Archives of Central East Region News and Blog

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - General Assembly 2020, Pastoral Message from Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, Seaway Gathering, Safer Congregations Resources, Calendar Changes.

Are you struggling with how to share your virtual programming with your members? Here is a resource for you!

I woke up smiling today, on Day Seven in our current State of National Emergency, declared by the President on Friday the 13th. How can I smile in the midst of a viral pandemic, you ask? I can think of two big reasons.

What a week we have had. Seven days ago we were looking at when we might consider switching to virtual services and wondering if a week or two might serve. By Thursday we were rapidly moving to most churches canceling services and moving to virtual alternatives.

Due to the threat that COVID-19 poses to susceptible members of our UU families and communities, we will be canceling, postponing or re-imagining all regional events for March and April.

Conflict is natural and exists in each and every congregation offering opportunities for growth and change. The goal for congregations is to develop a keen awareness of unhealthy conflict so that it can be diffused before it blows up into a major crisis.

Today we are here to celebrate and re-dedicate our house of worship. Believe it or not, this is the culmination of work that began five years ago with a building assessment which produced our Building Condition report.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - General Assembly 2020, Seaway Gathering, CERSI & UUMAC open registration and Congregations as Good Employer Resources.

Looking for ways to save money and still attend General Assembly this year? These tips can help.

The 2020 Intergenerational Spring Seminar on Climate Justice is almost here! Discussions and events surrounding climate justice will be held for three days. Here's an overview of what to be excited about, from worship to workshops.

UUMAC, or the Unitarian Universalist Mid-Atlantic Community, gathers together for one week each year to build community and deepen our Unitarian Universalist faith through fun, friendship, music, dancing, learning and worship.

Most – if not all – of our current social ills (war, the climate crisis, racism, immigration, economic inequality, for-profit healthcare, for-profit schools, mass incarceration) are a result of a worldview that looks at both people and planet as things to be used to profit those...

On January 7, the Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church (MVUC) CAT (Climate Action Team) Education group organized a Kids and Klimate! Day for young people from PreK to 12th grade.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - WorshipWeb, Conflict Resources, River Rising, GA2020, CER is hiring and What Happens at CERSI?

Stewardship and generosity in congregations is one of our most important ministries, and is an expression of our covenantal practice of working together towards a common mission grounded in love and justice.

My first Summer Institute was at Bethany College in 1996. I was 19, and couldn’t wait to hear what everyone had been talking about. They weren’t wrong. I grew up in the Young Adult program, first being one of 4 total young adults, watching it grow into the robust program it is...

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I have trouble asking for help. First, it takes me forever to figure out I need help. Then I feel strange and awkward about asking - I don’t want to bother anyone.

Want to join the CER Team? Job Opening for Field Staff

Featured Resource Pages—Smaller Congregations

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - UU the Vote, Stewardship Resources, Money Mythbusters, GA 2020, CER is Hiring!, Summer Institute is looking for volunteers.

From all of us at the Central East Region, we wish you Happy Holidays and a joyous New Year and extend a deep appreciation for our congregational leaders who do so much for our faith.

UUMAC, or the Unitarian Universalist Mid-Atlantic Community, gathers together for one week each year to build community and deepen our Unitarian Universalist faith through fun, friendship, music, dancing, learning and worship.

We live in a perfectionistic society. If you can’t do it perfectly, don’t do it at all. That attitude stifles creativity, thinking outside the box, trying something new. Why? Because we may fail and if we fail it may get plastered all over social media so everyone will know.

First Unitarian Universalist Society of Syracuse is once again hosting its annual Building Beloved Community Beyond the Binary conference on February 8, 2020 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - Conversations for Liberation, Leadership Development Resources, Winter Programs, GA 2020 Registration is open, The Season of Gratitude and more!

With Thanksgiving past and the holiday season approaching, this marks the beginning of the season of thankfulness and gratitude. And so we want to take this opportunity to say Thank You.

It's time to start thinking about summer and the Central East Region Summer Institute (CERSI - formerly SI)!

As we enter into the season of gratitude, this “savoring” time that leads to the Harvest, I find myself thinking of the nuanced differences between appreciation and gratitude.

No Child Goes Hungry (NCGH) is a nonprofit envisioned and created by UU minister, Rev. Kären Rasmussen. With the dream of eliminating childhood hunger in every neighborhood, NCGH's concept is pretty simple.

Video from the New Day Rising Conference in Manhasset, NY

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - The UUA Common Read, Small Congregations Resources, Small Congregations Webinar Series, New Ways of Doing Youth Programming and more!

At a time when resources are not always at a level we would like them to be at, we may find that pooling our resources with our neighboring congregations is beneficial. We are literally Better Together in this sense.

Resources for congregations working in this year's upcoming elections.

Featured Resource Pages—Communications and Social Media

This past summer Central East Region piloted a new leadership experience for Youth called River Rising.

Although there will undoubtedly be a few more warm days ahead, Autumn has started weaving brilliantly colored autumnal threads. This season does not work especially well for me because winter is, for me, a harsh and cold season.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - Faithify, Communications Resources, Board Training Series, New Day Rising and more!

Allegheny UU Church Children Show Support for Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh as part of a Beautification project.

On September 20, three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, young people and adults will strike all across the US and world to demand transformative action be taken to address the climate crisis.

One of the things we don’t get here in Washington DC is the slight nip in the air that tells you that the school year is about to begin (and allows you to wear your new school clothes rather than your old sweaty summer clothes for another month) but nevertheless, it is September...

As Susan Frederick-Gray mentioned during her president’s report at General Assembly in June, LeaderLab is a tremendous resource for congregational leaders.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - LeaderLab, New Day Rising, Youth Advisor Training, Small Congregations Program and more!

The UU Congregation of Greater Canton (UUCGC), though fewer in members, has had an important compassion and justice presence in their community. A few years ago they started a project to collect books for incarcerated individuals at the Stark County Jail, which got a lot of...

A Primary Contact is assigned to every congregation in the Central East Region. Do you know who yours is and what they do?

On August 25, 1619, the ship the White Lion arrived in Hampton, Virginia. The ship contained enslaved Africans. This is the first recorded arrival of Africans in America. This year, this anniversary will be commemorated at Fort Monroe as a day of healing and and reconciliation.

Our UU congregational tradition practices freedom of both pulpit and pew. Ministers are given the privilege to share their understandings from the pulpit, and member are free to agree or disagree.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - Primary Contacts, New Day Rising, Youth Advisor Training, Small Congregations Program and more!

I was spending the late afternoon before the June 2018 UU Minister’s Association Ministry Days exploring the hotel and riding the escalators with my 3 and 4 year old children while we waited for the Opening Reception (“party” to my children).

We know that small congregations are sharing the Love and Grace of Unitarian Universalism with their people and their communities every day. We also know that small churches can be faced with big challenges. Together we can help small congregations reach toward their greatest...

At UUCA, the storm’s heavy rain resulted in almost 70 percent of the church’s lower level being covered in one to two inches of standing water – causing significant water damage to the affected areas.