MidAmerica Region Newsletter

...from the MidAmerica Region UUA staff

Our Dismantling White Supremacy Resource for December is a series of one-minute videos from Race Forward that highlights the impact of systemic racism on our everyday lives.

Regional Assembly 2020 will be held at The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, April 18, 2020. Our keynote speaker will be Taquiena Boston, Special Advisor to the UUA President for Institutional Inclusion, Equity, and Change. Registration opens in...

support UU Church of Urbana-Champaign’s Faithify campaign to help open the doors of FirstSteps, a transitional house for people returning home from prison; and Peoples Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as they take Sunday morning music to the next level by hiring a professional...

Please join us Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 28, 2020 in Providence, Rhode Island for this 5-day immersive experience where we participate in inspirational worship services and informative workshops, reconvene with friends and colleagues, and explore our bustling...

Wildfire season is upon us, with more than a dozen wildfires impacting California right now. This summer saw flooding impact several congregations. Your generous donation to the UUA Disaster Relief Fund will help provide UU congregations, their people and their communities, with...

A Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. It can build community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience, shared language, and a basis for deep, meaningful conversations.

Hiking the trails, singing by the campfire, playing games…all childhood camp fun. But this camp is not just for kids—it’s for people of all ages. Make connections, build friendships and experience nature together as a family—with other families—in an environment where diverse...

A change in the FLSA salary threshold for "white-collar exemptions" (executive, administrative, and professional exemptions) goes into effect on January 1. In 2020, the minimum salary needed for exempt status under the FLSA will increase from $455/week to $684/week, or $35,568/...

Here you’ll find the latest information on our Chalice Lighters program, including a brand new opportunity to support another of our congregations through Faithify. You’ll also hear from a UU youth who had a transformative time this summer at our Youth Midwest Leadership School...

Dismantling White Supremacy Resource of the Month: Unitarian Universalism is at a moment of great power and potential. We are making progress toward becoming a faith movement where people of all backgrounds and identities can thrive to challenge systems of oppression, patriarchy...

The MidAmerica Fieldstaff team shared that one of the books we are reading as part of our study on dismantling systemic white supremacy is The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by researcher and clinician, Bessel van der Kolk. One of our...

Regional Assembly 2020 will be held at The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, April 18, 2020. Our keynote speaker will be Taquiena Boston, Special Advisor to the UUA President for Institutional Inclusion, Equity, and Change.

One of the many blessings of serving our MidAmerica congregations is the gift of inspiration. As a Congregational Life Consultant, I often am asked to companion and coach congregations as they endeavor to find that which inspires them to a greater sense of hope, joy, love,...

Partnered with Heritage UU Church (Cincinnati) to create a nature sanctuary and green burial ground, UU Church Urbana-Champaign IL for a re-entry house for people returning after incarceration, and Peoples Church in Cedar IA for their music program.

This summer I had not dreamed that I would be spending one of the best weeks of my life in Decorah, Iowa, with other UU’s who cared for me and what I stand for. But in fact, that is what happened, and I can’t thank everyone who made it happen enough. That week was filled with...

In the coming year money received from the Friends of MidAmerica Program will fund (among many specific and general services): Regional Assembly at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford, IL on April 18, 2020; Webinar series on the UUA Common Read; Presidents webinar...

Just in time for your holiday consideration, we feature the UUA bookstore, InSpirit https://www.uuabookstore.org . InSpirit is your one stop place to find copies of the UUA Common Read, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, as well as books for children and...

One of the joys of my years serving our UUA as a Congregational Life Consultant, and now serving as the Regional Lead for the MidAmerica Region, has been the ways in which it has given me the opportunity to meet UUs from across our country, and to journey with UU congregations...

Two years ago the MidAmerica Fieldstaff Team embarked on a course of group study in order to do personal work around dismantling systemic white supremacy. Here is sample of what we have viewed and discussed: