UUPCC Pilgrimage: Meet the UU's of the Philippines
- April 28-30, 2011: UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar, New York City
- May 14-26, 2011: UUPCC Pilgrimage to Transylvania
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