Archives of Central East Region News and Blog

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.

California here we come - PA that is. Summer Institute (CERSI) is moving to California University of Pennsylvania just south of Pittsburgh for next year. Next year on July 12-18, 2020 the CERSI community will convene in California, PA.

One of the blessings of getting out of your normal surroundings is that it inspires you to see thing anew when you return

UU Society of Ithaca, NY uses and recommends new way of keep events green by using The Dish Truck.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - New Documents from Office of Church Staff Finances, Resources from General Assembly, time to update your leadership and Summer Programming still has openings!

General Assembly ended yesterday, the whirlwind week of workshops, services, business meetings, and the exhibit hall is now over for another year. As I write this many are starting the trip home from Spokane, WA.

In our regional staff team we joke about our “superpowers”. These are fun, amazing skills each of us have that we like to joke about - for example, one of us can tetris 7 people’s luggage and equipment into the back of van in a matter of minutes, and another can knit fruits,...

For 40 years a group of dedicated volunteers, leaders and staff have created Summer Institute, an intentional intergenerational community.

What kind of leaders do[es] our faith and our planet need in a future that is as close as tomorrow? What does sustainable leadership look like when burnout and overwhelm are so prevalent?

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - GA Prep Webinars, River Rising, RE Week, and CER Staffing Changes

It's time to get prepared for General Assembly 2019!

Summer is bringing some staffing changes to Central East Region.

I’ve been reflecting on the many ways that our churches would do well to describe the ways they aren’t attached to the habits and practices of this world. We UUs are not only called to make this world better. We are often called to do so by subverting the dominant paradigm, by...

The Melanie Pescan Memorial scholarship fund was started in order to bring people with financial hardships to Summer Institute. The scholarship pays for at least part of their attendance fee.

Last March, I began a journey to learn the history of the Movement (the Civil Rights Movement) in Alabama. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s I had been taught about Rosa Parks in Montgomery; the March from Selma to Montgomery; and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in...

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - Cluster Programs Offered by Staff, RE Trainings this Summer and Seaway Gathering

Each one of our congregations have a ministry context – the neighborhood and community where our church is located. If we knew more about our neighbors, we could be intentional about offering programming that meets the real needs of the community.

Children’s artwork from Hiroshima 1945 (on loan from the collection at All Souls UU in D.C.) is featured in the exhibition “Shadows and Ashes: The Peril of Nuclear Weapons,” on view at Montgomery College’s Cultural Arts Center

Many congregations are in the waning days of their annual stewardship campaign. Are you thinking, “whew, glad that’s done until next year?” Well…not so fast!

This weeks' blog post is by guest writer, Brian Hagemann at First UU Columbus. ...

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - UUA Jobs Board, Safety Conference, Seaway Gathering, Summer Camps

“Walls and Windows” by Judy Small and Pat Humphries is one of my favorite songs. It is described as “an anti-war song written from a woman’s perspective. The song asks that we recognize ourselves in the people, who are on the other side of the fence”

A Message from Dr. Dennis Wellnitz, Joseph Priestley District on dissolving the district.

"Trans people have a wide range of gender identities and a wide range of ways of adapting, and being unable or unwilling to adapt, to a world that doesn’t often accept us. We come in the full range of human differences which impact how others respond to our transness."

Summer Institute is an intentional intergenerational community that gets created and re-created each summer as we come together to live fully as Unitarian Universalists.

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - General Assembly, River Rising, Summer Camps

The Central East Region is excited to announce the creation of a new week-long youth leadership experience happening this summer in 2019. Rising River will include several aspects of the previous Goldmine Leadership School but with lots of new exciting changes.

You are invited to join us for General Assembly June 19-23, 2019 in Spokane, WA for The Power of We

Yet we've learned that conflicts can present great opportunities for building community by examining together what we value the most and clarifying our purpose and mission as a community.

Music at Summer Institute: A Symphony of Shared Experience. “There’s a lot of opportunities for music at SI. I think you’d really love it.”

Introducing Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland - a new faith community in Greater Cleveland.

Video from the New Day Rising Conference

Find out what's happening in the Central East Region! This month - Relief for Furloughed Federal Workers, Youth Ministry Revival, UU Leadership Institute Spring courses.

Innovative Ways to Collect Donations from First UU Church of Niagara, Niagara Falls, NY.

The Fourth Universalist Society awarded prestigious $500,000 historic preservation grant from New York State

The Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston (UUCR) has an opening for a part-time bookkeeper.

Join us for Youth Ministry Revival March 1-3, 2019 in Bethesda, MD!

CERSI Highlight - A Young Adult’s Reflection on the Youth Program

Are You Prepared for Winter's Wrath?

Holiday Greetings from the CER Staff

Opportunities to Be a Part of Summer Institute

Creative Darkness, closest friend, you whisper in the night;...

This blog is by guest Tyler Coles....

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....

This past summer, I was pondering. Many of my congregational interactions went something like this: “We want to play a role in furthering racial justice work in our congregation, and figure out ways we might be contributing to white supremacy culture. We just can’t decide what...