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Opportunities for Connection
CER Update ~ March 2025 |
Featured Resource: Partnership Portal
The UUA offers rich resources for our congregations. If you are looking for help for your congregation, but don't know where to start, we recommend the new Partnership Portal.
This resource offers a quick reference directory with portals for management, vitality and growth, worship, religious education and justice teams. Each of these topic areas links to pages of resources from blogs and articles, recordings of webinars to classes on UU Institute. Be sure to check it out and explore the resources you may not have known we have. |
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Leading with Love at the Center
Hurry, deadlines are approaching for some dates
2025 is calling; how will Unitarian Universalists respond? In a world marked by political oppression and escalating crises, centering love is a radical and transformative act—one that calls for all of us to move into collective spiritual leadership. What grounding and skills do we need to practice Unitarian Universalism, offering this faith to ourselves, to one another, and to the world that needs us?
Four dates, five locations and one online option. Everyone is welcome to join us when and where they can do so. Board and committee leaders, parents, children, youth, young adults, staff members, religious professionals, ministers, and any committed and engaged folx who love Unitarian Universalism and might not have formal roles. Registration is open! Find out all the details at the CER website. |
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Save the date for April 26, 2025! Register now!
Upcoming online event brought to you by First UU Syracuse
Every year at First UU Society of Syracuse, we host a keynote presentation given by a transgender/gender nonconforming person, offer workshops from and for the trans community only, as well as additional workshops for cisgender people who are ready to learn more about how to be an ally. We create a space and time where transgender people, allies, advocates, and accomplices can bravely (and with more safety than usual) explore, learn and grow, bear witness, and be witnessed. We are really excited about this year’s keynote: Spencer Bergstedt, a trans man, a lawyer, a trans activist, a parent. You can find him on his Trans Dad channel on Instagram.
You can register to attend this event online now with tech support and registration assistance from UUA staff. You can watch it together at your congregation! If you’d like to have a watch party or engage as a congregation please reach out to your regional staff.
We encourage you to share the link to register to participate online with your congregation. However, please do not share the link to register in public such as on your website or Facebook page. In these times we would like to make it more difficult for trolls to learn about and access the space to keep it safer. |
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March is Small Congregation Month!
March is Small Congregation Month! The UUA's Congregational Life Smallers Team is hosting a month of learning for small congregations. We will be offering a webinar each week in the month of March on a variety of topics for small congregations: Deeper Joy (community building activities); Deep Listening (a foundational element of good communication;) and Social Action for small congregations. The final week of Small Congregation Month will be dedicated to convening cohorts of small congregation leaders: ministers, religious educators, board members, etc.
The dates for the webinars are Wednesday, March 5, Tuesday, March 11, and Thursday, March 20. Tuesday, March 25, through Thursday, March 27, will be the dates for the convenings. All webinars and convening will begin at 8pm ET and last for one hour. The webinars will be recorded and available to everyone who registers. Registration is on a sliding scale with a maximum cost of $20. Learn more at the UUA website. |
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Would you like to help make the SI Magic come alive? We have openings for folks to provide services to the SI community including RE teachers, golf cart drivers, water play workshop leaders and more. The full list and application form can be found on the CERSI website. Jobs come with a reduction in your registration fee for Summer Institute - the amount varies, depending on how much time the position takes. Check it out and please share widely. We will continue to accept applications until all positions are filled.
In 2025, Summer Institute gathers July 6-12 at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. Our theme speaker will be Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford, speaking on the theme Live a Life on Fire: Change the World with Your Love. Learn more about SI and past activities at the website and the video (YouTube).
