It is an act of faith, to insist on Joy, and always entails some level of risk. Just as the crocus pushing through mud risks an April snowfall, we are also part of the nature of things that rise up from the muck over and over again, season after season.

How will we commit to be with one another - in times of ease as well as times of anguish? What promises are we called to make to our congregational community? How will we act in alignment with our highest values? How does our shared covenant hold us in times of conflict, harm, and repair?

What are your coping mechanisms in this time? Which ones serve you best? In all things, how can we reduce harm to our bodies, minds and spirits? What are you willing to do to strengthen your empathy? What sacrifices are you willing to make to be of better service to others?

In some quiet moments I’ve reflected on this journey from coveting, to claiming, to interpreting, integrating, and embodying. In my actions and choices, this is what I aim to do, what I feel my faith calling me to do: to Love Justice, to Seek Mercy, and to Go.

Let us not lay waste our power now. Remember who we are. Remember whose we are. Remember who we intend to be.

It’s September - time to welcome back our UU congregations returning for the 2024-2025 church year. Of course, not all of our congregations are on the agrarian / academic calendar, and whether we are returning to a brand new church year this month, or rolling into it from a busy summer of...

The practice of Tending Our Tradition asks us to be stewards of Unitarian Universalism by bringing forward what remains liberatory and life-giving from our past while addressing the harms that have also been part of our story.

This month we are delighted to share a voice from our pews. Author Rumni Saha recently shared a version of this essay with her congregation, and sent a copy to our NER office as well. We asked her permission to share it with you. Doing so is a faithful risk by our sibling in faith, and Faithful...

My grandparents had a découpage plaque by their front door with President Kennedy’s famous words, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” A simple collection of words I could read for years before I started to really consider what they meant, and what...

A few weeks ago, I joined Joe, Meck, and our Region’s Spiritual Leadership for Culture Change Community of Practice (join anytime!) for a conversation on Tending Our Tradition through Reparations. We were looking at how this practice of Spiritual Leadership invites us to bring forward the gifts...

Among the things that has kept regional staff busy lately is conducting transition interviews. When a settled ministry ends, we meet with the departing minister to get their responses to a set of questions designed by the Transitions Office. We also meet with the board and ask them the same...

It’s the waning days of 2022 as I write this; it will hit your inbox in early 2023. The turning of the Gregorian year begins with January, named for the Roman god Janus, the god of two faces - one looking ever backward, one looking ever ahead. God of transitions. Of liminal spaces. Of moving out...

In 2020 General Assembly delegates voted to begin a review of Article II of the UUA Bylaws. Article II is the covenant between and among UU congregations. It currently contains our seven Principles and six Sources. It also has language about inclusion and freedom of belief....

The point of a community of practice is for people who want to get better at something to learn from each other through regular interaction. Even people new to a field can help the group learn. Their observations and questions can identify unrecognized practices and raise awareness of which...

Recently, I gathered around our dining room table with my daughter and her 7-year-old to play a game of Right, Left, and Center. It’s a portable game involving dice and chips that get shifted to the right, left, or into a center pot. As bedtime neared, we packed the dice into their box and my...

Last year, at their request, I met with Follen Responds to Racism (FRR), an anti-racism team at the Follen Community Church in Lexington, MA. We had an animated conversation. They told me about their work and the many ways they are addressing racism within and beyond their congregation. I was...

“Hello, who are you?” “I don’t know; I’ve never met me before!” This dialogue is from a comedy skit a friend and I wrote for an elementary school talent show. My comedy career never took off, but this dialogue resonates with me these days, as we collectively emerge from two years of...

At the beginning of 2020, we didn’t know what was coming. At the beginning of 2021, we had hope on the horizon. Now, at the beginning of 2022, our hope is tempered by a healthy respect for how quickly things can change, and some trust in our ability - and flexibility - to faithfully respond....

Several years ago the New England Region team was creating the first version of our Spiritual Leadership framework. We identified 5 practices that help UU congregations to bring forth and support the spiritual leadership of everyone in the congregation. One of these practices we named “Binding to...

According to Movement Strategy Center (1), community transformation depends on: power analysis: understanding who has access to resources; who influences and participates in decision-making; and whose standards, stories and worldviews are valued; community organizing: working together across our...