August 17, 2012
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With its official launch at General Assembly 2012, the mission of the UU College of Social Justice (UUCSJ) is to increase the capacity of Unitarian Universalists to catalyze justice. A formal collaboration of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), the UUCSJ will assist UU congregations in discerning their focus for social-justice work, effectively harness collective UU power for change, and build capacity for moving justice forward through its domestic and international service learning programs.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
UU Holdeen India Program: Justice in Rural India
Trip Dates: November 26 - December 5, 2012
Registration Deadline: September 15
This first service-learning trip to India will explore Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP) partner Vidhayak Sansad’s ongoing struggle for justice for impoverished people in the region surrounding Mumbai. The 10-day experience with Vidhayak Sansad will involve field-based activities that include shadowing local social activists and documenting the organization’s achievements in villages where it is active. Documentation support is a crucial contribution that visitors can make to Vidhayak Sansad.
UUSC-UUA Supporter Journey to Tanzania and Burundi
Trip Dates: November 10 – 20, 2012
Registration Deadline: September 10
This trip is a chance for donors to witness vital on-the-ground human-rights work and to meet African Unitarians. You will learn about the work of the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), a UUSC environmental-justice partner, and be hosted by the Assemblée des Chrétiens Unitariens du Burundi/Assembly of Unitarian Christians of Burundi (ACUB), a UUA partner church.
For information on additional service learning opportunities, visit the UU College of Social Justice online!
Save the Date! The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office invites you on November 3rd to celebrate our 50th Anniversary at the United Nations.
Join us as we celebrate the 50 Years of achievements, 50 years of Human Rights Justice, 50 Years of iconic work at the United Nations
Time:
6:30pm to 10:00pm
Location:
The Times Center, 242 West 41st Street, New York, NY (Between 7th & 8th Avenue)
Special Guests:
Reverend Peter Morales, Gillian Sorensen, Former Senator Adlai Stevenson III
Want to contribute? Donate to the UU-UNO's silent auction today!
III. UU Partner Church Council 2012-13 Trips
 This year, as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council, we are excited to share with you the spiritually meaningful and life-changing experiences that hundreds of UUs have had through their participation in the UUPCC Travel Program.
As we do every year, UUPCC will lead pilgrimages to our partner communities in Transylvania, India and the Philippines. These trips offer spiritual sustenance and personal growth, as well as opportunities to explore social action through partnership.
Visit www.uupcc.org/trips.html or call us (781) 275-1710 to sign up today to join a UUPCC Pilgrimage!
India: Travel to the far north-east state of Meghalaya to visit some of the 10,000 Unitarians who live in the Khasi Hills. Witness the richness of the 125-year-old Khasi Unitarian faith and learn how Khasi tribal traditions are being preserved through Unitarianism. Learn how UUPCC programs are helping the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children in their community stay in school; plan a service visit to the Annie Margaret Barr Children’s Village, a home for orphaned children built by the Khasi Unitarians.
Trip dates: March 5-13, 2013
Philippines: See firsthand how the power of faith in a better future is motivating and enriching the lives of thousands of Unitarian Universalists in the Philippines. With a broad diversity of congregations, the Unitarian Universalist movement has been embraced in urban and rural settings alike, bringing hope and meaning to communities struggling to meet the basic needs for water, food and employment. Travel to touch and be touched by the lives of our UU brothers and sisters, feel their joy, experience their hospitality, and learn how UUPCC programs have helped them make positive changes in their own lives through community development, social action, and religious education.
Trip dates: March 15-23, 2013
Transylvania: Twenty years after the fall of Communism, the Partner Church movement continues the tradition of working together to strengthen the over 100 Unitarian communities in Transylvania. UUPCC Pilgrimages offer the opportunity to learn the 400-year history of Unitarianism, visit the sacred places of our early faith, and meet the Transylvanians who are grappling with 21st century issues of demographic change, modernization, environmental protection, access to water and sanitation, health and education. Learn how the UUPCC Community Capacity Program empowers Unitarian congregations and their communities to take charge of their own destinies.
Trip dates: September 25 - October 4, 2012 and May 11-23, 2013
For more information, please visit uupcc.org!
The Canadian Unitarian Council's (CUC) summer newsletter is now available online.
Included in this edition are updates on: Neighbors in Faith; the Life of a Lay Chaplain; news from Canadian congregations; and more!
The U.S. chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) has released its summer newsletter, available online.
Included in this edition are updates on: Recent IARF visits to India; NAIN Connect 2012; the IARF Council Report; and more!
The Half the Sky movement is cutting across platforms to ignite the change needed to put an end to the oppression of women and girls worldwide, the defining issue of our time. Inspired by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book of the same name, Half the Sky brings together video, websites, games, blogs and other educational tools to not only raise awareness of women’s issues, but to also provide concrete steps to fight these problems
and empower women. Change is possible, and you can be part of the solution. The Series
The Half the Sky project includes a four-hour television series for PBS and international broadcast, shot in 10 countries: Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the U.S. Traveling with intrepid reporter Nicholas Kristof and A-list celebrity advocates America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde, the series introduces women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable — and fighting bravely to change them. Their intimate, dramatic and immediate stories of struggle reflect viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offer an actionable blueprint for transformation. The series will premiere in the United States Oct. 1 and 2, 2012, with international broadcast to follow.
This TV series (and the book) provide a great opportunity for individual Unitarian Universalists and UU congregations to develop greater understanding of the global context of Human Rights for Women. And, with that great understanding, to pursue action steps in many ways – including partnering with the UU Holdeen India Program (donate) and the UU United Nations Office (donate) – both of which are actively engaged with partners around the world fighting for Human Rights for Women.
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists announces the 108th 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 Czech and English by the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians. It is to be used during August 2012.
May this flame burn and remind us that each of us can offer goodness and love, and that each of us can be a blessing to the world.
Nechť hoří tento plamen a připomíná nám, že každý z nás může světu přinášet dobro a lásku, že každý z nás může být světu požehnáním.
-Petr Samojsky
submitted by the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians
- September 18-27, 2012: UUPCC: Third Annual Transylvania Fall Quilting Retreat
- September 21, 2012: International Day of Peace
- October 4-7, 2012: ICUUW: Women's Convocation in Transylvania
- October 26-28, 2012: European Unitarian Universalist Fall Retreat in Cologne, Germany
- October 28, 2012: UN Sunday
- November 3, 2012: UU United Nations Office 50th Anniversary Celebration, NYC
- November 10-20, 2012: UUCSJ: UUA/UUSC Supporter Journey to Tanzania and Burundi
- November 20, 2012: Universal Children's Day
- November 26-December 5, 2012: UUCSJ: UU Holdeen India Program: Justice for Rural India
- December 1-9, 2012: UUCSJ: Habitat for Humanity International: Building Louder Advocacy in Nicaragua
- February 1-4, 2013: UUCSJ: BorderLinks Trip to Arizona/Mexico
- February 15-23, 2013: UUCSJ: Sienna Project: Building Schools in Guatemala
- March 5-13, 2013: UUPCC: NE India & Khasi Hills Pilgrimage
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