8 Unitarian Universalist Congregations of Greater Houston+

From the Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA): "I'm pleased to announce the public release of the new five-page UUA Strategic Plan for Professional Ministries. The plan, developed by our Professional Ministries Task Force, outlines eight key recommendations gleaned from our 64-page Strategic Review of Professional Ministries Report. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable input from individuals and organizations has been in developing these recommendations, all of which can effectively be advanced through the efforts of UUA staff working closely with our partners and constituents. We already are acting on several initiatives in the report, and look forward to sharing our progress with you as these efforts come to fruition."

The Rev. Eric Cherry, Director of International Resources at the UUA, has just returned from meetings with our partners in Japan. While there, he learned of the latest recovery efforts in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami and delivered the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) message of condolence, spiritual support, and solidarity. To support the ongoing work of our interfaith partners, the UUA and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) have created the UUA/UUSC Japan Relief Fund.

Bruce Knotts, executive director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, speaks out on the Standing on the Side of Love blog: "It’s time to end institutionalized discrimination based on sexual orientation in this country. Tell Congress it is time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and restore the rights of lawfully married same-sex couples to receive the protections of marriage under federal law."

Today the Times correspondent Marie Colvin has died, along with French journalist Remi Ochlik, reporting on the Homs massacres. This is further to reports of a prominent Arab blogger dying in Syria...

“I overheard a meeting of the worship committee in an Episcopal church. They were talking about the need to introduce more inclusive language into the Sunday services. All agreed that the exclusive...

After fishing around the university and State Board of Education websites a little yesterday to see what was what on the "flagship" dustup, and not finding any sort of public statement from the SBO...

The UUA has a group of nine stewardship consultants who help congregations with annual budget drives, strategic planning (in preparation for a capital campaign) capital campaigns, and endowment pro...

From February’s InterConnections feature story, now online at UUA.org: When a Unitarian Universalist group began to form in 2009 in suburban Cincinnati it wasn’t long before its members decided it ...

Who owns your time? It feels like a lot of people do. It feels like work, taxes, family, check out lanes, television studios, authors, teams, book clubs, church. Some of those people you have to gi...

Most world religions, it seems to me, have spiritual practices centered on food. Often it is refraining from eating certain foods, or eating only foods raised, prepared or blessed a certain way—veg...

And thank you!  Messages like this are what re-inspire us in our social media program.  We’re happy to be here and happy to serve.

You can take the girl out of the church, but you can't take the Catholic out of the girl. While we weren't super observent Catholics growing up, we did observe Lent. I really wish UUism had somethi...

This morning, the first second and third grade students at the Clear Spring School will work on a totem pole as part of their studies of American Indians. I found a wooden pallet at roadside, remov...

Many people are now celebrating Lent, a period of time commemorating Jesus' sojourn in the wilderness before starting his public ministry. In some ways, his time of testing in the desert resembles ...

Today is Ash Wednesday. As a Roman Catholic Unitarian Universalist this day has special meaning for me because it reminds me that I am mortal, will die, and am not just a body and an ego. It says i...

I think UUs should consider celebrating Lent – or perhaps appropriating some version of it for ourselves. If you get past the current Catholic Church’s focus on penance, Lent has a lot to teach us ...

Though I am no longer a Catholic, Lent remains something of a big thing to me. I have some years given up TV or given up eating snacks or sweets. I don’t do this every year, but I always feel that ...

No escape hatch to hide from Whitney Houston’s corpse and claque… We were positively British in our ghoulish celebrity tracking of her death, funeral and alleged celebrations of her life and career...

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if the...

“May loving peace fill the heart of everyone in the midst of tragedy.” - Tiffany Cole - Twitter: @TiaLucia