A UU Theology of Community Organizing by Matt Meyer

April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Matt Meyer

The attached PDF is a paper written by Matt Meyer sharing a “Unitarian Universalist Theology of Community Organizing.”   It begins:

Social justice work and Unitarian Universalism are intricately connected. Most of us believe that doing our part to make the world a better place is an important part of our spiritual journey. When it comes to the means of engagement however, there is less consensus. Our faith has much to say about the importance of charity and service and advocacy and education. I would offer though, that the tools and grounding values of community organizing reflect our Unitarian Universalist identity more than any other method of justice making. For a number of reasons, community organizing is a more holistic expression of Unitarian Universalism.  – Matt Meyer

Download, read and share the full paper:
A UU Theology of Organizing (PDF)

Matt Meyer is an artist of percussion, knowledgeable and experienced in a variety of styles, including latin-jazz, Brazilian, folk, funk, Hiphop and pop. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and has studied in Cuba, Ghana, and Central America. A love of music and a deep respect for its ability to stir and transform audiences is at the heart of Matt’s continuing devotion to understand more of the world’s cultures through the vocabulary of rhythm. Learn more about Matt including descriptions of the workshops he offers on his website, rhythmrevelations.com.

PS – I’m helping Matt share this resource via social media. Posted with permission ;-)

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Birth, Breath, and Death – Meditations on Motherhood, Chaplaincy, and Life as a Doula

March 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Amy Wright Glenn - Birth, Breath and DeathAuthor Amy Wright Glenn during her pregnancy

I am excited to announce that Amy Wright Glenn, a Unitarian Universalist and dear family friend, has just publish Birth, Breath, and Death— Meditations on Motherhood, Chaplaincy, and Life as a Doula.  You may start reading it in under a minute on Amazon Kindle!

UU Book Review

A Unitarian Universalist from her congregation writes:

This book is a treasure: part memoir, part musings about philosophy, religion, spirituality and spiritual practice, but entirely about love. It ranges from personal reflection and experience to more scholarly and existential explorations. It is a well-written, thoughtful description of how one person moves through her life open to all of its experiences and teachings, in whatever form they appear. Amy brings to life her own varied experiences with different religions and cultures and roles with curiosity, insight and imagination. Her descriptions about being a doula and a chaplain are very moving. Equally compelling, however, were her descriptions of the emotional obstacles she faced in becoming mother, her awakening to the intense love and joy in mothering her son, and, and her descriptions of the sustaining relationship she shares with her husband. This book, written by someone so loving and so open to life with all of its daunting challenges, should not be missed. Plus, there are great quotes throughout, as well as many memorable passages.

Our Connection

Amy Wright Glenn

Amy Wright Glenn

Amy Wright Glenn and her husband, Clark, lived in Newport, RI and attended Channing Memorial Church where my wife, the Rev. Amy Freedman, previously served as minister.   Though Amy & Clark had moved by the time I arrived in Newport, I was able to get to know them through their regular Newport visits.  Amazing people!

And now for me to start reading the book. Click. Downloading…  30 seconds later reading on my iPad.  Hmmm… Wonder if there’s anything about Unitarian Universalism in this book:

I found Portland’s Unitarian Universalist First Church through my interest in poetry. Marilyn Sewell, the editor of my favorite poetry anthology, which focused on women’s spirituality, lived in Portland. I heard she was the minister at First Church and woke early one Sunday to attend. Alone, I navigated my way downtown on Portland’s public transit bus system. Reverend Sewell led a coming-of-age ceremony for three teenager members of the congregation. The simplicity of the ritual, the absence of patriarchal dogma that would prohibit a woman from offering such a blessing, and her grounded presence touched me deeply.

I was drawn to the way that Unitarian Universalist (UU) ministers attempt to…

Keep Reading

Shazam! I knew it. Had to be something related otherwise I wouldn’t be posting it.

My Book Reviews

I share reviews and announcements when friends and colleagues (people I already know) publish books and resources I think my readers will appreciate.   Please take time to connect with me (Facebook, Twitter) and our UU media, growth and outreach focused community via social media before you ask me to write a review.  If you aren’t using social media,  a post on this site isn’t going to do much for you.  Interested in learning?  Contact me to discuss group trainings and private social media coaching.

