Featured Resource: Sermon of the Month Series

Designed for small congregations, lay-led congregations, congregations with part-time ministry, and any congregation that is seeking resources for worship, Congregational Life's Sermon of the Month Series is a monthly subscription service that provides recorded sermons congregations can download and use for worship. Along with a transcript of the sermon, each month’s offering will include suggested readings and hymns.

Learn more and register for the 2024-25 series at the UUA website.

UU Justice Climate Revival

UUs are coming together to inspire, reawaken, and transform our churches through climate justice. Bring your justice teams, problem solvers, and dreamers. The planning team will provide everything needed: facilitation toolkits, training, music, projects, coordinated justice action, and more. No matter your congregation’s size or resources, you can join and together we will enter a new era of climate action. Let's go—appoint two volunteer facilitators who will be trained to participate. Sign Up today.

If your congregation is participating, take note of these additional dates:

UU Climate Justice Revival Run Through!

September 22 at 3pm ET The UU Climate Justice Revival is just one week away! Join Revival planners for one final run through and Q&A session. Register

UU Climate Justice Revival Facilitator Training Are you one of your congregation's facilitators for the UU Climate Justice Revival? All facilitators need to join one of our 2-hour Facilitator Training Sessions. Come learn how to be the best facilitator you can be for your congregation's Revival!

September 7 at 3pm ET ~ September 7 at 6pm ET ~ September 11 at 7pm ET

Elementary Our Whole Lives Training In-Person

Our Whole Lives Facilitator Training for Elementary Levels, September 27-29, 2024, Pittsburgh, PA

Registration closes Sept 4 and we need 10 people to make this training go, so if you are considering attending, please register today!

Do check our calendar often for updates.

Our Whole Lives (OWL) is an excellent, comprehensive sexuality education program that offers participants the opportunity to explore their values and gain accurate information about topics that are often not easily accessible. The overall goal of the Our Whole Lives program is to help participants gain the knowledge, values, and skills they need to lead sexually healthy, responsible lives. The goals of this workshop are to prepare the participants to implement the curriculum as well as the Sexuality and Our Faith component. Through a varied program including practice and participation activities, the trainers will cover implementation techniques, curricula details, and technical information. You can see all trainings at the UUA Our Whole Lives Facilitator Page.

UU Multigenerational Seminar 2024

We’re excited to announce the UN Multigenerational Seminar 2024, taking place on September 21-22. This event, available both online and in New York City, is a chance to engage in a global, faith-based dialogue about solidarity, advocacy, and activism under the theme: Reimagine Tomorrow: Global Solidarity Beyond Empire. Presented by UU College of Social Justice and UU Service Committee, the seminar honors the legacy of the UU@UN Intergenerational Spring Seminar. This seminar is an opportunity to learn about our relationship to advocacy, understand the UN as a tool for change, and deepen our faith for a global solidarity practice.

Event Dates: September 21-22, 2024 Location: NYC & Online Get Details

Mosaic National Fall Conference

Join others from across the Association for Mosaic’s Fostering Belonging and Liberation Fall Conference in Bethesda, MD, Friday, October 18 – Sunday, October 20, 2024. The National Fall Conference will be a dynamic, multi-platform gathering for congregational teams and individuals engaged in the work of building multicultural communities with love at their center. Over two and a half days, participants will share in collaborative conversations, innovative workshops, and gain invaluable insights from community leaders within Unitarian Universalism and beyond. Participants will leave with renewed hearts and spirits, with new Mosaic tools in hand, ready to support and inspire others to foster belonging and liberation. You can learn more and register.

If you are a youth and interested in attending, you can! We have a youth track! Learn more and register as a youth.

Join us for the next Mosaic National Learning and Practice Community

Anti-Racism/Anti-oppression Transformation Across the Lifespan.  How do we use lifespan faith formation to create a culture of AR/AO/MC transformation? We will hear from Rev. Marisol Caballero who will help us explore the new Mosaic Lifespan Curriculum and facilitate time to share and connect with others around the theme.Mosaic National Learning and Practice Gatherings support organizations and congregations’ long-term commitment to carry out AR/AO/MC transformation. These 90-minute virtual gatherings include a mix of facilitated learning from trusted voices in the movement for AR/AO/MC transformation and opportunities to be in conversation with fellow UUs. Register Now

Pledge Drive 101 October Series

Do you have questions about what makes a pledge drive effective today? Join us for a three-session webinar starting Tuesday, October 8th designed for stewardship teams engaged in a spring pledge drive. We will explore current congregational giving trends, pledge drive practices that are working, and examples of real UU congregations who have experienced pledge drive successes. Congregations must register as teams, with three people per congregational team by Tuesday, October 1st, 2024. Find more information and register today!

Opportunities for RE Leaders

RE Kickoff! 
Bring your RE team for Connections, Skills & Planning in Changing Times. 
Led by UUA Congregational Life Staff, online. 
Learn about common challenges & what's working from peer RE programs - connect with other similarly-sized RE programs - plan with your own RE teams. Congregations of any size are warmly welcome.

