Unitarian Universalists in the Media
A frequently updated guide to stories about Unitarian Universalists from other sources around the web.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Struggling economy, community involvement, and indoor plumbing
by Sonja L. Cohen
Struggling economy hits congregations
Summit UU Fellowship in Santee, Calif., appears in a story about churches feeling the effects of the poor economy on attendance and giving. (San Diego Union Tribune - 8.31.08)
UUs get involved with their communities
The UU Society of Black Hawk County in Cedar Falls, Iowa, grows and sells fresh produce to help support the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. (Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier - Waterloo, IA 8.30.08)
The UU Congregation of Montclair, N.J., embraces the wisdom and whimsy of Dr. Seuss at its annual Seuss-themed community event, the UUville Community Fair. (Montclair Times - Montclair, NJ 9.4.08)
Celebrating the joy of indoor plumbing
Members of the Todmorden Unitarian Church in England celebrate the reopening of their historic building after completing extensive renovations and refurbishment, including restoration of the stained glass, repair of a World War I memorial, and the installation of toilets for the first time in the building's history. (Todmorden Today - Todmorden, England, UK 9.4.08)
Political parties
A party at the Bull Run UU Church in Manassas, Va., was one of the more than 1,000 Democratic National Convention-watching parties hosted by Democrats throughout state on the night Sen. Barack Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech. (Inside NoVA - Prince William, VA 8.28.08)
Ministerial changes
The Rev. Fred Small, a former environmental lawyer and folksinger-songwriter and now UU minister, has been called to serve as senior minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, Mass. (Somerville Journal - MA 8.30.08)
The Rev. Neal Anderson, a former teacher, was recently named the new minister of the UU Fellowship of Northern Nevada. (Carson Times - Reno, NV 8.30.08)
posted by Sonja L. Cohen at
11:34 AM
Friday, August 29, 2008
Seeing the Dalai Lama, UU in Florida school board race, paper ballots, and more
by Rosalie Davis
Minister makes pilgrimage to see the Dalai Lama, in Wisconsin
The Rev. Ed Hardy, a practicing Buddhist and minister of the First Parish UU Church in Bridgewater, Mass., reflects on his own beliefs, and his enlightening visit to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. (Norwich Bulletin - Norwich, CT 8.28.08)
Indian River UU still in school board race
Claudia Jimenez, RE director of the UU Fellowship of Vero Beach, Fla., received the most votes in a recent county school board election, enough to stay on the ballot in a run-off contest in the general election. (TCPalm - FL 8.26.08)
UU activists promote paper balloting
As Californians approach casting paper ballots in November election, a small group in Napa Valley discusses problems of electronic voting systems in presidential elections. (Napa Valley Register - CA 8.27.08)
West Coast coverage of last month's church shooting in Knoxville
A story in the national news department of a publication that serves the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community follows developments in the lethal July 27 shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, up to last week's indictment of Jim David Adkisson. (Gay and Lesbian Times - San Diego 8.28.08)
Other congregations and ministers in the news
The Rev. Deborah Mero of the Unitarian Fellowship of West Chester, Pa., is one of the women featured in a story about being a female member of the clergy. (Chester DailyLocal.com - PA 8.24.08)
UUs in Rockton, Ill., are planning a fall open house at their new sanctuary, an old schoolhouse. (Rockford Register Star - IL 8.26.08)
A local nursery school, a longtime tenant of the UU Church of Rockville, Md., has been displaced by church growth and faces difficulty in finding a new space. (Business Gazette - Gaithersburg, MD 8.27.08)
A columnist sympathetic to the church writes that the adversarial neighbor of the UU Fellowship of San Luis Obispo County, Calif., apparently moved away last year. (The congregation has plans to build a new church in Edna Valley.) (San Luis Obispo Tribune - CA 8.28.08)
Also in the news
A majority of shareholders at Valero Energy supported a "say on pay" proposal; the resolution was submitted by the UUA. (RiskMetrics - Rockville, MD 8.25.08)
posted by Rosalie Davis at
12:22 PM
Friday, August 22, 2008
