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Opportunities for Connection
CER Update ~ October 2024 |
The CER Staff and Primary Contacts: L-R Top Row: Rev. Sana Saeed, Rev. Elaine Strawn, Beth Casebolt; Bottom Row: Lenore Bajare-Dukes, Rev. Renee Ruchtozke, Rev. Alia Shinbrough, Rev. Dr. Megan Foley, regional lead. |
Featured Resource: Primary Contacts
Do you know who your congregation's primary contact is?
The Central East Regional (CER) has a primary contact staff system to ensure our congregations know who to reach out to for assistance. Every CER congregation and community has a UUA Staff Member who serves as your Primary Contact for all services of the region and the UUA. This is someone with whom you can build a close, working relationship, who will have an intimate knowledge of your congregation's blessings and challenges, and can be proactive in helping you to share those blessings and meet those challenges. Your Primary Contact can help you to navigate all the support and opportunities available to your congregation.
Please help us help you! To help the UUA and the Central East Region stay in touch with the leaders of your congregation, we need YOU to update your leadership information on my.uua.org. This is the same place you update your UU World lists. Need help? Let us know or check out the webpage with the details. Please note that you can make these updates at any time. Many congregations hold elections in the spring or late fall, but appoint new committee chairs in summer or early fall. Each event should prompt a review of what is listed in at the UUA to ensure it is up to date. Staffing changes should also be listed in this location. |
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Join others from across the Association for Mosaic’s Fostering Belonging and Liberation Fall Conference in Bethesda, MD, Friday, October 18 – Sunday, October 20, 2024. The National Fall Conference will be a dynamic, multi-platform gathering for congregational teams and individuals engaged in the work of building multicultural communities with love at their center. Over two and a half days, participants will share in collaborative conversations, innovative workshops, and gain invaluable insights from community leaders within Unitarian Universalism and beyond. Participants will leave with renewed hearts and spirits, with new Mosaic tools in hand, ready to support and inspire others to foster belonging and liberation. You can learn more and register here.
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New this program year! In addition to Compensation Consultants, we now have Treasurer Consultants. This emerging team supports treasurers with responsibilities that fall outside of the Office of Church Staff Finances scope. Treasurer Consultants are listed on the Compensation Consultants page.
Our office publishes a monthly newsletter, Compensation and Staffing News. Please sign up if you have financial or personnel-related responsibilities – or if you are a staff member who wants to stay current on employment matters. See our September issue for:
- New guidance on helping employees pay for insurance obtained from another source
- An update on our Retirement Plan process
- Info about this year's Health Plan Audit
- Open Enrollment webinar on October 10
* For ordained UU community ministers and UU employers not yet participating in the UU Org Retirement Plan, now is a great time to get started. To learn more, contact RetirementPlan@uua.org or visit our website. |
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Pledge Drive 101 October Series
A three-session webinar starting Tuesday, October 8, designed for stewardship teams engaged in a spring pledge drive. Congregations must register as teams, with three people per congregational team by Tuesday, October 1, 2024. Find more information and register today!
RE Kickoff!
Bring your RE Team to learn about common challenges, connecting with other similarly sized RE program and plan for the year. Two Thursdays - Oct 10 & 24, 7-9 PM ET, or Two Sundays, October 6 & 13, 4-6 pm ET. Don't delay, Registration is open! |
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Summer Institute (SI) is an intentional, multi-generational UU community that comes together each July for a week of fun, community and spiritual growth. Gathering for over 40 years, SI includes an active children’s program, a vibrant youth-led youth program, and a strong young adult community as well as many opportunities for the entire community to come together through dance, music, games, and worship.
In 2025, Summer Institute is relocating to Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH and gathers July 7-12. Our theme speaker will be Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford, speaking on the theme Live a Life on Fire: Change the World with Your Love. Proposals for adult morning seminars and afternoon workshops are currently being accepted through October 31. Anyone can apply, first-timers are welcome! Learn more about SI and past activities at their website. |
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UPLIFT Transgender/Nonbinary+ Pastoral Care Group Space
October 11 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET
What is pastoral care, exactly? Pastoral care is support with navigating life—big and small things, joys and hardships and all those mixed together. This is a space to share the hard stuff and to hold the hard stuff that others are navigating in their lives.
UPLIFT Transgender/Nonbinary+ Monthly Gathering
October 22 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Join the UPLIFT monthly gatherings focused on trans, nonbinary, and other not (completely or at all) cis UUs. Join us to connect with other trans/nonbinary UUs and co-create support and community across our faith. All you need to bring is yourself (and other trans/nonbinary friends, if you’d like)! NOTE: This space is intentionally multi-generational.
