MidAmerica Webinars

Ritual of Healing and Recharging

Many of us are at our carrying capacity for stress; we feel overwhelmed by the crises and events facing us. This ritual will help to heal us, to strengthen our resilience and find shared hope for our living planet.

Presenter: Rev. Chip Roush serves the First Unitarian Church of South Bend, Indiana. He is the co-author (with Leslie Takahashi and Leon Spencer) of The Arc of the Universe is Long. He received the MEA's David McMahon Human Rights Award in 2016. Chip chairs the Board of the South Bend LGBTQ Center and yes, he knows Mayor Pete.

Webinar originally presented October 2019

Working with Anxiety

We live in anxious times, and this anxiety spills into our workplaces, homes, neighborhoods, and congregations. How can we productively work with anxiety? How can we prepare ourselves and our congregations for anxious challenges that may arise?

Presenter: Rev. Sharon Dittmar. Reverend Dittmar graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1997. She served one year as Interim Minister at the Gathering at Northern Hills (Cincinnati, OH 1997-1998), and eighteen years as Minister at First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati (1998-2016). In 2016 she began work as Congregational Life Field Staff with the MidAmerica Region.

Originally presented October 2019

Tending to Grief and Honoring Death

After a death, grief can be unbearable -- but it's not a problem to be solved or hustled through. Rather, grief is an unpredictable process to be tended through companionship and witness. In this webinar, Rev. Erika Hewitt will guide participants through a basic understanding of pastoral skills needed to respond to a death and loss; and the liturgical work of creating and leading memorial services.

View the Slides

For further information on Rev. Hewitt, go to: https://www.uua.org/offices/people/erika-hewitt

UU Association of Membership Professionals: Sinek Golden Circle

Simon Sinek is the author of "Start With Why" and "Leaders Eat Last," among other books. He writes of organizational mission, leadership principles, and how to inspire others to achieve greatness. His lessons speak directly to issues of mission, marketing, membership and change management in our congregations. In this 90 minute webinar, Mark Bernstein discusses Sinek's ideas and principles and relates them to our work in congregational life. This webinar is applicable to all who are invested in the health and future well-being of their congregation.

Co-sponsored by UU Association of Membership Professionals

Safe Congregations: Where to Begin

The following links are shared in the webinar. The starting place is always: www.uua.org/safe, and from there you can follow the prompts, or click directly on these links.

Safe Congregations Home page

Becoming a Safer Congregation

Getting Started

Safety for Religious Education and Children

Youth Ministry

Sexually Safer Congregations

18 Sexually Safer Best Practices

Website with State by State information on Mandated Reporting

Building Security in Congregations

List of Checklists

Financial Safety for Congregations

Safety as an Embodiment of Covenant