Staff Blog

We live in frightening times. We are, on a daily basis, made aware of the fact that horrendous events happen moment by moment. In those instances, we can be re-traumatized and/or challenged in ways that we try to come to grips with, and not shy away from.

Greetings and love to everyone! As of June 16, I’m on leave from my work with the UUA Southern Region! Since the beginning of the year, I have been a candidate for Mississippi’s 10th State Senate District, representing two counties in the northwest part of the state: Marshall,...

By the time of my first settled ministry (in Louisville, KY), I had served in a leadership capacity of some kind in a number of different UU congregations in multiple states. So when the congregational leadership told me it was time to schedule the annual fire drill service, I...

This Sunday will be my first Mother’s Day without my mom, Luberta Elliott Smith. She died peacefully a week ago at the age of 84 after many years of declining health and multiple medical issues. I was there at her bedside in those final moments, as was my older brother Edwin.

El Paso, TX; the U.S.-Mexico Border; the line between two different worlds which begin to blend the closer in proximity they become. If it were an abstract painting, the U.S. and Mexico would show up on the canvas in radically different colors and textures,

Twenty three years ago I began a journey of service as a Unitarian Universalist religious educator. I soon discovered the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA). With clusters of religious educators, and my LREDA chapter, I found nurture, encouragement, and many...

“Walls and Windows” by Judy Small and Pat Humphries is one of my favorite songs. The lyrics include: “Did you sing your children lullabies to calm their fears at night? Did you hold them gently 'til they went to sleep? Did you plant in them the seeds of hope for new and better...

In this moment, my heart is overflowing. I received a call this evening from a beloved relative who had isolated themselves from their dearest friends and our family in recent months. Their personal circumstances had changed in ways they feared others would not understand nor...

Greetings of the New Year to All! And what a year it will be. Here are some of the exciting developments coming your way over the course of the next 12 months as we make our Unitarian Universalist values real in the Southern Region and beyond.

In this season of generosity, gratitude and reflection, we, your Southern Region staff, took some time to look back. We were surprised at all that had been accomplished over the year including:

Over the past several months, many Mississippi Unitarian Universalists joined in the effort to elect the first Black US Senator from the state since the Reconstruction Era. I was one of those Unitarian Universalists, knocking on doors, posting on social media, attending rallies...

This Sunday will be the first time many of us will gather together with our fellow Unitarian Universalists after the mid-term elections. As your Southern Region team, we know of the diversity that exists in our congregations, across the South and across the continent.

Building on the Southern Region’s guiding paradigm of a regional curriculum map, this new project partnership with the MidAmerica Region will provide support for the enhancement of faith development by providing coaching/companioning support for religious educators.

We want to welcome these ministers who are serving in new ministries in the Southern Region, including some who have relocated within our region:

Every fall congregations begin to look at the challenges and needs they might be facing in the coming year. Please remember that the Southern Region Congregational Life Staff Team is your team. There are many ways that we can partner with you as you begin your new church year.

Welcome to the 2018-2019 Congregational Year! As the summer days wind down and school bells start to ring, we on the Southern Region Team are excited for the months that lie between now and the beginning of next summer.

On August 12, we will mark one year since the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when hundreds of white supremacists gathered in Emancipation Park around the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. That day, Heather Heyer lost her life when one supremacist...

What is The Point ? The Point is a customizable Unitarian Universalist retreat for all. At The Point we worship, sing, play, explore, question, eat, laugh and learn while living in a covenantal community. In late July 2018 at Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma, our new home for...

Most of your Southern Region staff are fresh from our Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly, held this year in Kansas City, Missouri, June 20-24. You can read about the highlights in UU World Magazine . In the midst of our familiar rituals and procedures such as...

"If you don’t believe that your enemy can be redeemed you will become what you hate.” - Rev. Dr. William Barber II “I learn from my enemies,” Killmonger retorts. “ You have become them,” T'Challa responds. I have said this so many times in the past year that it rings in my head...