February 24, 2011
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In preparation for Justice GA in Phoenix, Ariz., (June 20-24, 2012) the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) have jointly organized three Service Learning trips to the U.S.-Mexico border with our partner organization, BorderLinks.
The first trip began on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and concluded on Jan. 27. The delegation was led by the Rev. Peter Morales, UUA President, who encourages UUs throughout the country to participate in one of the Service Learning trips planned for April and May with BorderLinks.
You can view photos and read blog posts from the journey on the Faith Without Borders blog.
Through education, meetings with partners, service opportunities, and theological reflection, participants will grow in understanding the human rights issues at stake on the U.S./Mexico border and return to their homes informed and inspired to be leaders for Immigration Justice.
Learn more about how you can join one of the Borderlinks trips to the U.S./Mexico border!
This year’s seminar Beyond Borders: Breaking Barriers of Race and Immigration will take place from April 12 – 14 with sessions at the UN Headquarters, the UN Church Center, and the Salvation Army.
Youth will arrive on the evening of April 11th and be hosted at the All Souls NYC congregation located at 1157 Lexington Ave.
REGISTRATION is now open: Register online today.
Donate to the SEMINAR SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Print and distribute the SEMINAR FLYER
Panel Topics Include:
- Youth on Education Polices
- Climate Change Refugees
- Interfaith Reflection on Racism and Anti-immigration Sentiment
- Trafficking and the Vulnerable
- Women in Immigrant Communities
- Media, Art, and Freedom of Expression
APPLY to lead this year’s spring seminar! We are currently accepting applications for Youth Advisors, Head of the Youth (HOTYs), Collaboration Group Leaders, and Travel Squad Leaders.
From March 3 – 12, 2012 Rev. Peter Morales, UUA President, will travel to Japan to visit with a number of historic interfaith partners, including Rissho Kosei-kai, the Tsubaki Grand Shrine, The Konko Church of Izuo, the Tokyo UU Fellowship, and others.
The visit provides Rev. Morales with an opportunity to extend congratulatory greetings to Rissho Kosei-kai during its annual “Founders Day,” an event that will be broadcast live on the UUA website on Sunday March 4th, beginning at 6:30pm Eastern. Rev. Morales’s speech will begin at approximately 8:30pm. A recording of the speech will also be available following the event.
Learn more about President Morales's upcoming visit to Japan at the Faith Without Borders blog!
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.
The deadline to apply for the Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship is April 1, 2012.
Learn more about the Tsubaki Grand Shrine Scholarship and apply today!
Many of us have multiple identities of gender, race, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The staff at the UU-United Nations Office (UU-UNO) works for a world that promotes the inherent worth and dignity of all people and one that affirms all our identities that make up the colorful and interesting quilt of human existence.
This work has been the focus of the UU-UNO for the past 50 years with an intense focus on LGBT/SOGI issues for the past four. We decided to make a new beginning to bring our message to a much wider audience: This new beginning is our Love Beyond Borders campaign. Love Beyond Borders brings together human rights advocates to press for the repeal of dangerous and discriminatory laws, worldwide, that place our LGBT brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and neighbors in harm’s way. The campaign advocates for international recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) as a protected category for human rights and promotes initiatives/policies that will ensure equality and acceptance for all.
For a campaign so unique, an equally unique launch had to be envisioned. For catering to a community so diverse, we had to reach out to people from different sections of society. On February 17 (on the heels of Valentine’s Day) the UU-UNO hosted a panel discussion which was sponsored by the UN NGO Committee on Human Rights (Chaired by UU-UNO Director Bruce Knotts) and the UN NGO Committee on HIV/AIDS. We explored how far have we come, our current landscape, and future –as well as possible pitfalls and solutions.
Continue reading about Love Beyond Borders!
The biennial Council meeting of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) took place in Dumaguete City, The Philippines, earlier this month. This was the first time in the 15 years of ICUU’s existence that the Council meeting has taken place outside of Europe or North America.
Unitarians and UUs attended from many countries including: Australia, Romania, Germany, Mexico, India, the Czech Republic, Uganda, Hungary, Burundi, Denmark, Norway, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Canada, the UK, and South Africa. One of the meeting's highlights was the formal welcoming of two Full Member groups: The Assembly of Unitarian Christians of Burundi and the NPB – A Dutch liberal religious movement.
Read more about the ICUU Council Meeting in the Philippines!
The UU Partner Church Council (UUPCC) has released its winter newsletter. In this edition: 2012 Goals for UUPCC; Keeping Your Balance in a Changing World-The Second Convocation of Unitarian*Universalist Women; updates on the BUILD Safe Housing for Filipino Women Students fundraising project; and more!
Related:
Upcoming UUPCC Virtual Conference Call: Tuesday, February 28th, 8:00pm
Choir Pilgrimages with Beth Norton, Music Director, First Parish in Concord, MA
Choir pilgrimages - Why, how to, ... Beth Norton is the Music Director at First Parish in Concord MA. She led three pilgrimages for the Concord Congregation and the first UUPCC Festival Choir Pilgrimage in the summer of 2011. She will present her thoughts on the whys and wherefores, the joys, benefits and logistics of both congregation-specific and UUPCC-led choir pilgrimages, followed by a question and answer period.
To register for the call, email office@uupcc.org.
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists announces the 103rd 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 Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft. It is to be used during March 2012.
Ein Licht, das in mir wirket still,
lässt mich die ganze Welt erkennen.
Ich weiß nicht, was es ist und will,
in Ehrfurcht will ich’s göttlich nennen.
A light that silently works in me,
Allows me to know the world in its entirety.
I don’t know what it is or what it wants;
With awe I’ll call it divine.
-H. Thoma
Submitted by Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft
- March 10-17, 2012: UUSC-UUA JustWorks Trip to Haiti
- March 13-21, 2012: UUPCC NE India & Khasi Hills Pilgrimage
- April 12-14, 2012: UU-UNO Spring Seminar, New York City
- April 14-26, 2012: UUPCC Transylvanian Pilgrimage
- April 20-22, 2012: European Unitarian Universalist (EUU) Spring Retreat, Rolduc, Netherlands
- April 20-23, 2012: Borderlinks Trip to Mexico
- April 28-May 5, 2012: UUSC-UUA JustWorks Trip to Haiti
- May 25-28, 2012: Borderlinks Trip to Mexico
- June 20-24, 2012: UUA General Assembly in Phoenix, AZ
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