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Minns Lecture Tweetchats and Facebook Discussion

January 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Minns TweetchatYou know culture and technology are changing at an accelerating pace.  But what does this mean for our Unitarian Universalist ministry?

Join us, the Rev. Naomi King and Peter Bowden, for a series of  Tweetchats and Facebook discussion exploring “Ministry in the Age of Collaboration,” the theme of our March 9, 2013 Minns Lectures.  During these online conversation we will explore how social media and social networks are empowering people to risk and live faithfully. Because we know working faithfully together creates more positive effects in the world, we want to start the conversation prior to the Minns Lectures in March, as well as continue it once videos of the lectures are released.

Don’t miss these opportunities to ask questions, share ideas, and shape what we hope will be an association-wide conversation.  You may share this page using social sharing buttons at the end of the post. Thanks!

For information on attending the Minns Lectures in person visit http://www.minnslectures.org/

Facebook Discussion

Each Friday in the UU Growth Lab, the month leading up to the lectures, we will be posting questions. Join this Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/uugrowthlab and look for our Minns Lecture themed posts on the following dates:

  • Friday, Feb 8, 2013
  • Friday, Feb 15, 2013
  • Friday, Feb 22, 2013
  • Friday, March 1, 2013

#MinnsLecture Tweetchats

Our hour long live Tweetchat on Feb 12th will share the themes and core questions driving our lectures.  We want to here you ideas, stories, and have the opportunity to weave more innovation and real life examples into our talks. The month after the lectures, April 9th, after the lecture videos have been shared, we’ll have a follow up conversation.

How to Participate in Tweetchats

  1. Log in to your Twitter account on date and time of tweetchat
  2. Visit http://tweetchat.com/room/minnslecture
  3. Start chatting!
This virtual chat room will bring together tweets sent with hashtag #MinnsLecture. While all tweets are public to everyone following you, using this Tweetchat room makes it easy to focus on our #MinnsLecture themed conversation.
Follow us on Twitter
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The 2013 Minns Lecture Series

January 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Friends,  here are details for the  2013 Minns Lectures. I’m honored to be offering one of the three lectures.  Note that while this is a free event, there will be an online registration/RSVP.  See http://www.minnslectures.org.  ~  Peter

Publicity Materials

Minns Lectures logo

The 2013 Minns Lecture Series
March 8 & 9, 2013
Boston, MA

Eventbrite Attend Event Button

Young for Liberty:  The UU Movement in the 21st Century

In the spirit of William Ellery Channing, who once said, “I was always young for liberty,” the Minns Lectures for 2013 will be structured around three lively interactive presentations on how our free faith tradition speaks to, and in the past reached out to, young people – and how today’s revolution in social media can reshape, enlarge, and invigorate that outreach today.

Join us on March 8 and 9 in Boston, in person or online, for these three important lectures.  [I'll be sharing more about the online details shortly. Peter]

Lecture 1

AG-MinnsFriday, March 8, 7-9 pm
No-cost reception included
King’s Chapel, 58 Tremont Street, Boston
King’s Chapel House, 64 Beacon Street, Boston  (Changed Location!)

Sticking with Stories: Unitarianism and the Creation of Children’s Literature
Delivered by the Rev. Andrea Greenwood

Rev. Greenwood has served congregations in Atlanta, GA, and Watertown, MA. A strong advocate for special education both in the church and in the broader community, she is currently writing a biography of the Newbery Medalist, Elizabeth Enright – a Unitarian and the niece of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Lectures 2 and 3

NK-MinnsSaturday, March 9, 10 am-2:30 pm
No cost lunch included
First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street, Boston (Google Map)

Ministry in the Age of Collaboration: Congregations in a Hyper-Connected Generous World
Delivered by the Rev. Naomi King
Rev. King ministers locally and at large with City of Refuge Ministries, utilizing social media to join global houses of study, prayer, and action, and to grow faith communities in and beyond congregational walls. Via a mix of spiritually minded blogs and faith development programs, her ministry reaches around the world, engaging multifaith partners as well as Unitarian Universalists.

