The New England Region is excited to announce that we have made upgrades to both our communications and data management systems over the course of the last year! These upgrades allow us to be in touch more frequently and in a more focused way - with events, resources, and other news. You may have noticed you're receiving more of these focused updates!

Help us keep you up to date by updating us on who your leaders are. This is especially important at this time of year, as many of you have recently elected new leaders.

Kindly head over to my.uua.org and check your congregation's personnel listed. The most complete information is the most useful! Please list all staff and lay leadership with their email addresses included.

If you are having trouble signing in or listing information, Data Services can help.

Additionally, we have a couple of lists that may be of interest to you! We are currently gathering data regarding 2024-2025 congregational and community OWL offerings. If your congregation is holding OWL, please consider letting us know! Thank you to all our congregations that participated this past church year. Even if your offerings will be the same for the next church cycle, please re-submit the listing.

We also have an NER Youth Ministries email list you can add your information to; this is a great way to ensure you stay up-to-date on Regional youth and emerging adult opportunities, trainings, events, and the like, even if you are not in a specific role such as RE committee chair.

This fall, join Religious Education (RE) teams from other congregations and let UUA Congregational Life Regional Staff help you kick off your RE year! Gather your team (professional Religious Education staff (if any) and RE lay leaders) for two live, online facilitated gatherings to get aligned and set intentions for the purpose, goals, and activities of your RE program in a changing, unpredictable world. Congregations and RE programs of any size, lay-led or professionally-led, are warmly welcomed to participate.

Join on Sundays, October 6 & 13 from 4:00-6:00pm ET - OR - Thursdays, October 10 & 24 from 7:00-9:00pm ET.

NER will share more information when it is available via our newsletter as well as through a separate email invitation.

As part of the ongoing work to dismantle racism and oppression, this will be a multi-platform gathering for skill-building and resource sharing, spiritual grounding, and transformation. Registration is required for a fee. The registration deadline is Friday, October 11.

The leadership body for this group is called NEAT - The National Emerging Adult Taskforce - and we are always looking for new team members. Highlights of our work this year include: nationalizing our pastoral care network; partnering with YARN (Young Adult Revival Network) on newsletters, worship, and small group ministry; sharing resources directly supporting EAs (18-24 years old); and fashioning a forthcoming GA workshop. If you think you know an emerging adult leader, or you are one, who might want to join this spectacular group from all over the nation please share this quick and easy application.

Since March 2023, the UUA Virtual Hymnal Task Force has been immersed in research for this unprecedented project. We now have a prototype app—loaded with 50 of survey participants' favorite hymns—ready to be beta tested this fall.

On August 19, our consulting manager Camille Hatton will open beta testing applications. We ask that interested congregations appoint one person to serve as the liaison to distribute logins to as many congregation members as you wish; maintain communication with our UUA Task Force; and submit collective feedback by the end of November 2024. We highly recommend that (if applicable) ministers and/or music directors are offered the liaison responsibility, or have a role in appointing the congregation's liaison.

For more information, and to be alerted when the application process opens, please make sure you've subscribed to the WorshipWeb newsletter.