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Opportunities for Connection
CER Update ~ February 2025 |
Featured Resource: CER Learning, Transformation and Community Networking Days
Leading with Love at the Center
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. |
Rev. Megan Foley Prepares to Leave the UUA
I’m writing with news – after ten years as field staff and nine as CER’s Regional Lead, I’ve decided to complete my tenure at the UUA over the course of 2025.
This July I will step down as CER Lead, continuing on three days a week as Deputy Director of the UUA’s Congregational Life staff group - a role I’ve been holding along with Lead for a few years now. Around January 2026, I will step down from my staff role at the UUA entirely.
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Congregational Certification Ends February 5!
Certification plays a crucial role in the life of our Association. It connects to the Annual Program Fund (APF), which is designed to adapt to the financial realities of our congregations. Certification also ensures your congregation secures delegates to vote in the UUA Moderator election and participate in General Assembly business.
This is an opportunity for us to come together and deepen our shared commitment to the transformative work of Unitarian Universalism in our communities and the wider world. We’re here to support you every step of the way. Let’s make this year’s certification a success! Learn more about the certification process. |
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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. Monday, March 24, 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 ask that you apply by February 15, however 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). |
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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. |
Spiritual Deepening Through Worship and Small Groups |
Four Saturday Sessions, Saturday May 3 through May 24, 11:30 am to 1 pm ET
The Center for Congregational Spirituality and the Congregational Life Staff group are excited to offer another session of their popular online course that inspires congregational leaders to create worship- and small group-centered opportunities designed to deepen both communal and individual spirituality.
The course will include both on-demand videos and in-person virtual sessions. The registration fee is $575 for 4 people, $475 for 3 people, $350 for 2 people, and $200 for one person. Individuals and congregations will receive a 25% off early bird discount if they register by March 1. Use the Discount Code "EARLYBIRD" when registering.
For more information, visit their website or email Phillip Lund at plund@uua.org. |
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Why System Theory?
This module provides a time to engage with the essential lens of understanding how your congregation functions as a whole System. Participants will examine human beings as emotional, intellectual, and physical beings, explore and clarify what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, and discuss the human qualities that help and hinder the growth of the beloved community. Sessions are four Fridays, March 7-28, from 12n-2p ET. Details at the UUA website. |
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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.
30 Days of Love 2025
January 20-February 14
Join Side With Love for 30 Days of Love 2025! Beginning Monday, January 20th through Friday, February 14th, this annual event offers spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice over four weeks. These offerings are for individuals, families, religious professionals, partners, and communities who need soulful sustenance for the work of liberation and justice. Find everything on Side With Love and subscribe to our newsletter to get an update when content is available.
UUPLIFT Transgender/Nonbinary+ Pastoral Care Small Group, February 7 at 8 pm ET (note date change this month). Register here.
What's next after the Revival? Revival Community of Practice, February 12 at 7pm ET
So you held a Climate Justice Revival… now what? Come together with other UUs who are also moving through the Rest, Celebrate, Reflect, Synthesize, Organize process following the Revival. Learn together! Register to join us.
Green Sanctuary New Materials Release, February 19, 7 pm ET.
Green Sanctuary Community meetings take place on the third Wednesday of the month. Register to join us.
UPLIFT Transgender/Nonbinary+ Monthly Gathering, February 25, 8 pm 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. This is a multi-generational space. Register today.
UU Climate Justice Revival Facilitator Training, February 26, 7 pm ET.
Are you one of your congregation's facilitators for the UU Climate Justice Revival? All facilitators need to join one of our 2-hour Facilitator Training Sessions. Register to join us.
2024 UUA Social Justice Award Nominations Wanted!
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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Ministry Energy Reboot
by Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
The New Year can be a time to take stock of our lives and make adjustments to old habits, or set new goals in the form of New Year’s Resolutions. It’s hard enough to do this as individuals – it’s even harder to do as congregations. We may take time at the beginning of the year for goal setting, but we don’t always take time to evaluate how things are going and make adjustments mid-year. January board or committee meetings are a great time to do this! One thing we don’t often do is take the time and energy to examine and evaluate if “the way we have always done things,” (i.e. our congregational habits) are still serving us.
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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.
- Taproot: A National BIPOC Gathering ~ February 12, 2025, 8-9:30 pm ET, online.
- Winter Institute ~ Feb 14-17, 2025, Salt Fork State Park Lodge, Cambridge, OH.
- 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.
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.
Congregational Events
Congregations are hiring, check out the UU Job Board to see what is available.
Congregations are also hosting events, you may want to check these out:
- Our Faith was Made for Times Like These, Seminary for a Day at UU Church of Arlington, VA, Saturday, February 1, UU Church of Arlington, VA.
- Wonders and Worries in Genetic Engineering with Jeffery Kahn, Saturday, February 22, 3 pm. Free, in-person at Cedar Lane UU Congregation in Bethesda, MD and online.
- Our Whole Lives Training for Facilitators for Grades K-1, 4-6, February 28-March 2, UU Congregation of Cleveland, OH. Registration deadline is February 13.
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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.
2025 Finding Our Way Home Retreat. Tuesday, March 18-Friday, March 21, Montreat, NC. Finding Our Way Home (FOWH) is that special time of year, each year, when we gather as religious professionals of color to reflect, regroup, support, accompany, lament, build, and celebrate as a community. We are blessed to be sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
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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