PB-MinnsMinistry in the Age of Collaboration: Faithful Practices and Principles
Delivered by Peter Bowden
A television producer and parish consultant, Mr. Bowden runs Leading Congregations, [was the author of the UU Growth Blog, now archived on this site], and UnitarianUniversalism.TV.  He is dedicated to helping religious leaders master changing culture and technology.

The Minns Lectureship Committee of King’s Chapel and First Church in Boston sponsors an annual series of lectures by UU ministers on religious topics of historical importance and contemporary relevance. Last year’s lectures by former UUA president the Rev. John Buehrens explored the renewal of Unitarian Universalism in the 21st century.

Video, audio, and texts for these lectures and for earlier ones, along with additional details on the 2013 lectures and how to register (at no cost), can be found on the Minns website.

The committee welcomes innovative proposals for lectures in 2014 and beyond. Guidelines on proposal submissions and a short history of this unique lecture series are also posted on the website.

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Joseph Priestly District 2013 Worship Arts Festival

November 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Friends, this year I will be offering the keynote and series of workshops at the Joseph Priestly District’s 2013 Worship Arts Festival. My talk is titled “Worship & Social Media in the new Age of Collaboration.”  Social media has opened amazing new possibilities for turning worship and sermons into just one part of a much larger conversation.  Together we’ll explore new ways for engaging your community as you plan, research and design worship. There will be over a dozen workshops offered at this event.  Scroll down for the full selection, including my three workshops. It is going to be amazing!  I hope you’ll join us.  Let me know if you have questions about any of my offerings. ~ Peter

JPD-banner

Joseph Priestly District 2013 Worship Arts Festival
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Optional Friday evening session February 22, 2013
Hosted by the UU Church in Cherry Hill, NJ

ONLINE REGISTRATION

FULL CONFERENCE DETAILS

Who should attend: Anyone interested in enhancing the worship experience of their congregation from ministerial, musical, and religious education staff to worship presenters and hospitality volunteers. You’ll find amazing resources, inspiration and connections at this event.

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Church Growth Conference – Taunton, MA, October 26-27, 2012

September 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

First Parish, Taunton, MA - Exterior

Next month our Unitarian Universalist congregation in Taunton, MA is hosting a growth conference which I hope you will consider sending a team to.

It is Friday, October 26 – Saturday, October 27, 2012.

See Full Details and Online Registration.

Paul Nickerson

Presenting will be my colleague, Paul Nickerson, a senior associate with Griffith Coaching, the leading new church Start and Turnaround Company in the country.  Paul has more than 30 years of experience as a local pastor, judicatory leader and church consultant.

I met Paul in May of 2011 at a New Church Start Boot Camp  he was leading with Jim Griffith, author of Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by New Church Starts.  That training was the best I’ve attended in years!  Now I’m excited to hear Paul’s take on growth, membership and turning congregations around.

Is this a Unitarian Universalist event?

This event is being organized by our Unitarian Universalist congregation in Taunton, MA, will have mostly UU participants, and is being coordinated by the very Unitarian Universalist minister, the Rev. Christana Wille-Mcknight.

Presenting will be Paul Nickerson, who is NOT Unitarian Universalist, which is exactly why I’m going to this event.

Paul has also been kind enough to invite me to speak briefly on congregational social media.  That’s right, can’t have a complete growth conference without a healthy (and fun) dose of social media!

Registration

Online registration is now open at http://growthconference.eventbrite.com.  Want to share news of this event with others?  There are sharing buttons at the end of this post. Below you may also find the original event announcement from the Ballou Channing District of the UUA.

I look forward to seeing you in Taunton!
Peter Bowden

Church Turnaround and Growth Conference in Taunton

The First Parish Church in Taunton is sponsoring a growth conference for churches who want to do something new to turn their church around on Friday, October 26 and Saturday October 27.

The conference is being lead by church development consultant, Paul Nickerson. It will introduce new ways of thinking about conducting and employing  new techniques for doing growth work differently. For more information contact Rev. Christana Willey McKnight, minister@firstparishtaunton.org. Register at http://growthconference.eventbrite.com/ Registration fee: $350 group/$125 individual. First Parish Church in Taunton, MA, is located on Church Green (on Route 44).

