|
February 25, 2011
Contents:
I. UUA President Journeys Across India
On February 14, 2011, Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), embarked on a two-week journey to India to visit with several partners of the Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP) and with leaders of the Unitarian Union of North East India (UUNEI).
“The UUA’s relationships with social justice and faith-based partners in India are historic and transformational for all of us,” says Eric Cherry, Director of International Resources for the UUA. “Rev. Morales will have an opportunity to further develop his relationships with leaders in India – and I know he looks forward to sharing his experiences in India with UUs in the United States.”
President Morales has been blogging about the deeply moving experience on the Faith Without Borders blog.
Read about his time spent with salt mine workers, the family of a Dalit martyr, a women's organization that is challenging and changing the social structure of India, a girls' school for the children of brick layers, and more.
View incredible photos from the journey and learn more about the incredible work of our partner organizations through the UU Holdeen India Program!
II. UUs in Christchurch, New Zealand
Christchurch, New Zealand, was hit by 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Monday, February 21. Following on the heels of another quake just six months ago, plus many aftershocks, this quake was the most devastating so far.
News from the Unitarian Universalists’ of Christchurch is limited, however, it is known that the home of the leader of the Christchurch UU congregation, Derek McCullough, has been destroyed.
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) has issued a message regarding this devastating earthquake and a “Causes” page has been set up on Facebook.
UUs around the world are encouraged to show their solidarity with our sisters and brothers in New Zealand by joining the cause.
III. UUA/UU-UNO LGBT Uganda Fund
Ugandan LGBT rights activist David Kato, who sued a Ugandan newspaper which outed him as homosexual, was beaten to death in his home last month.
The UU Church of Uganda and Eddoboozi Human Rights Defenders Network have issued a statement in condemnation of this tragic killing.
Kato's murder is a devastating reminder of the dangers facing those in Uganda who support the struggle for LGBT rights.
As UUs, we are called to promote human rights and respond to threats to our liberal religious values at home and abroad. After two years of partnership with the UUA and the UU-United Nations Office (UU-UNO), the UU Church in Uganda has asked for our help to address the increasing violence and oppression that LGBT individuals are experiencing in their community.
In response, the UUA, in partnership with the UU-UNO, has launched the UUA / UU-UNO LGBT Uganda Fund to help the UU Church in Uganda and their partner organizations fight for social justice and equality for LGBT citizens living in Uganda.
In light of this recent tragedy, your support is needed now more than ever. Please give to the UUA UU-UNO LGBT Uganda Fund.
Related:
IV. UUPCC Virtual Conference Call - 3/9
International Update
Wednesday, March 9, 8:00 pm EST
Conference Call with the Rev. Peter Morales, UUA President and Rev. Eric Cherry, Director of the UUA International Resources Office
Peter will discuss his recent visits to UUs around the world and will talk about the importance of international connections between the UUA and UUs elsewhere.
Space is limited to the first 50 individuals. Register early; if you have a group who would like to be in on the call, perhaps you could arrange to meet together and use a speaker phone.
The call will be recorded and made available on the UUPCC website shortly thereafter.
As space is limited, sign up for this conference call today!
V. UUJME Human Rights Trip to Israel/Palestine
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) will be hosting a trip to Israel/Palestine July 16 - 27, 2011.
Join the tour for an extraordinary and unforgettable experience!
- Meet with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists and political leaders, Israelis from both ends of the political spectrum, and members of Hamas and Fatah
- Visit one or more Jewish settlements
- View the separation wall/ fence and experience checkpoints
- Visit East Jerusalem, including the Old City and Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Spend two nights in Palestinian homes and tour several West Bank cities as well as Jerusalem,
Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, and the Galilee area
Provide moral support for those working on the ground for a just peace, then return energized and informed to work more effectively for a just peace from here.
Learn more about the UUJME Human Rights Trip to Israel/Palestine!
VI. Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship
The Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship is available to Unitarian Universalist (UU) seminarians (in candidate status) attending non-UU theological Schools who have an interest in international and interfaith engagement.
Scholarship recipients will be provided with expenses for travel to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine (TGS) in Suzuka, Japan, as well as room and board at the Shrine for two to three weeks. Starr King School for the Ministry has a similar program, and Meadville/Lombard is in the process of developing a similar program.
The deadline to apply for the Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship is April 1, 2011.
Learn more about the Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship and apply today!
VII. UU-UNO Spring Seminar
The UU United Nations Office (UU-UNO) will be hosting its 2011 Spring Seminar April 28-30, 2011, in New York City.
The theme for this year's seminar is: Empower Women for a Better Tomorrow!
The UU-UNO is currently accepting applications for 2011 Spring Seminar leadership positions during the seminar.
Register by February 28th for an early-bird discount; the deadline to register for the seminar is March 31st.
