Opportunities for Connection-CERUUA Update October 2022

Have you heard of YUUP yet? The Young UU Project began in 2020 as a way for young UUs to keep in touch with each other and their faith during the pandemic, and is held by Lifespan Faith Engagement. The purpose of YUUP is to be a national community care network and multi-directional communication channel that centers BIPOC, trans/non-binary and neurodivergent youth and offers a transition zone for young people moving into emerging adulthood.

Anyone (youth, caregivers, religious professionals, lay leaders, everyone!) can tap into the social ministry of YUUP by following them on Instagram @yuup.uua and signing up for the YUUP newsletter. YUUP also has a community sphere just for youth, those who bridged in 2022 and support adults. These “Third Monday Meetups” are where youth swap ideas they can take home to their local communities. In August they swapped Favorite Check In Questions. In September they swapped favorite youth group games, which will soon be released on Instagram and in the newsletter.

Adult readers - We need your help connecting youth to this community! Please point them to UUA.ORG/YUUP to connect at whatever their capacity is.

Did you know that the 2023 General Assembly will be in Pittsburgh, PA this year? Yes! At the David Lawrence Convention Center, right on the river! Beautiful views, a short walk to parks, shopping and food, and history near by. Ride one or both of the inclines up Mt. Washington, visit Fort Pitt or the Heinz History Museum just minutes away. Check out the Carnegie Science Center or Carnegie Museum, or the Andy Warhol Art Museum. Can't be in Pittsburgh? Attend online as a virtual attendee. Make your plans to join us June 21-25 in our own backyard! Learn more at the UUA GA webpage.

And if you are interested in the videos from GA 2022, the on-demand library is now available to the general public. The library of over 80 workshops, worship services, and other events is now available. Some recordings are no longer available due to copyright or agreements with the presenters. Check it out at the GA Recordings website.

Join fellow Unitarian Universalists for a day of camaraderie, connection, and collaboration at the 9th Annual Assembly of the UUs of Greater Pittsburgh on Saturday, November 12, 2022, 8:30 am - 3 pm ET, online and at First Unitarian Pittsburgh.

Keynote speaker is Sydney Etheredge, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Western PA. She will deliver an insightful address on the theme of "Reproductive Rights and Justice". There will also be a panel discussion, business meeting, a special UUA announcement, morning worship service and more. Registration is open for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Is your congregation operating without a professionally-trained minister? Your UUA Congregational Life Staff is offering a program this Fall just for you: Essentials for Lay-Led Congregations.

The program includes an email subscription to a newsletter (full of helpful tips, tools, training opportunities, and other resources), and admission to the December 10, 2022 Lay-Led Congregation Convergence. There you will get to connect with leaders from other lay-led congregations.

Learn more at the UUA website.

Creating beloved community requires intention and practice. Our covenants articulate our intention, but how do we live into the practice? Right Relations Teams (RRT) are lay leaders entrusted to help the congregation practice faithful communication and creative conflict based on values of mutuality and consent.

This training is for congregational teams who will be helping their congregations (or other covenantal communities) live into their covenants.

Your team can take the training on your own ($30/person), or you can take a facilitated version with other congregations and 6 live practice sessions ($400/team). Learn more about the facilitated RRT Training. (Payment must be received to reserve your spot.)

New England Region is offering the Family Ministry Training Renaissance Module in an online format! Starting Wednesdays, October 26th to December 7th (skipping November 23rd) from 5:00pm-7:30pm EST / 2-4:30pm PT / 3-5:30pm MT/ 4-6:30pm CT. This training will be led by Kathy Smith and Rev. Samaya Oakley. Registration is limited to 15 participants and the standard fee is $225. If the standard rate price is prohibitive, please take advantage of our community rates. If you are in a position to support others in this training, please add what you are able. Register and find more information here. The registration deadline is Tuesday October 11th, 2022. Sponsored by New England Region UUA.

