Author: Ben Ogilvie
GA 2015 by Beth Ogilvie
General Assembly 2015, June 24-28 in Portland, Oregon, was an amazing experience. It was my first GA, my first time being with 4500 other UUs in one place – learning together, worshiping together, witnessing together, and conducting the messy democratic business of the UUA, including amending the UUA bylaws and debating social justice/witness statements.… Read the rest
Tech news from GA 2015 by Beth Ogilvie
At General Assembly 2015 in Portland, Oregon, I attended 2 sessions run by #UUsGetSocial, about how to use internet technology to advance our mission. The first was called Make Your Website Awesome and Make It Yours. Here are some of the things I learned.
New UU church website design coming. More than 50% of all internet accesses are from mobile devices now, and our church website is not mobile friendly. Luckily, the UUA is … Read the rest
GA 2015 by Bob Simoni
Even though Sandy and I only attended the first 2 days, we still found the experience of being around thousands of dedicated UU’s very exciting. To start, it was quite an adrenaline rush to carry our church banner into the open ceremony along with the banners from hundreds of other UU churches throughout the country. The energy level of the convention center was very high as inspirational music played and audience members cheered loudly as … Read the rest
Blindspot – Hidden Biases of Good People
By Beth Ogilvie
As a political liberal and a dedicated UU, I believe in equality and justice for all. I’d like to think I’m not prejudiced, but unfortunately the evidence is against me. I sometimes catch myself having what I call “racist moments,” or sexist moments, and recently I had an ageist/ableist moment.
… Read the rest Flaming Chalice, October 2014
Starr King UU Church seeks a Director of Religious Exploration
Starr King Church is seeking a part-time (approx. 20 hours/week) Director of Religious Exploration (DRE). The qualifying candidate will be a well-organized, enthusiastic, caring, and innovative person, excited to work collaboratively with our new interim minister and the RE Council to continue and develop our dynamic Religious Exploration program.
Our growing program provides 15+ children with opportunities to…
- develop a sense of wonder about the world
- explore a wide variety of religious and cultural traditions
President’s Blog – Special Update
As our congregation enters this time of ministerial transition, the Board of Trustees intends to keep communications open with the members and visitors of Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church.
At our invitation, PCD Executive Josh Searle-White attended our March 6th board meeting to help us understand the several options available to us in making this important transition. He explained that the role of an Interim Minister is to help evaluate the health of a congregation … Read the rest
BGLTQ 2012 Election Highlights
* Wisconsin elected the first openly gay US Senator, Tammy Baldwin.
* 3 states passed marriage equality (Maine, Maryland, Washington), the first time for a state wide referendum (vs a court decision or action by the state legislature). This brings the number of states with full marriage equality to 9.
* Minnesota voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage.
* Arizona elected Kyrsten Sinema, the first openly bisexual member of Congress… Read the rest
Welcoming Congregation Refresher Program Task Force, meeting 1
On October 7, 2012, we had the first meeting of the Welcoming Congregation Refresher Program task force.
Attendees: Beth Ogilvie (chair), Regina Fasano, Bob Meyerson, Joy Johnson, Georgia Gruver, John Gruver, Karen Cook, Lea Casini, Frank Satterwhite, Colleen Dino, Dirk Dino, Katie Kandarian-Morris, Heidi Green, Susan Straghalis. [Did I miss anyone?]
Action items [status updated 12/26/12]:
- Ask Bob Britton for a summary of the original welcoming congregation program. Status: Completed 11/13/12. See blog entry, Original