May 11 – MFN Formation Conversation: UUA Regional Staff – Local Companions on the Path: This event will include special updates about the “ministry residency” model and how candidates can enter into these time limited contract ministries. This is a big program shift for folks interested in congregational ministry and a great time to ask questions and get fresh resources for your vocational discernment. Join us May 11 7:00-8:30pm ET/6:00-7:30pm CT/5:00-6:30pm MT/4:00-5:30pm PT.
May 15 – Ministry Days Deadlines: is the second scholarship deadline and the deadline to register if you would like to receive a snack/swag box. If you are planning to attend at a studio site, please register by June 1. Act Now: Apply for a scholarship – Register for Ministry Days
May 18 & 19 – Healthy Boundaries: It’s always a good time to refresh your commitment to Healthy Boundaries! Our next online learning opportunity is coming right up! Register for the May 18 & 19 session. The next time we will offer Healthy Boundaries will be October 15 & 16, 2026.
Something for the Journey
from Hannah Franco-Isaacs, Program Administrator (photo of author at around the age of my first Ministry Days)
Some of my earliest memories are from Ministry Days. In hotel conference rooms and convention centers in who-remembers-where surrounded by people who were friends, family and quasi-family. It was the beginning of the summer in our family. I almost always refused to attend childcare and preferred to hang out on the floor at my parents feet while they listened, learned, worshiped and connected with colleagues. There was the year in my early teens when a current UUMA member and myself got space for a UU Ministers Kids retreat of our own out of dwhich was born a Manifesto, really a list of demands that we believed universal to the PK (preachers kid) experience.
Now that Ministry Days registration is my job it brings me joy to see what has changed, evolved, grown more inclusive. I also understand how hard Janette worked to make everything, including our UU Ministers Kids retreat, fit into a tight schedule with limited resources. (Eternal gratitude for Janette!). This year we are doing things a little differently – which of course, isn’t actually different, as we are always evolving to meet the moment.
Ministry Days is 100% virtual with a studio site in Louisville, KY on Friday, June 19. There will be worship, time for collegial connection and some of the other things you have come to expect at Ministry Days but there will also be spaciousness. Want to schedule a local meet up with colleagues? Go ahead! Want to drink tea in your backyard in silence? There’s time for that. Hoping to dedicate your child(ren) and want to invite your family to celebrate with you? Let me know so we can include you in the Milestones worship.
Ministry Days has never been the exact same and, even though I always beg for consistency, it is a good thing. We adapt to the needs of our members and your association. Even though sometimes I wish I was still the precocious child at my parents feet, I am so grateful I am now in a position to help shape and support our programs. Programs like Ministry Days which I hope will continue to feed UUMA members for generations to come.
Something for Learning
Do you long to get out of extractive, productivity-driven clock time and lean into something real, rooted in Earth’s seasons? Please join Rev. Catharine Clarenbach as she introduces the Wheel of the Year, one way of engaging and inhabiting time inspired by Celtic folk traditions and found frequently in Earth-based spiritualities, as in many traditions of Wicca.
We’ll cover the eight spoke holidays of the year–solstices, equinoxes, and Cross-Quarter days–moving from human experiences of hope in the dark at Yule (winter solstice) all the way around to grief at Samhain (October 31) and back to hope again. Join us on May 26th from 4-5:30pm ET/3-4:30pm CT/2-3:30pm MT/1-2:30pm PT. Register to let us know you are planning to attend and get reminders.
Something with DRUUMM
We are proud to sponsor DRUUMM’s annual Public Worship & Fundraising Gala, We Ride at Dawn: Showing Up, No Matter What, on May 14 at 8:00 PM Eastern.
This free, virtual, BIPOC-led worship service features Rev. Summer Albayati, a Muslim Unitarian Universalist minister, drummer, and national leader whose ministry weaves music, justice, and spiritual belonging, along with Rev. Verdis LeVar Robinson, an African American minister and musician whose work draws on Black sacred traditions to create worship that is participatory, healing, and alive with spirit.
In a time of deep uncertainty and fatigue, this service offers a powerful space for spiritual grounding, resilience, and collective care. It is also a vital moment to support DRUUMM’s multicultural ministry—sustaining leadership, connection, and culturally rooted spaces where Unitarian Universalists of Color can gather, heal, and thrive.
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.
In hotel conference rooms and convention centers in who-remembers-where surrounded by people who were friends, family and quasi-family. It was the beginning of the summer in our family. I almost always refused to attend childcare and preferred to hang out on the floor at my parents feet while they listened, learned, worshiped and connected with colleagues. There was the year in my early teens when a current UUMA member and myself got space for a UU Ministers Kids retreat of our own out of dwhich was born a Manifesto, really a list of demands that we believed universal to the PK (preachers kid) experience. 