For more information, visit the UU-UNO's website!
VIII. Sustainability Research Internship in Mexico
June 30-August 1, 2011
Learn how NAFTA has been pushing campesinos off the land and driving them to El Norte. Observe how people are striving to make life sustainable in their communities.
The Center for Global Justice (GJC) presents its fourth annual, Summer Research Internship Program scheduled from June 30th through August 1st, in San Miguel de Allende, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.
This Research Internship Program is planned as a cross-cultural, cooperative learning experience for activists and college students (upper division undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate) who will study under the guidance of an outstanding international faculty.
Interns will examine and analyze the realities of corporate globalization through selected readings, lectures and on-site, faculty-supervised field investigations culminating in reports intended for publication on the Global Justice Center’s web site. The program is organized to acquaint interns with the social, economic and political realities influenced by US trade and foreign policy supporting corporate globalization over the past half century.
Read more about this internship opportunity!
IX. A Special Request for the Names of Trees
From Carolyn McDade:
Dear International Unitarian Universalist Women,
I am writing to you with a request.
Widening Embrace is a reflection and recording music project by Carolyn McDade and 300 women across Canada and the United States. The project raises questions of legacy regarding ourselves and our commitment to the Earth Community of life that goes beyond us. What is our lived commitment to future generations?
Part of our project is an honoring of trees. We are asking women to send us the name of a tree they feel has a spiritual and significant presence in their lives and/or among their people. If possible, we would appreciate a few words or sentences about this tree and why it was selected.
We are hoping to gather a global naming of trees by women around the world. Some will be sung on the CD we are making. All will be sung among us and in public programs we do. We will gather the names of women, trees, and what they write about them into a small booklet to be shared in our project and programs. We are hoping this will engender reflection on the connections between the health of the planet and the health of people, and how the visionary leadership of women serves the well being of all. We are inspired by women such as Wangari Maathai and the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya, and the Women of the Chipko Movement in India. They are examples of courageous, persistent women who have worked to plant, save, and advocate for the trees essential to their lives.
We hope you will consider this request. For all the women in this project, I thank you. We look forward to any response you may send us. We also send gratitude and encouragement to you for all that you do to further women's thinking, participation, and leadership in the questions before our world.
Deep the love that calls us on. . . .Carolyn McDade
For further information, or to participate, email Carolyn McDade or Joan Tinkess.
X. ICUU Global Chalice Lighting - March
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists announces the 91st 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 in German and English by the Unitarian Universalist Forum of Vienna, Austria. It is to be used during March 2011.
German
Wir leben in einer Zeit der Wissenschaft, wir versuchen angestrengt die Welt um uns herum zu verstehen und so das Rätsel an der Wurzel unserer Existenz zu lösen. Jetzt, wo die Menschheit nach den fernsten Sternen greift, sollten wir da nicht auch nach etwas greifen, das uns so nahe scheint und doch in unseren Leben oft ferner ist als der fernste Fleck am Firmament: nach den Herzen unserer Mitmenschen? Die Flamme, die wir nun entzünden, soll uns ein Leuchtfeuer sein in der Dunkelheit, die uns trennt. Es soll uns nicht nur unterstützen in der weltweiten Vereinigung der Unitarier und Universalisten sondern das wertvolle, wundervolle Band stärken, das alle Menschen von jeher verbindet.
English
We live in a time of science, we try very hard to understand the world around us and think that by doing so we can solve the miracle at the root of our existence. As humanity reaches out for the farthest stars should we not reach out as well for something very near and still in our life often farther than the farthest speck on the firmament: to the heart of our fellow human beings? The flame we are lighting now shall be a beacon in the darkness that separates us. It shall not only help us in uniting Unitarian-Universalists across the world but strengthen the treasured, miraculous bond between all people that exists since the beginning of time.
Andreas Bolhar-Nordenkampf
Unitarisch-Universalistisches Forum
XI. Events
- March 8-10, 2011:Interfaith Retreat at the Brahma Kumaris World Retreat Centre, British IARF, England
- March 9, 2011: UUPCC Virtual Conference Call: International Update
- March 11-24, 2011: UUPCC Pilgrimage: Meet the UU's of the Philippines
- April 1-3, 2011: "A Humanist's View of Spirituality: Paths to Understanding," European Unitarian Universalist (EUU) Spring Retreat, Spa, Belgium
- April 28-30, 2011: UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar, New York City
- May 14-26, 2011: UUPCC Pilgrimage to Transylvania
- July 16-27, 2011: UUJME Human Rights Trip to Israel/Palestine
- September 28-October 4, 2011: Spiritual Journey in Tierra de Fuego, Argentina
- November 4-6, 2011: European Unitarian Universalist (EUU) Fall Retreat, Oberwesel, Germany
|