Learn more and register for both events at the UUA website. |
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UPLIFT Access Resource Webinar
October 17 at 9am PT / 12pm ET
Our loving faith calls us to honor the inherent rights and dignity of all people and to fight forms of oppression wherever we find them. However, disabled people (who make up 26% of the population) regularly find ourselves pushed to the margins, being denied our needs, and not receiving the radical welcome UU’s aspire to provide to all members. Lay leaders, religious professionals, and allies are invited to join us for our monthly lunchtime webinars where you can learn how to be more accessible and inclusive of your congregation’s disabled members and visitors. Register Today. |
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Join fellow Unitarian Universalists for a day of camaraderie, connection, and collaboration at the 11th Annual Assembly of the UUs of Greater Pittsburgh! The day will include a panel discussion, business meeting, morning worship service and more. You do not need to be a cluster member to attend. The assembly will be Saturday, November 16, at the UU Church of the North Hills, Pittsburgh, PA and streamed online. Registration is open. |
Opportunities from UUA Affiliated Groups |
Seeking Members for UU Mental Health Network Board
The Unitarian Universalist Mental Health Network (UUMHN) has openings on our Board. We are seeking candidates who have a passion to help make a difference on mental health issues in UU congregations. People with mental health challenges, people with disabilities, people of color, indigenous people, Hispanic/Latinx, and LGBTQ candidates are especially encouraged to apply. Form more information please visit UUMHN website.
Opportunity: Coordinate a Collection of Worship Materials for UU Addictions and Recovery Ministry
You are invited to help the Unitarian Universalist Addictions and Recovery Ministry Team (UUARMT) broaden our resources for leading worship services addressing addiction and recovery. We seek a person to curate a worship “kit” for WorshipWeb including 2-3 curated options of calls to worship, chalice lightings, readings, offertory words, suggested music. A stipend of $2500 for curation, plus a $1500 budget to be used as compensation for the materials. Payment will be made when all pieces are approved for publication by the Worship Web review team. Resumes and a proposal for collecting and curating worship materials need to be sent to the Unitarian Universalist Addictions Ministry by October 18, 2024. A decision about whether or not your proposal will be accepted will be made by November 15, 2024. Please send along a proposal and a resume to uuaamt@gmail.com. To find out more, see: Addiction Worship Details |
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UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice with UUA Pres. Sofía and UUSC Pres. Mary Katherine Morn
October 16 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET
UUs have been at the leading edge of climate action for decades, but how does our faith call us to the work of climate justice? Join the Green Sanctuary 2030 Community for a watch party of the UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice Fireside Chat with UUA Pres. Sofía and UUSC Pres. Mary Katherine Morn. How does your faith call you to this work? Join the conversation! Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meetings provide shared learning and mutual supports for UUs transforming our congregations through climate justice. Register here |
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Join Us at the Mosaic Conference 2024: Fostering Belonging and Liberation
by Rev. Sana Saeed
Are you ready to be part of a transformative experience that fosters love, inclusion, and justice? We are excited to invite you to the Mosaic Conference 2024, a dynamic multigenerational gathering that will take place from October 17th to 20th at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD.
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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.
- RE Kick Off, Sunday session ~ October 6 & 13, 2024, 4-6 pm ET, online
- Pledge Drive 101 Session 1 ~ October 8, 2024, 7-8:30 pm ET, online
- Taproot: A National BIPOC Gathering ~ October 9, 8-9:30 pm ET, online
- RE Kick Off, Thursday session ~ October 10 & 24, 2024, 7-9 pm ET, online
- Mosaic Gathering: Fostering Belonging and Liberation ~ October 17-20, 2024, Bethesda, MD
- New York State Convention of Universalists Annual Meeting ~ October 25-26, 2024, Williamsville, NY
- Taproot: A National BIPOC Gathering ~ November 13, 2024, 8-9:30 pm ET, online.
- UUs of Greater Pittsburgh 11th Annual Cluster Assembly ~ November 16, 2024, 9-3 ET, Pittsburgh, PA and online.
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 December 1 for grants to be awarded in February 2025. |
Congregation Events and Opportunities
These events and opportunities you are invited to join by your neighboring congregations.
Cedar Lane UU Congregation in Bethesda, MD is hosting a Caring for the Caregiver Summit, November 2, 9-3 ET, breakfast and lunch are included. Find details and registration.
UU Wellspring has a limited number of UU Wellspring memberships at no cost to congregations smaller than 300 people. The membership includes access to both Sources (our foundational 20 session program) and to our new 11-session Love at the Center: UU Values and Covenants. Read all about this new program here and connect your congregation to our shared values. You can have as many groups as you like...just think, ready-made adult programming for your congregation for 2024-25!
Congregations are hiring, check out the UU Job Board to see what is available. |
UU World Launches Digital Newsletter
Want to stay updated on the latest from UU World? You an now sign up for the magazine's free twice-a-month emailed newsletter, Wayfinder, which launches in October. As a Wayfinder subscriber, you will get the latest news and storytelling from UU World to help you chart a course that aligns with the Shared Values of Unitarian Universalism. Expect moments of insight, inspiration, joy, spiritual nourishment, and more! Sign up at the UU World website.
The Spark RE and Music Leadership Professional Development Programs provide Unitarian Universalist Religious Professionals learning communities within which 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! Of note this month is the Systems Theory Sparks Module meeting during November.
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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