I have received multiple requests for copies of the homily that I presented at the UUA Pacific Southwest District Assembly this year, and instead of continuing to email it out, I thought I would publish it here at Celestial Lands. The task was to reflect on what “Beyond Borders” meant … Read more →
Tag Archives: Uua
The Center of a Liberal Faith Movement
What it means to be a Unitarian Universalist has been on my heart this last week. Not surprisingly, considering that many UU’s are currently thinking about similar things in reaction to the recent white paper from Rev. Peter Morales titled “Congregations and Beyond”. I know there is a lot behind … Read more →
Our Responsibility to those Beyond Our Walls
Break not that circle of enabling love, Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving, Break not that circle, make it wider still, Till it includes, embraces all the living. –Hymn 323, Singing the Living Tradition Recently, the conversation has begun again about what makes a Unitarian Universalist. Are you only a … Read more →
Bearing Witness or Smug Paternalism?
Recently, there has been some chatter in UU Ministerial and Lay-Leadership circles around the upcoming plans for the Unitarian Universalist Association “Justice GA” in Phoenix Arizona, focusing on how it is planned for those who attend to do far more learning and bearing witness on the issue of immigration, than … Read more →
Ministry is Big, so Have Faith
I want to give thanks to my colleague Christian Schmidt for being one of two inspirations for this post, through a question he posed to me in a comment on my article on our denomination’s feelings about supporting ministries. It is a topic that I have thought about engaging many … Read more →
I’m a Liberal and I’m a Patriot who Loves God… Deal with It!
I think this topic is becoming a regular 4th of July weekend tradition of mine, mainly because I have had it with the idea that unless someone is a Fox News watching, gun toting Tea-Party Republican they are not a “Real American”. Beyond the fact that such definitions of “Real … Read more →
General Assembly Day 5: Passionate Arguments for Our Faith’s Center
I want to say on Celestial Lands what I said in person to many people about the overall “theme” for this General Assembly. In my most humble opinion, the overall theme was not the 50th Anniversary of the UUA. It was not where we will be as a religion in … Read more →
Generations of Ministerial Colleagues
Last week I attended the First Year Minister’s Seminar at the UUA Headquarters at 25 Beacon Street in Boston. The program was great… it was good to hear directly from the many different UUA staff offices, and the conversation I had about my theory of social justice with a senior UU … Read more →
My Military Chaplaincy Application Essay to the UUA
This weekend I am writing several of the essays to move me toward becoming a U.S. Army Chaplain. Yesterday I posted my essay to the U.S. Army. Today I post the draft of my essay to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. I look forward to the thoughts and feedback … Read more →
The Theological Context of My Ministry
One part of preparing to see the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the UUA is to write a paper detailing the Theological Context of my Ministry (in 2 pages… you try it sometime!). Not only have I shared this paper privately with some mentors and colleagues, but I also shared it … Read more →
Article on the UUA Advocacy and Witness Blog
I was honored to be asked by the UUA Advocacy and Witness Staff Group to write a guest article on their blog “Inspired Faith, Effective Action” for the 6 year mark of the War in Iraq. Here is a short bit of the article: One of the most common questions … Read more →
On the Way Home
Sitting here in the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, I have found my first reliable and generally useful internet connection of my entire time at General Assembly. It was not a problem I noticed very much, because I was so busy at GA this year it was actually a blessing to not … Read more →
Why This GA Will Be Different
This year will be the first year in the last three that I will be able to attend the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, held this year in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Last year I was at the U.S. Army Chaplain School, and the year before that I was in the midst … Read more →