How the UUA is Serving You and Your Values
How do you benefit from your congregation's membership in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)? The UUA's mission is to serve congregations and the wider community in many ways. Here are some:Connecting UUs: The UUA helps Unitarian Universalists (UUs) connect with each other beyond their congregation's walls. Our email lists are places to discuss a wide range of topics with other UUs and non-UUs. UUA districts offer a range of conferences to the congregations that they serve. And General Assembly is the annual meeting of the UUA, held each June, with workshops and events for every UU.
Witnessing our faith in the world: Unitarian Universalist values are brought to members of our congregations, their leaders, elected representatives, and the wider world through public witness work conducted by member congregations, districts, and UUA appointed and elected leaders. To keep up with UUA news stories, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe to UUA-L, our news and information email announcement list.
UU World, in print and online: UU World magazine is published four times a year and mailed to members of all UUA member congregations. (If you don't receive a copy and think you should, check with your congregation's office.) For more frequent news updates, visit uuworld.org, which offers a UU news blog, timely articles, and other features, published every week.
Financial Services and stewardship of investments: The UUA is able to provide services to our members through the support of our member congregations and donations to the UUA's Annual Program Fund or those that support major programs or initiatives. When the UUA receives monies to support programs, or receives gifts, trusts, and endowments, those holdings receive careful investment management. Monies and items of value may be held in trust for the benefit of the Association, for member Congregations, and/or held in trust for Associate or Affiliate organizations. The successful management of these funds is vital to the current and future success of the Association and its constituencies.
Lay Leaders: The InterConnections newsletter provides useful articles for the volunteers who run your congregations. Online, you can search the Leaders' Library to find resources for those who lead our congregations (lay and ordained). The UUA also offers a number of programs to congregations, including fundraising consultations, loans and grants, programs for keeping congregations safe for all, small group ministry (covenant groups) resources, growth programs, marketing and advertising materials, and more.
Social Justice: Action is at the center of our faith for many UUs , and the UUA has many resources and services to promote social action. They include programs that address racism, environmental concerns, freedom to marry, and other issues. The UUA also works with a range of affiliated organizations, including the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), UU Ministry for the Earth, and many others in seeking to inform and educate around social issues.
Professional Leadership: The UUA supports professional leadership in congregations and the community (ministers, religious educators, church musicians, administrators) in many ways. We work with credentialing bodies for ministers and religious educators to prepare theological students for the UU ministry, address issues of compensation for professional leaders, and advise congregations that are seeking professional leadership through our Transitions Office.
Religious Education: Our Lifespan Faith Development staff group offers a list of available UU religious education resources as well as information to support religious educators, both professional and volunteer. The UUA is currently engaged in producing a series of new curricula produced as part of the Tapestry of Faith program.
For more information contact info @ uua.org.
Last updated on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.
