Financial Support

Thanks to the generosity of our members, the UUMA is able to provide scholarships to defray the cost of participation in continental UUMA programs. If a little extra support would make the difference in your participation, please complete the form below. Scholarships for web based events are given on a rolling basis.  Deadlines and award dates for Ministry Days and the Institute will be posted on the event page (awards will be announced in time to register during the Early Bird registration period.)

  • Levels of support include: 50% reduction of the registration fee, full waiver of the registration fee, full waiver of the registration fee plus $100, full waiver of the registration fee plus $200. Cash awards (above registration) are intended to help cover travel costs for in-person events and not available for online programming.
  • Awards may not be for the full amount requested, if a recipient declines the award or decides to not attend the program they should notify the UUMA office as soon as possible so that the grant can be given to another applicant. 
  • All grant requests and recipient names are treated as confidential.

If you’d like to make a donation to help maintain this fund you can do so here. In addition to the UUMA Scholarship Fund you may consider seeking support for continuing education from the UUA or for chapter events from your local chapter.

The UUMA exists to call forth courageous and transformative ministries empowered by love, committed to collective liberation …. Because we need one another.  The UUMA Sustainability Project was born during the Covid-19 pandemic with the intent to provide small grants intended specifically for self-care and spirit tending – in whatever way is needed. The funds were originally available to UUMA members especially impacted by the pandemics of COVID-19, racism, and oppression. Through the generosity of our members, we have been able to extend the fund. The current fund is able to provide support to UUMA members identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, Trans/Non-Binary and Disabled members, community ministers, members who are unemployed or underemployed, or members who do not have access to professional development funds.  

Because we need one another, we are extending access to the fund to make financial resources available to support care for members of the UUMA who are most personally impacted by broader geo political events.

If you need funds in order to access therapy, spiritual direction, somatic practices, massage or other healing arts to help sustain you in your ministry at this time, please complete the application form below. And if you have financial resources you can share, either individually or from any professional development funds you may have, please donate now. Giving what we can and receiving as we need is one way we can help promote a community of care in the UUMA. 

In addition, if you have personal experience or know of therapists, spiritual directors, somatic practitioners or other healers who you believe have capacity and skill for working with those most impacted by the crisis in Palestine and Israel, we invite you to complete this form and submit their names, locations, modalities, and contact information so we might create a member sourced list for our collective benefit. 

All requests that meet the criteria will be granted until funds are exhausted. The only criteria are that:

1. Your identity, ministry context or experience is named in the list above
2. You are asking because you could really use the support to sustain yourself and your ministry. We are not asking for any detailed statements and will not be monitoring how these funds are used, but we are clear that our intent is for individuals to use them for self-care/sustainability. Some of the ways you might do that include: using the funds to take a day off from your ministry (we are thinking especially of ministers who do not have adequate paid time off and could use the funds to offset an unpaid day off), to purchase materials to support your spiritual practice, to get additional sessions of therapy, spiritual direction, body work, etc. We want you to determine what you need most to take care of yourself and tend your spirit.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Anne Warren Smith Trust (Rev. Amy Beltaine, TTE), the UUMA has established a fund to provide financial assistance to Unitarian Universalist religious professionals who wish to access spiritual direction.  Gifts from the fund will be disbursed to religious professionals who demonstrate financial need in accord with the following priorities: 

  1. aspirants and candidates in preparation for ordained and fellowshipped Unitarian Universalist ministry, especially those participating in the Ministerial Formation Network. 
  2. lay and ordained Unitarian Universalist ministers, especially those whose ministries are recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Society for Community Ministries, the Liberal Religious Educators Association, the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network or the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association.

Funds must be used for accessing spiritual accompaniment with an accredited Spiritual Director who works in compliance with the professional code of ethics set forth by Spiritual Directors International or other equivalent body.  Where to find a Spiritual Director:

To apply for financial assistance from this fund, please complete the below form.

Policy for Distribution of Spiritual Direction Assistance Funds 

  • Award Amounts: Applicants may apply for partial assistance (either 25 or 50%) for up to 4 sessions in any given year.
  • Application Timeline: The UUMA will accept applications on an ongoing basis, so long as funds remain available. New applications will be considered monthly so there may be a few weeks delay between an application being received, considered and an applicant notified of a response. 
  • Application Frequency: Applicants can submit for consideration of assistance once every twelve months. 
  • Documentation required to receive awarded funds: Those who have received awards should submit a receipt for payment of their sessions to the UUMA with a request for reimbursement of the award percentage – either 25 or 50%. Receipts and requests for reimbursement can be submitted here (Link to reimbursement form TBD)

To make a contribution to the fund in order to ensure it remains available as a resource for those seeking spiritual accompaniment, click here