Before beginning, dramatically turn your back on the congregation and children, and place a smudge on cheek. It is important that this be a smudge that is large enough for the congregation to see, but does not cover the whole face. One cheek is good. Turn around....

Cojourners* on the Spiritual Way The Unitarian Universalist Association Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries has two new discussion guides for youth based on Summer Seminary sermons: Annie Gonzalez Milliken for teaching me that one!)....

represent their congregation at General Assembly by serving as delegates and voting in General Session (aka "Previously Plenary" aka "GenSesh" aka the way we conduct the business of the association)? Talk to your congregation's leaders as soon as you can to start the process. They may be able to...

To prepare, you'll need a few inflated balloons -- and to gird yourself for the improvisation required! Let’s play a game! Everyone knows how to play this game. All you have to do is get this balloon to the back of the room as fast as you can! Go!...

What's going to happen? Will everything be ok? What can I do? In these days we find ourselves, too often, Stuck with these questions on repeat: What's going to happen? / Will everything be ok? /What can I do?...

We are facing reality, as a faith, a nation, and individuals who may not have been as active as we should have been before the election results of November 8th. Those that lived-in fear before, now live in greater fear as families and communities are torn apart, on an even larger scale. Like many...

Here is where we gather in the presence of the Sacred. Here is where we gather to experience the Holy Here is where, together, we face the unanswerable questions and acknowledge that not knowing is as sublime as it is frustrating....

Blessed are we who gather with open hearts, together, in this space, today. Blessed are we: the chalice-lighters of resistance, justice, love, and faith. Blessed are we: the heretics, the outcasts, the walkers of our own way. Blessed are we: the border-crossers, the refugees, the immigrants, the...

There has never been a better time to invest in groups that bring you joy, that strengthen you, that help you serve others, and that work for justice.

"What we need is here" is a perfect, simple song by Episcopalian priest Rev. Amy McCreath. Its five words are the closing sentence of a Wendell Berry poem, "The Wild Geese," which inspired Amy to write this tune....

Your gifts—whatever you discover them to be— can be used to bless or curse the world. The mind's power, the strength of the hands, the reaches of the heart, the gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing, waiting Any of these can serve to feed the hungry, bind up wounds, welcome the...

Out of the darkness, light. Out of the light, warmth. Out of the warmth, joy. Out of the joy, togetherness. May this flame hold us for the time we are here with one another.

How does it happen? this transformation....

When our values are threatened, a congregation is an anchor against despair.

The great https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/15/safety-pi… pin debate. The epic http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444201/sjw-blog-vagina-imagery-wo… hat debacle. These are just two examples of an ongoing trend in liberal circles: people (often with relative privilege)...

Welcome to this space, this sanctuary of peace where we come to not only create our best selves, but to also do the work of creating a beloved community....

Give voice to sorrow and fear — the wracking sobs at family betraying family the shock at the chasm separating neighbors...

A Unitarian Universalist Welcome After I graduated college, with my family of origin in turmoil, I moved to a place where I knew no one outside of the job I was working. As I young person who didn't know myself well yet, I had some messy relationships, with no healthy models to hold up as a mirror.

The winter solstice is a time to look back upon our ancestors, gather our family and friends close, and rejoice in the return of the sun. It is a time of renewed hope and a time of resurrection – for just as Arianrhod’s Wheel turns and the Oak King resumes his rightful place, so must we go on.

This was written for Christmas Eve, or other occasions when people are each holding a candle. The spirit of the holy dwells in each of us. The spirit of love dwells in each of us. May the flames in our hands remind us that Eternal Love dwells in our hearts....