Called to Love and Justice🌟 Weekly News from the UUMA 🌟
March 13, 2025
Something For the Moment
Announcing our Newest Specialty Team in Good Offices: Good Offices Care Team!
UUMA Good Offices Care Team members recognize the complex web of personal and private life impacting our ministries. UUMA Good Offices Care Team members offer support to ministers who are experiencing pain or loss (emotional, mental, physical, financial, spiritual) or need appropriate referrals for longer-term spiritual and emotional support. They also accompany colleagues who are accused of ministerial misconduct.
Members of this team do not serve as therapist, judge, spiritual director or even as professional chaplain. They are ministers with a wide range of experience who are committed to offering deep listening, care, compassion, presence and support to colleagues who are experiencing stress, tension, or crisis that is impacting their practice of ministry. Visit our website to learn more about this team and how to get connected.
Something for the Journey
Melissa Carvill Ziemer, Director of Ministries and Programs
I don’t think it is just because this is the five year anniversary. For weeks now I’ve been noticing parallels between the lockdown phase of the pandemic and life now. My feelings offer regular reminders: sorrow, uncertainty, anxiety and overwhelm plus now so much anger and outrage over the attempted authoritarian takeover of the United States government. What do we do next? When I’m under stress, I’m often visited by the part of me that feels like an imposter. That voice has little constructive to offer. So today I’m reminding myself once again that my job is not to be an expert. My calling is to love and justice and my job is to represent and advance the values and commitments we share as Unitarian Universalist ministers. So, I just placed a call to my elected officials to implore them to work together for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil who was illegally arrested and detained this week as a blatant manifestation of anti-Palestinian racism and suppression of student activism and free speech. It is one thing I can do today and I take comfort knowing you are out there doing your thing and that we are all in the company of countless people who are out there finding ways to take concrete action in the name of values we share.
Your ministry is part of ours and together we have something vital to share with the world. Thank you for your leadership. We do not take it for granted. And we know that some days are harder than others. When you have a hard day, please remember you don’t have to navigate through the challenges of ministry alone. Whether it is because you feel like an imposter, or you dropped important balls, or you are totally activated by the conflicts in your setting or grieving or confused or any other struggle, the UUMA is here for you. In particular, I want to remind you that you can always reach out to Good Offices for support. If they aren’t the best positioned to support you, they will gladly help you figure out where to turn. Our website has good information about the ministry of Good Offices in general and can help you get in touch with your chapter Good Offices people or our Good Offices specialty teams, including our brand new Good Offices Care Team. You need not have clarity about your concern or even feel like it is that big a deal in order to reach out. Sooner is almost always better and we are always happy to hear from you.
Something for Learning
Learning Together is on pause next week while Julica attends Finding Our Way Home. The following week, on March 25 and 27, we will use ideas from the book Hospicing Modernity as a launchpad for our conversation. Visit the Learning Together webpage to access a 5 minute video that we will use to launch our conversation.
Our colleagues and friends from the Transforming Hearts Collective have a new offering! Responding to the Anti-Trans Movement is a 3-session course designed to offer you an introduction to gender diversity and trans identity, help you understand the current political attack on trans people and the misinformation that is part of that attack, and train you in how to create safety and belonging for trans people in UU congregations in this moment. Especially in this time of trans-antagonism, we are excited to boost this offering and make resources available to us all as we navigate this important work.
Something Extra
Good Offices Training: Supporting Ministers in Need of Extended Medical Leave: Friday, March 28, 2025 12-1pm ET/ 11am-12pm CT/ 10-11am MT/ 9-10am PT This collaborative training will be hosted by the UUMA and the UUA Church Staff Finances Group to help Good Offices people understand basic information about extended medical leave and long term disability.
Board Dialogue Session: The Board of Trustees wants to meet with you for a conversation on issues vital to our shared profession. We will share brief updates on current issues for your feedback and also understand these sessions as an opportunity for you to bring your concerns and questions. Join us on Saturday, March 29 at 3:30-4:30pm ET/ 2:30-3:30pm CT/ 1:30-2:30pm MT/ 12:30-1:30pm PT.
Upcoming Events
You can view our calendar events here. Please make sure you are logged into uuma.org to see our full calendar as some events are available for members only.