Two Thursdays: 10/10 & 10/24, 7-9 PM ET or Two Sundays: 10/6 & 10/13: 4-6 pm ET. Don't delay, Registration is now open!

Fall Sparks Modules for Religious Educators 
The Sparks Program provides Unitarian Universalist (UU) Religious Educators a learning community within which they can easily access applicable skills and tools. Modules being offered this fall include: Dimensions of Faith Development, Systems Theory, Administration as Leadership, Family Ministry Training, and Leading UU Culture Change.

Check out the Sparks Schedule Page for dates and registration information and the Sparks program page for more details about this program.

UUA Faith Development's Fall RE Meet-Ups 
Sunday, Sept 22, 7-8:30 p.m. ET and Tuesday, Sept 24, 12-1:30 p.m. ET
Digging into Community and Tools for Religious Educators

• Community - Who are your partners and colleagues in this work? Where can you tap into communities of religious educators?
• Tools - What is in your faith development toolbox? Where are additional religious education resources available for you?

RE Meet-Ups are open to all professionals and lay leaders engaged in the work of faith development in our congregations. Please choose the meeting time that best suits your schedule. Register Today.

Spiritual Deepening Through Worship & Small Groups

Four Saturday Sessions, October 5 through October 26. 11:30 am ET.
The Center for Congregational Spirituality and the Congregational Life Staff group are excited to offer another session of their popular online course that inspires congregational leaders to create worship- and small group-centered opportunities designed to deepen both communal and individual spirituality. Learn more.

Side with Love Events

Side with Love has a number of events coming up. Be sure to check their website for new events near you. You can also find election events at UU the Vote's website.

• UU the Vote 2024 Pittsburgh Activation, Sept 21, 9a-1p ET and Sept 22, 1-5 pm ET, location TBD.
• UU the Vote Weekly Virtual Phonebanks, Sept 3, 10, 17 and 24.
• Good Trouble Check-in, Sept, 19, 8 pm ET, online

"What do I have to offer?" + the Social Change Ecosystem Framework, Sept 18, 7 pm ET.
We all have an important part to play in our congregation! To create a world that liberates all of us, we need each and every one of us. Deepa Iyer's Social Change Ecosystem Framework identifies ten "roles" all working towards and with the values of equity, liberation, justice, and solidarity. This framework is built on the recognition that we all have “innate gifts, lived experiences, learned skills, and formal and informal knowledge that can propel social change.” It also celebrates that we are fluid and adaptable, with our "role" changing from one context to the next. We’re using this framework in the UU Climate Justice Revival and in it can be helpful when bringing together your GS2030 Teams. Learn more about this powerful framework from the author, herself! Register Now

Better Together Blog: RE Kickoff: Bring Your Team!

by Lenore Bajare-Dukes

We’ve rounded the corner into the season of hot, hazy days, back to school sales, and a growing curious energy: when UUs gather to greet one another, what will we be doing? Where will we turn our attention? How will we care for each other and build strength?

Where will children and youth, and their families, be?

What are people of ALL ages seeking from liberal religious communities?

Read the rest of the article and Sign up for our weekly email!

News from the UUA

Host a UU Book Fair or an inSpirit Book Store table Hosting a church book table or book fair is a popular and effective way to both connect congregants and visitors with books they’ll love and raise money for your ministries. inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop can help keep your crowd current on the latest progressive reading resources from Skinner House, Beacon Press and other publishers as they continue their search for truth and meaning. inSpirit’s curated selection of books centers around issues of social justice, equity, and spirituality relevant to our time and place in the world. Visit uuabookstore.org to learn more about our book table and book fair services.

The Renaissance and Music Leadership Professional Development Programs provide Unitarian Universalist Religious Professionals learning communities within which they can easily access applicable skills and tools for religious leadership. Courses are also open to interested lay leaders. Check out the lists of classes, these are great resources!

The UUA has a Disaster Relief Fund for those who want to make a donation to help congregations who have faced losses due to tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires and more. Please donate if you can. Learn more about the work of the Disaster Relief Fund. We are Better Together.

New publications from the UUA - Now available as an ebook, Love at the Center by Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt. Available for pre-order is Blessing It All: Rituals for Transition and Transformation edited by Heather Concannon and Allison Palm. Check out the UUA bookstore for all Beacon Press and Skinner House books.

The UUA is hiring for several positions. Find job descriptions and application information at their Job Openings webpage.

Calendar Items and News

For events, webinars and congregation news and events visit the following pages:

• CER Calendar of Events and Webinars
• Find your CER Primary Contact
• Chalice Lighter Grants - December 1 is the deadline for Intent to Apply Applications for the February 2025 grant awards.
• News Section for Congregational Stories and Articles
• Better Together Blog
• Congregational and Affiliate Group Calendar
• UUA Jobs Board for congregational job postings of all types