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The UU Media Collaborative, it works…

September 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

UU Media Collaborative - Dragonfly - Sept 19, 2012

Yesterday a few of us launched a new project on Facebook, a group called “The UU Media Collaborative.“  The group is described as follows:

The UU Media Collaborative is a space for Unitarian Universalists to collaborate on the production of freely available and sharable visual graphics, images, videos and other resources. We hope to encourage collaborations between UU graphic designers, photographers, videographers, graphic artists and other creative minds. Interested in sharing the ideals of Unitarian Universalism visually? Join us!
Coming together in a new spirit of collaboration, members started sharing resources for free stock photos,  then sources for UU quotes.   Then POW!  The following UU Media Collaborative works resulted.   We’ll be figuring out a vehicle for making the groups works easy to follow and share, with clear use guidelines. UPDATE: We’ve launched a Facebook page for sharing images created by the UU Media Collaborative. Like to get new content you can share with your congregation and beyond!
You may join the group at  http://www.facebook.com/groups/uumedia
Get content via Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/UUMedia

UU Media Collaborative - Ballet Sept 19, 2012

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Occupy Your Faith – A Boston Unitarian Universalist Revival

May 1, 2012 By 1 Comment
Event announcement via Matt Meyer. “Please pass it along to everyone you know!  Pass it along to youth group leaders and youth, friends and family, choir members and musicians, clergy and college students!  The RSVP will let us know how much food to get and how much help we’ll need with childcare.”

Boston UU Revival on May 12th!
Join us for a service of song, story, and reflection.
4-6pm.  Dinner to follow
Music by: Matt Meyer, Mark David Buckles, and “The Music Committee,” a contemporary UU band.
$15 suggested donation.
An offering for the UU Urban Ministry will be taken.
Childcare Available
RSVP HERE


Occupy Your Faith
A Boston Unitarian Universalist Revival

Join us for an energetic service of song, story, and reflection as we share in a celebration of the transforming message of Unitarian Universalism.

Saturday, May 12th
Worship begins at 4pm, with a shared dinner to follow at 6pm.
RSVP HERE

Childcare will be available

At the UU Urban Ministry
10 Putnam st. in Roxbury 
<10 min walk from Roxbury Crossing T stop

Music by: Matt Meyer, Mark David Buckles, and “The Music Committee” a contemporary UU band.
Suggested donation of $15.
A free-will offering will also be taken for the UU Urban Ministry of Boston.

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Sample Congregational Website Privacy Policy

April 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On websites you will often find a link to a privacy statement.  Does your congregation have one?

A sample policy statement has just been published to the Joseph Priestly District’s growth resource page.  The Sample Privacy Policy for the Web was prepared by CHUUG, the growth committee of this JPD Chesapeake cluster.

It offers a suggested format for creating a Privacy Policy for your web site  addressing the following:

  • Personal Information
  • Statistical Information Collected
  • Information Accuracy
  • Links to Third Party Sites

Download Sample Privacy Policy for the Web (PDF).
Visit Joseph Priestly District’s growth resource page.

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New Olympia Brown Mystery from Rev. Judy Campbell

March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My colleague and friend, the Rev. Judith Campbell, has just released the third book in her “Mission Mystery” series!    

Judy is a Unitarian Universalist community minister and Ministerial Search Representative  for the Ballou Channing District. She leads workshops and retreats in writing as prayer and spiritual practice across the US and in the UK.  Learn more on her website.

 Introducing A Despicable Mission! Featuring UU minister inspired character Olympia Brown and set on Martha’s Vineyard. Ask for it at Local Bookstores and Libraries.
Order/Start Reading Now:
and for a sneak peek… go to…
www.judithcampbell-holymysteries.com

A Despicable Mission
It’s summer on the picture book island of Martha’s Vineyard. Olympia Brown is the summer minister, and she suspects that an elderly parishioner is the target of a nasty confidence operation. Much to the consternation of her colleague, Father Jim, and Frederick, her English gentleman, Olympia puts her own life in danger when she intervenes. Sparks fly, tempers flare, and Olympia ends up on the wrong side of a loaded gun. If you don’t already know the Olympia Brown series, check out A Deadly Mission and An Unspeakable Mission on our Books page. Already a fan? You’ll love A Despicable Mission, Olympia Brown’s latest adventure, also available in e-book formats for the Kindle and Nook readers.

Published by Mainly Murder Press. www.mainlymurderpress.com

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