CERSI Adult Youth Program Staff - This role includes supporting a youth co-leader in facilitating a daily Touch Base Group (a small group of youth that convenes before dinner) and chaperoning either morning or evening youth programming each day - in return for $450 off the cost of your registration. Apply today, does require a background check. |
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We invite you to join us for the 2025 UUA General Assembly in Baltimore and/or online from June 18-22—a chance to connect, reflect, and build a future that meets this moment with purpose and courage. This year’s theme, “Meet the Moment,” calls us to engage with the evolving challenges of our world, exploring fresh ways to deepen our faith and respond boldly to our mission. Across five days of powerful worship, insightful workshops, and community-building experiences, we’ll find inspiration together, reconnect with friends and colleagues, and return to our congregations renewed. Join us in person or online to be part of this transformative experience, where every voice matters and our shared vision grows stronger. GA Registration is now open and rates go up on March 31. Housing reservations are going fast! |
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Practical Resources for Leaders Supporting Staff and Finances
Are you a leader whose role involves supporting staff or finances in your congregation? The UUA Church Staff Finances group appreciates you! Here are four resources we want to make sure you’re aware of:
- Guide to Setting Terms of Employment: essential items to cover with every new employee to ensure shared understandings
- Benefits Tune-up Workbook: a guide to UUA benefit plan rules and compliance – with new Focused Sections for working on one benefit area at a time
- Treasurer Support Team: for help with treasurer responsibilities that fall outside of compensation and benefits
- Congregations as Businesses Knowledge Base: a growing FAQ for finance-related questions
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The UUA has several scholarship and award programs with approaching deadlines.
Thomas Scholarship for those in Seminary
Are you or someone you know a lay leader in Unitarian Universalism who will be entering the first year of seminary in 2025, or is undertaking undergraduate work to prepare for seminary? The Rev. Chuck and Nancy Thomas Scholarship honors Rev. Chuck Thomas’s career and his family’s commitment to lay leadership in Unitarian Universalism by awarding this scholarship to one such student each year. Thomas Scholars qualify for this award by demonstrating their outstanding commitment to Unitarian Universalism as lay leaders. Learn more at the website. Applications must be submitted no later than April 15, 2025.
MacLean Award for Excellence in Religious Education
Who is the religious educator you know who’s made impactful contributions to UU faith development? Nominations are open through March 2025 for the annual Angus H. MacLean award for excellence in religious education. The award was established in 1972 by the St. Lawrence University Theological School Alumni Association and the Religious Education Department of the UUA. This year, the UUA is providing funds to increase the monetary award to $1,000. A committee chaired by Nao Bethea, the UUA's Lifespan Faith Engagement Co-Director, will select a recipient. Anyone may nominate a recipient. Please visit the UUA website to find the award criteria and how to make a nomination.
Bennett Award for Congregational Action on Human Justice and Social Action
The Bennett Award for Congregational Action on Human Justice and Social Action honors a Unitarian Universalist congregation that has done exemplary work in social justice and is accompanied by a $1,000 cash award. Submissions must be received by April 25, 2025. Submissions consist of a short description form, and if applicable, a testimonial from a partner organization or community group, and any relevant media about the congregation's justice ministry, including news articles or photos. Submit a nomination.
Skinner Sermon Award
The Skinner Sermon Award honors Clarence Skinner, the late dean of the Tufts College School of Religion in Medford, MA and is presented annually to the preacher of the sermon best expressing Unitarian Universalism's social principles. It comes with a $500 honorarium. We particularly encourage and invite sermons that speak to one of our four intersectional justice priorities (bodily autonomy inclusive of reproductive justice and trans liberation; decriminalization; democracy and electoral justice; and climate justice). Submissions must be received by April 25, 2025. Submissions may be offered as a document of the sermon text and/or as a video recording of it being offered. Please be sure to include the author's name, address, church affiliation, phone number, email address, and indication of when and where the sermon was delivered in your email submission. Submit your nomination. |
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Side with Love has a number of events coming up. Be sure to check their website for new events near you. Get all the details at the event link.
Resources from Side with Love
30 Days of Love 2025
In case you missed it, view all the resources from 30 Days of Love 2025, Side With Love’s annual event offering spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice over four weeks from January 20–February 14. These offerings are for individuals, families, religious professionals, partners, and communities who need soulful sustenance for the work of liberation and justice.
Action Center Weekly Updates
We are in a critical moment. Power is being consolidated in the hands of the few, while attacks on democracy, bodily autonomy, and human dignity escalate. But nothing is inevitable. Justice movements are powered by people like you—people who organize, resist, and build a loving and liberated world. That’s why we’re launching the Action Center Weekly Update—a resource to keep you informed, equip you with immediate actions, and help you strengthen your organizing skills. Each Tuesday, find our newest updates at our Action Center as well as the archive of past updates.