Climate Disaster Response: Assessing climate impacts & making connections

Climate disasters impact our communities - how can UUs be prepared? Join this series of workshops with activities to help you identify the climate risks, understand who is most at risk and how your community will be impacted. From there, make a plan to prepare for and respond to climate disasters in your neighborhood.
This workshop is part of a series. All sessions are 90 minutes long and begin at 7pm ET/ 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT.

Oct 25: Mobilizing for action - Register

Nov 15: Community conversation - Register

This series is jointly supported by the UU Ministers Association and your UUA staff. It is aimed at religious professionals but open to all. Religious educators can get credit for credentialing and UUMA members continuing education credit.

Next up in our series will be a panel presentation in November focusing on supporting neurodivergent children and youth. Joining us will be Katie Resendiz, Rev. Sierra-Marie Gerfao, April Rosario, and Meredith Plummer. Between them they have extensive experience across many kinds of neurodivergence and decades of experience with neurodivergent children and youth inside and outside UU congregations. Look for this the week of November 14th. We recommend having watched at least one of the first three sessions and read the recommended 101 document to get the most of this experience.

In October you can catch up on our first three events with Rev. Heather Petit, lay leader and professor Ramon SeLove, and religious educator Meredith Plummer. Start on our Welcoming Neurodivergent People: Skill Up Page for Heather’s presentation, for upcoming events, to subscribe to our announcement list, and to access the UUMA’s website where you can purchase the full presentations and Q&As for all of our events. Not all the events are posted yet but we will post them as we are able.

Do you have a creative idea for ways that the community can play, explore, or learn together? The Summer Institute Planning Committee want to see your proposals for morning seminars and afternoon workshops! But, don't delay, deadline for applications is October 20, 2022.

Morning Seminars are intended to be attended by the same people all five mornings (supporting a curriculum that builds upon itself each day) and are chosen with an effort toward providing a variety of options to the community (i.e. spiritual, intellectual, physical, hands-on, etc.).

Afternoon Workshops tend to be more casual than morning seminars and should be designed to be attended just one or multiple days. They can be intergenerational or age specific. These are often sports, games, and crafts but are not limited to these options so share your ideas!

Please also consider how your workshop might work for online attendees, as we will be multiplatform in 2023. Some workshops or seminars won't work online but others can be streamed live or recorded.

by Rev. Sunshine Wolfe

Have you noticed that you forget things more now than you remember doing before? Or perhaps you have communicated events and decisions in your congregations or communities and folks insist they have never heard it before? I am sure you can think of other examples in your life, family, or the communities you serve where folks just don’t seem to remember very well. I call this The Dory Fish and it is a normal response to stressful times.

Read the rest of the article

And from the LeaderLab, please read Keep Online Ministry Interactive, from EqUUal Access.

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The following events are upcoming in the region. For full details and a complete list visit the CER Calendar Page. Also, please note, if you are mailing a check to the regional office to pay for your registration, you must write the name and date of the event in the memo line. Otherwise we may not get it properly credited.

If you are looking for Renaissance Modules for Religious Educators or Our Whole Lives Trainings, check the full calendar on the UUA website.

CER BIPOC Gathering, October 3, 6:30 pm ET.
Taproot: A National BIPOC Space - October 13, 2022, 8-9:15 pm ET
Helpful Board Habits Series, Session 3 - October 11, 2022, 6:30-8 pm ET online
UUA Legacy Giving Webinar for Congregations - October 15, 2022, 1-3 pm ET online.
UUA Board Meeting, October 20-22, 2022, times TBA online. Register for the meeting.
New York State Convention of Universalists Annual Meeting - October 21-22, 2022
CER BIPOC Gathering, November 7, 6:30 pm ET.
Networking Session, November 10, 12:30-2 pm ET. Meeting Link.
Networking Session, November 10, 6-7:30 pm ET. Meeting Link.
Taproot: A National BIPOC Space - November 10, 2022, 8-9:15 pm ET
UUA Board Meeting, November 14, 2022 online, 7 pm ET. Register for the meeting.
COMING - Elementary Our Whole Lives Training for Facilitators, December 2-4, 2022, Wooster, OH. Registration will be available soon.
Lay-Led Congregation Convergence, December 10, 2022, online. Part of the Essentials for Lay-Led Congregations Program.

