Fall 2025 Learning and Networking Opportunities

By Central East Region of the UUA

One thing we hear from congregational leaders and members is you want more opportunities to connect and learn with others. How you want to do that and the topic you want to gather around varies, but there is a desire to be together in community. To help our leaders find the opportunities that best fit your interests, our staff have pulled together what we know is happening this fall in this list.

Text image: The Gathering: Fortifying Ourselves for the Long Road Ahead.

The Gathering is a new monthly virtual event from Side With Love, designed to offer spiritual grounding, political analysis and collective action. It meets on the Second Monday of the month at 8pm ET and each session requires registration. Learn more at the Side with Love “The Gathering” website.

Congregational Leader Conversations. Each month, leaders from across the country gather to hear an esteemed guest speak on an emergent issue, hopeful development, or pressing concern in Unitarian Universalism. The presentation is followed by time for Q&A and small group discussion. If you are a lay or professional leader in a UU congregation or community — in the role of clergy, Board member, welcome team volunteer, administrator, small group facilitator, Religious Educator, or another capacity — we hope you’ll join the conversation. The group meets usually on the 4th Tuesday of the month. Register for Congregational Leaders Conversation.

Non-Fellowshipped Ministers Gathering. Ministers who are not fellowshipped with the Unitarian Universalist Association and are serving UU congregations are invited to gather monthly with MidAmerica’s Regional Lead. The group will share information, experiences, and resources with one another and explore questions concerning the UUA and Unitarian. This group meets on the second Tuesday of each month. Registration for Non-Fellowshipped Ministers Gathering is open.

Exploring New Models for Faith Development and Religious Education: A Summit on Faith Formation in this Moment, October 3-5, 2025. Come shape the future of UU faith development! All who’ve benefitted from and care about UU faith development are welcome: parents, youth, adults, lay leaders, volunteers, and religious professionals. This summit will focus on the faith formation needs of this current moment and your particular context — both big picture models and specific activities and topics. Come share what you know, learn from each other, and help us map the landscape of innovations that are working in UUism. For details and registration please visit Exploring New Models for Faith Development and Religious Education.

Colorful image of diverse cartoon people building a lightbulb puzzle surrounded by funky colorful pieces. With a title at the top reading pledge drive 101

Pledge Drive 101. Do you have questions about what makes a pledge drive effective today? Join us for a three-session webinar 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. Congregational teams will meet in three sessions in October. Register your team for Pledge Drive 101.

Wave Cohorts

The image shows a clear glass prism in the shape of a triangular pyramid resting on a smooth, neutral-colored surface. A beam of white light enters the prism from one side. As it passes through the prism, the light disperses into a vivid spectrum of colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet—creating a rainbow effect that projects out the opposite side. The dispersion is sharp and vibrant, casting both light and color onto the surface around the prism.

Wave Cohorts bring the right people into conversation and practice about the right topics in the right way at the right time. They are praxis-style groups of people who are working on the same “issue” to develop a shared analysis and understanding that, in turn, leads to taking strategic action together.

Some cohorts are focused on specific identities (e.g., youth, queer & trans folks, BIPOC communities, emerging adults). Others are thematic, exploring practices or institutional changes that cut across identities (e.g., stewardship and fundraising, youth ministry, worship, governance).

Wave Cohorts can take multiple forms depending on the participants, content, and goals. A full list of the fall Wave Cohorts is available on the Fall 2025 Wave Cohorts page.

More to Come

This is just what is currently planned for this fall, additional programs will be added. Keep an eye on our events calendar and newsletter for updates.