Voices of our faith, for the journey we make together in spirit, justice, and love. Please read, respond, and share!
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I love to play Sims. In Sims 3, you sometimes find an Unknown Seed. If you have enough gardening skills, your Sims can plant the seed and see what grows. It might be a money tree! In real life, we also plant seeds without knowing what they will ultimately become. In 2012, I facilitated a…
By Jessica York | May 16, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Racial Justice & Multicultural Ministries -
Storytellers make choices all the time. We choose which parts of a story to lift up and which to downplay or omit; which characters to develop, and how; and which dilemmas to emphasize. This is especially true when it comes to stories from the Bible. It was so with the great biblical films and…
By Gail Forsyth-Vail | May 6, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Judaism -
I am taking a UU history class with the Starr King School for the Ministry. But to you, my colleagues and friends, I’ll admit a secret: I’ve never been fond of history. In high school, history seemed to be a long list of dates and monarchs and wars. Classes improved in college when, forced to…
By Jessica York | April 28, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: UU History, UU Identity -
The family is a huge factor in a child’s faith development. Reverend Makanah Morris has likened family life to a ground in which seeds of a child’s faith are planted. She writes, “The seeds are planted in the early environment, but the ground can also be prepared for spreading roots and welcoming…
By Pat Kahn | April 18, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Beliefs & Principles, Families & Faith Development, Parents, Spirituality -
Ramon Selove and his wife, Shellie Selove, are Our Whole Lives sexuality education facilitator trainers. They are members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley (VA)….
By Dr. Ramon Selove | April 8, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Multiculturalism, UU Identity -
An 18-inch blanket of snow surrounds my house and it is far too early to put the winter clothes into storage. Yet, the birds are singing every morning, the days are longer, and grocery store conversation has turned to spring. Springtime…a time of delight for the human spirit!…
By Gail Forsyth-Vail | March 30, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Beliefs & Principles, Christianity, Spirituality -
We know that the Universe’s one constant is change. Systems are full of chaos. We’ve seen that in our weather systems this month, when March came in like a lion. Northern parts of our country are preparing for another big snow storm. Here in the South the beginning of March brought ice storms and…
By Jessica York | March 20, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Communication, Multiculturalism -
by Sandy Weir “From this House” is a joyous, South African-style song by composer Ben Allaway. It evokes the image of people walking out into the world after finding power and a sense of purpose at their house of peace, their community space to celebrate, learn, and work out problems. Unitarian…
March 12, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Multiculturalism, Social Justice -
I first experienced a UU camp retreat when I was still in high school. At Ferry Beach in Saco, Maine, I found a community trying to live according to its highest values in a place apart from an outside world which often felt so violent, unjust, and broken. For me, Ferry Beach was a place where…
By Gail Forsyth-Vail | March 4, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: High School-Aged Youth Faith Development -
Last fall, as the Faith Development Office was preparing discussion guides for Muhammad: The Story of a Prophet and Reformer by Sarah Conover (UUA/Skinner House, 2013), we learned from Mary Benard, Editorial Director of our Publications Office, that Muhammad had been reviewed by Booklist. This is a…
By Pat Kahn | February 22, 2014 | From Call and ResponseTagged as: Children’s Faith Development, Islam, LGBTQ Issues, Teaching Methods