If your congregation or cluster has an exciting project that could use funding from our Chalice Lighter Program, our next Intent to Apply deadline is October 1 for grants to be awarded in January, 2023.

UUA's International Office and Meadville-Lombard Theological School are hosting multiplatform conference "Post-Imperial Futures: Addressing Legacy and Living Into Promise," October 6-8, 2022, with leading theologians and activists to equip ordained and lay leaders with the tools to educate their congregations and decolonize their ministries. Learn more and register today!

UUA Legacy Giving Webinar for Congregations, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 1-3 pm ET. The UUA’s Legacy Gifts Office offers a number of services, including an online workshop to assist congregations in creating legacy giving programs. This webinar, to be held via Zoom on Saturday, October 15, 2022, from 1 pm to 3 pm ET, covers the basics of legacy giving and how to set up a legacy giving program in your congregation. We aim to equip congregations with the knowledge they need to start a legacy program. To register for the 10/15/22 webinar, email us at legacy@uua.org or call (888) 792-5885 (select option 3).

UN Sunday packet is here! Every year the UU Office at the United Nations puts together a packet for congregations to create their own UN Sunday. This year's theme is "Displacement & Human Rights: All In for Climate Justice." The packet includes quick background information, links to short videos, easy to use worship planning resources, plus one-session intro to UU@UN for each children and youth. Access this exciting resource.

Does your congregation have staff? You need the Benefits Tune-Up Workbook, now in a new format. Our popular Benefits Tune-up Workbook, now in its 5th edition, will help you understand key documents, eligibility criteria, enrollment windows, and more while providing a path to putting sound systems in place to ensure compliance with Plan rules. We urge all congregations participating in any UUA benefit plans to complete the Workbook annually - as well as whenever a new congregational leader becomes a responsible party. Make it a team effort among a small group of staff and lay leaders who have benefits administration responsibilities.

The UUA has a Disaster Relief Fund for those who want to make a donation to help congregations who have faced losses due to tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires and more. Please donate if you can. To learn more about the work of the Disaster Relief Fund visit their webpage. If your congregation needs assistance, you can apply for a grant on that webpage. We are Better Together.

Virtual Guest in Your Pulpit! The UUMA has a list of virtual speakers, check it out to see who is available! Visit the UUMA website to read the list. Also, don't forget to check out the CER Guest in Your Pulpit program, which includes both lay and professional worship leaders.

New publications from the UUA - Announcing the 2022-23 Common Read: Mistakes and Miracles: Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism by Nancy Palmer Jones and Karin Lin. The UU Common Read will begin in late 2022 with a recorded conversation with the authors. If you are starting Mistakes and Miracles now, note that each chapter ends with questions to reflect on learning and experiences around multiculturism and Beloved Community work in your own congregation. Materials for in-person and online gatherings will follow. Visit the UUA website for more information. Available now for pre-order is Care for the World: Reflections on Community Ministry edited by Rev. Erin J. Walter. As part of the start of the new church year, don't miss the We Are Unitarian Universalists Digital Package, a multimedia outreach tool for congregations. Each digital package include an 8.5x11 PDF; an audio file; a link to a video; an embed code for a web page with text, audio and video and social media graphics.

The UUA is hiring for several positions, including several in Congregational Life. Find job descriptions and application information at their Job Openings webpage.

Our congregations and clusters in the region have many exciting activities and announcements going on. For a complete listing of events, visit the CER Congregations and Clusters Calendar Page. For news from congregations, please visit our News Blog. For job listings from congregations check the UUA Job Board.

Faithify Projects - 2 CER congregations have projects ongoing!

Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church to support a refugee family (ends in 12 days!)
First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh also to support refugee resettlement programs.

The UU Church of Akron has re-created the 100 Unitarians and Universalists Who Made a Difference poster. Read about their process and find out how to order.
Several UU Congregations in CER are hiring. Check the listings.
Check out Faithify.org for projects from the region and around the country.

If your congregation or cluster has news or events to share, please send it to us at bcasebolt@uua.org.

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