More violence in Knoxville, Mexican mission trip, New Zealand renovation, and more
by Rosalie Davis
Adkisson indicted by grand jury in Knoxville church shootings
In Knox County, Tenn., a grand jury has indicted Jim David Adkisson on ten separate counts, including two first-degree murder charges, stemming from the July 27 church shooting at the Tennessee Valley UU Church; the FBI has also opened a civil rights probe. The 58-year old man is being held in jail on a $1 million bond. The Rev. Chris Buice, minister of the church, says indictment moves justice process forward. (Knoxville News Sentinel - Knoxville, TN 8.21.08) A trial has been scheduled to begin March 18, 2009. (Knoxville News Sentinel - Knoxville, TN 8.22.08)
More violence in Knoxville
A high school student shot and killed a classmate in Knoxville's Central High School on August 21. The Rev. Chris Buice was taking his daughter to the school when the shooting occurred. He offered reflections on responding to trauma in the August 22 Knoxville News Sentinel. (Knoxville News Sentinel - Knoxville, TN 8.21.08, 8.22.08)
Other Knoxville-related news
- "Sheriff Proposes Training Parishioners as Deputies" (Religion News Service, Washington Post - 8.16.08)
- UUA and UU World coverage
Op-eds and commentary pieces continue to reaffirm UU values and express sympathy for the TVUUC victims. Among this week's crop:
- "Learn to greet hatred with love" (Erie Times-News - Erie PA, 8.16.08)
- "Tupelo Unitarian reflects upon shooting" (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - Tupelo MS, 8.16.08)
- "Finding love and offering forgiveness" (Saugus Advertiser - Beverly MA, 8.20.08)
The Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael begins his tenure as the new minister at the Accotink UU Church in Burke, Va. (Burke Connection - McLean VA, 8.13.08)
Teenagers travel to a remote village in Mexico from First Unitarian Church of South Bend, Ind., on a service mission to repair the roof of a clinic there. The trip was organized by Global Citizens Network of St. Paul, Minn. (South Bend Tribune - South Bend IN, 8.20.08)
A member of the UU Church of Fresno, Calif., writes about joining other UUs in the state to collectively lower their carbon dioxide emissions by a million pounds by Earth Day, 2009. (Fresno Bee - Fresno CA, 8.16.08; sub req'd)
Youth at Abraham Lincoln UU congregation, in Springfield, Ill., raise awareness with a tent for Darfur. (The State Journal-Register - Springfield IL, 8.21.08)
The historic Auckland, New Zealand, Unitarian Church celebrates the completion of a $100,000 renovation project. (Auckland City Harbor News - Auckland NZ, 8.22.08)
Chris Walton contributed to this week's roundup.
posted by Rosalie Davis at
4:52 PM
Friday, August 15, 2008
UU churchgoers, saving special baby unit, and more
by Rosalie Davis
For this week's coverage of the aftermath of the July 27 shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, see Tuesday's entry. —The editors
About Unitarian Universalism
"Faith and Values" columnist interviews area UU churchgoers and reports on their beliefs, history, values, and practices.
(Columbus Dispatch - OH 8.8.08)
Saving hospital's newborn unit
Members of the Unitarian congregation of Bury St. Edmonds, in Suffolk, England, have written to health authorities to express their support of a neonatal hospital unit whose future is in doubt. The Special Care Baby Unit at the West Suffolk hospital was chosen by the church as its local charity for the year. (East Anglian Daily Times - Ipswich, UK 8.12.08)
Sex education in Indian River County, Florida
In a letter to the editor a former County Commissioner writes to oppose local school board candidate Claudia Jimenez. Jimenez is the RE director at the UU Fellowship of Vero Beach and supports comprehensive sex education, rather than the district's current abstinence-only policy.
(Vero Beach Press-Journal - FL 8.13.08)
Fresh obstacle to church building project
A neighborhood association is suing the County's Board of Supervisors for its approval of the new building plans of the UU Fellowship of San Luis Obispo, Calif., in the latest round of animosity in an ongoing wrangle.
(San Luis Obispo Tribune - San Luis Obispo, CA 8.11.08)
Also in the news
Retired United Methodist minister Rev. Charles Moreland, a frequent speaker at the UU Fellowship of Clarksville, Tenn., and a former Army chaplain, reflects on the Veteran's Administration's protocol of religious symbols on GI's gravestones. (Clarksville Online - Clarksville, TN 8.10.08)
posted by Rosalie Davis at
11:42 AM
Archives