Grounded, Resilient, and Responsible Toolkit
In an era of rising nationalism, racism, transphobia, and patriarchy, faith leaders are called to be unwavering voices for justice. This guide offers practical tools, safety considerations, and strategic insights to help you navigate activism responsibly, stay grounded amidst chaos, respond to urgent threats while sustaining long-term justice work. This living document evolves with the times, equipping us to meet today’s challenges with wisdom and resilience. Download the guide here.
Upcoming Events
New - The Gathering, March 10 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET
The Gathering is a new monthly virtual event from Side With Love, designed to offer:
- Spiritual Grounding – Strengthen your heart and spirit for the work ahead.
- Political Analysis – Understand the threats to democracy and justice.
- Collective Action – Organize with others to block anti-democratic forces and build a just and loving world.
Our launch will be led by Side with Love Staff Nicole Pressley and Rev. Cathy Rion Starr with Katia Hansen sharing about the immigration context, and Rev. Lane-Mairead Campbell sharing lessons on showing up for and with trans folks in Western New York. bēheld will ground us with live singing. Register here to join us.
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CER Introduces Cassandra Montenegro
by Cassandra Montenegro
The Central East Region is very pleased to introduce our congregations to Cassandra Montenegro, our newest CER Congregational Life staff member.
Cassandra Montenegro (she|ella) has joined Central East Regional staff serving our congregations in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. She identifies as a queer light-skinned cis-gendered Latina from South Florida, where she was raised on café con leche, the Rosary, and Tibetan chanting.
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The following events sponsored by CER 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 Sparks Modules for Religious Educators or Our Whole Lives Trainings, check the full calendar on the UUA website.
- Small Congregations Month Webinar Session ~ March 5, 8-9 pm ET.
- System Theory Sparks Module ~ March 7-14-21-28, 12-2 p ET, online.
- CER Learning, Transformation and Networking Days ~ March 8, 2025, 10-4 ET, UU Church of the South Hills, PA and First Unitarian Church of Wilmington, DE.
- Small Congregations Month Webinar Session ~ March 11, 8-9 pm ET.
- Taproot: A National BIPOC Gathering ~ March 12, 2025, 8-9:30 pm ET, online.
- Small Congregations Month Webinar Session ~ March 20, 8-9 pm ET.
- CER Learning, Transformation and Networking Days ~ March 22, 2025, 10-4 ET, UU Congregation of Cleveland, OH and Morristown UU Fellowship, NJ.
- Small Congregations Month Session for Ordained staff ~ March 25, 8-9 pm ET.
- Small Congregations Month Session for Non-ordained staff ~ March 20, 8-9 pm ET.
- Small Congregations Month Session for Volunteer Lay Leaders~ March 20, 8-9 pm ET.
- CER Learning, Transformation and Networking Days ~ April 5, 2025, 10-1 ET, online.
- Taproot: A National BIPOC Gathering ~ April 9, 2025, 8-9:30 pm ET, online.
- CER Learning, Transformation and Networking Days ~ May 3, 2025, 10-4 ET, May Memorial UU Society, Syracuse, NY
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 March 1 for grants to be awarded in May 2025 and August 1 for grants to be awarded in October 2025.
Congregational Events
Congregations are hiring, check out the UU Job Board to see what is available. |
If your congregation is struggling with how to respond in this moment, please check out the UUA's Resilience Hub. This is a location where we are gathering resources to help congregations build strong, connected, and resilient communities.
The UU Mental Health Network invites you to join them for their online worship service May 18, 2025 at 6 pm ET featuring Rev. Phoenix Bell Shelton Biggs titled Sacred Wholeness: Reimagining Mental Health as Liberation. Details at their website.
The Spark RE and Music Leadership Professional Development Programs provide Unitarian Universalist Religious Professionals learning communities where they can easily access applicable skills and tools for religious leadership. Courses are also open to interested lay leaders. Check out the lists of classes, these are great resources!
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. Learn more about the work of the Disaster Relief Fund. We are Better Together.
The UUA is hiring for several positions. Find job descriptions and application information at their Job Openings webpage. |
Central East Region
PO Box 425, St. Clairsville, OH 43950
Unitarian Universalist Association
24 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210-1409 |
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